Completely agree. I usually only play ranked so SBMM is not a concern for me but the ranked system is really stressful and saps my enjoyment of the game in ways previous Bungie entries didn’t.
But it doesn’t stop there. The campaign also feels off. I love the game play in this outing but I still can’t manage to get through the campaign a second time. I’ve started and stopped numerous times.
The game just feels flat. Open world doesn’t suit Halo. Ammo refills and vehicles that can be summoned on demand along with too many Destiny style bullet sponge bosses make the game feel less like Halo than sprint or armor abilities ever could.
I hope they go back to the drawing board on Halo and let it sit for awhile. In a few years time deliver a solid linear first person shooter that reboots the franchise much like Doom and God of War did in the recent past. I hope 343 abandons the live service model and just delivers a full featured multiplayer suite. I also hope they keep the core gamepaly of Infinite since it is amongst the best ever. The movement, the shooting, the music, it all feels right.
The weapons.
They just arent fun to use. Too many of them require a level of skill to use them effectively.
Ive got over 3000 games and i still HATE:
The skewer
The shock rifle
The shock pistol
The commando
The plasma pistol
The pulse carbine
The gravity hammer
Mangler
Ravager
But i do like the:
Pistol
LOVE THE AR
Battle rifle
Rocket launcher
Sword
So 5. Out of the entire sandbox. I like using 5. 5 give me enjoyment.
BR spawn really destroyed the fun of the game
Making Halo more of a tactical shooter than a causal game, thats how Halo I became 100% competitive.
You know that Halo 1-3 was never about the BR, it was about getting the best weapons on the map, thats how you won the games, not by aiming to the head with every single shot. You actually had to know every corner of the map, and teaming for the weapons.
It was the variety of weapons that was fun in previous Halo games, and the balance between weapons on the map.Now its just a BR fiesta with people having 65% aiming or they go mad!
You cant aim, this game sucks attitude.
This is a big problem with todays Halo Infinite, trying to be COD BR shooter and removing the fun, teaming for power weapons, throwing good grenades, killing someone with other weapons that actually has a feeling to it, the variety is dead. Its just a BR shooter now.
It doesnt matter which map you play on, they all feel the same with BR starts, just hiding behind a corner, crouching and beeing a -Yoink!-.
No they nerfed every weapon and made BR the only weapon of choice if you want to win, thats why the game is boring, and the SBMM doesnt help either.
Halo I became a tactical shooter in season 2 and destroyed the fun that was left.
I really don’t see it as the problem. A myriad of other issues driving down population is more to blame for any of the matchmaking annoyances. But, then again I’m not someone who wants to “relax” in social by facing off against less skilled players than myself. I personally prefer having every match I play be a toss up where either team has an opportunity to potentially win.
Halo Infinite isn’t fun, because it’s balanced to the point of fun being neutered. Unlike Bungie games, every map feels the same, every match feels the same, every mode feels the same. Thanks to challenges, nobody plays the objective, and every match feels like a chore, instead of a relaxing pastime.
The physics are stable, vehicles don’t flip or fly across the map, Gravity Hammer doesn’t slam you against the wall or across the sky, there is no blood or funny screams when you die, you can’t Rocket or Grenade Jump, and even if you could, there are hardly any alternate routes on any map to even use these. Almost every map is 3 lanes with a middle split.
Everything is just sterile. It’s predictable. It’s in a rut. The same psychology philosophy applies to jokes and humor. Jokes are funnier when the punchline is unexpected. Games are more fun when your emotions are affected. Horror movies are more scary when there is tension. Jump scares are stale and overused. 343 created a game with no love or emotion, and it returns no love or emotion to us players.
From just a gameplay standpoint I think the reason Infinite is unfun is because of desync. The game simply doesn’t register shots or causes bullet magnetism to just not work.
The aiming controls are still absolute trash and with the new aim assist you’re literally fighting the game more than the enemy.
Broken spawns also add to the mass frustration.
I’m short, there was a few intentional design decisions that just makes the game a chore. Add desync to the mix and the game is mostly unfun.
If I exclude bugs, I feel like it boils down to the direction of the core experience. It really clicked for me after hearing Sean on the latest road map video saying they have made the game competitive first. Bullet magnetism being almost non existent means I have to ‘try hard’ if I want to aim well. Even if I want to knock out some bot games quickly, I’m sweating to get the kills done faster. This ramps up in social games and before I know it I’m full focus while my original goal was to just relax. Let’s throw desync on that and by the time I’ve finished playing I’m frustrated. I find myself actively avoiding playing infinite, and going back to mcc since it’s more rounded in what it offers for game types, and the gameplay experience. I’ve felt this way in 5 as well, except my primary game type was warzone ff, so the sweaty-ness was not as intense.
I can answer your question - but not specifically. The reason that the game isn’t fun is because it wasn’t designed to be fun. Nobody took the time to think through the player experience and design something that would be fun and enjoyable. If you want to get a better understanding of what that process looks like, I highly suggest checking out the Halo 2 Artifacts podcast and listening to Max (the guy that single handedly designed Halo 2’s multiplayer experience). He’s a certified genius and hearing him walk through his thought and design process is enlightening.
The reason Halo 2 and 3 had such an incredibly amazing multiplayer experience is because of Max. He set the standard for all console multiplayer shooters and even though his recipe has been diluted over time (and in some cases totally ruined by the folks at 343) he is still the person to thank for the remaining ‘fun’ elements that we have today. Unfortunately the folks behind recent Halo games stood on the shoulders of giants and rather than learning and improving on the experience, they’ve degraded it.
This is the reason you don’t hand over a Ferrari to a 16 year old first time driver. They simply aren’t ready for it. That’s what Microsoft did with the clowns at 343. I think Michael Crichton summed it up perfectly via the character Ian Malcolm when he said:
“Most kinds of power require a substantial sacrifice by whoever wants the power. There is an apprenticeship, a discipline lasting many years. Whatever kind of power you want. President of the company. Black belt in karate. Spiritual guru. Whatever it is you seek, you have to put in the time, the practice, the effort. You must give up a lot to get it. It has to be very important to you. And once you have attained it, it is your power. It can’t be given away: it resides in you. It is literally the result of your discipline.”
I disagree. I picked it back up after like 4 months off and have been having a blast. I’m not even close to a top-tier player. It’s fun. Quick, arena gameplay with a satisfying loop.
Also not being able to turn off crossplay. Some people like it, others don’t. Either way the two inputs aren’t equal and 343 needs to stop acting like they are.
My experience right now. I want to play the Yap yap event. I have 3 or 4 (3 most likely so I can’t still play but you get the idea) challenges that are not Yap Yap related. I have completed Battlepass but that’s irrelvant. Challenges is the issue with desync.
