The straw that broke Halo's back

Games Halo Infinite
1

At this point, I’m just gonna go back to MCC. Infinite has been out for about 5 seconds and I’m already sick of it. The only saving graces are the sound design and art, which are well done. But the game itself, and the design choices especially, are flat, lackluster, and frankly just boring. There’s lots of issues, now that there’s no “it’s a beta” or potential unknowns about the campaign to worry about, and they just keep adding up.

Multiplayer UX and Server Functionality:

  • The monetization scheme is atrocious, and solicits more money than past games for less content
  • The progression is unrewarding
  • The armor customization is extremely lacking, with less customization than any past game; it’s honestly even worse than 3, which was the first game even to have it.
  • The color and emblem customization is even more lacking, with less options than even Halo 2
  • The maps are lacking, with only 10 total maps and thus less than even Halo CE had
  • The maps that are in the game are boring and mediocre at best. Gameplay-wise they have poor cover and make getting grenade kills annoyingly easy, as well as easy kills from massive distance on big maps. The big maps have little to no freedom for vehicles becasue everything but the preset tracks is hilly, rocky, and flips all the land vehicles if they move more than 1 mph. In addition, the aesthetic of the maps is flat, all industrial and lacking any real life in my opinion. None of them capture that zest of the classic maps from the Bungie games.
  • The gametypes are lacking, with really only four/five game types (Fiesta, as well as the upcoming SWAT, are not unique game types; those are just setting presets for Slayer; the only actualy game types are Slayer, CTF, Stockpile, Strongholds, and Total Control - and even Total Control is really just a variant of Strongholds). Less than half what we had in past games.
  • The server tick rate is horrendous, leading to extremely easy kills because missed shots still count (bullet magnetism is also to blame). People also get killed around corner, melee registration is off, people can melee you when they’re already dead, etc.
  • The connectivity to matchmaking is very broken; about every four or five games I have to restart because of some matchmaking bug.
  • Custom games is broken beyond belief, with saving settings not working, saving files not working, no ability to have extra teams, and even deleting files is broken.
  • Split-screen looks awful, and Xbox One doesn’t even support 4-player so LAN parties are no longer an option.
  • AI voices are annoying, and even the Superintendent sounds like a cheap knock-off, not like the real one from ODST.

Multiplayer Core Gameplay:

  • The Grappleshot is the only fun equipment, except maybe the repulsor in some situations. Not like the equipment in Halo 3 that were generally fun to use.
  • The radar is frustratingly small in range, and difficult to see both because of the small UI and the clarity. The glow signifying the same Y-axis position is unclear and should have shown above and below, like in Reach and Halo 4.
  • Weapon selection is very lacking, and most of the weapons are fairly dry. The few new weapons that are interesting wear out quickly due to the fact that they show up every single game, since there’s so few weapons.
  • Grenades are extremely annoying due to spam and the ability to easily land long throws; they’re unsatisfying to use even when you get kills with them because it’s so easy. Used to land a tricky grenade throw and think “Nice! That was a good throw.” Now I land a kill I should have missed and think “Oh look at that, the grenade did all the work for me; doesn’t even matter if I’m accurate. Plus I can;t hurt my allies so might as well spam these constantly.”
  • Weapon are extremely easy to use from much greater range than they’re really “meant” for. The pistol and AR can be get kills from across any of the small maps, even the medium size Behemoth and Launch Site are barely big enough to not be in pistol range from any point, meaning it’s very easy to be killed be people from really far away.
  • The shield recharge delay is the longest it’s ever been and is incredibly frustrating; you can evade death and be hiding for a solid 5 seconds and then someone walks around the corner and kills you instantly cause your shield still hasn’t come back.
  • Vehicles are annoyingly fragile and generally not fun to use. They flip over every bump, have terrible physics, bug out when people stand on or near them, and can get grapplejacked annoyingly easily.
  • Getting 2v1’d is extremely common and there’s very little to be done about it if the two don’t screw up, mostly because of the grenade, radar, shield recharge, and range issues mentioned above. For similar reasons, surviving an encounter feels almost pointless.

Campaign:

  • Story felt mediocre, over dramatic and fanfiction-y, much like Halo 4 did. The character had some life to them and that was fun, which is a plus, but it was overshadowed by forced, unnatural and poorly paced story elements.
  • The entire world is extremely flat, figuratively speaking. Open world is only fun because it offers variety and uniqueness, and something interesting to explore when you go to different places. This entire world felt like the same exact thing; the same environment, the same enemies; one big flat pancake that gets dry on the second bite.
  • Weapon variation is again a problem; enemies use human weapons just to give them a little more variety, because there’s’ so few alien weapons to choose from.
  • Enemy and structure variety made levels feel boring, plain, and repetitive. Every mission is just the same three things over and over again. Even visually, it’s repetitive, and makes it feel like you don’t get to do anything new after an hour or so of playing.
  • Bosses, while a great addition that I loved to see, were a bit dry for the same reasons as mentioned above.
  • Biggest of all, it’s painfully obvious that this game is just setting up for a whole mess of DLC, that of course is going to cost even more money. The story begins lots of plotpoints that it leaves unresolved for this reason, and doubtless 343 will not have the courtesy to make them free with purchase of the main campaign, or even the decency to make the DLC cheap little $5 expansions (I know it costs moneey to develop, but if Hollow Knight can cost $20 and deliver three massive free DLC packs, Halo can have free DLC too).
  • Customization items gained from the Campaign are dull, boring, and none are unlocked through anything actually interesting; it’s all just armor lockers.

On top of all of that, the game is still a buggy mess even out of beta.

And the reality is, whether everyone agrees with all of that or whether 343 plans to address little bits hear and there, the conclusions is that the game just isn’t fun. it isn’t worth paying for, it doesn’t rekindle old love for the game, and it isn’t enjoyable to play. It doesn’t even let me play with my friends effectively because of bugs and lack of viable splitscreen.

But most of all, the game is just plain boring. There’s so much repetitive, reused, cop-out design work here it’s ridiculous, and it isn’t even rewarding to play because of the monetization/progression and customization system being so bad. Boring gameplay, boring design choices, boring maps and levels, boring customization, progression… it’s just a boring game. This isn’t stuff that can get fixed over time. It’s just a bad game.

I’m sorry @343 but this game just at its core isn’t good, and with the campaign doing very little to save it, I’m about ready to give up. This game is just another knock off of things that Bungie did well, with nothing original that’s actually good. You guys are using the masterpieces that Bungie made, and their many amazing choices and ideas, clawing after what they did right and messing up everything else out of laziness and greed.

TLDR; this game is buggy and frankly, just plain boring. Hope some of you guys have fun with it, but I’m done trying to have hope for it.

I’ll see you guys back on the good Halo games.

122 Likes
2

I agree with most of this. I would also like to kick the sprint/clamber/slide mechanics beehive and say their continued use in halo is offensive.

Also I feel all three mechanics do not mesh well with any of the maps and it’s part of the reason the maps suck.

25 Likes
3

i agree with most of this. and whiles i will say, the gameplay of infinite is fun, and the campaign ain’t bad. the fact that after 6 years (yeah i’m saying 6, they started making it right after h5) we got this, is so dissapointing… underwhelming, even.
bungie set the standared for a halo game IN LESS TIME and 343 managed to not only not meet them in more time, but infact, lower it, ten fold. Infinite has potential, i can clear as day see it. but it is not the best halo game. it’s a average halo game. for every step, there’s two steps back. honestly? i’d say let’s just wait until the game has been updated and is ‘complete’ because, right now. there’s so many inexcusable issues that just makes me loose any and all hope. but… is it really surprising?
i mean, 343 has shown that they just want to follow trends. 4 followed cod, 5 followed the loot box system, and now infinite is following the half baked but f2p and completely monetized route.

31 Likes
4

@Blizzarus

You absolutely nailed it.

I hope someone from 343 or Microsoft reads that.

A well written feedback with all due respect.

25 Likes
5

i agree with most the post, some parts i disagree,

(i get the feeling your a controller player)
aim assist really op long range if your a decent player ontop of that, its pretty much aim hack,

I also disagree with you on the story, i personally really enjoyed it compared to the other halos, i didn’t skip a single peice of dialog, and ive even went as far to get the collectables to get that extra dialogue,

going back to multiplayer again, i agree with you on some of the game mechanics, like Grenades and shield recharge and vehicles being way to brittle,

also i genuinely think that they already have some content lined up for us, as they would of been aware of how little the game offers in story-mode, for an open world game,

and worst for last, i really strongly agree, the unlockable customizations SUCK, like the interface is poorly designed, awkward to navigate, everything half decent is behind a paywall, and progress system is really poor,

but i honestly think 343 are fighting for our respect but also trying to keep business business, unfortunately…

but this game compared to halo 4 and 5, is a big improvement and i think they need to be reassured, otherwise halo might not continue.

(for mechanics they should make it so when you slide, you actually slide and actually climb ledges that just above you, depending on slope/angle and not to fix bug if its fun to play with but to fix ones that do break the game)
#nerfgrapplecd, buff movement! we are spartans, not spidermen!

6 Likes
6

A lot of this I don’t agree with. But, to me there is definitely a kernel of truth when the OP says the maps are boring.

I feel like a couple of solid maps would help this game greatly and if I were 343 I would figure out what resources I had that I could put on that right away.

6 Likes
7

Can’t speak on OP’s part about the campaign but +10000000000 for OP hit right on the head.

Great sound design is moot when 7.1 surround doesn’t even work /spit

4 Likes
8

For me, the game is really fun, frustrating but fun, although I feel that there are many things missing from Halo to make me feel satisfied … Surely they hope to put a lot of DLCs because for something it is called “Infinite” and surely they will make it last a long time.

Anyway, at the moment I’m not buying anything from Halo Infinite.

4 Likes
9

You’re just being dramatic.

7 Likes
10

I feel exactly the same. Just finished my 6 daily matches and I already feel bored. You don’t have to try hard in the Multiplayer, everyone get’s the same xp. Hunting for these challenges is this weeks ultimate reward not worth in my opinion.

The game officially launched… 2 days ago?

Maybe some things will change over time, still a long time until season 2 of the battle pass. Let’s see how much campaign DLCs will cost. I guess something between 10 and 30 bucks.

7 Likes
11

And they didn’t even need a shop to sell their game because it sold itself.

3 Likes
12

Makes you wonder if servers back in the Bungie days cost money too? :wink:

10 Likes
13

Absolutely right. Campaign feels like a test for the sandbox, not an actual epic Halo. But lets face it: after 3 games, did anyone expect better from 343? They nailed the gameplay though… and screwed up the vehicles. for whatever reason.

9 Likes
14

Nah, Microsoft gave them the money for free :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

2 Likes
15

Debatable. I find shielding, radar, weapon balance, netcode, and vehicle physics to still be part of ‘gameplay’ and those spots still feel like they are all lacking.

Of course they’re tweakable, but you’d figure that data gathered from the flights and ‘Beta’ would’ve allowed adjustments to be made.

12 Likes
16

im ok with 10bucks tbh, but anymore than that for EXTRA content, it better be BIG, O.O not just 1/2 missions, like DLC, like multiplayer and campaign packs, for like 10bucks would be ok, 2 story missions, and 3 maps per pack, like the old days but with a twist, we get extra story o.o now that would be monitizeation done right,

1 Like
17

I agree. with your named content, 10 bucks would be acceptable. But flowers and one teddy bear already cost 15 bucks.

2 Likes
18

except there are no servers “back during the bungie days”

outside their forums, which hosting those are always cheap, even if you self host. The online component of Halo has always been a P2P system with no actual servers. The entire matchmaking server for H2 was run by not Bungie, but by MS as all Halo 2 did was connect to XBL, Microsoft’s online service.

4 Likes
19

i miss them days tbh, XP good old xbox original

20

aye to be fair prices were reasonable back then, but now i think about it longer, inflation is a -Yoink!- xD sooo id say 15-20 is also reasonable these days, but only because of that reason