Implied Perfection, Cautious Optimism

Games Halo Infinite
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At E3 2018, Microsoft immediately pulled out the big guns by announcing Halo: Infinite. This engine demonstration not only potentially gave viewers a peak into what the next-gen Xbox will be capable of, but also treated them to an atmosphere and artstyle that many Halo fans have been waiting years for.

Unfortunately a lot of what we can say regarding Halo: Infinite is purely based on speculation at this point, but based off the implications of the trailer it seems as though the game will be attempting to replicate what Halo: Combat Evolved was revealed as at Macworld 1999. If this trailer is representative of the final product, then that is very exciting as an open-world Halo (think Elder Scrolls) with an abundance of alien wildlife and unknown alien relics just screams what Halo is about.

What worries me specifically is that 343 Industries have been trend followers and not trend setters since they have taken over the Halo franchise. While Bungie used to lead the industry by making the games people wanted to copy, 343 Industries have been adding things like loadouts, perks, killstreaks, sprinting, borderline always-online DRM, etc. while failing to innovate outside of the advancements to Forge in Halo 5: Guardians (something which redefined what is possible on consoles.) Because of this, I ask the following…

After how much Halo 4 copied from other games, after the launch state of Halo: The Master Chief Collection combined with poor post-launch support, after the majority of the content in Halo 5: Guardians was locked off behind an Xbox Live Gold paywall… can we please be cautiously optimistic instead of immediately shouting that Halo: Infinite will be a masterpiece?

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Of course, I completely agree. Just because the Iconic art style has returned, the music sounds more like what we are used to from Halo, and the fact that we are on a Halo ring doesn’t mean the game will be a masterpiece. Even though I will be a cautious consumer when Halo Infinite starts being advertised (hopefully soon) it is great to see so much of what we have asked for take shape.

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Have faith!!!

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> 2535412131947467;3:
> Have faith!!!

“Fool me once? Shame on you. Fool me twice? Shame on me.”

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> 2535421324694638;1:
> At E3 2018, Microsoft immediately pulled out the big guns by announcing Halo: Infinite. This engine demonstration not only potentially gave viewers a peak into what the next-gen Xbox will be capable of,

It was confirmed that Halo Infinite will launch on the Xbox One, not the new Xbox.

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> 2533274825960614;5:
> > 2535421324694638;1:
> > At E3 2018, Microsoft immediately pulled out the big guns by announcing Halo: Infinite. This engine demonstration not only potentially gave viewers a peak into what the next-gen Xbox will be capable of,
>
> It was confirmed that Halo Infinite will launch on the Xbox One, not the new Xbox.

Do you have a link to that for confirmation, I must’ve missed that news

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> 2533274949158966;6:
> > 2533274825960614;5:
> > > 2535421324694638;1:
> > > At E3 2018, Microsoft immediately pulled out the big guns by announcing Halo: Infinite. This engine demonstration not only potentially gave viewers a peak into what the next-gen Xbox will be capable of,
> >
> > It was confirmed that Halo Infinite will launch on the Xbox One, not the new Xbox.
>
> Do you have a link to that for confirmation, I must’ve missed that news

No, i don’t have a link. All i know is that its been confirmed. You have my word.

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> 2535421324694638;1:
> What worries me specifically is that 343 Industries have been trend followers and not trend setters since they have taken over the Halo franchise.

Is it possible that they’re copying the whole “going back to your roots” trend that’s been popping up all over the industry?

We’ve had games like Call of Duty: World War II and Battlefield One/V go back to the World Wars! Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal have abandoned the survival horror gameplay of Doom 3 in favour of the frantic, fast-paced gameplay of the original Doom games. Those are just a few examples.

It’s possible that 343 Industries could finanlly give in and stop forcing sprint/AAs/SAs into Halo in an effort to “modernize” it. Or at least they’ll play them down or relegate them to pick-ups like Halo 3’s equipment. I’m quite optimistic about Halo: Infinite since that trailer. The only thing I doubt is the game having a good story since Halo 5’s story was a disaster, to say the least. It’s hard to see how they’re going to make the Created interesting.

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<mark>Do not flame/attack others.</mark>

After H4, MCC, and H5 if anyone thinks Infinite will be a masterpiece based on the E3 trailer… they’re an idiot.

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> 2533275031939856;9:
>

What if they really liked Halo 4 or 5? Maybe it could be a masterpiece in THEIR opinion.

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an open-world Halo (think Elder Scrolls) with an abundance of alien wildlife and unknown alien relics just screams what Halo is about.

Halo was never an open world, and should not be an open world.

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> 2533274825960614;10:
> > 2533275031939856;9:
> > After H4, MCC, and H5 if anyone thinks Infinite will be a masterpiece based on the E3 trailer… they’re an idiot.
>
> What if they really liked Halo 4 or 5? Maybe it could be a masterpiece in THEIR opinion.

My bad I should have specified. My comment was from the viewpoint of someone who would want classic Halo.

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> 2533275031939856;9:
> After H4, MCC, and H5 if anyone thinks Infinite will be a masterpiece based on the E3 trailer… they’re an idiot.

I think cautious optimisim is exactly the way to feel. As stated above, 343s track record isnt great, & i think they know that, or i hope they do.

I hope in Infinite they are able to fix the mistakes & put it all together. But at the same time my hopes remain “cautiously optimistic” as OP says, i way too hyped for H4, MCC & H5… wont make that mistake again.

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> 2533274825960614;5:
> > 2535421324694638;1:
> > At E3 2018, Microsoft immediately pulled out the big guns by announcing Halo: Infinite. This engine demonstration not only potentially gave viewers a peak into what the next-gen Xbox will be capable of,
>
> It was confirmed that Halo Infinite will launch on the Xbox One, not the new Xbox.

Halo Infinite will launch on the current Xbox One family, but that engine will have been built with the future in mind. I think Halo Infinite will launch on the new Xbox as well as the existing family of Xbox One consoles.

I think Halo Infinite will look and play best on “Scarlet” or whatever it’s eventually called, pretty much like what we have now with Xbox One X offering the best, followed by One S and then launch day consoles.

As for Halo Infinite, I’ll remain cautious, I bought 4 and 5 without any thought. I’ll be paying more attention this time. As things stand I’m not buying Infinite, 343i need to sell me on it.

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> 2535421324694638;1:
> This engine demonstration not only potentially gave viewers a peak into what the next-gen Xbox will be capable of, but also treated them to an atmosphere and artstyle that many Halo fans have been waiting years for.

You can get a next-generation xbox right now. It’s called the One X.

And I’ve watched that trailer a dozen times. I still don’t know where anybody gets the idea that it’s a return to a classic artstyle. Based on what? Cheif’s helmut?

> 2535421324694638;1:
> If this trailer is representative of the final product, then that is very exciting as an open-world Halo (think Elder Scrolls) with an abundance of alien wildlife and unknown alien relics just screams what Halo is about.

I’ve still watched it a dozen times and it’s a huge leap to assume an open world just because of… natural beauty shots and animals herding.

> 2535421324694638;1:
> What worries me specifically is that 343 Industries have been trend followers and not trend setters since they have taken over the Halo franchise. While Bungie used to lead the industry by making the games people wanted to copy, 343 Industries have been adding things like loadouts, perks, killstreaks, sprinting, borderline always-online DRM, etc. while failing to innovate outside of the advancements to Forge in Halo 5: Guardians (something which redefined what is possible on consoles.) Because of this, I ask the following…

“Bungie the Innovator and 343 the Copier” is a tired and inaccurate accounting of Halo. It was Bungie, in a creativity fervor or vacuum - you decide which, who introduced loadouts and sprint to Halo. And I don’t even know how “always online” infers a lack of creativity. And finally, if you really love the creativity of Bungie then Destiny bekcons with her siren call of innovation.

> 2535421324694638;1:
> After how much Halo 4 copied from other games, after the launch state of Halo: The Master Chief Collection combined with poor post-launch support, after the majority of the content in Halo 5: Guardians was locked off behind an Xbox Live Gold paywall… can we please be cautiously optimistic instead of immediately shouting that Halo: Infinite will be a masterpiece?

Halo 4 borrowed one feature, weapon drops, from Call of Duty, a game which has been stealing from Halo practically since it started - and they did it in the belief that if CoD players liked the feature, and if CoD has an audience three times the size of Halo’s then possibly Halo players will like them too. Screw them for trying.

MCC, which I hate to defend but feel that I have to, has received the most elaborate post-launch support of any game ever made. Timely support? Maybe not. But that game continues to this day to get major updating and overhauling, and late, I guess, is better than never.

Cautious optimism? Finally something I agree with. People are projecting way too much onto one brief trailer, although you yourself are as guilty as anyone of seeing what you want to see - open world, classic artstyle, etc. But this is the way of things. This is how people set themselves up for disappointment. With a twenty year old franchise it really couldn’t be any other way.

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> 2533274825960614;5:
> > 2535421324694638;1:
> > At E3 2018, Microsoft immediately pulled out the big guns by announcing Halo: Infinite. This engine demonstration not only potentially gave viewers a peak into what the next-gen Xbox will be capable of,
>
> It was confirmed that Halo Infinite will launch on the Xbox One, not the new Xbox.

I’m well aware of that, but considering the fact that it’ll likely be out in 2020 and the Xbox One has been around for five years now (combined with the fact that the engine demo showed off visuals the Xbox One will never be able to match) implies a next-gen release as well as a current-gen release.

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> 2533274929494620;8:
> > 2535421324694638;1:
> > What worries me specifically is that 343 Industries have been trend followers and not trend setters since they have taken over the Halo franchise.
>
> Is it possible that they’re copying the whole “going back to your roots” trend that’s been popping up all over the industry?
>
> We’ve had games like Call of Duty: World War II and Battlefield One/V go back to the World Wars! Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal have abandoned the survival horror gameplay of Doom 3 in favour of the frantic, fast-paced gameplay of the original Doom games. Those are just a few examples.
>
> It’s possible that 343 Industries could finanlly give in and stop forcing sprint/AAs/SAs into Halo in an effort to “modernize” it. Or at least they’ll play them down or relegate them to pick-ups like Halo 3’s equipment. I’m quite optimistic about Halo: Infinite since that trailer. The only thing I doubt is the game having a good story since Halo 5’s story was a disaster, to say the least. It’s hard to see how they’re going to make the Created interesting.

Keep in mind that we don’t know if 343i are taking the series back to its roots for sure as most of what I said in my original post was based around implications from the trailer, but even if they are just doing it to be trendy it will likely help the franchise slowly regain its popularity as there’s a reason why companies have been focusing on undoing bad changes.

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> 2533275031939856;9:
> After H4, MCC, and H5 if anyone thinks Infinite will be a masterpiece based on the E3 trailer… they’re an idiot.

I can agree with that.

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> 2533274825960614;10:
> > 2533275031939856;9:
> > After H4, MCC, and H5 if anyone thinks Infinite will be a masterpiece based on the E3 trailer… they’re an idiot.
>
> What if they really liked Halo 4 or 5? Maybe it could be a masterpiece in THEIR opinion.

To them maybe, but if anyone believes that Halo 5: Guardians is a masterpiece with its three hour Campaign, lack of a story, cliffhanger ending, and 99% of the game being locked off behind a subscription fee then they likely have never played a true masterpiece of a game.

20

<mark>Do not post spam.</mark>

> 2535473219036906;11:
> an open-world Halo (think Elder Scrolls) with an abundance of alien wildlife and unknown alien relics just screams what Halo is about.
>
> Halo was never an open world, and should not be an open world.

Halo - Macworld 1999 Reveal Halo - E3 2000 (PC)Halo was open-world for the longest time up until it was shoved onto the Xbox in 2001. It only became more linear due to the limitations of the console, and as the type of universe Halo has is perfect for exploration I’d gladly see that style of gameplay return.