So where to begin… If you are some of the lucky individuals to actually play the game on console you’ll notice many things that have caused others a great deal of mental pain. And while I feel my personal excitement was well founded, many may not feel the flight lives up to the height. There are a number of issue the flight on console is having. The first being server connectivity. This is a well known issue with many being unable to find games or even stay connected. Even if you finish a game, you may receive a message stating that you have been disconnected from the server. This is also something that many are wondering when it comes to the cosmetic shop. The ability to earn credits in the future may become an issue. Currently despite the ability to buy credits for cosmetic features being shown, you are not able to make any transaction at this time. However, the ability to see your season progress is amazing. In time I’m sure the battle pass will add new ways to earn not only XP, but also credits. With the XP and challenge swap consumables, I feel that many players desire a way to sell these back for credits in the future.
Next well talk about the academy. In this mode your able to try out every weapon in a time event. While I personally appreciate this mode given the new weapons like the VK780 Commando ( has some recoil), I also feel like this mode should allow you to try out equipment but also controls show other features that are not apparent from the start. For example you now drop one of your weapons with the d pad, as well as AI scan. For myself I have always played on bumper Jumper so understanding that right on my d pad will drop my weapon is now crucial to know not to hit. I feel the academy could also in the future introduce vehicles objectives, be it time attacks, races or other features one might like to know. For example, understanding the best to shoot a vehicle with light weapons may become knowledge essential when the multiplayer finally releases.
The mode everyone came to see is the Spartan Bot Slayer. While this mode is PVE with 3 other players, it feels like a slaughter fest. Every game that was completed had a steaktackular medal earn with the ai team getting barely above 10 to 20 kills. I feel that in the future these bots will be improved and that the bots will be better balanced to engage with players. The map are to say the least interesting. The game play feels like a mixture of Halo 3 and halo 5 with the return of equipment and the ability for your shields to recharge, even while sprinting. While you are still able to sprint and slide, ground pound may not be reintroduce into infinite unlike the ability to assassinate. Overall the settings for console feel good and natural like the gameplay wasn’t forced. Maps like Bazzar and Live Fire however leave the Player wanting when it comes to bot predictability and spawns. Since this is the first flight, I personally hope that the bots may help relieve the stress of players quitting or lagging out when the game launches. I would also be intrigued if these bots will be able to coordinate on a larger scale with BTB and even in Forge if it is introduced. I also enjoyed how 343 industries took the time to swap weapons on the map. I believe this helps shake things up because there is always a traditional rush for power weapons in the past that comes with individuals who tend to betray there teammates. By shaking up the weapons spawns I feel many will change there approach on which weapons they will go after as well as what players will use. The ability to Drop weapons or snag them using the grapple will change the dynamics of the game with individuals having to communicate more.
Finally I would like to address the settings and customization. While we can no longer pick out personal colors, I feel that infinite will be great due to players having to ability to EARN there armor, and not just dealing with if they are lucking enough to get it by chance. This allows many to feel that they have a more unique approach towards the personal spartan unique identity and make each player appreciate there progress more. Between the prosthetic limbs, the new ai and a range of armor selection that reminds me of Reach, many will enjoy jumping on every week for the challenges that will reward their efforts. As much as I would love to comment on the weapons themselves, I feel many may be nerfed in the future. However both weapons and vehicle skins have returned and with future competitions, we know that there will be more unique skins. Settings are more applicable than ever. From changing the outline of enemies to the long distance zoom sensitivity for snipers, Infinite will allow players to have a better feel of their character based on how they play. There is now even a movement assisted steering where the left stick can help turn wheeled based vehicles such as the warthog. There are many other settings that players may find highly valuable such as Field of View, being able to turn down Motion Blur, Screen Shake, or changer their Graphics from quality to performance to help them with if there trying to keep pace with newer consoles. We even have the ability to turn on or off spartan chatter if you feel there is to many call outs being made and would rather focus on voice chat. Overall there are many features that will have to be improved upon but giving this is the first flight I feel that this will be an amazing game upon release so long as 343 Industries takes there time.