My Opinion On the BTB Preview

Games Halo Infinite
#1

So I’m gonna go over my thoughts and opinions on the big team preview. Be prepared, it will be a bit lengthy. Oh and I’m on an Xbox One for reference incase anybody was wondering.

First let’s talk about the fact that I really enjoyed this preview. It felt like Halo again which is a great feeling to have considering I never truly enjoyed Halo 5 because of the exceptionally fast gameplay speed and insanely quick kill times which did not allow for Halo 5 to have any functional form of big team whatsoever. It was literally see enemy team and you die. But let’s put Halo 5 opinions to the side because that doesn’t matter as much here. I’m just going to start listing off the things that mainly I found to be an issue or problem that we’re not bugs necessarily but are current states of weapons, vehicles and gameplay function. I will say some good things too.

So first things first, Vehicles.

The Warthog seems to flip insanely easy when going over or barely clipping slightly uneven terrain that’s right next to the hog. I also had a few instances where my tire barely clipped the edge of a tree and I mean like the base of it where the roots are and my Warthog decided I am now on this tree and I am pointing directly up 90° to the sky and then flip over backwards. It also didn’t help that I had a constant bug of not being able to hot swap seats in the hog, but that’s what tests are for and a ticket has been filed.

The press button to flip vehicle prompt also seems to not properly flip vehicles resulting in the vehicle flipping a full 360° and landing upside down again making you flip the vehicle again before you can get in. this seemed to happen about 2 out of 3 times. which means it happened a lot because that Hog just will not stay upright.

The sound of the Ghost is a little lackluster. It sounds very Halo CE which is not necessarily a bad thing but at the same time it doesn’t sound like what I know a Ghost sound like. Since Halo 2 there has been this constant pulsing whirling hum that comes from the anti-grav engine that keeps the Ghost levitating. I mean just comparing the sound of the Ghost from Halo 3 to the sound of Infinite’s Ghost and the the sound of the Halo 3 Ghost engine is just so much more obvious and better sounding. In Halo 3 I could hear when a Ghost was somewhere in the area but in Infinite I don’t notice a ghost is coming unless I see it because all I’m hearing is this whirling wind like sound that reminds me more of the boosting sound from a Banshee. I would also like to see more visual damage to the Ghost before it’s ready to go into its destruction mode. Right now the front wings get clipped and there’s some basic bullet damage to the armor covering it. In previous titles heavily damaged Ghosts would have the hood pop off, there’d be blue fire and smoke pouring out of the front, the back section that you sit on cracks open and you can see all the mechanical electronic bits underneath. That let’s you know “hey this Ghost is really broken right now”, but that doesn’t happen. It just enters that destruction mode and you’re suddenly told your time is up.

But all in all vehicle gameplay is okay as is and there is still time to make it better and add some bells and whistles to make it both play and feel better so it’s definitely not bad, it’s pretty decent. Oh one last suggestion, maybe make the alternate fire on the Wasp be the left trigger so you don’t have to take your thumb off the stick and press y to swap between the normal machine guns and the missiles. It makes sense on the Banshee to have to swap from the plasma cannons to the fuel rod because left trigger is boost, but the Wasp doesn’t boost so why have the swap?

All right now let’s talk about equipment.

So the Grapple Shot is okay. It’s in my opinion a better replacement for something like the jetpack so the map doesn’t have to be built around expecting someone to be able to traverse it specifically with a it at all times. The Grapple Shot also has a lot of versatility and allows for a lot of dumb stupid fun with things. The only thing that kind of sucks is that because I use bumper jumper the equipment button is assigned to x which means using the Grapple Shot is more difficult for me than it is for others. A hold jump to trigger setting could help with that. Like what has been added to MCC for Reach and 4.

The Repulsor is a weird thing and I honestly don’t know really where it belongs in the sandbox. I never really found a moment that the Repulsor was a viable option to use against the enemy over just continuing to fight with my weapons, grenades or fists. I’ve seen the clips of people using them to help traverse areas of maps, bouncing people and vehicles off of maps and walls to pancake them as well as reflecting some shots. But I feel like a lot of those things that the Repulsor does are things that other weapons in Halo’s sandbox did.

The Drop Wall this time around is so underpowered. Literally upon being dropped it’s now done. It can save you from getting shot for exactly one second, if even that.
I know that there are other equipment that weren’t technically available in the flight that other people gained access through glitches/exploits, but I never did any of that so I’m not going to voice any opinions on them. I did see that thruster equipment though… I like that.

Continued in the next post and in the following reply (I realized I didn’t talk about the Mongoose and Bulldog)

#2

Okay so let’s talk about weapons now.
I will start off by saying the starting weapons of AR and Si****dekick feels good. The AR still kind of feels like a general all-purpose powerhouse that I feel like I actually don’t want to get rid of. Which I’m not sure is a bad thing or a good thing, because I find myself not wanting to swap the AR for almost any other gun. For the most part it’s effective at almost any range other than extreme distance where the BR, Commando or the Sniper weapons would be far better suited.

The Sidekick I feel is a better version of the Halo 2 Pistol and I think that’s really all I need to say about that.

The Commando Rifle is a… different kind of precision weapon. It honestly feels like a less fun version of the Needle Rifle which makes me a little sad because I absolutely loved the Needle Rifle in Reach. But when used properly, the Commando is an effective ranged weapon that I would honestly prefer to have over the sidekick and even the BR at times, but I would much rather have the BR for longer range encounters.

Speaking of the BR it feels fine, BR is BR thumbs up.

The P****ulse Carbine feels like a very odd duck. I can’t tell if it’s supposed to be the precision weapon or the default assault rifle option for the Covenant/Banished but it is an okay functional weapon. It kinda feels like they slapped together both the Storm Rifle and Bolt Shot from Halo 5.

To me the Sniper felt better in this big team preview. Probably because the maps were actually designed to have snipers on them.

And since we’re talking about snipers let’s mention the all-powerful Skewer. This weapon is in need of some serious work for the fact that it is an instakill much like the Binary Rifle from Halo 4 and is obviously meant to be a replacement for the Spartan Laser, being anti-vehicle and one shotting on foot personnel. But there’s a key thing the Skewer is missing that both the Spartan Laser and the Binary Rifle had and that is a red laser that pointed in your direction to let you know “hey instant death is currently looking your way you might want to do something about that”. I understand that any scoped rifle/precision weapon gives you a scope glare when someone scopes in and they each have a different color (which you only see when you’re looking directly at the person scoped in on you), but because the Skewer is an instant death weapon when it hits basically anything. It needs another form of alert to the enemy team when it’s pointed their way. In its current state it does not let you know that you’re about to die. When I got shot by a Spartan Laser I knew it was coming so I had a chance to either get behind cover or try to dodge at the last moment before the laser would hit me. Currently when you die from a Skewer you don’t know what you died from unless you look to the left side of the screen for that tiny little weapon feed. With all that said, I think it’s time to move on to a different weapon.

let’s talk about the current state of the Needler. It’s fun still but has definitely been nerfed hard on the tracking. Back in the first flight the Needler functioned really well, but this preview the tracking on the needles is basically useless on anybody you’re shooting at when they’re strafing left or right. And it doesn’t matter what speed they’re strafing the needles target behind the enemy. I did report this as a bug because I found that anybody who was sidestepping any amount was never getting hit by needles which I find to be more of an actual functional issue and less of a balancing problem. The supercombine could use some more flare and boom.

The Shock Rifle is weird. I do like the whole idea and concept of having an electrical weapon that can arc to nearby enemies when you hit someone or one of the equipment/weapons on the ground. It’s a good don’t group up kind of weapon. I’m not a fan that it has the ability to EMP vehicles after a couple of shots. They’ve done this and removed the EMP from the plasma pistol. Once again that’s another staple since Halo 2 that has been thrown out the window to allow for new weapons to be more unique.

The Ravager is good. I like the normal burst fire mode as well as the charge up AOE. It’ss fun to use and it slots into that grenade launcher like category that something like the Brute Shot and Concussion Rifle has always filled.

Since I mentioned the Plasma Pistol earlier I’ll talk a bit more about it. The current Plasma Pistol feels quite a bit weaker than the one in the last flight and I really hate the fact that it doesn’t EMP vehicles. The tracker on the charge shot seems to be significantly nerfed and it feels almost as bad as the tracker from Halo 2 or Halo 3, actually I’ll just say Halo 3 because I don’t have too much experience with Halo 2’s Plasma Pistol.

The Rocket Launcher is overwhelmingly under powered. It has virtually no knockback on anything it hits and basically no explosive radius. If it does have a radius I probably can’t tell because it does so little damage.

I think the last weapon that I haven’t mentioned yet is the G****ravity Hammer. I don’t like the extreme wind up time it has. Even the normal melee has the same long windup which is bad. I am fine with the change in its function moving more towards a cone of destruction in front of the wielder as it sends out a rippling shockwave of damage. I feel like the Hammer does need more physics applied. It needs more kickback and concussive force applied to the wielder and objects around it.

And now let’s talk about grenades.
Let’s start off with the standard Frag Grenade. I guess it’s okay currently, but I would like more knockback force to be applied when it explodes.

The Plasma Grenades are actually pretty good. I think the fuse timer is a little long once you’ve stuck someone.

The Spike Grenade has me concerned. I don’t like that upon throwing the grenade it has a dedicated fuse time where it will just explode in midair once it hits that time. I do like that it still has the ricocheting spikes that create a good AOE that covers the area, but it’s not like a massive explosion that will just kill everyone inside. Once again the fuse timer upon being attached to someone or a vehicle is way too long, it needs to go off way faster.

Now let’s talk about the new kid on the block, the Dynamo Grenade. This grenade is very fun to use and I enjoy it quite a lot. I like that it chains the electricity which makes the grenade even more effective in moments where you are in serious need of mass area of denial. Like when the enemy team is capturing a zone or is trying to return their flag. It also makes sense that it’s able to EMP vehicles, but there seems to be some window in which the EMP goes off and it’s not very clear.

Last thing I want to mention is the vehicle and ordinance drops.
I like that Pelicans come in with some of the vehicle drops. It feels very good and in cannon for Halo. I would like to see some more flare with the ordinance drops. When they drop in they just kinda drop in. No big boom or crash, just… “I’m here now…”. The flashing green lights are a good way for people to notice them, but once someone runs by all that goes away. Some more “HEY LOOK AT ME!” effects need to be added onto the post open state so if someone goes near, but doesn’t grab it others will still know it’s there.
Oh and Fragmentation is a great map. Not quite sure how I feel about the loot cave, but… it’s fine I guess. Last, but not least… player collision. We need and want player collision.

#3

First off, It looks like you put a lot of thought into this which is awesome. Sorry if I don’t reply to everything.

I agree, most of the vehicles seem in a weird spot. I have heard a hand full of players complaining how weak and almost useless the vehicles seem at times. However, I feel like the ghost is in a really good spot. I do believe the warthog should probably have a small buff to its durability/health.

I feel if 343i increases the radar to be 25m instead of 18m. It will help noticing people sooner so you don’t have a ghost or someone moving fast at you surprise you as easily. Right now, it seems there isn’t enough reaction time with how fast people move and seeing them on the radar because by time you see them, they are already in range.

Everyone kind of agrees the Plasma Pistol is pointless in its current state of not being able to EMP vehicles.
The needler is in a great spot. I was testing it and doing challenges with it. It did not seem overpowered but something I found great about it was if you are shooting it correctly it will beat an AR 1v1 every time. I was even able to get a triple kill using the needler by just doing 1v1s against competent players using ARs.

The grenades seem to be in fine spot with me.

Also agree, Fragmentation is a great map.

#4

So after a few days passed and people started posting preview reviews I realized that I didn’t talk about the Mongoose or Bulldog. I figured I’d just go ahead and do that now.

The Mongoose feels really nice. It feels quick and snappy which is honestly better than how it’s felt in past titles. Usually it felt like a lighter, slightly faster version of the Warthog.

The Bulldog for me was not fun to use. I understand that it’s meant to be a faster firing, lower damage, higher range shotgun. It is exactly that and seems decently effective, but it just feels like it’s missing that kick, that powerful impact that usually comes from a shotgun. To me it feels like a less fun Scattershot without the bouncing projectiles. I’ve played other FPS games that have shotguns like this. One of them was my favorite back in CoD MW2. The AA-12 wasn’t the strongest shotgun, but definitely the fastest firing and I loved that shotgun. It still felt like it had a kick to it even though it wasn’t as strong.

All this talking about shotguns reminds me that I never mentioned the Heatwave. It’s Scattershot 2.0 in everyway possible and is just fun to use. maybe not the strongest, but because of the way it works it’s a fun gun to use.