Play it on: Xbox Series X/S, Windows (Steam Deck: YMMV)
Current goal: Enjoy the hell out of Sentry Defense
So Halo Infinite has an interesting playlist right now: Sentry Defense. And by interesting, I mean pretty friggin’ awesome. It’s a semi PvPvE mode where two large opposing teams each get a pair of “Sentries” to defend. The sentries are a boss from Infinite’s campaign: Adjutant Resolution, an enemy that’s fully capable of doing damage on its own, and requires players to shoot specific parts of it to do damage. It still plays like a PvP game, not terribly dissimilar to something like Capture the Flag, but the added bosses on both ends really mixes things up for the old Halo format.
Since the inclusion of campaign bots in Halo Infinite’s multiplayer, I’ve mostly played quirky custom games, and the series’ classic “Firefight” wave-based “horde” mode. That’s been fun, naturally, but I’ve been really eager to see what the added functionality of bots in Halo could do, and I’m pleasantly surprised with Sentry Defense.
Each team getting their own bosses means there’s an added layer of combat you need to bring to your arrival at the enemy base. Or, if you’re running defense, having these bosses capable of dealing lethal damage on their own really changes things up. It’s an added layer of challenge to the already challenging PvP nature of Infinite. I’ve also noticed that players seem to be resorting to vehicles a lot more as a result, perhaps with the hopes of the added firepower making a significant difference when it comes to chipping away at the bosses’ health. Because of that, players need to respond to more frequent vehicle encounters, which in my experience has made defending the base a lot more fun (with way more potential for multi-kills when a crew rolls up with a Warthog).
Sentry Defense is pretty resistant thus far to getting too repetitive. Overall, I’m finding it to be an excellent preview of where Halo can grow…wherever the future is likely to take this 20+ year series. — Claire Jackson