Halo: Infinite (Dec. 8th, 2021) - Xbox Series X

[AllAbout813]

I feel the same.

But I'd rather they take 10 years and get it right than take 5 and kill the franchise by shipping a mediocre product.

QFT. They can’t slip up on this game. Don’t set a release date until you are ready.

 

[S E P H]

Multiplayer was extremely bad - even though I still think it is - when Halo 5 came out.

It had,

- Zero double team dedicated playlist
- Zero BTB dedicated playlist (came out a year later due to a lack of maps, which needed to be made from forge!)
- Zero snipers dedicated playlist
- Zero CTF dedicated playlist (which was one of the most popular Halo 4 playlists)

I just don't understand what 343 was doing when every Bungie game had everyone of those playlists except CTF which was part of skirmish. Double team didn't even come out until like three to four months later and then they had the audacity to make it a "special" playlist for the weekend(s). Forge didn't come out until another six months, but that made perfect sense because it was an extremely impressive addition of software.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I loved Multiplayer in Halo 5, but agree the maps were lacking.

 

[JaegerDice]

 

[Beau Knows]

Sounds like it could be a lengthy delay.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

Sounds like it could be a lengthy delay.

Means the f***ery was bigger than we thought.

I cannot believe 343 won't see a purge following Infinite's release at this point.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Well that’s awesome Staten is back buuuuut how long is this delay going to be now and just how bad were things moving along so that this move was necessary??

 

[Blitzkrug]

343 needs to have that series taken away from it.

They've done nothing but drive it into the damn ground between the MCC being a dumpster fire for the first 2 years of its existence, Halo 4 being an unbalanced, lousy COD clone and then 5 being too sweaty and taking forever to add shit to it.

 

[AllAbout813]

I’ve been buying my monster energy drinks and keep seeing the halo infinite ads on the cans now. Also seeing the halo infinite mega blocks merch being pushed at Target. All this just daily reminders of how truly bad this delay is for Xbox. The game had to have been truly awful for them to choose to not follow through with launch release. They were counting on Halo as a launch title. Now all this advertising is for nothing and really just a waste. I wonder how negative this impact is financially for Xbox - has to be a fortune. After this game comes out (whenever that is) heads are going to roll at 343.

 

[x Tame Impala]

It’s mind blowing to me that this has been botched so much. It’s f***ing Halo. No excuses.

 

[JaegerDice]

As a Halo fan, I'm really not that aghast over it. Outside of Reach and ODST, there hasn't been a Halo made that didn't have development issues and delays.

Beyond that, it's hardly the first 'crown jewel' level franchise to skip to see significant delays. Hell, some have skipped entire generations.

Nintendo skipped Metroid in the N64 era and rebooted its attempt before eventually making Metroid: Prime.

Nintendo also basically went a generation with a new ZELDA game on the WiiU cause they couldn't figure out what they wanted to do and development got restarted several times. By the time it was ready, the WiiU version of BOTW was an afterthought.

Sony just went through a generation without a legitimate Gran Turismo cause Polyphony couldn't get their **** together.

These things happen. Especially when you have franchises that need significant overhauls to stay relevant, but are beholden to history and long-time fans who want the DNA of the previous games respected. It's a tough tight-rope to walk.

I think there's a ton of talent at 343. I think their management probably needs a look and perhaps a rework, but after Halo 5 I actually have a lot of respect for their artists, network coders, sandbox designers, sound designers and engineers, and graphics/engine engineers.

I think they need a better, more confident vision, one that doesn't toss and turn in the seas of fan reaction.

They're not going to make everybody happy. So make the game you want to make and make it to the best of your abilities.

 

[Beau Knows]

I’ve been buying my monster energy drinks and keep seeing the halo infinite ads on the cans now. Also seeing the halo infinite mega blocks merch being pushed at Target. All this just daily reminders of how truly bad this delay is for Xbox. The game had to have been truly awful for them to choose to not follow through with launch release. They were counting on Halo as a launch title. Now all this advertising is for nothing and really just a waste. I wonder how negative this impact is financially for Xbox - has to be a fortune. After this game comes out (whenever that is) heads are going to roll at 343.

They really really needed Halo Infinite, so I thought it was a crushing blow to the Series whatever consoles because they didn't have much to show for the next gen. But I think they bounced back well enough with that ZeniMax purchase that they'll be fine, even if the console has a slow start with few interesting games now. Down the line they now will have some very popular new games that they have the option to make exclusive.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Xbox Boss Phil Spencer On Series X Launch, Halo Infinite & Bethesda

Pretty wild that there's no concrete info on when Halo: Infinite is coming out now. I thought the gameplay trailer was mostly fine except for the lackluster graphics and it seemed like 343 was really onto something with the "Open World Halo" experience they were going for. Now it just seems like this game is very far from being finished and a lot has to be re-tooled.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

When they delayed it, I basically assumed Summer 2021 at the earliest so no new news isn’t that surprising. It was only delayed, what, 2 months ago? Wouldn’t be surprised it its next holiday season.

I thought the demo was fine and the idea of an open world Halo still excites me.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

With the art book being delayed to February as well, a lot of people think that may be the date. Im not convinced.

 

[K Fleur]

Went with the PS4 for this past generation. Halo is the only thing I miss about Xbox.

I put so many hours into Halo 3/Reach/4. I f***ing loved Halo Reach’s multiplayer. The most fun multiplayer experience I’ve ever had.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Went with the PS4 for this past generation. Halo is the only thing I miss about Xbox.

I put so many hours into Halo 3/Reach/4. I f***ing loved Halo Reach’s multiplayer. The most fun multiplayer experience I’ve ever had.

Respect

 

[Beau Knows]

Went with the PS4 for this past generation. Halo is the only thing I miss about Xbox.

I put so many hours into Halo 3/Reach/4. I f***ing loved Halo Reach’s multiplayer. The most fun multiplayer experience I’ve ever had.

Just curious why did you enjoyed Reach's multiplayer more than 3's?

I wasn't a fan of the armour abilities and I thought the maps were weaker than they were in Halo 3. Still a great game, but for me the pinnacle of Halo was the 3rd one.

 

[JaegerDice]

Went with the PS4 for this past generation. Halo is the only thing I miss about Xbox.

I put so many hours into Halo 3/Reach/4. I f***ing loved Halo Reach’s multiplayer. The most fun multiplayer experience I’ve ever had.

Reach is divisive among Halo fans, but I enjoyed the multiplayer as well.

It felt like the love-child of Halo and Shadowrun (several people from FASA moved to Bungie after the studio closed), and despite the fact that it was mismanaged from a marketing perspective and nobody played it... I f***ing loved that Shadowrun multiplayer shooter. One of the most creative and well-balanced class-based shooters ever made IMO.

Just curious why did you enjoyed Reach's multiplayer more than 3's?

I wasn't a fan of the armour abilities and I thought the maps were weaker than they were in Halo 3. Still a great game, but for me the pinnacle of Halo was the 3rd one.

Armor abilities are a taste issue. Some people liked them, other people didn't. Neither group is wrong.

As far as maps, I honestly think Reach and Halo 3 are pretty even. Halo 3 probably has the best maps between the two games, but also has the worst. I think when you include DLC map packs for both games and Forge creations, Reach is more consistent across the board while Halo 3 has the true classics that you replay over and over.

Reach also had more variety in the package. Between Arena, Social, Invasion and Firefight, there were just more modes to play, particularly more interesting objective-based modes.

The weapon balance in Reach was also better. Bloom is a touchy subject, but by applying an accuracy penalty for taking weapons outside their intended role in the sandbox, more weapons became viable. Once they removed bloom, the DMR predictably lorded over everything.


Personally speaking, I have fonder memories of playing Halo 3. There's no real objective reason beyond the fact that it was appointment gaming with all my friends, and it felt like the whole world was playing that game at the time. But I loved Reach too, and gun to head, I'd have to admit it was both the better overall package (campaign, competitive multiplayer, cooperative multiplayer) and probably the more ambitious and intelligently designed sandbox.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Just curious why did you enjoyed Reach's multiplayer more than 3's?

I wasn't a fan of the armour abilities and I thought the maps were weaker than they were in Halo 3. Still a great game, but for me the pinnacle of Halo was the 3rd one.

It could just be an age thing. I was 15 or so when Halo 2 came out and 18 or 19 when H3 came out. If I had to guess I'd say a lot of the people who played Reach and LOVED it were the people who were in that 16-20 years old age group whereas people like me were coming out of it.

I just didn't like the armor abilities in Reach. Basically everything else was fine. It was a great game, just didn't have "IT" like H3 and H2 did for me.

 

[K Fleur]

Just curious why did you enjoyed Reach's multiplayer more than 3's?

I wasn't a fan of the armour abilities and I thought the maps were weaker than they were in Halo 3. Still a great game, but for me the pinnacle of Halo was the 3rd one.

A few reasons, but the most important has to be that I was simply a better Reach player than a Halo 3 player

The armor abilities didn’t really faze me and I didn’t really use them. Sprint was the main “new” feature that helped me out. Map quality is interesting. I don’t really think I’ve ever compared the two but I don’t remember ever really hating very many Halo maps across any of the Xbox360 games.

And don’t get me wrong I loved Halo 3. I liked Halo 4 a lot too(was better at it than 3 also) but it felt like they were adding to many features similar to other popular shooters and it was starting to “feel less Halo” whatever that means

 

[Beau Knows]

Armor abilities are a taste issue. Some people liked them, other people didn't. Neither group is wrong

Personally I felt that they caused problems. Armour lock and sprint made it too easy for people to escape death, and slowed the game down. Jetpacks were fun though.

As far as maps, I honestly think Reach and Halo 3 are pretty even. Halo 3 probably has the best maps between the two games, but also has the worst. I think when you include DLC map packs for both games and Forge creations, Reach is more consistent across the board while Halo 3 has the true classics that you replay over and over.

I didn't like most of the forge maps that were in matchmaking. They're great for custom games. But I found them too frustrating for online play, they often caused performance issues, lacked the carefully crafted balance of the standard maps and didn't have visual clarity (which side of the map am I on, every wall/floor looks the same, there's not landmarks, etc) or style.

Reach also had more variety in the package. Between Arena, Social, Invasion and Firefight, there were just more modes to play, particularly more interesting objective-based modes.

I was not a fan of invasion, I liked the idea of a mode with an increased player count. Edit - actually I think I'm mistaken here, it was 6v6? For some reason I remember part of the gimmick for it was to have a larger player count than you'd normally get in BTB.

But I found the mode itself to be half-baked.

The weapon balance in Reach was also better. Bloom is a touchy subject, but by applying an accuracy penalty for taking weapons outside their intended role in the sandbox, more weapons became viable. Once they removed bloom, the DMR predictably lorded over everything.

Hmm maybe, although the addition of some of the armour abilities made some weapons feel cheap.

 

[Frankie Blueberries]

Personally I felt that they caused problems. Armour lock and sprint made it too easy for people to escape death, and slowed the game down. Jetpacks were fun though.

Agreed. It was very satisfying to pull off an armour lock when someone launched a rocket at you only for it to deflect back at them, though.

I was not a fan of invasion, I liked the idea of a mode with an increased player count. Edit - actually I think I'm mistaken here, it was 6v6? For some reason I remember part of the gimmick for it was to have a larger player count than you'd normally get in BTB.

But I found the mode itself to be half-baked.

I think it was 16 vs 16, or at least 8 vs 8. It wasn't a very innovative mode, though - it was just Rush from Battlefield Bad Company but with a King of the Hill capture point instead of planting/defusing a bomb. Still fun, especially with the vehicles in the 2nd stage of the map, but yeah - not very original.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I always thought Halo should’ve emphasized bomb-based games more than it did. It came off as an afterthought in most games.

Team Skirmish in general, actually. IMHO Halo is perfect for this playlist. More so than COD for sure.

 

[JaegerDice]

Armor abilities definitely weren't perfectly balanced out of the gate. No arguments there. Never had much of a problem with Armor lock at higher levels of Arena, not many players wanted an ability that turned them into a sitting duck. In BTB, I thought it was fine. A nice counter for splatter-happy vehicle whores.

Interestingly, by the end of Reach's run, armor lock was a non-factor in pretty much every mode. Dive-roll and Bubble Shield were the really easily abusable abilities. But by that point the reigns had been handed to 343 and they were working on Anniversary multiplayer, which obviously cut out armor abilities all together.

Agreed. It was very satisfying to pull off an armour lock when someone launched a rocket at you only for it to deflect back at them, though.



I think it was 16 vs 16, or at least 8 vs 8. It wasn't a very innovative mode, though - it was just Rush from Battlefield Bad Company but with a King of the Hill capture point instead of planting/defusing a bomb. Still fun, especially with the vehicles in the 2nd stage of the map, but yeah - not very original.

It wasn't really Rush from BF so much as it was Warzone from Killzone 2. It was just a seamless shift from one game-type to another over the course of BTB match. Depending on the map you got a mix of Territories, Assault (1-way neutral bomb), KOTH, all with standard BTB Slayer combat between. Combine that with the fact that you had Halo combat but with class abilities and loadouts, and it felt very fresh for Halo. It wasn't necessary innovative in the strictest sense, but it was a hell of a lot of fun.

I always thought Halo should’ve emphasized bomb-based games more than it did. It came off as an afterthought in most games.

Team Skirmish in general, actually. IMHO Halo is perfect for this playlist. More so than COD for sure.

Ranked Team Objective playlist was always the go-to for my friends and I. Sadly, since it required a bit more strategy and teamwork than Slayer or Swat, the playlist was always the least populated, and as you ranked up into the 40s, you could spend A LOT of time waiting on matches.


Reach does hold the distinction of having the single most fun weapon in any Halo sandbox. The breach-loaded grenade launcher. Remote detonation, EMP blast that could take out shields and stop vehicles dead, mastering this thing so you could ricochet shots around corners and clean up with the magnum. *chefs kiss*

It's not quite the same in Halo 5 and the less we talk about that sticky-bomb abomination in Halo 4, the better.

Frankly, the less anybody talks about Halo 4 at all, the better.