Spartans, prepare your drop pods and assault rifles. After 6 long years, we’ll finally be able to play as the Master Chief once again.
Two decades after Halo: Combat Evolved changed first-person shooters forever, Halo: Infinite hits the shelves on December 8 this year. Well, not all of it. You see, following a 12-month delay, developers 343 Industries announced that Infinite will launch without campaign co-op and Forge.
Fans are obviously bummed. Halo 5 received an insane amount of backlash for removing couch co-op – a staple for older Halo games. Meanwhile, Forge has long been a hotbed for zany multiplayer map creations. Both will be released at later stages.
So we’re left with the single-player campaign and multiplayer. After an ill-fated demo last year that spawned a host of Craig the Brute memes, an E3 teaser in July and an explosive multiplayer trailer at Gamescom 2021, here’s what I’m looking forward to as a long-time Halo fan.
Give us a good campaign
No split-screen action, fine. But at least design a solid campaign. Even Halo 4 was palatable for the most part. Halo 5 completely bombed when it came to storytelling and gameplay.
Infinite needs a more cohesive plot. Halo 5’s was all over the place. We had to defend forgettable citizens, fight a remnant Covenant faction and repel the lifeless Prometheans. All this while we chased after the Chief who was chasing after Cortana. Good Lord.
There was no natural flow from each plot point, and the game’s desire to imitate Halo 2’s parallel storyline failed to come through. Just keep Infinite’s storyline tight and logical, and we’ll have no complaints.
Another issue was that in a franchise centred around John-117, he was somehow relegated to a side show and was a playable character for only THREE out of 15 levels in Halo 5.
Instead, the bland Spartan Locke was the de-facto main man. Even the Arbiter didn’t steal the limelight when he was introduced as a playable character in Halo 2. The mystique surrounding the Chief was what originally drew fans to the series – a silent supersoldier ready to pummel aliens. Bring that back.
And while the Halo 5’s graphics were superb, they were offset by issues such as repetitive gameplay and lousy AI allies. Most of the game was spent traversing large sandboxes and gunning down waves of enemies in one spot. Boring!
And don’t get me started on how we had to do the Warden boss battle 7 times. What’s worse is that your AI teammates (who are actual Spartans) shoot worse than the Marines from older games. We miss Sergeant Johnson (RIP).
Infinite has to provide a more dynamic experience. More close quarters combat, let us devise strategies to outsmart enemies rather than to avoid being outgunned, and NO MORE aiming down sights like Call of Duty.
So far, 343 has kept Infinite’s campaign under wraps. Let’s hope that they have ironed out the kinks and surprise us with a functional, enjoyable game (unlike Cyberpunk 2077).
Fix those multiplayer maps
For all of Halo’s recent campaign woes, its multiplayer has stayed strong over the years (except for the controversial introduction of REQ packs in Halo 5). 343 even made Infinite’s multiplayer free-to-play! Of course, improvements are still welcome.
Halo has blessed us with memorable maps such as Blood Gulch, Lockout, Zanzibar and Valhalla, to name a few. Unfortunately Halo 5’s selection was awful. To accommodate the Spartan Abilities, maps were made larger for people to Sprint and Spartan Charge, and it got annoying when you had to clear obstacles with Clamber. It often felt like a chore to cross the arena.
The best Halo maps came with a healthy mix of spacious clearings and narrow corridors. For example, Ivory Tower in Halo 2 had great corners and tunnels for 1v1s, valuable sniper spots and a central floor for all-out skirmishes. Halo 5’s maps are devoid of power positions. Rather, it’s all about just running around and shooting your opponent. Where’s the fun in that?
Thankfully, Spartan Abilities seem to have been replaced by one-time use equipment last seen in Halo 3. This could open the door to more varied maps.
And speaking of equipment, how cool are the Grappleshot, Drop Wall and Repulsor? If 343 wants to bring strategy back to multiplayer, here’s what they need to do: have random equipment drops on the maps, rather than letting players choose abilities beforehand. It makes for a more unpredictable fight as players can either think about making a run for an added item or attack those who do so.
A lot has been said about Infinite, and now all eyes will be on 343 to make Halo great again. Let’s hope they do.
