Halo: Infinite (Dec. 8th, 2021) - Xbox Series X

[Beau Knows]

It really has not been two years, right? The gameplay was great but then, they did absolutely nothing with it.

Ah that's right, 2 years ago was the original release date, before it was delayed.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Going forward I hope a nice compromise for Halo/COD would be something like this...

343 could have given us a F2P mode as well as the traditional Halo experience. Charge people $70, that gets you the campaign and multiplayer plus an extensive customization ability available included in the $70 purchase. Full spectrum of colors, individually customized armor pieces, cross core customization, etc...

Keep the F2P aspect for those that don't want to fork over the $70. Give them a Battle Pass progression system and let them unlock things like we've been doing. They can even have unique armors and palettes, i'd be fine with that.

But do both. Having just the Battle Pass alienates people who love Halo, having zero Battle Pass makes it more difficult for 343 to generate money. Mechanically the gameplay in Infinite is the best of the series but there was so little content, so many problems and delays, the game was treated as an afterthought. I blame the people in charge at 343 and the Microsoft higher ups making these decisions. There's a clear disconnect between what fans want and what 343 provided.

 

[Blitzkrug]

343 Industries Will No Longer Make Halo Games, But Will Oversee Outside Development - Report

It's claimed that 343 Industries will be taking a backseat to the development of future Halo games.

www.gamespot.com

 

[x Tame Impala]

Good. 343 had their time

 

[93LEAFS]

343 Industries Will No Longer Make Halo Games, But Will Oversee Outside Development - Report

It's claimed that 343 Industries will be taking a backseat to the development of future Halo games.

www.gamespot.com

I'm gonna be very disappointed if we get robbed of a Quake reboot or a new Doom because MS couldn't properly manage its own studio and needs one of the Bethesda purchases to bail out their marquee IP. Although, I'm skeptical of this article, I have a hard time seeing Halo ever being outsourced to 2nd party development which this article claims.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I'm gonna be very disappointed if we get robbed of a Quake reboot or a new Doom because MS couldn't properly manage its own studio and needs one of the Bethesda purchases to bail out their marquee IP. Although, I'm skeptical of this article, I have a hard time seeing Halo ever being outsourced to 2nd party development which this article claims.

Why? Microsoft invested hundreds of millions in trying to keep the intrigue from the Bungie-era Halo games going with 343 and it didn't work. I could totally see them outsourcing the franchise to other studios. We could be getting multiple Halo games in 2-3 year periods. If it's developed by 3rd party studios we can get non-Spartan/Master Chief style games as well. More spin off games like ODST. Things that expand the universe through great story and gameplay.

 

[93LEAFS]

Why? Microsoft invested hundreds of millions in trying to keep the intrigue from the Bungie-era Halo games going with 343 and it didn't work. I could totally see them outsourcing the franchise to other studios. We could be getting multiple Halo games in 2-3 year periods. If it's developed by 3rd party studios we can get non-Spartan/Master Chief style games as well. More spin off games like ODST. Things that expand the universe through great story and gameplay.

I would think they would turn to one of their internal studios for a game with that big a budget for a mainline Halo title, which would be unfortunate as the two most qualified currently would be MachineGames or iD, and those would likely come at the expense of new Wolfenstein's, Doom or a potential Quake re-boot. If Activision closes they could use one of the 3 COD teams (Treyarch, Infinity Ward, or Sledgehammer).

I'd also say a lot of the issues with Halo are likely even out of 343's control. Microsoft wanted to use its own internal game engine to save paying the 5% unreal tax (luckily, they now have access to the iD engine which is probably the best engine for fps around if employees are proficent with it), and two, their reliance on 18-month contractors they never renew to avoid permatemp hires.

 

[Blitzkrug]

I'm gonna be very disappointed if we get robbed of a Quake reboot or a new Doom because MS couldn't properly manage its own studio and needs one of the Bethesda purchases to bail out their marquee IP. Although, I'm skeptical of this article, I have a hard time seeing Halo ever being outsourced to 2nd party development which this article claims.

Would be willing to put good money on the next Doom game already being deep in development. It was only a four year turnaround from Doom 2016 to Eternal (would have been less if not for COVID) so if they did have desire to do another game i imagine it's being worked on already.

ID isn't the only qualified studio either. Like i said, i think an Infinity Ward helmed Halo could be really, really good especially in the context of campaign. Wouldn't trust them at all with the multiplayer but if it's just a single player isolated story like ODST was i could see it.

 

[93LEAFS]

Would be willing to put good money on the next Doom game already being deep in development. It was only a four year turnaround from Doom 2016 to Eternal (would have been less if not for COVID) so if they did have desire to do another game i imagine it's being worked on already.

ID isn't the only qualified studio either. Like i said, i think an Infinity Ward helmed Halo could be really, really good especially in the context of campaign. Wouldn't trust them at all with the multiplayer but if it's just a single player isolated story like ODST was i could see it.

That's if the Activision deal closes, which has significant roadblocks. Currently, it's iD or Machine Games as the best options at least when it comes to internal MS studios.

We don't really know what iD is doing right now. There at one point was a ton of rumors of Quake being rebooted which would be awesome, instead of getting a 3rd Doom, but the gameplay mechanics should be similar. Machine is on that Indiana Jones game which we haven't heard anything about in ages, and their is a belief they have something in the works on Wolfenstein 3, but I'm unsure if MachineGames has the capacity to be in full development of two games at once.

 

[S E P H]

Why? Microsoft invested hundreds of millions in trying to keep the intrigue from the Bungie-era Halo games going with 343 and it didn't work. I could totally see them outsourcing the franchise to other studios. We could be getting multiple Halo games in 2-3 year periods. If it's developed by 3rd party studios we can get non-Spartan/Master Chief style games as well. More spin off games like ODST. Things that expand the universe through great story and gameplay.

It's going to turn into Star Wars. The books and Halo universe mentioned that the UNSC only had a certain number of planets and functional Spartan IIs and those are already beginning to fall apart from different authors getting to write an absurd number of stories already. Some of the books are quite good though.

The worst aspect of Star Wars is the planets, you create forty thousand new planets for every new aspect of a story without expanding on previously made planets already brought into the universe for past media. It's stupid.

 

[Dolemite]

I'd also say a lot of the issues with Halo are likely even out of 343's control. Microsoft wanted to use its own internal game engine to save paying the 5% unreal tax (luckily, they now have access to the iD engine which is probably the best engine for fps around if employees are proficent with it), and two, their reliance on 18-month contractors they never renew to avoid permatemp hires.

Most of the issues with the game was that it was rushed out the door before it was ready. The campaign map area is a fraction of what it was supposed to be. Note that Starfield isn’t being rushed now.

That's if the Activision deal closes, which has significant roadblocks. Currently, it's iD or Machine Games as the best options at least when it comes to internal MS studios.

We don't really know what iD is doing right now. There at one point was a ton of rumors of Quake being rebooted which would be awesome, instead of getting a 3rd Doom, but the gameplay mechanics should be similar.

iD went downhill after Quake 2. They’ll never recover from that.

 

[x Tame Impala]

It's going to turn into Star Wars. The books and Halo universe mentioned that the UNSC only had a certain number of planets and functional Spartan IIs and those are already beginning to fall apart from different authors getting to write an absurd number of stories already. Some of the books are quite good though.

The worst aspect of Star Wars is the planets, you create forty thousand new planets for every new aspect of a story without expanding on previously made planets already brought into the universe for past media. It's stupid.

Spin-off projects wouldn’t be lore-heavy IMO. It’d be something like a game centered around a marine squadron or maybe some new Spartans a la Reach where they’re actually an interesting and cohesive team. I do think a future game doesn’t need to include Chief. His story ended in Halo 3 for me personally and I’m ready to move on.

 

[Blitzkrug]

Ignore Dolemite, he's generally not helpful.

 

[Morbo]

That's if the Activision deal closes, which has significant roadblocks. Currently, it's iD or Machine Games as the best options at least when it comes to internal MS studios.

We don't really know what iD is doing right now. There at one point was a ton of rumors of Quake being rebooted which would be awesome, instead of getting a 3rd Doom, but the gameplay mechanics should be similar. Machine is on that Indiana Jones game which we haven't heard anything about in ages, and their is a belief they have something in the works on Wolfenstein 3, but I'm unsure if MachineGames has the capacity to be in full development of two games at once.

Quake 1 in the Eternal engine would be amazing

 

[93LEAFS]

Most of the issues with the game was that it was rushed out the door before it was ready. The campaign map area is a fraction of what it was supposed to be. Note that Starfield isn’t being rushed now.





iD went downhill after Quake 2. They’ll never recover from that.

The game wasn't rushed in the traditional sense, it spent longer than the average AAA game in development and then got delayed for a full year. The reason it feels rushed is because of how they utilized their staff relying a ton on 18 month contractors which is a nightmare for development, especially when using a proprietary engine. And, until you play Starfield how do you know if it is rushed out the door or not. That extra year of development for Halo Infinite was supposed to be polishing it and setting up the road map for live service and that doesn't seem to be the case.

As for iD, I don't agree but you are free to your opinion.

 

[Blitzkrug]

The game wasn't rushed in the traditional sense, it spent longer than the average AAA game in development and then got delayed for a full year. The reason it feels rushed is because of how they utilized their staff relying a ton on 18 month contractors which is a nightmare for development, especially when using a proprietary engine. And, until you play Starfield how do you know if it is rushed out the door or not. That extra year of development for Halo Infinite was supposed to be polishing it and setting up the road map for live service and that doesn't seem to be the case.

As for iD, I don't agree but you are free to your opinion.

Don't even bother arguing with him. He'll just counter you with how "you don't play games" and post a shitty tweet from his 3 follower twitter account.

 

[Mikeaveli]

The only studios that would make sense to take over would be one of the COD developers, none of Microsofts other first party have any experience making a popular AAA multiplayer shooter in recent times.

 

[Jussi]

The game wasn't rushed in the traditional sense, it spent longer than the average AAA game in development and then got delayed for a full year. The reason it feels rushed is because of how they utilized their staff relying a ton on 18 month contractors which is a nightmare for development, especially when using a proprietary engine. And, until you play Starfield how do you know if it is rushed out the door or not. That extra year of development for Halo Infinite was supposed to be polishing it and setting up the road map for live service and that doesn't seem to be the case.

As for iD, I don't agree but you are free to your opinion.

Well it was clear it was a lot more polished visually.

 

[93LEAFS]

Well it was clear it was a lot more polished visually.

Is this supposed to be a major positive?

 

[Jussi]

Is this supposed to be a major positive?

Of course it is. It's visuals were panned so heavily after E3.

 

[chicagoskycam]

The gameplay is pretty good and with some attention, it's fixable. Just over a year with missed deadlines on new game types, lack of content, and limited multiplayer maps, they may have lost a good portion of the player base.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

I jumped into Infinite the other night and had a great time. The community playlist is fun.

Also, this trailer is kinda dope.

 

[S E P H]

I jumped into Infinite the other night and had a great time. The community playlist is fun.

Also, this trailer is kinda dope.

Looks really rad.

 

[93LEAFS]

I don't care about multiplayer at all, so those issues don't really concern me. But, I finally played this. One of the xbox exclusives I wanted to try once I built with my PC, after not owning an Xbox since the OG one, or had access to since my roommateof 3 years in University had a 360 alongside games like Sunset Overdrive (which I loved) and want to try Gears 4 and 5 next. When I first tried it in November I kept getting weird video freezes in cut-scenes (and my CPU/GPU/Ram combo is way above recommended specs, let alone minimum), so I just abandoned it and moved on to something else. I will say, I'm having a lot of fun in the campaign so far. I am also pretty lost on the story though, having not really played Halo since Combat Evolved I'm pretty lost (I get the general gist of it).

I'm not a huge first person shooter guy unless it's Doom Eternal or Wolfenstein since Machine took over (those along with Obsidian going to MS exclusive were partial driving forces in building/buying something that would have access to those companies games going forward), and while I'm not enjoying it as much as those 2, it's a pretty good game overall.

 

[Mikeaveli]

343 is finally stepping up. 2 new 4v4 maps and 4 more community maps this season in addition to the 4 community maps they added 2 weeks ago. Even if they're fan-made maps this is still a huge step forward and I've had a good time playing the game again recently.