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

[x Tame Impala]

Maybe the reversion back to MC’s original armor is a sign that they’re going back to a more simple and straightforward multiplayer experience

 

[JaegerDice]

The pistol was too overpowered in 5, the maps sucked, the spartan pound sucked, the game modes generally sucked. And I completely disagree with the actual gameplay being better. It was not pure Halo in the sense that 2&3 were. I know it’s easy to get lost in nostalgia but ever since Halo 3 it seems that all the other Halo games were drifting too far away from what made the game so fun in the first place. If 5 was an attempt at a return to that then it failed

I didn't think it was overpowered at all. It was handily beaten by any precision weapon outside mid-range. Hell, a good BR user could crush it at mid-range too, it was only close-mid range where it was a god tier weapon.

It beats having ARs and SMGs ruling the day in close-range. God forbid players that have the skill to land their shots are rewarded over spray-and-pray scrubs who happened to luck into turning the right corner at the right time. And guns like the shotgun were there to own AR and SMG users at close-range too.

If the Halo 5 pistol was the same as the Halo CE magnum, then absolutely, it would have been OP. But it wasn't. It had a clear purpose in the sandbox, but was outgunned in many situations by any number of the weapons that could be picked up on the map (unlike the Halo CE pistol, which pretty much rendered every weapon other than shotty, RL and sniper redundant).

Agreed. I'm hoping they put a bigger emphasis on the single player storyline/co-op, map design, game modes, and expanding the possibilities with Forge and including more custom maps into playlists. They don't need to screw around with the gameplay so much, as it almost always backfires (the armor lock and bloom in Reach was dumb, the additions in 4 felt forced and unnecessary, and I didn't like the tweaks made in 5 either). DOOM 2016 showed that gameplay can be simple/straight forward and still enjoyable.

Doom 2016 added a TON to the gameplay loop. Mobility (not unlike Halo 5), greater emphasis on melee, far greater verticality, and of course, the ability to heal with glory kills. It kept the ton and pace of classic Doom, and really not much else. That's why is succeeded so well in keeping long-time fans happy, while evolving the franchise for a new generation.

If Id released the Doom game equivelant to what Halo fans wanted from 343, it wouldn't even have mouse-look.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I didn't think it was overpowered at all. It was handily beaten by any precision weapon outside mid-range. Hell, a good BR user could crush it at mid-range too, it was only close-mid range where it was a god tier weapon.

I didn’t have that experience at all. I’ve been pretty proficient with the BR and DMR in all previous games and I remember getting 4-5 shotted with the pistol from mid-long range wayyyy too often.

I’ll give Halo 5 another try sometime in the next few weeks and get back to you, but I remember my experience being a bad one for the 2 months I played it.

 

[MMC]

Launch title for the Scarlett!

 

[JaegerDice]

Looks like they went back from the, darker, sleeker F-22 Raptor look for Chief's armor back to the blocky, teenage-mutant-ninja-turtle green armor from Halo 2/3.

Are they just retconning the whole series back to pre-Halo 4? I'd be down with that... just as long as the more modern, cooler-looking armor is unlockable for multiplayer.

 

[JaegerDice]

Double post.

 

[Turin]

I just want Halo 3 era back. It was nice to have a shooter that was loaded with content, had competitive multiplayer, wasn’t full of micro transactions and was consistently fun.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I just want a fantastic story again. Halo doesn't need to follow the trend of all of these run of the mill FPS that are the same freaking thing over and over again, the one thing I loved about Halo was the solo game play with the campaign. I know online is all the rage and I enjoyed it, but being a Halo OG, it just irks me that they are drifting further away from what made it fantastic.

 

[S E P H]

As someone who thought that Halo 5 was easily the worst of the Halo games, I am actually cautiously optimistic about it. Sure we got no gameplay, but that's probably more to do with Project Scarlett not being revealed than it has to do with a lack of content from 343's end. Trailers don't make games, but I've been fully impressed by both of these.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I just want Halo 3 era back. It was nice to have a shooter that was loaded with content, had competitive multiplayer, wasn’t full of micro transactions and was consistently fun.

MC Collection works and looks great now. You can have it back but subsequent games should not mirror it. After going back and playing H2, H3 for a while it gets boring fairly quickly. It's not like when it 1st came out and a bit excruciating as your options are limited in a fire-fight to staffing and hopping.

Halo has really stayed away from Micro and Map packs as well.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I feel the opposite, it was Halo 4 that went chasing COD, and Halo 5 that thankfully dragged things back on track.


Halo 5 was a huge return to form as far as multiplayer design. They abandonned loadouts, put weapons back on the maps in fixed spawn placements, rebalanced the sandbox so every weapon was viable and added a mobility suite to improve verticality and game speed, with abilitiew that every player had access to from spawn. Yes, they added an ADS option, but it was purely visual, aiming down sights did nothing to improve the practical accuracy, range, reticule-friction of any weapon. It was purely included for player comfort and could be ignored by any long-time Halo fan.

Halo 5’s failings were a lack of truly excellent maps and a lack of modes. The big bet on Warzone as a replacement for the BTB maps and modes was a bad bet. Which sucks. But the actual moment to moment gameplay in Arena, if you like pure, competitive Halo, is the best the series has beem since Halo 2. If you’re into more casual stuff like Fiesta or whatever, yeah, Halo 5 wasnt going to please you. They had to refocus on the fundamentals after Halo 4. Give me more of that with better maps and more modes and Im happy.

Agree with all of this, 5 was much better than 4. Arena was good and Fiesta was actually quite hilarious. Maps, for the most part, did pretty much suck

 

[Warden of the North]

How long until some idiot game director thinks that the fans want to play anyone but chief and attempts to shoehorn in some other player character? Theyve already tried and failed twice.

 

[Beau Knows]

How long until some idiot game director thinks that the fans want to play anyone but chief and attempts to shoehorn in some other player character? Theyve already teied and failed twice.

Personally I don't care if you play as the chief anymore. He's not exactly an interesting character, he's mostly an empty vessel for the player. It would also be nice if the MC storyline eventually came to a satisfying ending at some point instead of just dragging him along for 40 more games.

 

[JaegerDice]

How long until some idiot game director thinks that the fans want to play anyone but chief and attempts to shoehorn in some other player character? Theyve already teied and failed twice.

I don't really have a huge problem not playing as Chief. Neither Halo 2 nor Halo 5 campaigns suffered as a result of that, those games suffered for other much more significant design decisions.

And Halo Reach has arguably the best campaign in the series from a storyline perspective, and you play as a cipher.

I think if you give players a well designed campaign with a compelling narrative to play through, they'd be fine playing as somebody other than Master Chief. He's not exactly Tony Soprano or Walter White as far as nuanced characterization.

 

[Warden of the North]

I don't really have a huge problem not playing as Chief. Neither Halo 2 nor Halo 5 campaigns suffered as a result of that, those games suffered for other much more significant design decisions.

And Halo Reach has arguably the best campaign in the series from a storyline perspective, and you play as a cipher.

I think if you give players a well designed campaign with a compelling narrative to play through, they'd be fine playing as somebody other than Master Chief. He's not exactly Tony Soprano or Walter White as far as nuanced characterization.

Halo 2 had enormous fan backlash when they went with the Arbiter. It was less so with Locke, but still present.

And youre right about Reach. I adore its campaign and the stuff Bungie put into it that we only see in that game. It is likely my favourite Halo. But I leave it out of this discussion as it was never marketed or sold as a MC experience.

 

[Thread The Needle]

How long until some idiot game director thinks that the fans want to play anyone but chief and attempts to shoehorn in some other player character? Theyve already tried and failed twice.

Idk man I liked playing the Arbiter. If it's something like that again I'm ok with it.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

I'm okay with the Arbiter coming back, especially if it meant Keith David came back in the fold.

 

[LarKing]

Halo 2 had enormous fan backlash when they went with the Arbiter. It was less so with Locke, but still present.

And youre right about Reach. I adore its campaign and the stuff Bungie put into it that we only see in that game. It is likely my favourite Halo. But I leave it out of this discussion as it was never marketed or sold as a MC experience.

Man I don’t know anyone who had a problem with that. I’m sure there was some backlash, but personally all of my friends and I loved this.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

So.... what are the expectations with this game and the direction they likely go in?


Halo franchise is easily my all time favorite franchise. I spent something like 1000+ hours playing matchmaking games alone in Halo 3 from 2007-2010, and probably just as much time in custom games and forge as well. I was also pretty heavily invested into the competitive scene during that time as well(90% of my gameplay was in the MLG playlist, high 40s rank and played on a few strong competitive teams in competitions, etc)..


When Halo:Reach came out I thought the franchise quality took a step back overall(The loss of a 1-50 ranking system wasn't something I could never fully get over) but I still played a lot of Reach and competitively as well.

However, I thought Halo 4 was a complete pile of trash and essentially stopped playing anything Halo related within a month of Halo 4s release. And haven't bought a "new" Halo game since then so I have no idea what the franchise is like now with Halo 5.


But, I did buy MCC and when 343 really took that game head on and started updating the servers and improving matchmaking in the last 12 months or so, I gradually started coming back and now its become a game that I play probably 8-10 hours a week, still nowhere near my 2008 days but it probably makes up 95% of my gaming right now.



Anyway, the TLR of this is what's the expected direction Halo heads in and how is the competitive scene on it? I'd love to get Infinite and really dive back into the hardcore competitive side of Halo again. I was 15 years old the last time I played competitive Halo and 10 years later I'd certainly love to get back into it again, if its heading in a good direction.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Wait..this is a Scarlett exclusive? I thought it was coming out for Xbox One, Windows and Scarlett.

Also, I'd rather they stick with Master Chief for now unless it's Arbiter. His levels were boss.

 

[DCDM]

Wait..this is a Scarlett exclusive? I thought it was coming out for Xbox One, Windows and Scarlett.

Also, I'd rather they stick with Master Chief for now unless it's Arbiter. His levels were boss.

It's not Scarlett exclusive. It's going to be a launch title alongside Scarlett though.

 

[Jussi]

It's not Scarlett exclusive. It's going to be a launch title alongside Scarlett though.

Yes the thread title is misleading. The dev kits allow you to change between platforms (XboX One/S/X/Scarlett) at the touch of a button.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

It's not Scarlett exclusive. It's going to be a launch title alongside Scarlett though.

Ok, that makes a lot more sense. I’m sure I’ll get a Scarlett on launch, but it’s good to know I’ll be able to play it on my X regardless

 

[Beau Knows]

And PC

 

[x Tame Impala]

Been replaying Halo 5 the last few days. It’s good. I think the pistol is still way overpowered though. It should be easy-pickin’s for me if I have a BR and the other guy has a pistol. Instead it’s an actual firefight, and I don’t particularly like that.

Not a fan of the Spartan Smash thing either. The 4-way directional boosts aren’t bad, actually I really like them, but that melee attack is dumb IMO