Addressing a ton of Halo Infinite issues in a big, meaty post

Games Halo Infinite
, , , ,
1

Note: these are issues I PERSONALLY have with the game.

Before I go on giving my feedback, I must say I am enjoying this game quite a bit - both alone for a couple games at a time and vibing for a few hours with friends. There’s a lot I love about Infinite so far and I appreciate the work and care they’ve put into it. However, I believe if the following issues could be addressed, discussed, or perhaps be proven as “non-issues” to me… this game would be 100x more enjoyable for much, much longer!

ISSUE ONE: The Aiming (Effects of fast strafing, controller aim assist, weirdly laggy aim?)

I like to consider myself pretty damn good at shooters in general. I don’t really like playing ranked or sweating super hard. That being said, I’ve played every Halo multiplayer on console and all of the MCC games on PC. I’ve played a lot of shooters on PC as well - I’m saying this to justify that I’m not just complaining because I’m trash - I’m not…

The aiming on PC is unnaturally hard. The first part of this is that sometimes aiming feels somewhat laggy, as if I’m not actually running the game at 120fps like it says I am. Secondly, the strafing acceleration is ridiculously quick. It feels like trying to shoot a fly with a rock in a slingshot - constantly buzzing around with no way of predicting movement unless they are just moving in one direction. Strafing has always been an effective strategy to outplay someone, but in Infinite, it feels as if the strafing it unnecessarily fast compared to previous titles.
This wouldn’t be as much of an issue as I think it is if there was a way to disable cross-play. I can tell when someone is using a controller, and more times than not, they absolutely wreck me due to controllers’ absurdly strong aim assist and bullet magnetism.

— What are your thoughts on the strafe speed, feeling of aiming, and controllers’ aim assist + bullet magnetism? Do you think there should be an option to disable cross-play?

ISSUE TWO: The Playlists (Lack thereof, limited selection, map selection)

I really, RELLY hope this is because the game is technically in “beta,” but how can they seriously only give us two options to queue for in multiplayer? Personally, I enjoy playing any mode, but sometimes I really want to just grind out some 4v4 slayer with my squad for a while. But, we can’t do that because we’re only given the “Quick Play” option that includes all 4v4 game types randomly given to you.

On top of this, the number of modes feels pretty empty. There’s no SWAT, ffa, btb heavies, etc. I understand not having the more niche modes like grifball and fiesta, but things like SWAT are such a staple to a lot of players that it’s crazy to me that it’s not something you can play right now. Again, I’m hoping they update the playlists on December 8th.

Regarding the maps: I think all the maps are great. None of them are annoying to play on (in my opinion, I know some people disagree heavily), and they all look stunning. However, there’s only 7 of them. Really? Seven? And all three BTB maps are in the same biome. And again, I’m sure they will add at least a couple more on December 8th, but this is a pretty big concern for me. No matter how good the maps are, having such a small selection can get stale very quickly.

— Do y’all agree with these statements? I would be very surprised if the amount of content in the beta is the actual launch content.

ISSUE THREE: The Cosmetics (Armor core specific attachments, coatings, visors, etc)

I was stunned to find out that the customization was marginally more limited than I thought we were promised. I don’t really need to elaborate on this, as anyone can see how ridiculous this is! I unlocked a chest attachment via the battlepass, only to spend some time confused out of my mind on why I couldn’t equip it to the Mark VII armor core. Not being able to mix and match legs, arms, helmets, attachments, etc. from all the different armor sets is so restrictive and honestly makes me not even want to bother with the cosmetics at all. And don’t even get me started on the fact that coatings are specific to armor sets… to put it bluntly: that’s actually stupid.

— How do you guys think they should handle the cosmetics? Is this the right choice, or do they need to rethink how they set it all up?

ISSUE FOUR: The Progression (Battlepass, currency, XP)

Ok, this one is pretty widely covered in the community already. I understand that 343 has responded promptly with a slight hot-fix earlier today, but I don’t think it’s enough. Not having an overall level like there has been is unfortunate. Not having performance based XP gain is also unfortunate. In previous titles, it was so rewarding to see the post game personal medal presentation and XP gain. Seeing myself level up through the ranks in MCC was a good time, even if it didn’t provide me with anything. It was a good way to see how much time someone has put into the game, and if you need to lookout for them when the match starts! The XP gain is far too slow with only being challenges, and the fact that it only counts towards a battlepass is disconcerting.

Ignoring the abysmal XP gain and restrictive customization, the battelpass itself is fine.

As for the premium currency: it’s WAY too expensive. $20 for a coating that can only be used on one armor core… really? Honestly, it’s fine if they keep the prices for the actually cosmetics the same, but there needs to be a way to gain this premium currency just by playing the game as well. Even if it is just a little bit - let’s say 100 per week if you really grind - it would make the shop so much more incentivizing. Having 95% of all cosmetics locked behind a paywall in a way takes away some of the fun of playing the game. And yes I know the game is free to play, but that doesn’t excuse absurdly high prices. In fact, I think the pricing model they have chosen will lose them money because less people are going to want to buy these things if they are so damn expensive!

— How much easier do you think XP should be gained? Do you think an overall level like in MCC is needed? What do you think of the pricing model?

SMALLER ISSUES

There’s just a couple more minor things I think could be improved upon:

  1. Some vehicles seem much too flimsy. For example, the banshee is massively outshined by the wasp. The warthog and mongoose along with their variants are fun to drive, but they flip over so often that it’s almost certainly a death trap to try and do a drive-by on the enemy team. I have yet to actually see a scorpion or wraith, so I have no comment on those yet.
  2. The commando feels extremely underpowered to all of it’s alternatives.
  3. The drop wall is useless. It needs a buff!

– What other small issues can you think of?

SUMMARY

Like I said in the beginning, I’m having a great time with this game. But for the sake of it’s health and longevity, I strongly believe these issues need to be addressed, discussed, looked into, whatever you want to call it.
I would love to hear what everyone has to say about what I’ve written - do you agree, disagree? Why or why not? Are there other major issues you think need to be addressed?

Have a nice day, I’ll do my best to respond to all the replies for a healthy discussion.

23 Likes
2

Fantastic summary. I would add to that list, in order of importance (in my opinion of course)

  1. Radar is very small, both in terms of UI and range
  2. Lack of Friendly Fire in social games (in particular because it makes grenades and other explosives much stronger) - the community is not evenly split on this, almost everyone wants Friendly Fire on
  3. Constant grenade-spamming (partially due to issue #2, and partially because grenades are bouncier and have a bigger damage radius than older games)
  4. Seeking weapons are harder to hit with than non-seeking weapons, making them rather ineffective
  5. TTK, especially when getting in a 2v1, feels very short
7 Likes
3

@Blizzarus
Thanks! I pretty much agree with all these points as well. As for the ttk, I feel like it’s fine when in a 1v1 situation, but I find that rarely happens and in an Xv1 you’re right - very quick deaths (obviously it’s going to be a faster death if its an Xv1).

Adding on to the lack of friendly fire, I hope they bring back player collision. Not only can the lack of collision be abused in some cases, but there was a lot of fun involved with that in previous titles.

2 Likes
4

I’ve got nothing to add. You’ve hit all the loose nails squarely on the head.

2 Likes
5

This is Spot on! I agree with pretty much all of it. I think they can work through these details and get kinks out of it. They seems to be on top of things, so I have faith in them. Only time will tell though.

2 Likes
6

Another small but noticeable thing is the lack of hitmarkers for high fire-rate weapons (I have brought this up in previous posts and will continue to bring it up until they say something about it). The BR only gives 1 hitmarker per burst even if you hit all 3 bullets. The AR and chaingun are the same, only giving hitmarkers every 3 or so bullets. This makes shots feel inconsistent and it is making it difficult for me to know how to adjust my aim mid-fight.

3 Likes
7

@l_RedJoker_l
They do seem to be paying attention to the community fairly well. The only thing I’m worried they won’t change much is the customization system. I’m assuming that it’s the way it is because of corporate, not because the actual devs thought it would be good this way. But, who knows?

2 Likes
8

@BepisYeet
I noticed that tonight as well. It would definitely be much more useful and satisfying to have the correct amount of hitmarkers.

2 Likes
9

Totally agreed!I also have same issues with you!
The radar is too small to see, it’s very hard to notice it in a fight.
The grenades and ammo UI are all on the low right,and it’s less comfortable than classic Halo like Halo3.
The bullet-magnism needs to be improved.
The aim-assist of the sidekick is too weak to exist,and its power needs to be buffed.
The ma40 rifle is too powerful even in a long distance, it needs nerfed.
The distinction of allies and enemies needs improvement,like adding some lights like Titanfall2

1 Like
10

My guess has to be corporate.

Even if the current armour segregation did form naturally from good intentions, there’s no way nobody at 343 saw how gamer-unfriendly it was, and raised their hand.

2 Likes
11

the community is not evenly split on this, almost everyone wants Friendly Fire on

What really? Friendly fire in BTB would be awful, especially if they increase the presence of heavier vehicles (which they absolutely need to do). Maybe a solution could be to turn it on in 4v4 but keep it off in BTB?

4 Likes
12

The prices for the cosmetics in this game are a colossal joke, why so expensive? Why isn’t there many earnable items? Why put pay walls on armour cores? I get that it’s a free game, but this trend is not for halo, I mean, are you seriously going to tell us this is the right way to do this? I would gladly pay for a full price halo experience where I can earn my armour and choose what I like. And don’t get me started on the gameplay lag spikes…

Don’t get me wrong, the gameplay is amazing, yes, it’s a beta. But come on!

1 Like
13

Pretty much agree with everything OP said and what you added. I’d like to see some weapon tuning as well but these other issues are higher priority imo.

1 Like
14

  • Rank match pools and skill based levels rather then wins (ie you touched the flag , or held the oddball ) too many players focusing on slayer for all objectives.

  • Preference search for matchmaking ( ie 1 stronghold game out of 24 games is not gonna help me get that challenge)

  • Challenge screen in your menu so you can see your challenges.

2 Likes
15

Yeah my personally biggest issue with this game, which has been mentioned a lot, is why can’t we earn some form of credits in game? It’s like £100+ for all the cosmetics in the pre release shop???

Normally I wouldnt be too bothered by cosmetics but that’s because usually I can atleast make my character in any game that I play, unique. Here there are so many limited options literally 3/4 players in a match have the same skins, and when someone looks different its a bot half the time, its so strange.

Edit: I also forgot to mention that in the latest update they made exp gain worse somehow

The gameplay is fantastic but it feels like some of the unfriendly interfaces and practices are from a mobile game.

2 Likes
16

The playlists are the biggest gameplay complaint for me now. I am really sick of playing capture the flag, personally. And I miss my SWAT and infection games, although I’m sure they’re coming and I can wait for them. But in the meantime, PLEASE just add different matchmaking options for the existing gametypes. Master Chief Collection didn’t have any map/gametype voting so I’m not optimistic about that coming back, but I would really prefer to have that option back. And can we get persistent servers? Having to matchmake after every round is a little annoying.

Radar is also small, to the point where it feels borderline useless to me. You don’t notice an enemy until they are on top of you.

Vehicle spawns could use a little rework. Scorpion and wraith spawns shouldn’t be common, but as is I think I have encountered 1 singular wraith and maybe 4 scorpions in my 20 hours of playing. And I haven’t been able to use any of them.

Why split fireteams up in game? There doesn’t seem to be much of a point to squads right now besides their names being green so you can see them easier. I don’t care about the random people in the game, I want to see my fireteam easier so I can coordinate with them.

The blue/red outlines for players make it essentially impossible to sneak by enemies since you’re constantly just a bright red glowing target. It also kinda defeats its own purpose of letting everyone use their own armor color, because instead of your “custom” color everyone pretty much either looks red or blue unless you’re right next to them

Non gameplay complaints:
Customization is terrible, and my biggest disappointment with the game. The coatings are a massive downgrade from being able to choose my primary/secondary color. I don’t see any purpose to armor cores, if I payed for the season pass why can I not mix it with the armor I would get for free anyway? You can only play as one spartan at a time anyway, it only halves your choices for armor. And there aren’t a lot of options to begin with. And I miss customizing my emblem, the emblem/nameplate combos are boring and barely give you any options as is.

Progression is also painful. Reach did it well- earn credits for playing games and your performance in games. Challenges were fun bonuses for some extra credits. As it is right now, my only means of progression is doing challenges, which makes me want to run around and find that one gun I need kills with to finish my challenge instead of helping my team with whatever our objective is.

4 Likes
17

Good post OP. The game foundation is solid. Beyond the progression system, many of these changes could be easily done and would improve the game without breaking the foundation. My wish list:

  • 25-meter radar should be standard for social/BTB
  • Turn on all player collision
  • Buff most of the tier two weapons so they are worth picking up (heatwave, hydra, ravager in particular pls)
  • Make the commando a little easier to aim with and make it the starting weapon for social 4v4/ffa
  • BR or Commando starts in BTB
  • Take launch site out of 4v4 (it’s a terrible map, sorry)
  • Turn off skill based matchmaking for social (let ranked be ranked and social be social)
  • Need more playlist selection. Not having a default FFA playlist is criminal
1 Like
18

I agree, I’d like to see hit markers per bullet. It would help give me feedback on how to get more bullets hitting per burst with the br.

The flip side of this is that i have to rely on my own estimation of how well i’m aiming to know how well i’m down in the fight.

1 Like
19

The game does not feel good or smooth at 1440p … I have to lower my resolution to 1080 to get 144fps… am I doing something wrong? I have an RTX 2080 super… what should I do?

1 Like
20

@WidowMakervVv
As far as I can tell, the game is just not very well optimized at the moment. I also have a 2080 and a good CPU, but I get around 80-100 fps (compared to the usual 200+ I get in most other, similar games on High graphics). My FPS doesn’t seem to really change between low and ultra settings.
Hopefully this is something that improves over time.