Linear, inside-the-box map design

Games Halo Infinite
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1

I feel like all the maps in this game are so rigid; so preset, and purposefully designed to work in certain ways. Sure, there’s lots of different ways to go or paths around the map, but they’re all so deliberate. Jump here, then jump and clamber here, then jump through this door and tada. Go through this hallway and either go left or go right.

In Bungie’s games, I felt there was much more opportunity for outside-the-box movement, positioning, and general gameplay. You could go ways that people didn’t expect or that weren’t really designed into the level, and that allowed you to get out of situations or create attack opportunities that people weren’t ready for.

Take Last Resort (The Halo 3 remake of Zanzibar) vs. Infinite’s Bazaar. In Halo 3, you could ride up the giant wheel, and the intended path is to jump from it to the bridge. But, you can also turn and jump over to the edge of the wall where it meets the tower, or wait a while and jump up on top of the wheel center (which isn’t even a part of the map you’re “supposed” to go to at all). Also, there’s the building in the center with the hole down to the bottom floor, and the doorway at the end of the inside of the rock wall; both of these are meant to be holes to drop out of, but with a grav lift, you can jump up through them and take someone off guard.

Then look at Bazaar: the closest equivalent to the grav lift, the grappleshot, should be great for taking paths that aren’t intended. But, if you try to grapple and fly over top of the central bridge sections at either side, you hit an invisible wall. Same if you try to go over some of the buildings. Or, think about the little tunnelway above the basement cellar room; it’s meant to drop down through, much like the aforementioned holes in Last Resort, but can you use the grapple to fly up into it? No, of course not.

I feel like every path you can take, every option presented to you, is only the things that were purposefully designed into the game. You’re given a list of options and you must choose; no inventiveness or creating new ideas, and very little creativity at all. I think this (coupled with lots of other limitations like the sheer lack of maps and modes) makes this game feel very limiting and kind of dull compared to past games.

5 Likes
2

100%, parkour on h5’s plaza was so fun i’d load it up just to play around this game has 0 sparkle when it come to that kind of stuff.

2 Likes
3

For a game with grapple shot, 343 put a ton of invisible walls and kill timers. Obviously they didn’t design these maps well enough to accommodate height in mind. The BTB maps are too claustrophobic for vehicles, and the 4v4 maps are only good for one or two modes each. 343 bad map design strikes again.

5 Likes
4

They should remove the walls and just put a sliding barrier on top of the areas they don’t want people staying on.

1 Like
5

Have to agree here. It very much feels like an on rails experience navigating many of the maps, and leaves very little opportunity for out of the box movement. Its almost like MOBA maps where you have lanes. Trilogy era maps left a lot of opportunity for creative improvisation, both in navigation and in sight lines for engaging. In Infinite it feels like all of the options are pre-calculated, and you pick one path or another, as opposed to finding your own way.

1 Like
6

Well yeah. Throwing away things that worked in Bungie era Halo is 343i’s specialty. Like, they want to make Halo theirs, who cares if it’s at the expense of everything that anyone liked about the series?

7

Yeah even jumping around the older games before there was clamber, slide, sprint, etc. there was a lot of fun little jumps and interesting movement options that I don’t see here.

1 Like
8

Yeah, or even a 10 second countdown just so you can’t camp up there

1 Like
9

More vertical-oriented maps would be good.

10

Doesn’t help that no maps seem to have crates to push around.

2 Likes
11

totes i like practicing “balence beam” jumps like jumping on the edge rails of guardian and blackout/lockout but aside from 1 or 2 stair railings i cant even have that kind of fun either

1 Like
12

If more verticality is added, I’d personally like a lower reticle option added too.

Kinda surprised that the option isn’t in the game to begin with.

2 Likes
13

I agree that the maps feel very “rigid”. The maps in this game also seem to have 3 sightlines per room minimum, as a rule, there’s very few true “power positions” in these maps. I feel like I’m in danger of being cleaned up after every single kill, no matter where on the map I find myself.

It’s funny, throwable fusion coils are actually, finally here, and only 2 matchmaking maps have them at all, one BTB one arena. There’s no teleporters, and, what, 2 arena maps with lifts/man canons? It feels like the maps are over cluttered with clamber spots, and cover specically placed for people to sprint/slide toward when they screw up.

2 Likes