Halo Infinite has a dash of the Ubisoft open world about it. I can feel some readers recoiling in horror at the phrase. Yes, there is that hoovering the map of icons feeling to Halo Infinite.
This I am trained to want to do. High value targets - specially named Banished enemies who have, brace yourself, shields and health bars above their character models - reward Valor upon death. The more Valor you gain, the more vehicles and powerful UNSC soldiers you'll have access to at a FOB. There are Banished outposts to take down and other icons denoting bits and bobs to "complete". In between main story missions, Master Chief's quest is to dent the Banished's occupancy of the ring, map icon by map icon.
And, get this! Master Chief has a skill tree now. It's pretty basic. Spartan cores, which are littered around the world (they're another map icon), are consumed to unlock upgrades to Master Chief's combat capabilities. You can upgrade the grapple hook, for example, and Master Chief's shields. (Always choose the grapple hook!)"