Infinite HUD: Detailed Review

Games Halo Infinite
1

Greetings Spartans!

I posted this in another thread, but since I can’t delete comments, the whole thing looked like a mess, so I’m reposting it here. I also add much more, so if you already read it, take another look :slight_smile:
Bold words are HUD element that are consistent with Reach, since that’s the standard that has been mostly untouched over the last decade and it made good improvements over H3’s HUD which it used as its base.

Halo CE: Weapons (top left, oddly not above your weapon model, secondary weapon not visible, analog ammo), Health (Top Right), Grenades (top left), not all are visible, can be switched with a button press, Radar (bottom left).

H2: Weapons (top right, fixed from CE, & top left for dual-wield, gun model on both sides, secondary weapon visible, analog ammo), Grenades (top left, all are visible, can be switched with a button press, Health (Bottom left…), Radar (also bottom left), Active Camo (Top Left, next to grenades).

H3: Weapons (top right & top left for dual-wield, gun model on both sides, secondary weapon visible, analog ammo), Grenades (top left, all are visible, can be switched with a button press), Health (Top Mid, prominent part of screen, very close to reticle and weapons), Radar (bottom left), Equipment (Top left, under grenades, both are consumables that the player tosses which is why it’s ok for them to be close together).

ODST: Weapons (bottom Right, close to weapon model, secondary weapon not visible, analog ammo), Health (top mid), Grenades (bottom left, all are visible, can be switched with a button press, no radar so space is free real estate). Most halo games have modes that remove the radar (slayer pro, fog skull, some infection modes, etc), making the radar the least important element.

Reach, the standard: Weapons (top right, secondary weapon visible, secondary weapon ammo number visible, analog ammo), Grenades (top left, all are visible, can be switched with a button press), Health (Top Mid, prominent part of screen, very close to reticle and weapons), Radar (bottom left), Armor Abilities (Bottom left, over radar, replaces radar in radar-less modes).

H4: Weapons (top right, secondary weapon visible, analog ammo), Grenades (top left, all are visible, can be switched with a button press), Health (Top Mid, prominent part of screen, very close to reticle and weapons), Radar (bottom left), Armor Abilities (Bottom left, over radar, replaces radar in radar-less modes), Ordinance (Bottom left, over Radar, not in most modes).

H5: Weapons (top right, secondary weapon visible, secondary weapon ammo number visible, analog ammo), Grenades (top left, all are visible, can be switched with a button press), Health (Top Mid, prominent part of screen, very close to reticle and weapons), Radar (bottom left), Thrust recharge icon is located near health, but it recharges every like 3 seconds, so you almost always have it.

Infinite: Weapons (Bottom Right, close to weapon model, secondary weapon visible, secondary weapon ammo not visible, no analog ammo), Grenades (bottom right, not all are visible, can’t be switched with one button press), Health (Top Mid, prominent part of screen, close to reticle, far from weapons), Radar (Bottom Left), Equipment (bottom right, next to grenades, both are consumables that the player tosses which is why it’s ok for them to be close together).

Summary:

  • Weapons got 2 big additions over the years. Halo 2 moving them to top right to be above the gun model, and Reach showing us how much ammo our second gun had. - Grenades had 2 big changes, the separation of them from weapons. Keeping them on the left aligns them with Chief’s left-handed throws and treats them like consumables, just like equipment. The second was visualizing all grenades at once, if the slot was empty sometimes. - Equipment had only 1 change over the years. Reach moved AAs to the bottom left. This was a good change since AAs are not consumable like equipment and grenades. So separating them implies a difference. Infinite is bring back equipment and thus, they have been reunited with grenades. +1 for Infinite! - Health had 2 changes. H3’s centering the health from the corners that CE and H2 set up, ODST’s use of stamina. Only the secondary health bar was visible. Stamina, ODST’s equivalent to shields, was represented by a “bloody” screen, which be came VERY prominent when close to death. - The motion tracker has never moved with the exception of ODST’s removal of it. It is also the least important element.Overall consistencies:

  • Weapons were always at the top, eventually aligned with the gun model on the right (also DW), analog ammo since CE, and for the last 10 years we’ve known how much ammo our second gun had. For the first time, ammo will not be analog, meaning ammo can’t be read with peripherals. - Grenades have been untouched since H2. Now Infinites cramming them in the bottom, and requiring a sub-menu navigation, despite the fact only 2 grenades can be held at once. Also, all Nades can’t be seen at once, eliminating peripherals again. - Equipment is meant to follow grenades, which they do in Infinite, but they’re crammed with weapons again which were separated after CE. This is simply information clutter. - I doubt health will ever leave top mid, but it is now very far away from the rest of the important info. - Motion tracker: See above.
    Intermission: If you think this is nitpicking… yeah it kinda is. But also consider: How many days of gameplay do you think you’re going to spend looking at this HUD for the next 10 years? The HUD is probably the single most important thing in Infinite’s UI.

Most important HUD elements IMO:

  • Health (Reticle is always center so doesn’t really count) - Weapon Ammo/Model - Consumables (Nades and Equipment) - Score - Feed/Medals - RadarThe Health Bar having close proximity to all offensive indicators (Reticle, Weapons, and Consumables) means your eyes don’t have to travel far to find the most important info. The weapon model is far away, but it is big and the silhouette makes it easy to see in peripherals. Also logic reasons :stuck_out_tongue:
    Score and feed can honestly go wherever, but feed is traditionally on the left side. Also score probably shouldn’t be too close to the feed. Finally Medals should be next to the feed. Seeing an overkill medal and the feed in one glance is just smooth IMO.

Conclusion:
It seems to me that 343 was trying to go for the more “modern” HUD that you see in COD or TF|2. But Halo’s slower, more methodical gameplay forces more info to be important. Health doesn’t matter in most shooters since you die in 2 bullets. As a result, neither does ammo, really. Also most games either give you unlimited ammo (TF2), or you are very unlikely to use all your ammo before dying (COD). And neither really encourages you to pick up fallen guns. In both examples, Grenades don’t matter. You can’t pick up other grenades, they usually have a cooldown, and in the case of COD, you can use lethals and tacticals at the same time, so no grenade switching.

This is all objective fact and should be seen as the absolute truth. And if you disagree, you are W R O N G.

2

I would advise you not to treat your own personal summation as absolute truth. However, you are not incorrect. Very deep analysis!

3

> 2535472923259036;2:
> I would advise you not to treat your own personal summation as absolute truth. However, you are not incorrect. Very deep analysis!

Any points of agreement/disagreement. I’ve just seen a lot of talk about the HUD for Infinite, and these are just my observations and opinions.

What do you mean my totally biased opinions can’t be treated as objective fact? :stuck_out_tongue:

4

Personally I find the HUD to be a bit too close to Destiny 2; with everything crammed in the corner, it’s blocky design elements, ammo numbers rather than analog, secondary weapons visible, and the grenades/equipment looking just like the abilities.

I’ve also noticed this is similar to other shooters too, and it seems like 343 maybe wanted to make Infinite’s similar so that it’s not as much of a learning curve for new players and players used to playing other games.
I can totally understand this reasoning, but I also think it’s a disservice to the existing players who are used to the old layout, with the only major changes being from a graphical design perspective.

In my own personal experience, I seem to be collectively spending more precious time looking down in the bottom left, than the combined time of glancing at multiple corners in previous games.

5

> 2533274810945725;4:
> Personally I find the HUD to be a bit too close to Destiny 2; with everything crammed in the corner, it’s blocky design elements, ammo numbers rather than analog, secondary weapons visible, and the grenades/equipment looking just like the abilities.
>
> I’ve also noticed this is similar to other shooters too, and it seems like 343 maybe wanted to make Infinite’s similar so that it’s not as much of a learning curve for new players and players used to playing other games.
> I can totally understand this reasoning, but I also think it’s a disservice to the existing players who are used to the old layout, with the only major changes being from a graphical design perspective.
>
> In my own personal experience, I seem to be collectively spending more precious time looking down in the bottom left, than the combined time of glancing at multiple corners in previous games.

For me, the only true issue is the grenades. You can’t see all of them and the menu you have to open is absurd. I’d assume Customs will have modes where we can use all four, so I’m curious how that will work. Same with campaign.

Then there’s the reasoning for changing the HUD. Reduce sweatiness. Personally I think the reason H5 felt sweaty was because of the fast gameplay, low ttk, overpowered weapons, and poor maps. It felt like you were always in danger. However, I do believe if these change, for that reasoning’s sake, made for H5, I think it might actually work with H5’s high energy style. Maybe.

Personally I’d like a classic & modern HUD options so everyone can just pick one or the other and be done with it.

6

I think it all comes down to visibility. With improved environment visuals and lighting means failures at providing visibility to the HUD and to the enemy targets. But, they can solve some of this by using the space where the hand holds the equipped weapon, which in the past was never a space used that much. Why was it never used that much?

Well it appears that placing everything in that same space isn’t necessarily the best solution, because your eyes need to move too far from your HP, reticule, and feed(s).

7

> 2760465307323250;6:
> I think it all comes down to visibility. With improved environment visuals and lighting means failures at providing visibility to the HUD and to the enemy targets. But, they can solve some of this by using the space where the hand holds the equipped weapon, which in the past was never a space used that much. Why was it never used that much?
>
> Well it appears that placing everything in that same space isn’t necessarily the best solution, because your eyes need to move too far from your HP, reticule, and feed(s).

I think that was because Bungie and 343 in the past didn’t want to cover up the gun models too much. Just read the latest Inside Infinite to see how much care and detail they put into them. Would kinda go to waste if the HUD was obscuring it imo. ODST was to the only game to completely lower the HUD, but that was because it was basically a COD HUD where the screen turns red as you take damage, eliminating the need for a shield indicator, and by extension, eliminating the need for your eyes to travel far.

The issue with “the cradle” as they call it, to me seems that it clusters important information too close together. TF|2’s HUD uses most of the bottom of the screen for ammo, nades, AA perks, Titan meter, etc. Each of those things has its dedicated spot, not sharing space.

8

> > Personally I find the HUD to be a bit too close to Destiny 2; with everything crammed in the corner, it’s blocky design elements, ammo numbers rather than analog, secondary weapons visible, and the grenades/equipment looking just like the abilities.
> >
> > I’ve also noticed this is similar to other shooters too, and it seems like 343 maybe wanted to make Infinite’s similar so that it’s not as much of a learning curve for new players and players used to playing other games.
> > I can totally understand this reasoning, but I also think it’s a disservice to the existing players who are used to the old layout, with the only major changes being from a graphical design perspective.
> >
> > In my own personal experience, I seem to be collectively spending more precious time looking down in the bottom left, than the combined time of glancing at multiple corners in previous games.
>
> For me, the only true issue is the grenades. You can’t see all of them and the menu you have to open is absurd. I’d assume Customs will have modes where we can use all four, so I’m curious how that will work. Same with campaign.
>
> Then there’s the reasoning for changing the HUD. Reduce sweatiness. Personally I think the reason H5 felt sweaty was because of the fast gameplay, low ttk, overpowered weapons, and poor maps. It felt like you were always in danger. However, I do believe if these change, for that reasoning’s sake, made for H5, I think it might actually work with H5’s high energy style. Maybe.
>
> Personally I’d like a classic & modern HUD options so everyone can just pick one or the other and be done with it.

Their comments on the HUD’s sweatiness I find really hard to believe.
The HUD had gone practically unchanged for 14 years, yet suddenly we all had a problem with it in Halo 5? And the solution was to emulate other sweaty FPS games?
Come on now.

It might be down to the aspect ratio of my TV, but I feel they could put the grenades up above the Health Bar.
There’s enough room for all 4 types to be visible, with your current equipped being highlighted.
Even if they left the equipment down in the corner with your primary and secondary weapon, at least there would be less going on down there.

9

https://twitter.com/crisperstorm/status/1454175035531345925/photo/1

An image that also communicates what I’ve observed.

10

I personally love the HUD on Infinite. You may have already noticed this, but my favorite detail is actually something very simple,on the health bar, it the light is just acting as if it is sort of renewing itself, making an impression of tracking Spartans heart rate.

11

> 2535465073339095;10:
> I personally love the HUD on Infinite. You may have already noticed this, but my favorite detail is actually something very simple,on the health bar, it the light is just acting as if it is sort of renewing itself, making an impression of tracking Spartans heart rate.

That sounds neat. I’ll have to check that out when the game launches.

Aesthetic flair aside, what about the information communication system do you like? Or think is an improvement from 5?

12

I think as far as the HUD is concerned 343 hasn’t heard the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” for 5 main line Halo games the hud has never been a point of major critisism and yet according to them it needed changing? I don’t really mind the changes personally but im confused why they happened.

At the end of the day HUD customisation should always be a thing, and I don’t know why we could get a simple “legacy hud” option in the menu for those that prefer the old school top and bottom style of HUD.

13

> 2535469521092906;12:
> I think as far as the HUD is concerned 343 hasn’t heard the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” for 5 main line Halo games the hud has never been a point of major critisism and yet according to them it needed changing? I don’t really mind the changes personally but im confused why they happened.
>
> At the end of the day HUD customisation should always be a thing, and I don’t know why we could get a simple “legacy hud” option in the menu for those that prefer the old school top and bottom style of HUD.

True while I’m obviously in favor of “legacy HUD”, this post was mainly meant to detail the differences each game has made to the HUD. With the exception of Infinite’s grenage menu (which is atrocious), the HUD is serviceable. It’s not gonna prevent me from playing the game and having fun, but poor feature is a poor feature.

It’s funny that 343 said they did this to make the game less sweaty, when Halo 5’s direction was dictated by the competitive crowd, making it… sweaty.

14

Yeah the crazy thing about grenades, of which you can only hold two types, that you need more than one button press to switch between them. Cannot fathom this. Halo: Reach perfected the HUD, my favourite (it’s so minimalistic). Copy, paste.

15

Fixing what isn’t broken migt as well be 343’s moto.

> 2533274979963735;13:
> > 2535469521092906;12:
> > I think as far as the HUD is concerned 343 hasn’t heard the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” for 5 main line Halo games the hud has never been a point of major critisism and yet according to them it needed changing? I don’t really mind the changes personally but im confused why they happened.
> >
> > At the end of the day HUD customisation should always be a thing, and I don’t know why we could get a simple “legacy hud” option in the menu for those that prefer the old school top and bottom style of HUD.
>
> True while I’m obviously in favor of “legacy HUD”, this post was mainly meant to detail the differences each game has made to the HUD. With the exception of Infinite’s grenage menu (which is atrocious), the HUD is serviceable. It’s not gonna prevent me from playing the game and having fun, but poor feature is a poor feature.
>
> It’s funny that 343 said they did this to make the game less sweaty, when Halo 5’s direction was dictated by the competitive crowd, making it… sweaty.

h5 was dictated by the competitive crowd due to feedback that h4 was too casual.

h5 is in many ways a case of over correcting.

16

> 2533274964189700;15:
> Fixing what isn’t broken migt as well be 343’s moto.
>
>
>
>
> > 2533274979963735;13:
> > > 2535469521092906;12:
> > > I think as far as the HUD is concerned 343 hasn’t heard the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” for 5 main line Halo games the hud has never been a point of major critisism and yet according to them it needed changing? I don’t really mind the changes personally but im confused why they happened.
> > >
> > > At the end of the day HUD customisation should always be a thing, and I don’t know why we could get a simple “legacy hud” option in the menu for those that prefer the old school top and bottom style of HUD.
> >
> > True while I’m obviously in favor of “legacy HUD”, this post was mainly meant to detail the differences each game has made to the HUD. With the exception of Infinite’s grenade menu (which is atrocious), the HUD is serviceable. It’s not gonna prevent me from playing the game and having fun, but a poor feature is a poor feature.
> >
> > It’s funny that 343 said they did this to make the game less sweaty, when Halo 5’s direction was dictated by the competitive crowd, making it… sweaty.
>
> h5 was dictated by the competitive crowd due to feedback that h4 was too casual.
>
> h5 is in many ways a case of over correcting.

That’s true. The new HUD is also an overreaction IMO. Infinite’s gameplay is slower and seems to be more focused on sandbox manipulation than just straight-up gunplay and movement. It just feels like 343 heard “You’re game is sweaty” then failed to realize what made it sweaty.

17

I am very disappointed by the in-game HUD. Quotes from the Insider post.

> For the HUD we shifted persistent elements out of the top corners – like grenades and weapons - to reduce eye fatigue, cognitive load, and Arena sweatiness, which were serious issues called out by Halo 5 players.

First of all, it would have been better to listen to more than just Halo 5 players. They just represent a small portion of the community, generally not fan of classic Halo and mainly PvP players.

Infinite’s HUD is bad, it’s actually less readable than the classic HUD because everything is so tiny and shoved into a corner. When playing I had trouble reading it and getting information, a problem I never had with previous Halo games.

It’s better to have stuff dispatched around, because when I’m playing, I’m usually looking for a single information at the time. Old HUD told you how many grenades you had of all types, the current restricts you to the current used. With Infinite’s campaign allowing the player to carry 4 different types, it’s gonna be a problem.

> By moving these elements to create breathing room, players can find vertical targets faster

That’s literally the reason why Bungie shifted to lowered crosshair since Halo 2… You created a solution for a problem that was already solved. Lowered croshair allows for more vertical vision and helps with the amazing skyboxes of Halo.

Another problem is that it feels like theses changes were just made to match other generic FPS games. Both CoD Vanguard and BF2042 have centered crosshair and ammo count in the bottom right. But this standardization is not a good thing. Halo just feels less itself, and less unique.

There should also have an option to disable hitmarkers. Since enemies bleed and stagger when hit, hitmarkers serve no purpose and even create visual noise which doesn’t help focus.

Halo Infinite needs to have, at least an option for those who want, a classic Halo HUD and a lowered reticle and no hitmarkers. Not only because it will make the game better to play, but it will also make it feel more like a true Halo game.

18

> 2535419445147641;17:
> I am very disappointed by the in-game HUD. Quotes from the Insider post.
>
>
> > For the HUD we shifted persistent elements out of the top corners – like grenades and weapons - to reduce eye fatigue, cognitive load, and Arena sweatiness, which were serious issues called out by Halo 5 players.
>
> First of all, it would have been better to listen to more than just Halo 5 players. They just represent a small portion of the community, generally not fan of classic Halo and mainly PvP players.
>
> Infinite’s HUD is bad, it’s actually less readable than the classic HUD because everything is so tiny and shoved into a corner. When playing I had trouble reading it and getting information, a problem I never had with previous Halo games.
>
> It’s better to have stuff dispatched around, because when I’m playing, I’m usually looking for a single information at the time. Old HUD told you how many grenades you had of all types, the current restricts you to the current used. With Infinite’s campaign allowing the player to carry 4 different types, it’s gonna be a problem.

Yes, judging by what they said, it’s seems they asked themselves, “Why do players not like Halo 5’s HUD?” instead of asking, “Why did player like Halo 4’s HUD and not Halo 5’s?” Because I’m assuming they asked players if they like Halo 4’s HUD when it came out, and since Halo 5 used a near identical HUD, I assume they liked it.

Since the Campaign overview I’ve been think that the grenade menu was the unfortunate result of being able to hold more than 1 equipment type in campaign. In H3, to switch grenades you just need to push LB and it would cycle right (frags, stickys, Spikes, and Firebombs) and it cycled as fast as you could tap. Finally, you could only hold 1 charge of a single type of equipment. There was no button need to cycle. In Infinite, in theory, we would need 4 buttons to use grenades and equipment and to cycle both. And an xbox controller just doesn’t have the buttons for that. So my solution would be to just assign “Hold LT to cycle grenades” and “Hold LB to cycle Equipment” in campaign. Honestly 343 needs to make use of double keybinds in general for xbox. Like Hold Y drop weapon instead of dedicating an entire button to it.

> > > By moving these elements to create breathing room, players can find vertical targets faster
> >
> > That’s literally the reason why Bungie shifted to lowered crosshair since Halo 2… You created a solution for a problem that was already solved. Lowered croshair allows for more vertical vision and helps with the amazing skyboxes of Halo.
> >
> > Another problem is that it feels like theses changes were just made to match other generic FPS games. Both CoD Vanguard and BF2042 have centered crosshair and ammo count in the bottom right. But this standardization is not a good thing. Halo just feels less itself, and less unique.
> >
> > There should also have an option to disable hitmarkers. Since enemies bleed and stagger when hit, hitmarkers serve no purpose and even create visual noise which doesn’t help focus.
> >
> > Halo Infinite needs to have, at least an option for those who want, a classic Halo HUD and a lowered reticle and no hitmarkers. Not only because it will make the game better to play, but it will also make it feel more like a true Halo game.

I mentioned in the post that they seem to want to accommodate players coming from other franchises. And that’s fine, but you have to ask, “Why aren’t other games changing to accommodate Halo players that what to play their game?”

Then there’s the fact that CoD’s HUD is designed the way it is on purpose. Certain info is more in important in COD than it is in Halo. Like the radar. COD’s minimap is incredibly useful. It tells you the exact location of an enemy that is shooting, this is improved by the easy to obtain UAV kill streak, and it even gives you a satellite view of the battlefield. You can even pause for the full map view. Halo? You get a red dot within 18m of you and only when they’re shooting or moving fast, and it can’t tell if they are above or below you (This matters in Halo because of its more complicated movement and more vertically inclined maps). Active camo negates it, H5 introduced silence weapons that negate it. Finally, it’s just a blue circle. It doesn’t give a satellite image of of the maps or the shape of the buildings. You have to estimate where someone is.

Since ranked will be removing grenade hitmarkers, there may be hope that a setting like this is available to us in the future or at least in customs.