I trust you are well and enjoy playing Halo and other game. I just wanted to share my ideas for a Invasion 2.0 mode that I wish will be added to Halo Infinite. The reintroduction of Invasion to Infinite is the prime opportunity to bring back playable elites so here are my ideas:
30 v 30 (Spartan vs Elites) Linear game mode that is very much like Galactic Supremacy from the Star Wars: Battlefront games. The two teams will be fighting for control over key locations of Zeta halo before moving to destroy that is hovering above. We could be fighting over Zeta Halo’s control room with five (5) ground objective we have to capture and hold for a set amount of points before boarding pelicans/ phantoms and trying to destroy the enemy ship.
Spartan Team:
30 player characters
A.I. Marines to be the “cannon fodder” for lower skilled players and to give a sense of large scale battle
A.I. ODSTs to act as more elite support for the Spartans
UNSC vehicles are deployed via Pelican from the UNSC ship above
UNSC power weapons could also be deployed at controlled ground points or across the map via weapon pods deployed by the friendly ship.
With the A.I. ODSTs, I imagine them to be called in to help defend the last ground objective when the Spartans are loosing or try and capture a point when the Spartans are not holding any whatsoever. They could also be defending the engine room on the UNSC ship along side some Marines.
Elite (Banished) Team:
30 player characters (the much beloved Elites)
A.I. Grunts to be the “cannon fodder” for lower skilled players and to give a sense of large scale battle
A.I. Jackals & Skirmishers to act as more elite support for the Elites
Banished vehicles could be deployed via Phantom and/or Spirits
Banished power weapons could also be deployed via weapon pods fired from their ship above to controlled points or randomly around the map.
I went with A.I. Jackals & Skirmishers as the more elite support A.I. for the Elites because Brutes & Hunters may prove to be too unbalanced. Since I imagine the Jackals to be easier to deal with than ODSTs, you could deploy them in slight larger numbers to help defend the last ground control point while Skirmish could be used to help take a point if they Elites are not controlling any.
I also have ideas floating in my head where you could have a Banished ship hovering low above the ground like in Truth and Reconciliation, where the Spartans are assault the ship. Or when fighting over a Forerunner structure, Sentinels act as a neutral enemy to all.
What do any of you think? Would a mode like this be possible? How do you imagine/ believe the advanced movement will impact this mode and the playable Elites? Would this mode be possible in cross-gen or should it be locked to the Series S/X? Would you take a different route to where my idea is going? Let us brainstorm ideas and who knows… Maybe 343i could make it a reality one day.
If you’re gonna litter in AI already, then 30 v 30 isn’t really needed. You can function off 10 v 10.
If you’re gonna 30 v 30 then AI is just extra crowd. Also you’re thinking too hard about balancing the two sides which honestly is futile considering the strengths and weaknesses of each faction’s weapons is specifically why the sandbox is interesting.
It honestly seems better off if you did a simplified version of the Battlefront style class system:
UNSC: Marine, ODST, Spartan Hero
Banished: Grunt, Skirmisher, Sangheili Hero
Just so you know, the Invasion mode was pretty much a simplified version of Battlefront class system PvP, except they never properly balanced it because while they tried to balance things like AR vs Plasma Repeater and DMR vs Needle Rifle, ultimately both sides with their weapons were too different to properly balance.
That’s why it’s called Invasion and that’s why it’s played in sets. Each team takes turns attacking with these varied Covenant loadouts while the defender has to defend with UNSC loadouts. The Spartan defenders are naturally weaker in phase 1 because all they have is the terrible AR and only 16 + 8 shots of the Magnum which is not enough to hold back vs the Elite team who has Camo, Needler with extra homing range, Plasma Pistol and Evade.
I could only imagine how incredible this would be to be able to board transportation vehicles for the different waves and attempt to destroy the main ships. I love this idea.
Star Wars Battlefront is a great game and I love the idea for an invasion style PVP with AI units in Halo Infinite. Not sure how this would work, but it is cool how Star Wars lets you play as different types depending on Battle Points. Imagine a 3rd person game mode allowing you to play as a Grunt or Jackal, earning points towards an Elite or a Brute, even a Brute Chieftain or Hunter.
Even if you could just play as an Elite or Spartan, that is perfectly fine as well, and it is probably an easier system to balance and implement, but there is a lot of untapped potential within Halo Infinite.
Although Halo is an arena shooter, the idea of a loadout based game mode is ideal for Invasion and this type of game mode might attract new players that maybe don’t enjoy arena shooters.
I have to disagree with you here. I feel that a bigger/ more ambitious mode will be better for Infinite. Other current shoots all have larger scale team modes (CoD MW2 (2022)'s Invasion, Star Wars Battlefront 2 (EA)'s Galactic Supremacy, Battlefield’s Conquest). The flagship title on “the worlds most powerful console”, I feel, should have a larger scale multiplayer mode. Granted, I do know it will have clashes with the progression systems as matches would be expected to be longer and I would not be surprised if there are issues due to cross-gen.
You may be right here, although I have not given too much thought as to weapon balancing yet as I do not know what “classic” weapons are going to be coming back. In any case, I feel in is important to give discussion on balancing just in-case anyone at 343i sees it. It could end up impacting a hopeful return of invasion or any introduction of large scale MP modes.
Thank you for your response, it has given me a lot to think over in my spare time.
Similar to what some of @Sodium_Bath’s points where in his response. A simplified version of what Battlefront has done could just be enough. 343i need to look at the other shooters and see what can it learn from them.
I agree here too. As long as it is noticeably bigger in player count than BTB. Invasion 2.0. need to exceed the last but also push the limits in some areas too.
Thank you for your response, I will spend time reflecting on this as well.
peace 