A Fan’s Thoughts.
I want to first state that I was extremely excited for the future of Halo, as I was pretty confident this time around, granted this was only a look at the campaign, I was a tad bit underwhelmed for some things. I’m a huge multiplayer and firefight fan too, don’t get me wrong I absolutely love Halo’s story, but some gameplay of either of those two would have been nice.
I want to get into the story first, seeing as that will be my absolute go to when I first boot it up on launch, whether it’s my pc or series X. For the first time in a while, I actually felt overwhelmed from a campaign perspective, which is far from bad (for me at least). I mean open-world Halo?! That’s incredible in itself and was totally left field from what I was expecting, no mistake, I think the linear way of missions is really good but this seems better and entirely new and exciting to explore, I enjoy open-world RPG a ton and Halo getting an open-world is beyond me! From playing so many open-world games, I’m not disappointed from a graphical point of view as not only is it just a small demo but open-world is probably really hard to focus on all the small details. As long as I can see, learn, and explore lots of new and creative locations, I’m completely fine with everything shown. I can’t wait to see how things go down in the Halo Universe, from the end of Halo 5, where John reunites with Halsey and Arbiter, to events where UNSC learn of the Banished and ultimately come down to being defeated. After the reveal I had so many questions for the story, especially after finding out the demo is SEVERAL hours into the story, like where is everyone? What happened to Infinity? Why is it that only John seemed to be alive? Where is his team? Where is Locke and his team? Is Halsey alive? Palmer? Lasky? Where’s our favorite alien man, Arbiter? Hello, prometheans? Will the flood return as a surprise? (Last one is rhetorical/redacted of course). Just so many -Yoink- questions that I cannot wait to be answered.
Secondly, I want to talk about the sandbox. I think the grappling hook is awesome and will really add more versatility and movement to the sandbox, that being said, I’m 50/50 on sprint. I know this isn’t the same franchise from long ago, the “Bungie Era” to put it, but I think having a sprint with no thrusters will fit really well with the grappling hook. I can already see myself getting into crazy spots and angles with grappling potential but this is all up to map design. The drop shield I also think is awesome, really nice to know it’s very similar to a Halo 3 style of ability. It’s a one time use, meaning you will have to think on where and when it needs to be placed. Alright, now weapons, from what I’ve seen today so far both gameplay and articles, I’m really happy to see new weapons, as long as they don’t replace the classics, such as the Bulldog replacing the classic 8 gauge shotgun (read from this IGN article). I get that in the story, you’ll need better weapons to defeat more highly advanced opponents but replacing weapons that have been around for a long time, just isn’t cool. Throwing away good nostalgia isn’t healthy for Halo. Look at the Halo 5 rocket launcher for example, a majority of people weren’t stoked when that came around, especially the long time fans. Which I know isn’t the only demographic the team is trying to pull in. That also being said, people often ask for a Halo BR (Battle Royal). I’d agree that the fanbase isn’t entirely too keen on such a thing but the potential for it now is pretty high! In-fact, I can see us dropping from pods like ODST style or like Delta Halo, from Halo 2, and roaming a specific area or arena on the Halo ring. Grappling to get around and such, just way too much potential there! I see a lot of talk about clamber and sliding, while sliding could disappear and I wouldn’t mind as a player, clamber I think is still a good addition, after some of these years of playing mostly Destiny and some Halo 5 here and there, for clamber to just go away would make people second guess themselves. Too many games have it nowadays so I couldn’t really grasp it going away just for the sake of “balance”, granted grappling hooks could change that pace entirely, still too early to assume everything until I get my hands on it first. To summarize here, from weapons to mobility, I think things are looking great with some exceptions.
In addition to what I’ve talked about so far, I want to know if Warzone Firefight is coming back or if anything entirely new or similar is also coming. I love the huge fights with other players, going against waves and waves of enemies/bosses with interesting equipment and vehicles but also don’t mind a simple approach like Halo 3: ODST’s firefight. I think a firefight with it’s own unique catch would be frickin dope! I’m talking like a leaderboard, it’s own leveling process, and loadouts (with proper balance)! Make is separate from multiplayer, so that it stands out as an entirely focused but different style gamemode. I’d like to see level design on different areas of the ring, such a snowy/winter environment, a desert, beach, I mean the options are limitless with the potential that the Halo Rings have, it’s insane, go berserk on thinking and design, pump those creative muscles the team has!
One more thing I wanted to talk about was monetization, and I think I speak for everyone when it comes to micro-transactions, like the previous REQ packs, but from what we know, it doesn’t seem to look like it’s taking that direction again, which I would be entirely grateful for. I know that with the new Xbox, inflation and stuff like that will take its toll but I wanna know how it will be established in Halo, could we see DLC map packs or even campaign add-ons? Even if that campaign add-on were to tell a different story from a different character or take place in different areas brand new, I’m a huge fan of Halo 3 ODST, 2nd to most favorite in fact. Shoot, I’d pay an extra $40 for a proper DLC pack, especially with the new Slip Space Engine taking place. I’m hoping stuff like that isn’t going to be incredibly hard to add like I see in other games.
In conclusion, I’m super excited for Halo Infinite and think 343i will really knock it out of the park. I’ve been a long time fan, I remember playing Halo CE when I was 4! Watching the E3 demo for Halo 2, and finally earning my own Xbox 360 after going to a friends house and playing Halo 2 and 3 for my first time, jumping into Halo 3 ODST at night to feel truly immersed with the rainy midnight, experiencing Halo 4’s incredible story that told us John is still a human, not machine, to finally laying it all down on Cortana’s inevitable return and Chief, along with his team, going AWOL where it was a spartan hunting THE spartan. I want to thank anyone who thoughtfully read through my thoughts and especially want to thank everyone at 343i and the fellow teams for taking up the Halo mantle and making it their best effort to create an experience Halo fans can enjoy. Super pumped and cannot wait for the next chapter of Halo.