Halo Infinite

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JaySevenZero
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Halo Infinite

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Halo Infinite for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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Granny7989
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Re: 593: Halo Infinite

Post by Granny7989 »

Halo Infinite feels like a game where Microsoft and 343 are making a conscious effort to bringing the franchise back to an identity that fans are familiar with, while moving things forward in a way that keep things fresh.

The gunplay feels solid, with weapons feeling quite distinct from one another. The open nature of Zeta Halo feels like you have room to experiment around with how you want to tackle different combat. The enemy AI feels smart in a way that makes sense and the friendly AI marines can hold their own in combat effectively, at least on heroic difficulty.

Aside from the open world design Halo Infinite decided to incorporate for the first time, the big new mechanic the game has included is the grapple hook. I was somewhat weary when the grapple hook was first shown off in previews until I got to play around with it myself. The grapple hook makes traversing around the open world so much fun, allowing you to zip distances quickly and traverse the steepest of cliff faces with relative ease. The grapple hook can be very handy in combat by smashing yourself into enemies.

The presentation of Halo Infinite is top notch. Jen Taylor’s performance made me want to keep pressing forward through the story to see how the relationship of her character, The Weapon, with the stoic Master Chief played out over the course of the game.

There are a few notable drawbacks that the game does have. The story hooks that were setup in Halo 5: Guardians were binned off (for better or worse), most likely due to negative feedback from fans. It felt that there was little to no connecting story tissue between the events of this game and Halo 5: Guardians, so I was unclear on what led up to the events of Halo Infinite. The origins of The Banished are left unexplained to players, unless they had played Halo Wars 2, and the events that led up to the opening cutscene will likely leave many players scratching their heads with confusion. Much of the story is focused on the events that happened prior to Infinite, instead of the here and now with Chief and The Weapon.

While the open outdoor areas of Zeta Halo had various green lands and barren cliff faces to zip about with the grapple shot, the indoor areas that were played during the story mission were a different matter. The Forerunner corridors all had the same cold, metallic-grey look and feel to them. It would be nice to have some more visual variety those levels, but I suspect this is another result of the turbulent development process the game went through.

Co-op online was a mixed bag. While I had fun messing about in the open world with my friend, as well as coming up with different tactics to defeat the tougher bosses, the linear levels didn't feel like they were designed with co-op in mind. Firing your weapon and the hit being registered by an enemy had a noticeable delay. The most frequent bug was the game not registering the equipment that I wanted to switch to, which always seemed to happen in the middle of a firefight. The only resolution was to ask my friend to kill me to death, which he happily obliged. Thanks, Aaron.

Overall, I had a fun time playing through Halo Infinite. The game takes a good step of trying to win back the fans of the 21-year-old franchise by looking back at what made the Halo franchise so fun to play in first place. If Microsoft and 343 continue to make this upward trend for the Halo franchise, at least with the single player campaign, I look forward to seeing what they have next instore for us in the future.

Three word review: Not Quite Evolved
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Tolkientaters
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Re: 593: Halo Infinite

Post by Tolkientaters »

Halo Infinite is a weird game, in some ways it feels like a return to form, in others it feels half baked.

For personal history I played all the Bungie Halo games well after they were released and loved them. I skipped 4 and 5 since I wasn't really enjoying what I played of them. So when Halo Infinite was announced was cautiously optimistic since it looked like it was mostly going back the fundamentals.

The gameplay itself feels fantastic, it's faster more frenetic, but still distinctly Halo. However you're going through very samey environments and missions alternating between a cool but repetitive open world and boring hallways for the other portion. There's not much in the way of setpieces, but the more open-ended nature of the gameplay almost makes up for that. Then it ends on another cliffhanger.

For the multiplayer, it was honestly the first multiplayer shooter to really hook me in. I got a late start to gaming in general, so I very rarely play online games, but Halo's formula just worked for me. Not being about to for specific game modes early wasn't great, but even with that, I just loved playing Halo Infinite when it came out.

It's a disappointing game because it feels like it has a lot of unrealized potential, but I played it more than any other game the year it came out and loved it.
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Iain[Ian]Ianson
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Re: 593: Halo Infinite

Post by Iain[Ian]Ianson »

Some of the best shooting I’ve ever felt in a game.

But the vehicle physics being too twitchy, the world only having a single biome, no scarabs, and a slightly too formulaic open-world structure prevents this from reaching the heights of Halo 1 and 3 for me.

So close to greatness. I hope they get another shot at a big single player game again.

I played a few hours of the multiplayer (something I basically never do) and it was great.

So much so, that if and when I do get time to experiment with some online gaming again, this is literally the only modern game that comes to mind. I guess I’m lucky I don’t comprehend, let alone care about issues surrounding the game’s MP ‘meta’ setup. (I think I’m using that word correctly)
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Julia2000
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Re: 593: Halo Infinite

Post by Julia2000 »

Halo Infinite's the best Halo game and I am tired of hearing otherwise..

The shootings never been better. Shock and Banished weapons add even more tactical depth while throwing fusion coils or parrying jackal shields with your grapple hook are phenomenal.

Halo's complex combat puzzles, punishing difficulty, and tactical AI are perfect for an open world.

For the first time, the story succesfully adds pathos and good character arcs while retaining the big budget action feel.

The visuals are crisp and punctuated beautifully with primary colors in an age of muted and fuzzy cinematic games.

The multi-player is endlessly dynamic and evolving. Not to mention the cat ears.

Oh there's not enough content to grind it like a second job? Who cares! It has the best grapple hook in gaming!

I rest my case.
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seansthomas
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Re: 593: Halo Infinite

Post by seansthomas »

Halo Infinite was my first proper Halo experience. I bought an Xbox to give the series a try and initially was in love with the campaign. The combat felt weighty, the traversal fluid, the vehicles fun and the world dynamic. Much of the first half of the campaign felt exciting and unpredictable.

But as the game went on, those icons on the map grew repetitive and the indoor levels paled in comparison. Reduced to a frustratingly claustrophobic corridor shooter, Halo Infinite is average at best with frustrating boss fights.

I moved onto multiplayer and for a month had a blast. I loved the Big Battle maps most but also found myself enjoying Oddball and Capture the flag. The user base seemed solid and no matter how good people were, I always felt like I played a part as a lesser player. Something that few shooters, bar Splatoon and Titanfall 2, get right.

But things went wrong, fast. The new Seasons brought little new. Cosmetic rewards were poor and convoluted. The under levelled casual newcomers like me swiftly became so few and far between, that we became target practise, often costing our team matches by merely daring to join in. And the campaign map that had huge gaping DLC sized holes in never saw them get filled.

Communication broke down online too and it became clear that despite having solid foundations and a great base game, Halo Infinite was being left to rot.

I followed the Twitter updates on Forge for months hoping it would reset the game. And it's telling that I didn't even know it had launched until I googled it tonight.

That just about sums up Infinite for me. A huge waste of potential for a game that briefly shone brightly.
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Alex79
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Re: 593: Halo Infinite

Post by Alex79 »

Halo Infinite came at the perfect time to put a full stop on my own personal Halo odyssey towards the end of 2021. Having never really played any of the games since the first one, I embarked on a full series playthrough and was amazed how much I enjoyed every single one of them. Infinite felt like a culmination of everything the series had done up to that point. The guns had never felt so good, and the world we had to play in, coupled with the new traversal mechanics meant endless fun, zipping around the map, popping off head shots. The campaign itself, I thought, was good. It's a shame it trails off towards the end and becomes a bit of a generic corridor shooter within quite bland internal areas, and some of the bosses were a bit frustrating, and the variation of enemies was quite low, but the positives outweigh the negatives for me. Spawning in Warthogs and tanks, taking over rallying points and the kinetic feel to the combat was all super awesome fun. I'd like to see them build on this formula, because although Halo Infinite was great, the next game could be incredible.
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seansthomas
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Re: 593: Halo Infinite

Post by seansthomas »

seansthomas wrote: February 14th, 2023, 3:09 am Halo Infinite was my first proper Halo experience. I bought an Xbox to give the series a try and initially was in love with the campaign. The combat felt weighty, the traversal fluid, the vehicles fun and the world dynamic. Much of the first half of the campaign felt exciting and unpredictable.

But as the game went on, those icons on the map grew repetitive and the indoor levels paled in comparison. Reduced to a frustratingly claustrophobic corridor shooter, Halo Infinite is average at best with frustrating boss fights.

I moved onto multiplayer and for a month had a blast. I loved the Big Battle maps most but also found myself enjoying Oddball and Capture the flag. The user base seemed solid and no matter how good people were, I always felt like I played a part as a lesser player. Something that few shooters, bar Splatoon and Titanfall 2, get right.

But things went wrong, fast. The new Seasons brought little new. Cosmetic rewards were poor and convoluted. The under levelled casual newcomers like me swiftly became so few and far between, that we became target practise, often costing our team matches by merely daring to join in. And the campaign map that had huge gaping DLC sized holes in never saw them get filled.

Communication broke down online too and it became clear that despite having solid foundations and a great base game, Halo Infinite was being left to rot.

I followed the Twitter updates on Forge for months hoping it would reset the game. And it's telling that I didn't even know it had launched until I googled it tonight.

That just about sums up Infinite for me. A huge waste of potential for a game that briefly shone brightly.
Tbf I went back to this a few nights ago and other than getting rinsed repeatedly on BTBattle I had a great evening. Even won a few games of Oddball.

The new Season also looks great

https://twitter.com/Halo/status/1629186 ... kzCiw&s=19
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Squibster9
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Re: 593: Halo Infinite

Post by Squibster9 »

My first Halo experience. Initially impressive, smooth gunplay, loads of fun with the grapple hook, and set in a narrative enclosed sprawlin open-world design with plenty to explore, traverse and fight through. For a while I was hooked, but it just starts to grind. Finding the third of a fifth beacon down in the southern continent (or something else forgettable) I just couldn't go on. Gunplay still solid, but the games just lacked a soul for me. Just no overall satisfying narrative or gameplay purpose to the enjoyable but wearing and repetitive game loop. Hulking and broody master chief, well designed but forgettable enemies, a generic pilot and personality free fighting 'companions' can't drive a meandering story . Cortana was the only character I wanted to see the progression of. Not to mention the atrocious vehicle handling and cut and paste environments I'd previously forgiven. A shame, it had real polish and potential but failed to deliver a satisfying whole.

Squibster9 (saqib ahmad)
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Alex79
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Re: 593: Halo Infinite

Post by Alex79 »

I love the way the vehicles handle in Halo :lol: Genuinely, I think the Warthog is an absolute blast to hoon around in!
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AndrewElmore
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Re: 593: Halo Infinite

Post by AndrewElmore »

This one is difficult for me to talk about given my knowledge of what went on internally during the development process, but suffice it to say I'm amazed at what the final product ended up releasing as. The story felt strange to me, but I don't think there's a lot they could have done after the events of Halo 5 without effectively ignoring it, which they did a pretty good job of. Infinite is sort of a soft reboot in that sense.

The open-world design taking inspiration from Combat Evolved's second level is an interesting idea, and I think it largely works here, because it's a big ol' Ubisoft-style world but it's not choked with cruft. There's great combat to be had, excellent momentum in traversal (the grappling hook!!), and plenty of exploring to be done. No one's sending you on radiant side quests, or if they are, I didn't notice them because I was too busy having fun.

Boss fights are still conceptually a difficult thing to pull off within Halo's frame work, and I don't think it was necessarily nailed here either but I'll give them credit for trying something.

Honestly though, much as I enjoyed the main campaign, I've spent an incalculable amount of time in Tactical Slayer, their new take on the classic SWAT mode. Halo multiplayer has never felt this good. It's absolutely incredible, what they managed to achieve here. I just wish there were some more bespoke maps, instead of adding UGC maps into the rotation. Oh well. Given all the layoffs at Microsoft Games and 343i (if I'm recalling correctly) and how much buggier it's gotten recently, I'm not getting my hopes up for more support on that front any time soon. But I'd love to be wrong!

The live service hooks feel very strange and distinctly non-Halo to me, but I might just be an old man yelling at clouds again.

All in all, Halo Infinite is a complex package of discrete pieces that don't always fit neatly into a whole singular piece, but my prevailing emotion leftover from my time spent with the game is still "I can't believe it, they actually did the damn thing!"
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sheeldz
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Re: 593: Halo Infinite

Post by sheeldz »

This has to be a review in two parts:

The multiplayer is just Halo gameplay perfected. I don't engage with the online competitive stuff and I'm too old to understand Battle Passes, but with four of my mates and loads of bots the games have been a mixture of hilarious, infuriating, and very very fun, and sometimes all in one match. The first few maps definitely needed more variety but the ones we returned to - Live Wire for example - felt like they were perfected in terms of the modes, Slayer and Oddball being particularly amusing.

Chasing the Call of Duty and Fortnite dollars makes sense, especially for Game Pass, but frankly I personally don't get it.

The addition of Forge maps and the new maps being added the game opened up and we loved going back in and experimenting with good and well designed maps, and one where it was a huge Walmart with tanks that might have been the silliest online matches we've had since DK mode in GoldenEye 007.

The single player campaign was good verging on great. It felt like a really well designed idea - Halo on a large map with different objectives was a sound concept and executed almost perfectly... but it was just missing variety, in not just the missions and the objectives, but the landscapes and level design. It needed more, and there seemed to be a perfect platform for 343 Industries to drop new story missions into it... but that just didn't happen. That being said, I did do everything - all the squads, all the High Value Targets - because the open world was a fun place to play in, but it had so much promise. I didn't engage with the story - I never have with the series really - and couldn't have told you if it was even taking place on a Halo ring - which might be a damning statement.

A missed opportunity. It feels like one of the best games of the gen that just never lifted off the ground, and what happens with Halo next... I have no idea.

Three word review: Halo: Combat Dethroned
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