The Covenant, at least in its original form, hasn’t been a thing since the end of Halo 3. However, the franchise’s fans know that hasn’t stopped splinter groups from taking up arms against Master Chief and the rest of humanity, and a new trailer for Halo Infinite gets us up to speed on the big baddies this time around: the Banished. More specifically, we meet the group’s leader, Escharum, who has a pretty sinister message for us weak earthlings.
“Hope… it makes you weak,” Escharum says in a video message that seems to be recorded specifically for humanity to see. “Humanity clings to the belief that a savior will come. That a hero will rise. Shrouded in armor to save you. It won’t.”
Well, as someone who has played all of the Master Chief’s other games, the savior probably will come, but Escharum is certainly playing the menacing, overwhelmingly evil villain part well. Of all the Covenant races we’ve met in Halo thus far, the Brutes tend to be the most one-note in their, well, brutality, but that also makes them exceedingly fun to mow down.
“When you look back on these last days, you’ll realize that all you’ve built was a tomb,” Escharum says. “A place where hope dies.”
The Banished faction was previously featured in the real-time strategy game Halo Wars 2. That game’s villain, another Brute named Atriox, could very well play a role in Halo Infinite, as well.
343 Industries is certainly building anticipation for Halo Infinite’s campaign as we approach the game’s release date. An overview video released on October 25 showed off the campaign’s structure, including a play-how-you-want approach to missions and a new Cortana-ish AI with a decidedly different personality. The game releases on December 8 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, and the multiplayer component is free for everyone.
Source: Gamespot
