Zeta Halo is a big place. It’s a sprawling Pacific Northwest forest, but with more hexagons and more angry aliens trying to shoot you dead than you might find in the actual state of Washington where Halo developers Bungie and 343 Industries are both located. In the original few Halo games, Bungie always took the time to squirrel away a few great easter eggs, like the thirsty Grunt and the I Would Have Been Your Daddy skull. It’s fitting that Halo Infinite continues and (embiggens) that tradition by spreading skulls and all sorts of secrets and references all across the open world.
Below I’ve collected the easter eggs that gave me a chuckle in the campaign. We also have a guide to Halo Infinite’s skull locations, some of which are hidden even more deviously.
The OG Xbox gaming lair
Midway through Infinite’s campaign you’ll go on a mission that sends you to beacons scattered across the ring. Near one of those beacons is this incredibly well-hidden easter egg. You have to travel through this hexagonal tunnel and spot a tiny hole in the roof to grapple up to a hidden cave, which looks like it was some UNSC Marine’s secret gaming room. There’s a pile of military rations, a TV, and an original Xbox. Maybe they were playing Halo: CE?
Craig the Brute’s rock concert
Probably the most elaborate in-joke in Halo Infinite, this concert venue sits on top of The Tower, the site of one of Halo Infinite’s first campaign missions. The whole thing is a tribute to Craig, the blank-faced Brute who became a meme during last year’s unfortunate campaign reveal. Craig’s really moved up in the world, putting out an album and apparently going on tour. Sometimes marines and Grunts reference him in their dialogue too, like the propaganda tower asking, “Hey, we got a Craig out there?”
Master Chief, the Arbiter, and more, in plushie form
As soon as you finish the first mission that takes you out onto the surface of Zeta Halo, you’ll hitch a Pelican ride to a new location and get dropped off near a former UNSC base. From there you can grapple up the side of a nearby cliff and find a cute toy version of Master Chief resting on a blanket. He’s not alone in toy form: there are also Arbiter, Pilot and Grunt figures out there.
A MAC cannon you can actually fire
I’m not sure if this is an easter egg or a glitch, but either way it’s neat. During early mission Outpost Tremonius, you can climb up the side of a crashed UNSC cruiser, then hop on top of a mounted gun to… equip it? The gun won’t show up in your hands, but when you pull the trigger it looks and sounds like you’re firing the cannon of a Scorpion tank. Big boom.
The Halo theme plays from the highest peaks
unsure_if_its_been_mentioned_yet_but_i_was from r/halo
Climb to one of the highest viewpoints on the map and you’ll be rewarded with the chanting of Gregorian monks as you take in the view.
Blood Gulch is back, at least in hologram form
Who knows if Blood Gulch will make its way back as a playable multiplayer map in Infinite, but the iconic Halo: Combat Evolved map certainly hasn’t been forgotten. Here it is in Banished hologram.
Peanut the… gopher?
In an early campaign mission you’ll walk through a Forerunner storage facility, full of slabs that look like ancient aliens frozen in Carbonite. They all match except for one, which looks like it’s a gopher. According to Halo community manager John Junyszek, that’s Peanut.
Of course there’s a Rick & Morty reference
In early mission The Tower, a Mr Meeseeks box is hidden behind a grate along the outside edge of the room you circle on the way to the top. Thankfully it does not shout at you.
Behold, a Big Sandwich
Like the Xbox, this sandwich is well hidden inside a cave on the ring. You’ll have to grapple your way upward through a small gap in the rock to find this sandwich, being worshipped by a ring of grunts. The music may sound familiar, too.
Halo the arcade game
Not-so-hidden in a Forerunner room near a Spartan core is Halo Infinite: the arcade game. The chiptune music is the real treat here. Well, that, and the Brute who seems to have died from too much gaming.
Sheila the tank
When the pilot drops off a Scorpion, sometimes he’ll tell you “her name’s Sheila,” a reference to Red Vs. Blue, where Sheila is the Blue Team’s tank. It’s one of a few nods to Red Vs. Blue in Halo Infinite, others including an achievement for getting the Scorpion in On the Road all the way to the House of Reckoning called Bring Sheila Home Safely, marines shouting “Puma power!” and the pink option for your AI skin in multiplayer being labeled “lightish red.” The loading screen quote “You ever wonder why we’re here?” is another reference—the first words spoken in the series’ first episode.
In Metal Gear Solid, the telepathic Psycho Mantis could read your mind and predict your movements. To defeat him, at least in the original PlayStation version, you had to plug your controller into port two. Look, just go with it. Halo Infinite’s propaganda Grunts are apparently Kojima stans, since they think this is the secret to defeating Master Chief.