With Halo Infinite just over a month away, 343 Studios and Microsoft are swinging into full gear with new information and trailers. Where the other day we say an overview of what we can expect from the campaign's gameplay, a new trailer puts the spotlight on the villain that Master Chief will be facing off against.
The brand new trailer, titled "The Banished Rise," sees the villain of Infinite, Escharum, as he monologues about humanity's impending defeat. While a video of the iconic green armor of the Master Chief is constructed, Escharum provides voiceover as his own video feed cuts in and out. Even as the Brute warlord boasts and demeans, the armor continues to be constructed, ignoring the words of FPS titan's newest adversary. The final shot is the empty Spartan armor lighting up, awaiting both Chief and the player to step into it and bring the fight to the Banished.
As the title of the trailer suggests, the villainous force that we will be up against and that Escharum is leading are known as the Banished, a group of mercenaries that banded together and rebelled against the Covenant in the aftermath of the Human-Covenant War. The group was the enemy faction of 2017's Halo Wars 2 and are making their return in Infinite after successfully taking the Zeta Halo, the Halo Ring that the game takes place on.
It is up to Master Chief to take back the Halo for the UNSC. From his monologue from the original gameplay preview from back in 2020, we understand that Escharum is an aged warrior that wishes to establish a legacy that will live far beyond both him and Chief, believing their battle will be written into legend.
While we still need to learn more about Escharum's larger goals and motivations, Master Chief will be on his own personal journey of finding Cortana after events that transpired in Halo 5: Guardians. While we still have a number of questions, what we do know is that the upcoming campaign will be the "biggest... most wide open" Halo game to date, and speaking of dates, Halo Infinite will be releasing on December 8. You can watch the brand new "The Banished Rise" trailer below.