Halo Infinite’srecently released free-to-play multiplayer mode has been receiving a lot of attention lately. Some fans have hailed it as a much-needed return to form after the more recentHalogames, but others have voiced criticisms and concerns having to do with not onlyHalo Infinite’s gameplay but also the battle pass and progression mechanics.
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Other areas of contention among fans include the amount of content, weapon balancing, UI design, and even the sound design. In any case, it’s clear thatHaloInfinitehas promise and that the fans are passionate when it comes to the game realizing its full potential throughvarious fixesand/or potential additions.
8More Game modes
Currently,Halo Infiniteonly has six core game types. These modes areSlayer, Oddball, Capture the Flag, Strongholds, Stockpile, and Total Control, though the latter two only appear in the Big Team Battle playlist.
This is rather small for aHalogame as many fan favorites are missing such asInfection, Grifball, Action Sack (and all its crazy modes), Team Doubles, Head Hunter, Invasion, and many more. What’s worse, there is no way to select a game mode individually and play only that mode. The player can only play pre-made playlists.
Halo Infinitecan learn a thing or two fromHalo: The Master Chief Collection, which has a highly customizable match composer and custom games browser. More game types and greater customization of this nature is somethingHaloInfiniteneeds to maintain a healthy player population long term.
7Better Audio Customization
For those who are a fan of Jeff Steitzer’s announcing in multiplayer but who also dislike the A.I voices constantly chewing their ear off (and vice versa), there currently is no way to have some cake and eat it too. The game allows the player to toggleSpartan Chatteroff on its own, but the A.I and the announcer are tied to the overall voice volume setting. A separate setting for the announcer and A.I voices would be greatly appreciated.
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Some hit detection and generic feedback noises are also unable to be turned off or lowered currently. Allowing the player a greater amount of customization of these settings would be a welcome addition.
6Battle Rifle Balance Tweaks
Halo Infinite’sset of weapons needa few balancing tweaks. TheBR75, for example, is in an awkward place of being both overbearing and somewhat underpowered. Its hitscan nature and high aim assist can explain the former, while the latter is due to the weapon’s relatively slow ‘time to kill’ or TTK of around 1.6 seconds or so.
This forces what is known as “team shot” type gameplay, where players can’t really succeed on their own as much. Seeing as how the BR is the main weapon of the ranked playlist, making it more powerful but tweaking it to require more skill to use would raise the skill gap and give the individual player more influence on the match. For example, reducing the TTK to around 1.2 seconds and slowing down bullet velocity to encourage shot leading would accomplish this. As would reducing the aim assist.
5A Better Progression System
A point of contention among many users is the progression mechanics. Currently,players only receive 50xp for completing a match. Completing challenges is the only other way to get more experience points. The problem with these challenges is how situational they are, such as the Wraith-related challenges.
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Alongside challenges,Halo: The Master Chief Collectionalso awards XP for a variety of things like match completion and medals, so it could easily serve as a template for an updated progression system forHalo Infinite.
4Power Weapon Buffs
With the exception of a few weapons such as theEnergy Swordand Skewer, many of the power weapons featured in the game are pretty underwhelming. ThePulse CarbineorHeatwaveare cool weapons in theory but end up being too finicky to use much of the time in the face of weapons like the AR or BR, and weapons like theRavagerare just straight-up bad.
TheBulldogis another disappointingly weak weapon when compared to the Sword or even shotguns from previous games. Making some of these weapons a little more powerful would encourage players to use them more often and spice up the gameplay experience.
3An Overhaul to the Battle Pass & Store
If there is something 343 Industries andHalo Infinitehave received almost universal ire for, it is the battle pass and in-game store. As it stands, the player is able to unlockextremely little (if anything at all) for freevia natural progression. Armor coatings, weapon skins, armor pieces, etc. are all locked behind the $10 BP.
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Furthermore, the in-game store sells items and bundles that are exorbitantly priced.Certain items can cost as much as $20, which is double the price of the battle pass itself. These are elements of the game that undoubtedly need an overhaul. Reducing store prices to be fairer and allowing players to earn items naturally is a start.
2General Sandbox Tweaks
Halo Infinitehas a few weapons that could use small balancing tweaks. Namely,theAssault Rifle, Sidekick, and Commando. The AR has been widely criticized as being a bit too powerful, however, its only real issue is that it has too much range for its role. Shortening it would keep it from encroaching on other weapons' roles, such as the Sidekick and Commando.
Speaking of these two, both could do with larger magazines so more than one enemy can be killed without the need to reload every time. Both Weapons also have reticle bloom but are meant to be fired in quick succession to get kills, something bloom was originally meant to curb when it was introduced inHalo: Reach. This paradoxical design choice makes both weapons rather frustrating to use at times, so doing away with reticle bloom, as well as perhaps slowing the rate of fire of both weapons down to compensate, could be a good idea.
1Permanent Vehicle & Weapon Spawns
For Big Team Battle and unranked players, random item and vehicle spawns can be extremely frustrating. This is especially true whenchallenges that require using specific itemsand vehicles to complete them are the only way to quickly level up. For example,a player may need to get 20 kills using the Wraith mortar, but the Wraith may never spawn in a BTB match.
In previousHalogames, weapons and vehicles were deliberately placed on the map in order to shape the experience in a predictable way. The Spartan Laser was always in the middle of Valhalla, for example. A return to this static spawn system would probably work better forHalo Infinite.
Halo Infinite Multiplayeris available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
