With Halo Infinite now a week away, I feel like it’s a decent time to post a list of little issues, details, and features that I have observed while playing the Beta. These might seem insignificant but I think some of these could contribute to a better presentation. Note that this feedback is for the MP Beta.
To get overall impressions out of the way, I am enjoying the gameplay, the art direction, and the music. My thoughts are mostly in line with the general consensus regarding microtransactions, coatings, etc. It seems that 343 is addressing the progression quickly and looks like they’re on the right track. That being said, I have some more detailed thoughts on this.
.
Progression, Unlocks, and Customisation
I would like to see credits earnable in game. We’ve been led to believe that there would be ways to unlock items other than by buying them. Unfortunately, some armour sets are so far only available for purchase for pretty steep prices. There are no challenge specific armours as of now (Dec 1st).
Challenge trackers that show progress in real-time should be added, like in MCC. Ie, every now and then a pop-up will display your progress for a challenge.
A global rank/level system (separate from Battlepass) should be added to show experience (I guess would be the way to say it?). At least the SR rank but a military Reach style rank system would be cool.
Mark VII armours seem to be difficult to get (especially for free). I’m honestly growing tired of Reach armours as we’ve been looking at them for 10 years now. I like what we’ve seen of the new Mark VIIs and want to use it.
It’d be cool if we could set stance rotation like we could in Halo 5. The spartan animations at the start of a match also seems like an opportunity for customisation.
.
UI and Settings
UI and HUD size scaling needs to be implemented. This would allow adjusting size for different screen sizes, and is especially needed for splitscreen. As of the Beta, splitscreen HUD is way too small. I remember reading about this in a dev diary or something, but I couldn’t track it down.
There needs to be network region options like in MCC. I’m being put into 100+ ping games pretty regularly.
There should be MCC-style mode search filters. I should be able to filter out slayer in favour for more objective-based modes. This has been done before, so I don’t see strong reasons to not do it again.
The lobby screen should show the gamemode and map when loading. This was a thing for Halo 5 so I don’t believe it’s a technical issue preventing this.
Doing anything while matchmaking is counting down to search cancels the countdown. 3 seconds of my life per game isn’t a big deal but it is a slight annoyance sometimes…
Teammate nametags could reduce to the 4-character tags when not looking directly at them (like Halo 3). This would help reduce clutter on the screen.
The viewmodel offset options could do with a preview screen like in MCC.
Postgame carnage could use the ability to cycle through different players for detailed stats/medals. This is already a thing for players in a fireteam but should really be universal.
Motion tracker could use separate above or below indicators like Halo: Reach.
The HUD layout should show both types of grenades being carried like previous games. Also miss the visual ammo indicators compared to just numbers.
It would be a nice touch if reticle colour could be set to ‘HUD blue’. Also lowered reticle settings would be nice.
An option to disable HUD shake (separately from general screen shake) would be nice. Why is the HUD shaking if it’s firmly attached to your face?
.
Gameplay and other Presentation
The turrets feel very bland. Screen shake and the player model shaking to show recoil would do wonders in depicting the gun as powerful.
Other weapons could also do with more screen shake, such as the Gravity Hammer or the Skewer.
Gravity Hammer should have knockback or ‘push’. Come on, it’s got ‘gravity’ in its name!
When in toggle to zoom (especially with thumbstick), it’d be nice if it would behave as hold to zoom when held. This was a small feature in past Halo games that I didn’t realise I missed until now.
Sniper scope(s) could be less ‘snappy’ when zooming in. Make it more fluid as it magnifies. As it is currently, I find it slightly disorientating when instantly zooming to 5x magnification.
Some sounds and effects are too subtle, such as being stuck by a plasma grenade or taking lingering shock damage.
Fusion coil explosions and fire effects (looking at you, Ravager) are quite underwhelming. Maybe needs more of a fireball and scorch mark?
Speaking of fusion coils, I would like to see more. They’ve been advertised quite heavily and are really fun, but I was disappointed to only find them on two maps (Fragmentation and Launchsite).
Vehicle view camera seems a bit low, leading to situations where your vehicle blocks what you are aiming at. The vehicle should sit lower on the screen.
Vehicles handle weirdly and feel weightless, like the Warthog. I have not driven the Scorpion yet.
Chopper doesn’t seem to ‘chop’ vehicles like it used to. In Halo 3 a boosting Chopper would instantly destroy a Warthog. In Infinite it technically can as well, but it doesn’t look nearly as flashy. The gun also needs recoil or screen shake.
Where is the Pelican’s front landing gear? In the tutorial, it just belly lands for some reason. Gamecheat13’s pelican mod video shows the front wheel, so why aren’t the devs using it? Also, why are the rear ‘legs’ out when dropping off stuff in BTB with no intent to land?
The Wasp should also have landing gear. Something tells me that dropping it on its wingtips is not a good idea.
Night sights or a flipped-up option for the Bulldog would be nice.
Sometimes my Spartan’s voice seems to be incorrect in-game? Though it could be that I am interpreting other player’s character voices as mine.
Player profile screens are severely lacking details like play-time, medals, etc. MCC level detail would be good to see.
.
A tangential rant about no Elites
So from what I understand, the Tenrai event is meant to be some sort of parallel Halo universe where Spartans are Japanese samurai. This is kind of bizarre to me, as we already have Elites/Sangheili as essentially space-samurai in universe already? So this ‘spartan story’ and ‘multiplayer is canon’ approach has already been somewhat undermined for me. It wouldn’t be a stretch to justify Elites participating in these ‘training exercises’ within the lore. Would like to see the dinos return, however unlikely.
.
Final Words
So this has been a pretty long list of my small gripes with Halo Infinite so far. If you read all the way here, congratulations! (and also, thanks). I know that many of these will seem like very minor and silly issues, but I believe they do matter in culminating into a better experince for Halo and for those who are as detail obssessive as I am.
In the interest of discussion:
Do you agree with my gripes? Do you think they’re silly and unimportant? Are there any small details that you appreciate or have feedback on?