If the Flood return, what changes would you make?

Games Halo Infinite
1

If the Flood are to return in Halo: Infinite, what changes would you make to them to keep them interesting?

Would you add any new Flood forms? Would you take any Flood forms away? What alterations would you make to existing forms?
Some things to think about:

  • What would make them more fun in the initial playthrough of the campaign? - What would give them enough depth to keep them interesting when replaying the campaign or possibly adding them to another mode? - What might make them more horrifying than ever before? - Would these changes still keep them faithful to the original Flood concept designed by Bungie? - Might you have any story/canon reasons for the changes as well?
2

I hope their visual design is left mostly untouched from Bungie’s trilogy. I genuinely wasn’t a fan of H4’s Flood designs from Infection, which looked more “demonic” than “infected.” I far prefer Bungie’s fungal-looking, amorphous designs; not to say they couldn’t use a bit of a facelift, but in general, I’d like to see them be closer to the OG style.

Gameplay wise, I’d love to see a campaign mission (similar to the second mission from H5, ‘Blue Team’) where the environments get super dark and claustrophobic, but with the Flood as the enemy. With those foggy corridors, and reliance on your suit’s flashlight for illumination, I instantly thought it’d make a great Flood level the first time playing through H5. It’d really ramp up the “creepy” factor, imo.

And, of course, FLOOD IN FIREFIGHT. I feel like that one’s a no-brainer, and if 343 is bringing back the Flood in Infinite, I can’t imagine they wouldn’t do it.

3

> 2533274813244926;2:
> I hope their visual design is left mostly untouched from Bungie’s trilogy. I genuinely wasn’t a fan of H4’s Flood designs from Infection, which looked more “demonic” than “infected.” I far prefer Bungie’s fungal-looking, amorphous designs; not to say they couldn’t use a bit of a facelift, but in general, I’d like to see them be closer to the OG style.
>
> Gameplay wise, I’d love to see a campaign mission (similar to the second mission from H5, ‘Blue Team’) where the environments get super dark and claustrophobic, but with the Flood as the enemy. With those foggy corridors, and reliance on your suit’s flashlight for illumination, I instantly thought it’d make a great Flood level the first time playing through H5. It’d really ramp up the “creepy” factor, imo.
>
> And, of course, FLOOD IN FIREFIGHT. I feel like that one’s a no-brainer, and if 343 is bringing back the Flood in Infinite, I can’t imagine they wouldn’t do it.

That’d be amazing. Imagine being trapped in such tight corridors, having to navigate through some extremely dark structure, not knowing where or when the Flood will leap out at you. The level is non-linear (unlike the Halo 5 mission). You have to refer to dusty signs on the walls to solve your way out of the facility; the markings only visible with your flashlight, and when you finally escape into the open night sky… you find yourself in a stench-covered valley absolutely swarming with the parasitic monsters.

I agree with what you said about Halo 4’s Flood. They didn’t really look like Flood at all. Although I still had plenty of fun with the gamemode.

Fingers crossed we’ll get Flood Firefight one day.

4

I would add the new forms from HW2

5

> 2535415876049274;1:
> Would you add any new Flood forms? Would you take any Flood forms away? What alterations would you make to existing forms?

I would consider adding new Flood forms, but that depends on the quality of the candidates to choose from and whether or not their presence makes sense. I would remove Ranged and Pure forms, but keep carrier and standard forms. More visual detail (i.e., gore) would be nice (like Doom).

> 2535415876049274;1:
> - Would these changes still keep them faithful to the original Flood concept designed by Bungie?

Yep. I prefer Bungie’s look for sure. I wouldn’t mind refining it, but only to an extent.

6

Be cool to use promethan weapons against the flood but IF the flood are in infinite i think the promethans will not in the game (which i know a lot of fans would be ok with that).

7

Variety and type of the flood Forms depend on the severity of the infection. The only way we’ll see Pure Forms is if a Gravemind is formed.
Appearance wise, I hope they don’t have orange glowy bits as the pure forms in HW2 did. That reminded me too much of the Lambent from Gears.
That said, I would like to see some of the forms, like the abomination in Infinite just slightly redesigned without the orange. glowy bits.
If there is a big outbreak in Infinite on Zeta Halo or wherever, I would like to face overwhelming odds. A literal flood of Flood like when they emerge from High Charity in HW2.
On the opposite end of that, having a few new types of pure forms break from containment and chase the player around the cramped hallways of a Flood Research Facility aka Palace of Pain would be great too.

8

> 2535415876049274;1:
> **If the Flood are to return in Halo: Infinite, what changes would you make to them to keep them interesting?**Would you add any new Flood forms? Would you take any Flood forms away? What alterations would you make to existing forms?
> Some things to think about:
> - What would make them more fun in the initial playthrough of the campaign? - What would give them enough depth to keep them interesting when replaying the campaign or possibly adding them to another mode? - What might make them more horrifying than ever before? - Would these changes still keep them faithful to the original Flood concept designed by Bungie? - Might you have any story/canon reasons for the changes as well?

First, I really, really, really hope they return. It has been too long. We needs some Floodz in our life again.

More Fun:– Variety. Halo 3 was the first time actually I enjoyed fighting The Flood (though I now have appreciation for the older ones as well). There was more Flood and more variety. The pure forms were a very neat idea and while the wall turret spider things were annoying at first as a new challenge, it made gameplay more interesting. In Infinite they could add juggernauts, abominations, and more, creative pure forms. There could be FLOOD WILDLIFE for the first time. Infected “blind wolves” and “thorn beasts”. We could also see infected Jackals or Skirmishers, Hunters, Drones… And I would personally LOVE to see infected Spartan IVs!! Each Flood form should stick to its own role. Have standard marine combat forms run at you in massive hordes, but be able to mow them down easily like in H3. Have tougher, more agile forms. Have airborne forms. Mix things up a little. That’s why the Covenant was always so much fun to fight. Finally, a boss battle against a huge Gravemind at the end of an epic set piece with tentacles and stuff like the one planned for Halo 2 could be awesome (it was talked about at 42 min into the H2 commentary).

Another Mode:
– I’ve long wanted more creative alternative game modes for Halo. Infection then Invasion were great starts, and Warzone sounded neat in theory. I’ve long thought something like Gears of Wars’ Beast mode could influence an interesting idea in Halo. And it’d be great to have a Flood-dedicated two-sided wave survival mode like that. Don’t make the zombies in Infection into H4 “Flood” again though. Please no.

More Horrifying:
– Atmosphere. Creepiness is all about atmosphere. A dramatic, slow reveal could call back to CE, and the threat should be big, the stakes high. The classic Flood music tracks were horrible (sorry Marty and Mike), and something much less screechy, much more ominous could help. Add spooky ambient sounds. Have a marine call out to you that everything’s okay, and slowly walk out of light as a faint sillhouetts, limping and grunting, sounding wounded. Suddenly he lifts his head to reveal a grotesque face, and leaps at you. Have squirmy, gross, crawley tentacles in the environment. Use overall silence to build tension. Have dark missions, with a limited flashlight or VISR mode. If we revisit the Ark, then using a similar idea to the infected marine reveal, make Chief confront a horrifying, resurrected Sgt. Johnson as a mini boss battle, a psychological attack from the Gravemind to break Chief. Make Chief kill his friend who told him to never let Cortana go.

Faithfulto the original concept? Yep. It woud be. But more fully realized with modern tech.

Story/Canon:
– There are plenty of ways to bring back The Flood in this universe which revolves around them first and foremost anyway, and especially now with The Banished on The Ark having potentially released some they didn’t kill. The Spartan IV program opens up the possibility of a super cool Spartan combat form with thrusters and shields that could spot you more easily and move fast like multiplayer opponents do. Also, Banished Brute Chieftans? I think yes. And if the Promethans do come back, their weapons could be super effective against Flood, maybe dismembering them, and allowing us to vaporize their bodies so they can’t be revived. It’d also be a great reason to bring back the Flamethrower and introduce some Bnaished fire-based weapons. Molitov crossbow, please. And lets finally bring out that UNSC machete, while we’re at it. And a toxic/smoke Flood grenade type.

9

> 2533274805105579;8:
> > 2535415876049274;1:
> > **If the Flood are to return in Halo: Infinite, what changes would you make to them to keep them interesting?**Would you add any new Flood forms? Would you take any Flood forms away? What alterations would you make to existing forms?
> > Some things to think about:
> > - What would make them more fun in the initial playthrough of the campaign? - What would give them enough depth to keep them interesting when replaying the campaign or possibly adding them to another mode? - What might make them more horrifying than ever before? - Would these changes still keep them faithful to the original Flood concept designed by Bungie? - Might you have any story/canon reasons for the changes as well?
>
> First, I really, really, really hope they return. It has been too long. We needs some Floodz in our life again.
>
> More Fun:– Variety. Halo 3 was the first time actually I enjoyed fighting The Flood (though I now have appreciation for the older ones as well). There was more Flood and more variety. The pure forms were a very neat idea and while the wall turret spider things were annoying at first as a new challenge, it made gameplay more interesting. In Infinite they could add juggernauts, abominations, and more, creative pure forms. There could be FLOOD WILDLIFE for the first time. Infected “blind wolves” and “thorn beasts”. We could also see infected Jackals or Skirmishers, Hunters, Drones… And I would personally LOVE to see infected Spartan IVs!! Each Flood form should stick to its own role. Have standard marine combat forms run at you in massive hordes, but be able to mow them down easily like in H3. Have tougher, more agile forms. Have airborne forms. Mix things up a little. That’s why the Covenant was always so much fun to fight. Finally, a boss battle against a huge Gravemind at the end of an epic set piece with tentacles and stuff like the one planned for Halo 2 could be awesome (it was talked about at 42 min into the H2 commentary).
>
> Another Mode:
> – I’ve long wanted more creative alternative game modes for Halo. Infection then Invasion were great starts, and Warzone sounded neat in theory. I’ve long thought something like Gears of Wars’ Beast mode could influence an interesting idea in Halo. And it’d be great to have a Flood-dedicated two-sided wave survival mode like that. Don’t make the zombies in Infection into H4 “Flood” again though. Please no.
>
> More Horrifying:
> – Atmosphere. Creepiness is all about atmosphere. A dramatic, slow reveal could call back to CE, and the threat should be big, the stakes high. The classic Flood music tracks were horrible (sorry Marty and Mike), and something much less screechy, much more ominous could help. Add spooky ambient sounds. Have a marine call out to you that everything’s okay, and slowly walk out of light as a faint sillhouetts, limping and grunting, sounding wounded. Suddenly he lifts his head to reveal a grotesque face, and leaps at you. Have squirmy, gross, crawley tentacles in the environment. Use overall silence to build tension. Have dark missions, with a limited flashlight or VISR mode. If we revisit the Ark, then using a similar idea to the infected marine reveal, make Chief confront a horrifying, resurrected Sgt. Johnson as a mini boss battle, a psychological attack from the Gravemind to break Chief. Make Chief kill his friend who told him to never let Cortana go.
>
> Faithfulto the original concept? Yep. It woud be. But more fully realized with modern tech.
>
> Story/Canon:
> – There are plenty of ways to bring back The Flood in this universe which revolves around them first and foremost anyway, and especially now with The Banished on The Ark having potentially released some they didn’t kill. The Spartan IV program opens up the possibility of a super cool Spartan combat form with thrusters and shields that could spot you more easily and move fast like multiplayer opponents do. Also, Banished Brute Chieftans? I think yes. And if the Promethans do come back, their weapons could be super effective against Flood, maybe dismembering them, and allowing us to vaporize their bodies so they can’t be revived. It’d also be a great reason to bring back the Flamethrower and introduce some Bnaished fire-based weapons. Molitov crossbow, please. And lets finally bring out that UNSC machete, while we’re at it. And a toxic/smoke Flood grenade type.

Overall, I like a lot of the stuff you said, but I have to disagree with your comments on the music. What doesn’t work for you about these tracks?

10

> 2535415876049274;1:
> **If the Flood are to return in Halo: Infinite, what changes would you make to them to keep them interesting?**Would you add any new Flood forms? Would you take any Flood forms away? What alterations would you make to existing forms?
> Some things to think about:
> - What would make them more fun in the initial playthrough of the campaign? - What would give them enough depth to keep them interesting when replaying the campaign or possibly adding them to another mode? - What might make them more horrifying than ever before? - Would these changes still keep them faithful to the original Flood concept designed by Bungie? - Might you have any story/canon reasons for the changes as well?

I would add the Juggernaut variant, finally seen in Halo Wars 2 and Fire Team Raven. Those games proved that they could work. I also want Flood using vehicles, like in Halo 2. However… I do not want Flood that use Rocket Launchers. I… I don’t want those to come back. I do, however, want to see Flood that play dead again. We haven’t seen that since Combat Evolved.

And, personally, I think that the Flood seen in Halo CE and Halo 2 were the scariest that the Flood had ever been, especially in Halo 2 since they could operate vehicles and were an even greater than than what was seen in Combat Evolved.

Halo 3 Flood were… kind of lame. I mean… they could be outright destroyed by a single melee attack on Easy through Heroic. In Combat Evolved and Halo 2, a melee attack did squat to them on Easy. It would take about a 1 to 2 dozen melee attacks to put down a Flood Combat Form permanently in Combat Evolved and Halo 2, and that was on the Easy difficulty. I could take them out with upwards of 2 or 3 melee attacks in Halo 3 on Legendary. That… that is not threatening. That is sad and lame.

Yeah, I would change the Flood so that they’re back to their Combat Evolved and Halo 2 iterations in terms of strength and durability, as well as behavior. I liked the pure form Flood in Halo 3… except for the long-range ones. Oh, and for more nauseating horror, why not bring in the Stalker Flood from Halo SPV3? Actually… no. Don’t do that. Those things are so creepy, and the noises that they make… Sweet Raptor Jesus, the noises those things make! I take it back! Let’s just bring back the Flood from Halo CE, Halo 2, the Brute forms and pure forms from Halo 3, and the Juggernaut seen in Fire Team Raven.

11

Key Minds weren’t retconned.

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> 2535415876049274;9:
> > 2533274805105579;8:
> > > 2535415876049274;1:
> > > If the Flood are to return in Halo: Infinite, what changes would you make to them to keep them interesting?
> >
> > Creepiness is all about atmosphere. A dramatic, slow reveal could call back to CE, and the threat should be big, the stakes high. The classic Flood music tracks were horrible (sorry Marty and Mike), and something much less screechy, much more ominous could help. Add spooky ambient sounds.
>
> Overall, I like a lot of the stuff you said, but I have to disagree with your comments on the music. What doesn’t work for you about these tracks?
> - Ancient Machine - Devils… Monsters… - Trace Amounts - Shadows - Library Suite - Dread Intrusion - Black Tower

Oh, thanks. I do like Dread Intrusion, it’s great. H3 improved every single aspect of the Flood, including the atmosphere. It was mainly the stuff in CE I disliked. I suppose Shadows is the one that stuck with me, it’s what I think of when it comes to Flood music. I just find it very annoying. And my biggest issue is that most of them didn’t really have an eerie or creepy feel. I don’t think Halo should ever go full-on horror with their Flood, though they easily could. But the Flood are indeed scary and should make you feel more unnerved. Those tracks just bug me, not scare me. Ha :stuck_out_tongue: It’s just how I feel about them over all. Maybe I shouldn’t have said horrible, but it could be better.

13

I’d add some grunt & jackal flood forms. Something that was never seen in the mainline Halos, but were present in Halo Wars. Also, I’d like for them to go back to their greenish color instead of Orange unlike how they were in HW2. Throw in some juggernauts and abominations if possible. Id imagine fighting those things face to face would be quite horrifying lol

14

The flood are easy to fix, and can be awesome if done properly a few changes -

  • Make them melee only combatants - Make them visually more grotesque and horrifying - Don’t give any warning when they attack (A few sounds/noises just before you actually see them) - Increase their numbers to a nearly overwhelming amount
    Honestly, that will completely change the way they’re made and it will do the trick.
15

I mean i hope theyre not so op on legendary lol

16

A few more ideas I had:

•What would make them more fun in the initial playthrough of the campaign?

Their introduction/reintroduction has to make an impact. The original Flood introduction from CE nailed it. Their reintroduction in HW2 was well done also, but not as “iconic” as the first time we saw them in Jankins’ helmet cam. If 343i could find a new unique and unexpected way to reintroduce the flood, that makes the player fear what they’re about to face, then that would be a step in the right direction.

:black_small_square:What would give them enough depth to keep them interesting when replaying the campaign or possibly adding them to another mode?

As some have said, having proper infected Spartan IV’s could be cool. Imagine a Flood Infected Spartan IV using Spartan Abilities against you. Hovering then pouncing on a helpless marine.

Give Combat Forms the ability to combine in real time with a short animation (like bodies getting infected in H3) fusing together to create more horrifying and deadly forms.

Spore clouds-what If, in a confined space, if enough carrier forms pop or as part of the level design there is a thick fog of spores. As marines walk though it they start feeling funny, then all of a sudden they become infected and attack you.

In regards to modes, they have to come into Firefight if this mode (hopefully) returns in Infinite. As far as their role in the mode I think it would be epic if the announcer said “Flood wave incoming” you would know that the bodies of all the Covenant you just killed (and your fallen Spartan comrades) are now capable of becoming infected, creating overwhelming odds.

:black_small_square:What might make them more horrifying than ever before?

Atmosphere and back story, especially if there is an outbreak on Zeta Halo. Imagine learning about a Palace of Pain and the experiments done on humans. Then some of the test subjects were still there and broke containment?

What if we witnessed the formation of a Gravemind or proto Gravemind? It would be grotesque and fascinating at the same time.

Imagine if Infinity crashes on Zeta Halo, hitting a Flood Research facility, releasing them. The Master Chief tries to fight them off but the crew is consumed forming a Gravemind. John is forced to evacuate, knowing he’s failed. Infinity then becomes “one of their retched hives.”

Appearance wise, If pure forms return, I think it would be grotesque If they were designed so you could still make out the individual bodies that were used to form them.

17

> 2535416837427175;15:
> I mean i hope theyre not so op on legendary lol

I actually find the Flood easier to fight on Legendary than the Covenant. Because their AI is so linear, they never dodge attacks. This allows you to one shot them by aiming at the Infection Form embedded in their chest with ease.

18

> 2533274936074323;6:
> Be cool to use promethan weapons against the flood but IF the flood are in infinite i think the promethans will not in the game (which i know a lot of fans would be ok with that).

Random spitballing, but I’d imagine that if the Flood came back, the Prometheans/Created and Ex-Covenant (Minus the Arbiter’s forces) would likely join forces against everything else. Hell, last I checked, the Unggoy were allied with Cortana.

That said, even if you hate how the Prometheans are done, there are lot of really cool possibilities for how those two fighting styles could mesh. I just hope that we see less-but-more-durable Crawlers. I hated fighting swarms of the damn things.

19

More variants.

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> 2535462145233570;18:
> > 2533274936074323;6:
> > Be cool to use promethan weapons against the flood but IF the flood are in infinite i think the promethans will not in the game (which i know a lot of fans would be ok with that).
>
> Random spitballing, but I’d imagine that if the Flood came back, the Prometheans/Created and Ex-Covenant (Minus the Arbiter’s forces) would likely join forces against everything else. Hell, last I checked, the Unggoy were allied with Cortana.
>
> That said, even if you hate how the Prometheans are done, there are lot of really cool possibilities for how those two fighting styles could mesh. I just hope that we see less-but-more-durable Crawlers. I hated fighting swarms of the damn things.

The promethans and the flood should be seen fighting in game or cutscene but IF the flood are in the game (more then just a reference or EE) I don’t think the promethans will be in the game. It would be difficult to make the promethan fun to fight and the flood at the same time. I even think the promethans will be writen out since so many hate them.