Halo Infinite’s campaign is continuing to impress players a week after release. With both newcomers and long-time fans enjoying the game, it seems 343 Industries has delivered a game that strikes the perfect balance between nostalgia and modern gameplay mechanics. But there is one aspect ofHalo Infinitethat fans might not have expected: its fairly high level of difficulty.
It used to be the case withHalogames that the “Normal” level of difficulty was intentionally easy so players could enjoy the story and feel like a true super soldier. The “Heroic” difficulty was often considered to bethe “true” difficulty levelby fans, providing a challenge more realistic in the context of the source material.Halo Infinite, however, designed its “Normal” difficulty to be a standard level of challenge that is surprisingly quite tough. Some players may want a little more help to take on the Banished army, and luckily this is where the game’s skulls come in.
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What is a Skull in Halo?
A “Skull” is a collectible found in everyHalogame, with even the real-time strategy entries of the series having their own range. These collectibles are often foundscattered around any givenHalo’s missions, hiding around corners or on top of difficult-to-reach locations. These skulls grant the player a variety of modifiers that affect how they play.
Many ofHalo’s skulls are used to challenge the player even further, such as the “Mythic” skull which gives enemies increased health. Some skulls are used purely for humor, with the “Grunt Birthday Party” skull being a particular favorite, causing a Grunt to explode into confetti when shot in the head. A handful of skulls, however, can be used to benefit the player in several key ways.
Boom
The first skullHalo Infiniteplayers might want to pick up is the “Boom” skull. This collectibledoubles the radius of any explosives, meaning that grenades, rockets, fusion coils, and explosive vehicle turrets will cover a much wider area. This could potentially make taking out Outposts easier, as enemies tend to be clustered together and will therefore get trapped inside the blast radius of a grenade more often.
On the other hand, as is the case with mostHaloskulls, this modifier isn’t always going to help the player. The larger explosive blast radius also applies to enemy explosives, making enemy turrets and grenades more difficult to avoid. A player may want to stay clear of this if they’re not a fan of Phantom encounters to begin with.
Cowbell
The “Cowbell” skull is another two-sided modifier. This skull makes the “acceleration” of explosives much higher, which essentially means thatany explosive weaponwill throw the player back much further if they are within the blast radius. For instance, when a grenade goes off near the player, usually they are only nudged slightly; with the skull on, the player will be violently flung across the room.
This skull can be both a blessing and a curse, with the player able to displace a crowd of enemies easily with just one grenade. However, the risk of the same happening to the player is extremely high, especially withInfinite’s grenade-loving Grunts.
Bandana
There is one skull that is entirely helpful: the “Bandana” skull. This skull gives the player unlimited ammo, unlimited grenades, and removes equipment cooldown. Obviously, this is a massive help to the player, providing clear gameplay advantages with no drawbacks. While many might want to turn this skull on just tosee what they can do with an unlimited Grappleshot, players who are struggling withInfinite’s more tricky boss fights are sure to have less stressful time with this skull on.
Halo Infiniteis available for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
