Last July, Microsoft and 343 Industries showed off Halo Infinite gameplay for the very first time. And the internet responded. Not with a lot of praise, mind, but with disappointment and a butt-load of memes featuring a brute they adopted as Craig. Indeed, the latest Halo didn’t quite overwhelm people with its looks. The gameplay, which looked rather fun and harkened back to classic Halo, was overshadowed by graphics that didn’t quite live up to expectations. However, as the saying goes, time mends all things. Today, 343 dropped a handful of new Halo Infinite PC campaign screenshots. And things seem to be looking up.
Of course, we’d love to see these improved visuals in action, but the shots are still nice. I’m hesitant to start flinging victory confetti, though. The 4K screenshots do allow us to investigate Halo Infinite‘s graphics closely, and it’s hard not to notice the texture of nearby trees fading into a blur (and to be fair, it is an open-world game so this is to be expected). However, close-up details on foliage, rocks, and ground texture are of high quality. The lighting engine also looks to have been enhanced. Some of the shots, especially the one with the Warthog at dusk, show a much better looking Halo Infinite.
On the subject of lighting, 343 Industries showed off the game’s day/night cycles. Among the new, high-quality Halo Infinite PC screenshots, we see a facility on Zeta Halo as time passes by. To put it simply, the effect is gorgeous. I particularly like the dusk shots, where the sun is clearly passing behind a mountain, casting an orange glow near the tip of the facility. Also, those sky boxes. Damn.
A living ring world
The new Halo Infinite PC screenshots came out of a developer update that landed earlier today. It included an interview with 343’s Justin Dinges, campaign art lead, Troy Mashburn, sandbox lead, and John Mulkey, world design lead. These three are the ones bringing Zeta Halo to life in Halo Infinite, and they went over the art and sandbox design for the game. They talked about their inspirations for the world design, as well as their desire to have plenty of “Sick Jumps” scattered throughout. The crew also spoke of the equipment in Halo Infinite, such as the Grappleshot, as well as the importance of how co-op feels in the game.
It’s a long interview and worth checking out for Halo fans or those curious to know more about Infinite. I’ll leave off with the aforementioned day/night cycle images below. Click here for the full 4K version.
