Every Halo Infinite Difficulty Ranked
"Halo Infinite" has mostly been a huge success. Though not without criticisms pertaining to included content and multiplayer grinding, the newest entry into the "Halo" series has been lauded for its return to the franchise's roots, as well as its impressive campaign that features not only an immersive and engaging open-world setting, but a highly emotional and satisfying ending to boot. To say the least, "Halo Infinite's" campaign is a must-play for even the most casual fans of the classic first-person shooter. However, the experience one has definitely depends on the difficulty they choose.
As with all past "Halo" titles, "Halo Infinite" comes with four difficulties to choose from — Easy, Normal, Heroic, and Legendary. These settings vary the difficulty of gameplay, of course, but they also help shape gamers' experience and affect their enjoyment of the game. In an interview with Kotaku, "Halo Infinite" character director Steve Dyck explained that the game was intentionally designed to be difficult for players. "We've got some intentional spikes in difficulty where it's like, OK, we're dialing it to 11 here," Dyck told Kotaku. "We're dialing it to 12!" According to Dyck, the game was made more difficult to "encourage the player to embrace every single piece of the sandbox and bring it to the fight."
So, which difficulty should you choose for your "Halo Infinite" playthrough? Here are all four difficulties ranked.
Easy — The worst one
The first choice for a difficulty setting in "Halo Infinite" is obviously Easy. This setting offers nothing in the way of a challenge to a soldier as legendary as Master Chief, as the iconic protagonist will simply plow through Zeta Halo without a care in the world, swatting enemies like fleas. Many players won't bother with the Easy difficulty. It's understandable that some people only want to experience the story for what it is and soak it in without the task of having to struggle through difficult combat, but "Halo Infinite" is a combat-based game, and it's worth it to work on one's skills and rise to the challenge of the Heroic setting. Considering that the developers of "Infinite" created it to be a challenge, Easy is the worst difficulty to complete the game on. Of course, for those that want a breezier experience, or for younger gamers still earning their Spartan wings, Easy is always there.
By all means, play the game on whatever difficulty you want, but if you play "Halo Infinite" on Easy difficulty, you are missing out on a vast majority of what the game has to offer. It's there if you need it, but it won't give players the full "Halo" experience.
Heroic — solid, but unbalanced
Heroic is the second-hardest difficulty a player can choose on "Halo Infinite." While it's not as difficult as some other settings, it's hard. Like, very hard. Even the most over-matched enemy types will provide Master Chief a good challenge, and one will have to pick their spots perfectly if they wish to survive on Zeta Halo. For the many experienced and hardened "Halo" players, Heroic might seem like the go-to mode when it comes to a challenge, but there are even more exciting modes left to explore.
Unlike Easy, the Heroic difficulty isn't a bad setting by any means. One could surely make a case for it being among the better selections in the game. Jade King of The Gamer argued that the game "comes to life" on this difficulty setting. However, Heroic is far too unbalanced to provide an all-encompassing experience in terms of both challenges and immersion. Overall, this setting isn't hard enough to match the glory of beating the game on Legendary or the narrative-based incentives it provides, nor is it easy enough to truly set it apart. The overall outcome is an experience that is unbalanced and doesn't offer the same narrative incentives as another hard difficulty.
Normal — Optimal, balanced, and fair
Up next is the Normal difficulty, the second-easiest in "Halo Infinite" and possibly the one most players will gravitate towards, or at least default to. The Normal difficulty is basically what it advertises: the basic, default balancing of the game and the resistance in-game enemies will provide. While the most dedicated of "Halo" players might scoff at the setting, it still provides ample challenges and a surprisingly balanced experience.
Despite being the second-easiest setting in the game, the Normal difficulty ensures that Master Chief mows down low-threat enemy types like Grunts, but will still be challenged by the Brutes, Elites, the infamous "Sniper Jackals," and final bosses. It's an experience that never feels too easy, yet never gets overwhelming to the point where players will be instantly dashboarding out of frustration. As a matter of fact, "Halo Infinite" is the first game of the series that 343 Studios designed to be catered towards the Normal difficulty.
On a Reddit post asking if Normal mode is harder than usual, many responses agreed. One Reddit user said, "Halo Infinite has been challenging for me on normal. They've 100% ramped up the difficulty but I think they've also made enemies hit scan you too."
Legendary — An insane challenge that comes with the best rewards
"Halo" has historically been designed completely around the Legendary difficulty, the hardest possible setting available in the game. The setting is notoriously difficult and will bring players to the brink of madness trying to outwit and outgun their alien enemies. Unlike the aforementioned Heroic difficulty setting, Legendary offers a unique incentive to players brave enough to give it a try. The "Halo" fandom seems to agree with this sentiment, with Legendary typically being the go-in response to questions about what difficulty players should go for.
Whereas every other setting in "Halo Infinite" shares the same cryptic, yet satisfying ending, the ending on Legendary offers an exclusive post-credits scene that provides tons of context for what will happen in the next game when it finally surfaces. Such a reveal is sure to be a sought-after achievement for gamers willing to persevere through the onslaught of challenges the Legendary difficulty offers, and is sure to give them the reward they deserve for accomplishing such a task.