Here are my review/opinions of Infinite and the franchise after playing the 2nd flight all weekend. I’ve read a lot of takes on here and felt like I had a lot of good feedback coming from a seasoned shooter player. This may end up being long but I feel it is worth the read and we can get some positive discussion.
A little backstory first. You could call me an OG I’m 32 and have been hooked on Halo since day one 20 years ago. Loved the trilogy. Disliked Reach. Hated 4. Thought 5 was decent and played it a lot. Halo 2 being the best in my opinion. While Halo is my favorite I’ve played all the major shooters over the years at a competitive level (COD, Gears, Fortnite, Apex, Destiny, even Splitgate now) so I feel I have a good feel for the industry as a whole.
My first impressions of infinite were underwhelming. Feels like a mix of COD/Splitgate with Halo guns which maybe is what they’re going for. But I feel like with the right changes this could be good.
Movement (Neutral)
Pros-I’m glad they got rid of spartan abilities like ground pound and shoulder charge. I was actually a fan of the thruster from 5 and wouldn’t of been mad if that had stayed. I felt it added a strategy element and would of preferred that over sprint. Clamber doesn’t bother me as long as there are still “Skill jumps” within the maps.
Sprint-I’ve always been an anti-sprint guy. I feel like it ruins the maps and flow of a Halo game. I’ve always felt like if the base movement speed is as fast as a sprint then what’s the point. I don’t hate the sprint in this game I just don’t think its necessary.
Maps (Negative)
None of the maps felt good on slayer. They felt better on objective games with Bazaar CTF probably feeling the best. I think maps are an important part of the success in any shooter and this has been a weak point in Halo for a few titles now. Hopefully the rest of them are better in the full release. Also, why not just bring back remastered versions of popular maps from other titles similar to H2 Anniversary?
TTK (Bad)
This goes along with the section below but the TTK is too fast in Infinite. For the most part if someone gets jump/first shot on you you’re done. The “dance” and reversals are a big part of what makes Halo stand out. Outshooting or throwing a grenade at a wall to get reversals in a gunfight need to happen.
Guns/Sandbox (Bad)
This is where the game really lost me and I know there has been a lot of debate on here about the guns. I realize there are all sorts of players here from multiple titles and other shooters. But this is the area that really makes Halo feel like Halo and what has been lacking.
The AR/Sidekick starts felt bad. The AR is too powerful and has too much range and the sidekick just feels weird like it wants to be the H5 pistol but not. The majority of the newly introduced guns feel bad/don’t have a use and the overall sandbox just feels random.
Social playlists can have whatever but for competitive ,the bottom line is BR starts is what makes Halo. And if not BR starts then it needs to be the Halo 5 starting loadout and sandbox style. That’s the best compromise between old and new and where I feel H5 really shined. You need a skilled precision weapon that can compete with other guns but that you still would swap out for something little better (Power Weapon, BR, DMR, etc.) There doesn’t need to be clutter on the map or weapons for the sake of weapons. Look at split gate a new FPS they have minimal pickups on the map but they all have uses and it feels great. And for you Warzone/COD guys you literally only use your loadout gun anyway so I don’t understand the hate/its boring statements.
At this point I feel like Infinite movement with H5/BR starts and H5 style sandbox is the best compromise between old/new styles and the best bet for the game to succeed especially with good maps and game modes in my opinion. I know this wont happen but I would love to see them bring back the 50 rank system as well.
Conclusion
Overall there are some good things but I feel some changes need to made to make this game fun and feel like “Halo”. My final statement is this. I’ve been on the forums for the last few titles and the arguments are always the same. Old vs New. The old people say bring it back to the glory days and the new people say Halo needs to evolve with time and be modern. But 343 has been trying to make Halo more like COD/appeal to the modern crowd for the last 10 years and have mostly failed at the gaining popularity. Why not be innovators again? Maybe old is new now?