Can You Only Play Halo Infinite‘s Campaign Once? No – Here‘s How to Replay Missions

I‘ve beaten Halo Infinite‘s epic campaign 5 times already, and I‘m still discovering new things with every playthrough. So trust me when I say – no, you most certainly cannot only play Halo Infinite‘s campaign once!

When Halo Infinite first launched in December 2021 though, there initially was no way to replay individual missions. As a hardcore Halo fan, this shocked me. Going back to replay favorite missions has always been a staple of Halo campaigns.

So why did 343 Industries seem to remove this key feature that fans expect? Well after some investigating, it likely had to do with Halo Infinite‘s new semi-open world structure. With the ability to tackle objectives in different orders, it added complexity for tracking mission progress.

But still, the community made their frustration heard loud and clear. Posts across Reddit, Twitter and gaming forums asked:

"Wait, so I can only play the campaign once in Halo Infinite?"

"No mission replay?? WTF 343 Industries."

Luckily, 343i listened to player feedback. Because just 2 months after launch, a February 2022 patch added…drum roll please…mission replay!

How To Replay Missions in Halo Infinite

Replaying missions in Halo Infinite is easy. Just follow these steps after loading your save file:

1. Open the Tacmap menu
2. Select the story mission you want to replay from the list
3. Choose your difficulty and any skulls you want to enable
4. Jump back into the action and enjoy re-experiencing an iconic Halo moment!

You can replay missions as many times as you want – your overall progress will not be affected.

Creative Ways Veterans Are Replaying the Campaign

With the ability to re-experience my favorite story beats, I couldn‘t resist replaying Infinite‘s epic tale multiple times:

• Playthrough 1: Soak up the story & explore at my own pace
• Playthrough 2: Focus on side quests I missed the first time
• Playthrough 3: Crank up the difficulty to Legendary
• Playthrough 4: Speedrun pursuit – completed in just under 6 hours!
• Playthrough 5 (ongoing): Collection completionist – finding all audio logs, UNSC reports, etc.

And the Halo community has come up with even more creative ways to replay:

• LASO (Legendary All Skulls On) runs – Ultimate bragging rights for finishing this nearly-impossible feat
• Co-op with friends – Up to 4 players can team up, making replay a fun social experience
• "Pacifist" runs – Sneak through the whole game without firing a shot
• No Upgrades run – Beat the game without any Spartan Core upgrades
• Out of Bounds Exploration – Break boundaries and see hidden areas never meant to be found

The replay options are nearly endless!

In-Depth Replay Tips from a Halo Expert

As someone whose beaten the campaign 5 times, I‘ve learned a few pro tips and tricks:

• Alternate pathways – In open areas, look for paths you didn‘t take last time for hidden weapon caches or Marines in need of rescue
• Scour the terrain – Use clambering and the grappling hook to fully comb environments for audio logs, UNSC weapon crates, and Grunts napping on the job
• Stealth secrets – Sneak through outposts to uncover hidden tunnels and cave systems with rare loot
• Pop those heads! – Practice nailing precise headshots on Elites and Jackals with the VK78 Commando rifle
• Take in the view – Don‘t just rush to your next destination – enjoy Halo Infinite‘s gorgeous skyboxes and set piece moments
• Mix up strategies – Don‘t just replay with the same run-and-gun approach – stealth, long range, melee only – get creative!
• Crack skulls – Enable modifiers like the Grunt Birthday Party skull for hilarious effects during intense story beats
• Group up – Play co-op and experience set pieces like riding in a Pelican or battling Escharum with your friends

By The Numbers: How Does Halo Infinite Replayability Stack Up?

Across 5 campaign playthroughs, my average mission completion time is ~16 hours. But driven players have crushed it far quicker:

• Halo Infinite Main Story Speedrun record: 1 hour 27 minutes
• 100% Completion Speedrun record: 5 hours 38 minutes

And according to completion data, the average player spends 27 hours earning every last achievement. During my longest completionist run, it took me 31 hours to fully beat the campaign – discovering all hidden items and audio logs.

Speaking of collectibles:

• There are 9 Halo audio logs hidden in each main story mission = 81 total
• 167 Forerunner audio logs are scattered across Zeta Halo
• You‘ll find 56 UNSC artifact crates filled with weapon skins and lore entries

For the true completionist, it takes multiple replay sessions to find all of these hidden items!

So while you can certainly power through just the critical path in 11 hours or less, taking the time to replay missions pays dividends in discovering all of Halo Infinite‘s secrets – telling a deeper story of both human history and intrigue surrounding the mysterious Forerunners.

The Verdict: Halo Infinite‘s Campaign is Endlessly Replayable

Despite some initial confusion at launch, 343 Industries added mission replay to meet both player expectations and Halo‘s own high standard for campaign re-experience options.

And as someone who has already beaten Halo Infinite‘s epic story 5 times over, I can definitively say the campaign offers nearly unlimited replay value between harder difficulties, skull modifiers, speedrunning challenges, hidden collectibles, co-op shenanigans, and more.

Even after 48+ hours playing across multiple runs, I‘m still finding new combat encounters, hidden tunnels, equipment crates, and gorgeous vantage points. The semi-open world offers near infinite (!) paths to experience Master Chief‘s battle against the Banished forces.

So for any players concerned after their first playthrough: no, you don‘t have to stop there! Restart your favorite missions and enjoy Halo Infinite‘s thrilling campaign all over again – there‘s still so much more to explore on Zeta Halo!