I’ve decided to share my thoughts on what has been seen so far for Halo Infinite, or at least some of what has been seen. These are my thoughts on and are not intended to represent anyone else’s. I do not intend, nor am I attempting to ‘give hate’ or say bad things about 343i or Halo Infinite. From my point of view I think they’ve done great at listening to the Community and responding to what they have been requesting.
Weapons & Equipment - I think one of the issues with the weapons is that so many new ones were shown and not that many familiar ones were. It would have been nice to see a Noob Combo with a Plasma Pistol or a Supercombine from the Needler just so fans had something familiar to look at. One of the other issues with them, well it’s not really that big of an issue, is that where do they sit in the sandbox, ‘Why pick up a Commando over a Battle Rifle or DMR?’, if you understand what I mean. Also some of their names seem unusual for the UNSC, they typically name vehicles after Animals and weapons are what you would expect. A rocket Launcher is a rocket Launcher, a shotgun is a shotgun, etc.
MA40 Assault Rifle - I really love the look of the Assault Rifle, but it could use some more scratches at the very least (not to many though). The firing sounds for the AR sound more like something I’d expect from the SAW though.
MK50 Sidekick - The only thing that I think keeps this weapon from being just an ordinary pistol is the green and black paint scheme and maybe the rear iron sights, maybe. A KFA-2 x2 would help this weapon feel more like a ‘Halo’ magnum rather than something that could looks like it came from another franchise. Maybe we could find a KFA-2 x2 on the ring that could be used as an upgrade or an attachment. I really do think the dark green and black help keep it from looking like it came from anywhere but Halo. I can only presume that it is called the Sidekick and not the Magnum so that players understand that it is not a weapon the you should use as a primary rather than a secondary. I wouldn’t mind it as much if the Magnum was in the game as some sort of better pistol perhaps. Also some of the animations for it look like they were taken from Halo 5.
VK78 Commando - The weapon seems to sit somewhere between the Battle Rifle and the Assault Rifle. Being an automatic weapon that is able to deal with enemies at a distance similar to Halo 5’s Assault Rifle (Have you noticed that the paint scheme is very similar to the Halo 5 Assault Rifle?)
Ravager - Looks very cool. The large blade looks like it would be fun to swing and strike enemies with. But it looks too clean. Imagine one of these just sitting on the ground next to a Spiker from Halo 3 or Halo: Reach. To me they wouldn’t really look like they’ve both been used by the same species.
Pulse Carbine - It’s has a really nice design, but I can’t help but think ‘is it necessary?’ Where does it sit in the sandbox? A Carbine or a Plasma Rifle/Repeater/Storm Rifle could’ve worked fine. Maybe it’s meant to sit somewhere in between the Carbine and the Plasma Rifle/Repeater/Storm Rifle/<Insert Plasma Based Automatic Weapon here>. I don’t find it bad though.
Mangler - Again, it has a nice design, but what about the Mauler? Wouldn’t that had worked just as well. Perhaps they changed the design because the Mauler was basically a shotgun but a pistol at the same time, so they redesigned is function with a smaller reticle as to make it act more pistol like and perhaps balanced. I wouldn’t have minded if it functioned like the Mauler but was designed differently.
CQS48 Bulldog - I do like the design of this one. I’m glad it isn’t just greys and blacks, there is some orange detail where the screws are. I hope it doesn’t replace the standard shotgun though, but if it doesn’t then is it really necessary? Why does the game need two shotguns unless there is some sort of advantage and disadvantage of having it over the normal shotgun, and vise versa, like it could carry extra ammo and have a higher rate of fire but each shot does less damage. Don’t know why it is named after an animal, but to be fair what else could they have called it?
Grenades - They all look great, the Plasma Grenade’s explosion is fantastic. I’m really glad to see the return of the Spike Grenade.The electric grenade looks fun as well.
Plasma Pistol & Needler - The sounds of the Plasma Pistol sound too much like pops too me, although it would be nice to hear (as well as see) them from a First Person Perspective. Needler sounds fine.
Battle Rifle & Energy Sword - They both look fantastic. Not much to say since there wasn’t much gameplay.
Grappleshot - I think the Grappleshot is great. I only hope it isn’t like Spartan Charge or Ground Pound in Halo 5.
Drop Wall - I think the Drop Wall is also great, however I can’t help but think that maybe having the ability to shoot throught it could be a little overpowred.
Vehicles - I’m excited to see what vehicles are able to be driven in Infinite. One of my hopes is that players can sit on the treads of the Scorpion like in Halo C.E. Sure this could seem overpowered so why not allow for an option to allow or deny use of seats on vehicles. For example in Forge you would go into the vehicles options and set it to allow and/or deny access fro certain seats and turrets.
Skiff - I find it absolutely unacceptable that the Skiff cannot be used by the player, if the Mega Construx items description is to be believed. It has been 16 years since Halo 2 came out and the large enemy troop transport vehicle is still unable to be driven by players.
Warthog - Still uses the design first introduced in Halo 4, however the rails around the front and back are removed. Personally it’s not a deal-breaker for me but it seems sort of odd that they would remove them. Perhaps they (the rails) could also be added as some sort of attachment and/or upgrade. The sound of the engine sound too ‘vroom-ie’ if that makes any sense. The original sound was more like a ‘purr’.
Mongoose - If the toys are to be believed the M290 Mongoose from Halo 5 will be the design used for the vehicle. I really thankful that 343 aren’t getting rid of everything from their previous games.
Banished Phantom - They look great and like how they appeared in Halo Wars 2 with some extra lights. My only issue is that their flying animation and unnatural.