With the Halo Infinite technical preview over and with twelve hours spent in the preview, I feel as if I can give some decent insight in regards to issues I have experienced as well as some recommendations for the team over at 343i. Please note that my recommendations are purely subjective, and I completely understand that this is a TECH PREVIEW, not a full release-- hell, not even a beta. With that being said, the tech preview was still phenomenal despite its many bugs and issues. I will now list the problems that I faced during the preview.
PLATFORM: PC (Windows 10)
BUGS:
- Without a doubt, the most annoying bug that I faced was the late-game audio bug. If the servers decided to put you into a game after it had already begun, your audio would be incredibly muffled and limited; I wasn’t even able to hear my Plasma Pistol charge up due to this bug. That’s how egregious it was. I believe I have already seen many reports of this bug so I’ll simply go onto the next issue.
- Equipping armor doesn’t save on occasion. I believe the bug was triggered after I had already played a game or two, the only solution being restarting the game entirely. However, during the final day of the flight, I did not run into this bug; chances are 343i already patched it. Still, though, I feel like I’m obligated to include it here.
- Slide does not work when “hold sprint” is activated in the settings. That’s it, that’s all I have written in my notes.
- When using the VK78, I noticed that it was incredibly difficult to use and figured that it was 343i attempting to balance the weapon out. However, I later noticed that the reticle does NOT scale with your FOV. The reticle of the VK78 was fixed to a FOV of around 80°, while I generally play with a FOV of 100-105°. The reticle was abnormally small and I could not see the effects of bloom when firing the weapon, causing me to miss many of my shots. (Yes, I’m also gonna use this as an excuse for me sucking at the game.)
- Speaking of FOV, I noticed that it doesn’t always save when closing the game. This bug happens more often than not, but I noticed that it generally doesn’t occur upon the first launch of the game, only happening if I restart the app due to the aforementioned armor bug.
- A small bug, but I noticed that the subtitles label Circ’s AI voice as “Sphere.” Come on 343i, put some respeck on Circ’s name. >:(
- I also noticed that the Butler would sometimes be replaced as my AI, despite me only ever going to the AI screen once to select Circ.
- I’m sure if this is a bug or if it was intended but I noticed that XP boosts begin to expire as soon as you equip them. Please, 343i, don’t let them expire when we’re in the lobby.
- Your Spartan has no torso when you look down. I found this out when teabagging during the Arena Slayer. Good times.
- You can dupe powers weapons if you and a teammate simultaneously pick them up. HOWEVER, this has caused my game to crash many times, but not due to the duping itself; upon attempting to get a kill with the power weapon, my game crashes. I have experienced this with both the SPNKR and the Skewer.
- Upon pressing TAB, I noticed that the legend/leaderboard does not display. Even if I changed the keybind, it never seemed to work.
- This bug only happened once but I managed to join a game with four other people. Needless to say, the five of us absolutely decimated the bots.
- The Ravager’s secondary fire seems to not function properly most, if not, all of the time, the enemies that stand in the fire essentially just staring at me awkwardly until they pop me in the head with a Sidekick.
- Finally, I experienced what I call the “Flashbang Bug.” On rare occasions, when a grenade is thrown at me, my screen goes pure white as if I just stared at a flashbang at point-blank range. This effect lasts for around 1-2 seconds, but it’s still annoying nonetheless.
That’s essentially it for the bugs that I experienced! Onto my recommendations and input.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND INPUT:
- I find that the Bulldog is pretty mediocre. If the interview with Quinn DelHoyo is to be believed and the original shotgun is truly gone, then the Bulldog is going to need to be reworked. I frequently found that the Bulldog was more of an inconvenience to use rather than a pleasure, but it did have its moments where it felt phenomenal. However, I believe it would be worth including the original shotgun in Halo Infinite alongside the Bulldog. The Bulldog could have a faster rate of fire and could benefit from a larger magazine whilst the M90 or M45 (I imagine it would be the M90 since 343i seems to want to appeal to the veteran fans of Halo with Infinite by “respecting the legacy”) could pack a harder punch with a lower fire rate. Just a thought, though!
- Grenade hitmarkers are a bit meh. I don’t mind them being in a social setting, but I’m hoping that grenade hitmarkers are disabled in competitive modes since grenade hitmarkers essentially serve as miniature UAVs and are now even more powerful since walking no longer appears on the radar.
- The Plasma Pistol and Pulse Carbine are both fun as hell to use, though I noticed that the Pulse Carbine’s tracking isn’t all that great-- I can only imagine that this is for balance, but I would frequently drop the Pulse Carbine in exchange for the Plasma Pistol if I wanted to quickly drop someone’s shield. By the way, I LOVE the range on the Plasma Pistol’s charged shot.
- Speaking of quickly dropping shields-- WHERE IS THE NOOB COMBO MEDAL, 343i?! I WAS SO EXCITED TO HEAR JEFF STITZER MAKE A REMARK ABOUT ME USING A PLASMA PISTOL AND A SIDEKICK FOR QUICK AND EASY KILLS ONLY TO BE DISAPPOINTED. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE. /j
- The Needler sounds nothing like the Needler. A bit of a weird statement, I know, but for a weapon that is known for how unique it is due to its supercombine explosions and awesome ammo counter that’s viewed by literally looking at the needles on the gun, it sounds very. . . Well, normal-- almost like the suppressed SMG from ODST, in a weird way. Also, speaking of the ammo counter, why is there ACTUALLY an ammo counter on the back of the gun? A weird complaint, I know, but it’s a bit redundant.
- The Heatwave isn’t all too great. It’s fun to use and it’s incredibly satisfying to disentegrate your opponents, but I can’t really see myself ever choosing it over another crowd-control weapon. In regards to its entry-denial purposes, I imagine grenades and/or a SPNKR would prove to be more practical, not to mention easier to use, and in close ranges I would rather use the Bulldog. That leaves the Heatwave with almost no use, and I’m not really sure of anything that can be done to make it more viable yet not overpowered.
- The sound that plays when you get a headshot, like that “pop” sound, I need that sound more in my life. Give your sound designers a raise. It’s on-par with the Battlefield “dink” sound. Someone make an eight hour loop of the headshot “pop” sound so I can use it to sleep.
- And finally, the Gravity Hammer’s swing feels. . . Off. Like, it’s too slow. And speaking of the Gravity Hammer, why the hell do my melee kills send enemies flying farther than the GRAVITY HAMMER? WHAT KIND OF TRICKERY IS THIS?
That’s essentially it for my bug reports, recommendations, and input. Thank you 343i for inviting me to the technical preview; hoping to be a part of more in the future! 