I am having more fun with Infinite than any Halo game since Halo 3. 343, I retract all my doubt-filled statements over the past 6 years. Halo Infinite is a really, really great Halo game. If 343 handle this game correctly post-launch, I could see myself thinking in a few years that Halo Infinite is the best Halo multiplayer game in the series, and just 6 months ago I was convinced that I’d never play a Halo game better than 3 in my lifetime. So, good job 343.
However, I hope 343 responds quickly to core feedback on the following two areas:
- The battlepass/progression system
- Breadth of content available
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Personally, I do not care about customization in Halo, and I am happy to completely ignore the battlepass and challenge systems. However, there is no way around the fact that the current implementation of these things is probably the worst I’ve ever seen in a multiplayer game. It’s frustrating, unrewarding, unintuitive, and unnecessary. It needs a complete rework.
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Content, particularly concerning playlists, is far too limited to hold the community’s attention currently. There are a LOT of missing social game modes and options in the game. I don’t mind the idea of consolidating ranked Halo down to a single HCS playlist. However, forcing social gameplay into merely two grab-bag playlists is a terrible idea. It makes ZERO sense that Halo keeps moving backwards with each new release in regards to how much content is available. Look at Halo 1 → 2 → 3 → Reach. Each game in that series expanded the amount of content and ways to play the game, and the community loved it. Halo 4 → 5 → Infinite has resulted in less content available at launch in each game compared to previous installments. That’s a real problem and needs to be addressed as fast as possible. Drip-feeding content over 2 years worth of seasons is not a solution.
Also, please implement a match composer similar to what is available in the MCC for social gameplay. That way, people can pick their game size and modes. Then, just add in the modes from previous games that are currently unavailable, so that all the different parts of the community have something to play.
It’s not good enough to fix these things in 6-12 months. They need to be fixed ASAP to keep momentum going. Per-match XP should be the backbone of progression and should be implemented by December 8, and this feedback has been very consistent from the community. And we shouldn’t have to wait 6 months to have playlists that go beyond ranked, social, and BTB.