The long-awaited debut of gameplay footage from Halo Infinite has finally happened, as part of today's Xbox Games Showcase, in which a host of other next-generation titles were also shown off. 

It's taken a while to arrive, but the footage debuted is impressively wide-ranging - starting with a cut scene in which John 117 (that's the Master Chief to you) crash lands on a Halo ring.

The gameplay demo showcases a massive play area that's reminiscent of the original Halo's sprawling levels, and presents three objectives that can be handled in any order that the player prefers, taking out three anti-aircraft cannons.

The combat that ensues is classic Halo fare, with a couple of new weapons mixed in with the old classics, and all the archetypal enemies chiming in. The grappling hook's return was also confirmed as rumoured. 

343 says Infinite is twice the size of Halo 4 and 5 combined, which is quite the measure of its ambition. Throughout, visuals are looking sumptuous, with long draw distances and great detail all running at 60FPS, and the music accompaniment is as beautiful as you expect from Halo. 

On the story front, the trailer confirms that The Banished are the adversaries of choice this time round, following the events of Halo Wars 2. It looks like it's going to be quite the fight.