Ever since Bungie introduced the concept with Halo 3: ODST, the cooperative PvE wave defense mode Firefight has remained one of my favorite ways to play Xbox's flagship sci-fi shooter. It's often the only way to enjoy combat against campaign AI outside of Halo campaigns themselves, and it's been in every game other than 4 since 2009. To see that it wasn't a part of Halo Infinite when it released in 2021 was a major disappointment, but I and many other fans hoped 343 Industries would bring it to the game post-launch.
A leak in June suggested that wish would be granted, and when Halo Infinite Season 5 kicked off in October, the developers confirmed it with the announcement that a new free-to-play iteration of Firefight called "Firefight: King of the Hill" (Firefight: KotH) would be added in a mid-season patch. That update is scheduled for December 5, and ahead of its arrival, I got a chance to go hands-on with the mode in late November — and even though I only got to play for a few short hours, I'd experienced enough to know that this is going to be my favorite version of Firefight yet.
