Morning, Spartans, SPCTR here. long time fan of halo. I’m very pleased to see 343 taking multiple right steps with the Halo franchise, And I want to help with that. So here are my personal opinions on Infinite so far.
Visual/Sound Design:
-Perfect across the board. I am overjoyed to see you leaving that awkward phase of making everything in the UNSC look like plastic gamer toys. Spartans have never looked better, The weapons are firm and the sounds they make is an absolute thrill. Vehicles are a massive plus too.
Graphics:
Surprisingly optimized. I have an RTX 2070 and can run it on ultra with roughly 100 FPS. where most AAA titles today would require a 3060 for that kind of quality. The lighting is amazing, Halo 4 and 5 were always super weird with that. it felt like i was playing it on an electron microscope. but now it actually feels like a proper environment
In game progression:
While I’m glad to see Credits making a return, I don’t see why modern shooters make such extensive use of the word “battle pass”. I mean, What even IS a battle pass? From what I can gather, it doesn’t really mean anything, at least in how Infinite uses it. You play the game, unlock the levels and armors, boosters, whatever, or you can buy them with credits. that really just seems like a normal progression system to me. Halo: reach had a smaller but similar thing. but for some reason the term battle pass is kinda shoehorned in there now like it’s supposed to be different. I don’t know. I’m not complaining about the actual progression I think it’s fun, fair, and motivating, I just feel like the marketing of it is kind of strange. Do respond if there’s something I’m not understanding about it.
Gameplay:
The weird hybridization you guys have made with power-ups and armor abilities is interesting to say the least. I will admit, the grappleshot did have me skeptical, since its a very trendy gimmick in modern shooters. and honestly I still kind of am. im saying kind of, because I can’t deny that it’s an absolute joy to use. but I just have a hard time imagining spartans with it. I’m glad to see Active camo not being as useless as it was in Reach. The Repulsor is a literal blast. However the drop wall. while very tactical, feels kind of boring, to be honest, especially in how it looks with its simple square grids. If anything id make a small reference to the bubble shield and give it a hexagonal pattern instead, just for some flavor.
I am concerned about the usage of outlines. Many points of interests throughout the maps are almost always outlined. I feel like that could be numbing the brain a little when playing. Earlier halo’s didnt use that (mostly) and you had to keep a sharp eye on things around you. It felt good, you felt vigilant and aware. I worry that the use of these outlines will create a bit of a disconnect from the actual environment. The enemies are fine. I get why you put it on them, since you want them to keep the coatings. but weapons and other things should have an option for turning off. Infinites AI scan can also be used in favor of this. that way you can accommodate both the new players and the old cringy gatekeepers like me.
Aside from a weird hiccup im getting with the default settings that can easily be fixed, the controls and connections are smooth for the most part. but at the start of almost every game, I tend to get these “input lockups” as I call them, I dont know if theres an actual word but it’s essentially when my controller inputs get stuck for about half a second. Say if im walking and turning, that lockup might cause me to keep turning and walking that curve, regardless of the inputs i make during that short time. Not a gamebreaking inconvenience, but it did make me crash a warthog online rather embarrassingly.
Other thoughts:
I love the concept of the Academy. The firing range is hard and the bots are harder, as they should be. I also personally love putting on doom music and rampaging on marine level bots when i feel stressed. but i switch up to spartan usually. I’m getting the slight Idea that Spartan Agryna is supposed to be Infinites Sarah Palmer, except she isn’t being an inexplicably rude person and actually treats her cadets with respect. which is good.
I’m glad to be a part of the flight and I hope I can help to make infinite as best as it can be
mutex/ijq/mutex