I have truly enjoyed Halo Infinite’s campaign mainly due to the complete lack of invisible barriers and the ability to attack targets in the open world section from a different angles.
In addition to that, I have to disagree on the point that Halo Infinites campaign lacks variation. For me, the main variation comes from the differences between the different encounters and when it comes to Halo Infinite, the differences are distinct enough to offer a sufficient degree of variation. On the other hand, this could also be a symptom from the fact that I do truly enjoy the mission “The Library” in Halo: Combat Evolved.
Funnily enough most of my memories of infinite is grappling down hallways.
I like the idea of big open levels. Where there are many paths you could fight through to get to the halos control room or whatever. But not the same common empty world everytime you get out of an actual mission.
My main gripe I guess is time. When did GTA 5 last come out? When is 6 coming out. What will 6 do differently?
I’d much rather have a shorter, action packed, engaging from start to finish halo game. And a new one roughly every 3 years… Over a 10 year game release cycle of a “good” open world halo experience.
Haha thanks for identifying yourself as a library lover.
I agree that the open world adds variety. And the variety it adds depends on how you actually play it. Like in CE a lot of the levels were some what easy to get lost on. It sort of forced you to play the game differently.
But this variety in my opinion is more engaging on new maps new variables. Rather than imma go get a other wasp to fly to the next section like I did last time and the time before because it’s just an efficient way to traverse the map.
Dont get me wrong things like the marines with the sentinel beams was fun to do here and there. But when there is one big open map with the same toys to play with… It’s easy to see it as not having variety if you have found the most efficient way to do things early in the game.
I think this is my gripe as well… Yes they gave us a a huge open world map to explore. But the linear parts have never been more narrowly linear.
The whole linear game is just corridors. I’d much prefer to go back to big expansive linear level design that actually compliments the story. To the point that on second play though it feels different because I took different paths.
“The road” was one of the only levels that actually came close to doing this using part of the open world which is otherwise blocked off from access in the actual open world.
But even this level is pretty narrow
They made infinite open world but yet the actual missions were all the same mediocre underground forunner structured BS! Didnt see a point of creating all that open world to then have pretty much every mission indoors! Id rather they go back to basics and give us some really creative and diverse campaign missions like halo 1, 2, 3 and reach
The problem is is that they spent all the time making the big open world above you.
That means less time spent on level design that actually complements the story. It’s much harder to tell a good story that can fit in an open world and be played in a different order without making it an RPG or side quests like far cry like. Or just having the story become meaningless in general
343 can’t create a multiplayer game with literally nothing special and have it function properly. Could you imagine if this team of woke college kids and women tried to make a game that had some kind of complexity? hahahahaha
As I see it, open world isn’t worth the time, effort, and money required. I’d much rather have more frequent expansions on a far smaller scale. New Mombasa Streets (ODST) and New Alexandria (Reach) both work so well because they’re still based around arena gameplay. That sort of level design works with Halo’s strengths, instead of trying to force Halo to work in a big open map. A well-designed arena has more replay value than “realistic” or “open world” level design. It’s why I can still play the older Halo games, but don’t have much interest in a Legendary playthrough of Infinite.
No. I also never said I wanted them to make Halo into an RPG. I quoted Elden Rings multiple endings as reasons to replay certain open world games.
As for Halo… Why not have rewards for multiple play throughs on varying difficulties. A different and unique armour for each play.
Or, complete all side quests for armour x, play half the quests for armour y, play all quests on legendary for armour z etc. I could suggest more too.
These were off the top of my head as I reply to you. Halo Infinite could have been a fantastic open world game with meaningful rewards for time and effort played imo.
Look, I think the open world can work and I was honestly intrigued to give it a shot with the Halo spin when it was first exposed in the trailer, but the main problem is that it became what I feared it to be: a Far Cry take where its just the samey outposts and missions you have to clear and then when you open up the next section of the map…its more of the samey outposts and missions except you do it again. And in the exact same foresty/grassland biome the entire way with the same Banished outposts.
Sure, there were good things about it. I did like the Marine escort missions, I like filling up a Warthog/Razorback with Marines and assault a big area like the Tower where we completely took it over between the Marines I brought and the ones I rescued but…after two playthroughs it just got old. Killing VIP missions was kind of fun as well until it really came down to just getting in a vehicle and murdering everyone and then the VIP. Or the VIP and then everyone depending on how you went about it. And, ya know, the Grunt Towers were funny too but after a while…meh.
After doing two playthroughs of it, it just became something I don’t want to do anymore. When I think of Infinite’s campaign I think, “Well there’s some of those main missions I’d like to try again like Warship Gbraakon and House of Reckoning…except I’d have to go through the open world again and I don’t want to do that”. Once Infinite gets a story mission select, I’ll probably have no reason to ever explore the open world again and, really, the open world is keeping me from playing those lesser, more linear story missions that I nonetheless enjoy and want to replay.
The open world could’ve been great. My ideal Halo open world would’ve been having, like, mini events in the game like going into those caves and tunnels and seeing hints of like Ancient Humanity and maybe hints of some of the crazy stuff that went on on this ring as those who know the lore would know, picking up signs of Locke or Blue Team, maybe the Flood, and maybe more theatric Marine encounters/rescue. Base building/upgrading. More organic UNSC vs Banished encounters as you retake more of the area with patrols duking it out that you can join if you want or outpost defense or things like that. Explore and fight in the ruins of the Infinity, things like that.
As it is now though I kind of consider it a waste and my expectations of 343 adding more meaningful content that would make me prefer it over more linear missions is kind of low.
Edit: Honestly when it comes right down to it everything that happened with Spartans Griffin and Sorel and their attempt to rally against the Banished at the wreckage of Mortal Reverie was the story I wanted to see incorporated the open world.
To be honest the open world was just getting in the way of the campaign, despiste the audiologs it din’t add nothing to the main story. And the “sidequests” Felt like a Ubisoft game
I’m not against open worlds per se but 343 didn’t miss a single lazy trope in the “Big Book of Open World Clichés” from the copy/paste busy work tasks to the pointless fights with infinitely respawning enemies to the vast areas that exist only for the sake of having vast areas to the collectibles which reminded me of hunting flags in the 2007 Assassin’s Creed. Even Halo CE had more terrain changes than Infinite. The only thing they left out was crafting.
Truly, its sad that people call this like a spiritual successor to halo:CE or whatever, when there’ next to nothing in common beyond being on a halo ring.
CE Had:
Well designed encounters that used careful arrangement of enemies and weapons to make great use of the most limited weapon and enemy pool in the franchise.
Levels that actually feel different. Even forerunner interiors are wildly different on every level, and when it re-used levels, it made sure to change things up quite a bit to make them different.
Good cinematography and set pieces
A nice cast of characters
A mystery that was solved over the course of its story and not stretched out needlessly in hopes you buy future DLC
Vehicles that were fun to use
Diverse biomes
Multiple enemy factions who fought eachother even.
Level select
Co-op.
Crafting would probably take too much effort.
I do find it funny how much the 343 defence team tried to claim that 343 knew what it was doing and was going to deliver more than just another Ubisoft openworld game.
No that’s fine. I apologise, I wasn’t trying to put words in your mouth. I understand what you are saying. I was more just making a point that when you have a game with an inherently linear storyline that has a universe to conform to making it so that story experience cannot deviate much. A lot of those interesting story arcs you might see in an RPG can’t really happen.
Ie if you choose to help someone as a side quest versus taking their money and screwing them over. These kinds of tools work great in an open world game where you are actually in control of how the story plays out.
But halo as an open world is only left with empty gestures as a meaningful reason to play again. By empty gestures I mean have no real meaningful impact to how the game plays out. I guess I would prefer they incentivize replay via engaging gameplay that has inherent variation and not empty gestures.
Admittingly this could happen open world or not… I think it’s just easier to do so when you are only having to consider 1 level at a time.
To me halo has always been replayable with that sprinkle of RNG on top of engaging gameplay that makes every play through always a bit different.