I’ve had a rocky relationship with the series since Halo 4, but what I’ve seen of Infinite gives me more hope than 4 or 5. I have both concerns and major excitement about these key areas, so I’m trying to offer constructive criticism.
1: Narrative, Gameplay, and world building:
Does everyone think it’s important that the weapons and gameplay be rooted in the narrative and technology of Halo? The naval engagements in space and intense ground wars fascinated me in the books, and the games let me be a part of that world. Cinematic moments in the series bring me in, like Forward Unto Dawn sweeping into the atmosphere on the Ark, or the large scale engagement in “Tip of the Spear.” I personally prefer simple, classic gameplay, and a beautiful world to be immersed in, rather than a constant stream of new gizmos and equipment to toy with. Personally, the gameplay is nestled within my narrative experience and allows me to interact with that world, rather than the narrative being a background for gunplay or “The Combat Loop.” I hope an open world game would take that to heart.
2: Formula additions and refinements vs full replacements.
At what points have you been happy to have units, gameplay elements, or weapons removed and replaced? Do you prefer that, or just slight additions and tweaks?
Reach added new variants of old enemies, like skirmishers, and breakable armor on hunters. I love those additions, gameplay changed slightly, things were added… but when Joe Staten mentions big changes coming to hunters in Infinite, and using the grapple-shot to get around them… it feels like forcing a new style rather than adding or refining what’s there. The addition of prometheans and removal of the flood was a similar issue to me, we lost something I liked a lot, and the replacement never fully caught on for me. I wouldn’t mind facing a few promethean knights, but the flood were so much more… Halo…
Same thing with weapons - CE Had few options, revealed VERY slowly through the campaign and I love those guns. Halo 2 added the awesome SMG and BR, but also disappointed many by removing the AR. Then Halo 3 brought all 3 and I loved it! For Infinite, the Commando looks awesome, and I’m thrilled to see the SAW, SMG, AR, BR, and DMR all in the same place. On the flip-side, I had no interest in the totally new looking shotgun and rocket launcher in Halo 5, and was sad to see them replace my favorites. I hope Infinite finds a balance of offering good classic weapons at release with a few new guns, and I would happily pay for campaign DLC that adds other variants of the M6 or MA rifle.
3: Hype, communication, and community relations:
With the purportedly renewed effort to keep us up to date, do you feel like you have a good understanding of the scope of this game and what it’s like?
It feels to me like content is expected to be so polished, so tiny bits of info are shared at a time… it seems like a lot of this game is being withheld from me, and not because they saving the best for last. Marketing campaigns should be honest and accurate looks at what the game would be like, not a controlled descent into release. Just compare all of the footage and teasers we saw of Halo 3 or Reach before release to what little we’ve seen of the actual open world or story in Infinite. I’m finding it hard to trust 343 when they claim the campaign has improved but refuse to show us a single screenshot. If I could see a few images of more varied/bio-diverse environments in the campaign I would be less hesitant and more confident/excited that I will buy this game (and a Series-X to play it on.)