People are lavishing praise on this fan-made Whiterun map for Halo Infinite

An image of Ethan Hibbs' Whiterun map for Halo Infinite, showing the town's market square.

(Image credit: Bullet2thehead9)

Skyrim has broken containment. No longer content with releasing multiple times on every platform under the sun, Bethesda's opus is now bleeding into other games. At least, that's my understanding after checking out an incredibly detailed recreation of Skyrim's Whiterun created in Halo: Infinite's Forge mode. Finally, you can load up a rocket launcher and show Nazeem what you really think of the Cloud District.

Spotted by Rebs Gaming, the map was made by a creator called Bullet2thehead9, or Ethan Hibbs if you want to be formal. Hibbs has recreated Jarl Balgruuf's domain in exacting detail. The Gildergreen tree dominates the town square, the streets twist and turn just how you remember, and a statue of Talos looms in the centre. I'm not sure Talos wore UNSC Marine armour in the established Elder Scrolls lore, though. Maybe that's in C0DA.

It's a demonstration not only of Hibbs' talent as a map-maker, but of the versatility of Halo Infinite's Forge mode. Another Halo mapper—CaptainDireWolf—popped up in Rebs Gaming's replies to highlight the stark contrast between their own Whiterun map made in Halo 5 and the one made by Hibbs. While CaptainDireWolf's map is still an impressive effort, it's noticeably lacking in detail and polish compared to what Hibbs was able to do in Infinite.

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An image of CaptainDireWolf's Whiterun map for Halo 5, showing the town from the air. — CaptainDireWolf's map is notably under-detailed when compared to...(Image credit: CaptainDireWolf)

The map has drawn praise from all quarters, and has even garnered the attention of Bethesda and Microsoft, with the companies chiming in to offer kudos and make legally-mandated arrow to the knee jokes. At least it was accompanied by a new (to me) image of a needler dart piercing a Skyrim NPC's leg, I suppose. Small mercies.

Last year was pretty dreadful for Halo Infinite, and was marked mostly by fan frustration and development on key features crawling along at a snail's pace. On the plus side, November's Forge mode beta release put fans in a good mood for the first time in ages, and projects like Hibbs' Whiterun map show just how flexible and capable that mode is. With any luck, Whiterun will be just one in a long-line of maps and content that continue to breathe new life into the game.

If you want to check out Hibbs' Whiterun map for yourself, it can be downloaded on Halo Waypoint. Or you could just go watch him play the Halo theme on guitar. That's pretty cool too.

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.