Microsoft kicked off last week’s Xbox Games Showcase with a long-anticipated look atHalo Infinite, showing offeight minutes of campaign gameplay footage, as well as two additional trailers. While the gameplay featured a lot of similarities toHalo: Combat Evolved, there has been large scale uproar over the game’s visual fidelity. Lack of polish has failed to win over those that we’re hoping for a proper “next-generation” experience and the industry is beginning to question whether or notHalo Infinitewill be up to scratch by the time the game launches in the fall.
In a recent community update posted to Halo Waypoint, developer 343 Industries addressed a number of frequently asked questions from the community, providing updates on the current state ofHalo Infinite, the reaction to the gameplay demo, when fans will likely see multiplayer, and even how to pronounce Escharum,the primary antagonist inHalo Infinite. There’s still a ton of work to be done before the next big entry in theHalofranchise is ready for launch, but 343 Industries remains dedicated to making the bestHaloexperience it can, and more importantly, it isn’t shying away from addressing fan concerns head-on.
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Halo Infinite’s Graphics
First, 343 Industries address the growing concern over graphics seen in the recent demo and broke feedback down into two main categories: “overall art style and visual fidelity.” It’s no secret that the art style of later games in the series such asHalo 4,Halo 5, andHalo Wars 2, wasn’t as well-received as the original trilogy. Fans have been longing for a return to the ‘classic’ art style of the Bungie era and 343 has chosen to head in a similar direction forHalo Infinite.
As for visual fidelity, the team acknowledged the criticisms around objects appearing ‘flat,’ stating, “In many ways, we are in agreement here – we do have work to do to address some of these areas and raise the level of fidelity and overall presentation for the final game.”
Campaign Details
When it comes to the story ofHalo Infinite, 343 is staying fairly tight-lipped. It did confirm the campaign will take place after the events ofHalo 5: Guardiansand after a mysterious battle that saw War Chief Escharum defeat UNSC forces upon there arrival atthe Halo ring seen in the demo.
Players can expect to learn the whereabouts of major characters like Cortana, Blue Team, and the Arbiter throughout the game’s campaign, but likely not a moment sooner. 343 Industries has also confirmed thatHalo: Infinite’s campaign will support two-player local split-screen and four-player co-op online, the beloved Battle Rifle is in the game, classic difficulty settings like Heroic and Legendary are returning, and the War Chief’s name is pronounced “Eh-sure-uhm.”
Details on Halo Infinite Multiplayer
Lastly, 343 Industries has confirmed that popular modes including Multiplayer, Forge, and Theater will be elaborated on closer to launch, alongside plans for the futures of esports. The blog post did confirm that a new version of Forge will be present inHalo Infiniteand new gameplay equipment like the Grappleshotwill function differently in multiplayer, available as pickups similar to the system found inHalo 3. Unfortunately, the global pandemic and working from home has created some unexpected challenges for the team at 343, meaning its currently unclear whether or not a Multiplayer Beta can be expected.
The community update answered some questions surroundingHalo Infinite, but likely not all of them. 343 Industries has tried its best to address fan concerns over the gameplay footage while admitting some things that other developers might not. Microsoft’s next Xbox Series X event is reportedly going to take place sometime in August and it’s rumored thatHalo: Infinite’s multiplayer could be shown, so hopefully, fans won’t have to wait too much longer.
Halo Infiniteis set to launch in the Holiday of 2020 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
