Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries has pledged to provide regular updates on the game throughout 2021. That process starts with the latest Inside Infinite blog post, which includes snippets of info on the Halo development process. While the update is perhaps a little low on concrete information, it does show off the general direction 343 Industries is heading.
That direction for Halo Infinite looks promising too, at least in the multiplayer gameplay department. 343 is constantly playtesting Halo Infinite, both internally and through small-scale external previews, garnering the feedback it needs. The team says it then has the systems in place to broaden this once public playtests go live. Crucially, this monitoring will continue post-launch too, and it looks like 343 has plans to keep this Halo going for a while.
Take weapon mechanics for instance. 343 says it started from a “blank canvas” with Halo Infinite‘s combat design, and has taken a look at all the roles and playstyles players gravitate towards. The team will be catering to all players, providing multiple damage types, including weapons that are more effective against shields, player health and vehicles. That won’t stop at launch either. The plan is to keep the sandbox fresh by tweaking existing weaponry, bringing new weapons in and generally keeping tabs on the community.
A connection to the past
Those of you that are yearning for the glory days of Halo, there’s some nuggets of info in here that’ll please you. While 343 wants people to have player agency, it looks like special abilities and equipment will be changing in Infinite. Compared to recent Halo games where players have more powerful abilities, Infinite is going back to equipment pickups that don’t stray from core combat quite as much. Basically, it sounds like Spartan abilities and the like will be toned down in Infinite. This should, in theory, make it feel more like classic Halo.
Visually, the weapons and gear look more like Bungie-era Halo too. The blog post showcases a variety of work-in-progress weapons and gear, and they all look rather nice indeed. While it’s a shame this blog post doesn’t touch on the campaign too much, it provides a nice update on Halo multiplayer gameplay, and how combat is evolving in Infinite. The game is set to release sometime in fall 2021.
