Let me start off by saying I love Halo and I’m not exactly the best at it but i can usually find my niche and have a jolly good time. Now, jumping in to Halo infinite, I was very excited for the new edition of Halo. I had my doubts mind you but very excited. Halo Multiplayer is one of my favorite things to do on my Xbox. I’ve been kind of bummed about the HCS changes on Halo 5 that really restricted a lot of the parts of 5 I loved. I thoroughly enjoyed Halo 5 multiplayer even though people complained about it being “Pay to win” it really wasn’t. I never payed a cent into the Req system and i never felt like anyone had an advantage over me because they payed more money into the game, I was able to get all the weapons and cosmetics without paying a dime and had a blast on the way and after. (Honestly as a sidenote on pay to win, i feel bad for people that so called played $100s on reqs just to grab that rocket launcher they payed so much for lost 2s after picking it up by some guy who payed nothing and kills him with an AR or a well-placed nade as the base is being rushed.)
My experience so far with infinite is not very pleasant … to say the least. My skill tier is around gold-Plat range which i understand i’m going to have a tough fight being in that range. I don’t know why but it seems like 75% of all the knowledge i know of Halo multiplayer i have to throw out the window when i play infinite. Sprinting and items like grappleshots cause people to move around maps at what feels like light speed. In previous Halos things that increased your speed came with disadvantages. Moving slower by walking was usually the good way to go, now it almost seems like that play style is punished.
Something feels off about the gunplay in Infinite where doing well like getting a perfect with the sidekick is no where near as enjoyable or recognizable compared to the magnum counterparts. Let me tell you, getting a perfect in Halo 5 for the first time to the last time makes me feel like a million bucks its just so satisfying from the pop of the headshot to the delivery of the announcer saying those sweet tones “Perfect”. Guns dont seem to have the same level of rock paper scissors layering like they did in previous games. Recoil on alot more guns makes the game’s core weapons feel a lot more different.
Finally in terms of infinite i want to talk about the elephant in the room about how bad the spawning system is in Halo Infinite, i dont know how they went from some of the best spawning systems in Halo 5 to this but the amount of time i have literally been spawn camped and killed by literally getting shot before my respawn even completes sometimes to ridiculous. people should not have to worry about dying at spawn. In my opinion you should be able to take a second get your bearings and then continue knowing where you are at and can access your map placement relative to your time and make moves from there not having to worry about moving instantly because there might be someone on your spawn. JUst as a side note am i the only one that is really bothered about the fact arena armor colors are not team based anymore? Dont get me wrong i love all the custom colors but when its hard to tell who is friend and who is foe when you are so used to seeing red vs blue in multiplayer it kinda throws me off hardcore. i dont like that facts my teammate and the enemy can look exactly the same at a glace. its like okay sure they have the sheilds are different colors but thats not what my brain sees first.
Trust me when i say i thought i was just paranoid and i was saying things like maybe its because its new and im not that good and i havent played in awhile and the console vs PC issues I’m like maybe its just me. I have played about 120 ish games on Halo Infinite and i thought i would be starting to get kind of confortable in the flow of things. I was wrong, hitting precision kills is so much harder, winning team fights is hard, winning 1v1s are even challenging and time to kill just feels so much faster due to less dmg per shot on alot of weapons but fire rate is much higher. I jumped on Halo 5 just for old times sake and i was placed in the same skill bracket on 5 as i am in infinite playing high gold- high plat. Did exponetially better and had a much better flow, i didnt get the normal anxiety attacks that inifinite gives me. Even when i was getting in a death streak on 5 i felt like i had a fair shake. I dont get that feeling in Infinite though… I dont know why i just always feel on edge and when i get death streaks in infinite i makes me feel horrible. Halo 5 Multiplayer just feels so good why can’t I get a similar feeling in infinite? Am i just missing something? I know im not the best at reaction times and reflexes but my mental game has usaully carried me in Halo which is why i love Halo so much. I just fear its way too reflex and reaction time based now.
~fin. -Xythazar