Halo Infinite was a major highlight of last night’s Xbox Games Showcase, positively or negatively speaking. We got to see a substantial eight minutes of the game’s campaign which left some of the fans disappointed while some praised the game’s nostalgic nod to 2001’s Halo: Combat Evolved.
The biggest complain of many people were the visuals which seemed very underwhelming even from this generation’s point of view, let alone the next. Aside the graphical fidelity, many people also found the game’s combat to be fairly basic. After all, addition of a grappling hook in 2020 isn’t as jaw-dropping an affair as was perhaps in the 2000’s.
Amidst all the conflicting views and criticism, what most people are neglecting is in fact the false hype that Halo Infinite had accumulated in the past few years and especially last week.
Halo is religiously seen as the game that defines Xbox. Something which is God Of War or Uncharted for the PlayStation. Hence, as a sequel to a such an important series, Halo Infinite is carrying a lot of weight on its shoulders which will set boundaries for first party Xbox Games in the coming future.
As someone who hasn’t played a Halo game in the last 15 years, all this hype only led me and many others to believe that Halo Infinite will push the first person genre to unprecedented heights, which after last night’s reveal may or may not be true.
The problem with Halo Infinite isn’t that it’s not as visually appealing as Sony’s first party games or is underwhelming gameplay wise, it is all about the expectation.
After re-watching Halo Infinite’s gameplay today, after the dust has been settled, I found myself immensely drawn in its world. Halo Infinite is by no means an eye candy but has a stellar art direction to boast that adds to its dreamy, atmospheric world. The game’s ambient score, of which we got a little taste of reminded me of my fragmented memories of playing Halo: Combat Evolved years ago.
And talking about visuals, Halo games have never pushed for picturesque graphics. It had always been about the art direction.
As far as gameplay is concerned, Halo Infinite’s gunplay looks polished and responsive. The game will be running at 60 FPS on Xbox Series X which I’m happy that developers are pushing for because that’s always a plus for first-person shooter games.
Halo Infinite, like other games in the franchise takes place on a Halo ring and will let players explore various open space while driving the iconic Warthog vehicles. Think about The Last Of Us Part 2 or 2018’s God Of War. This is always a win-win for me because there’s already a huge abundance of traditional open world games out there and seeing that 343 is taking Halo Infinite’s narrative very seriously, this is an important step in the right direction.
Xbox’s Aaron Greenberg recently shared his thoughts on the game’s criticism, stating that what they showed off was an early build of the game and the game’s visuals effects would improve in the next four-five months of development period. I honestly believe that this isn’t happening because it takes much longer to overhaul the game’s graphics.
But nevertheless what’s important to note is that even the initial build of the game looks really polished, with no framerate drops or gameplay inconsistencies,aside some minor pop-ups which I’m hoping the team would fix by the game launches this holiday season.
Halo Infinite will also be releasing on Xbox One and will be available day one on Xbox Game Pass which makes it an even exciting deal since many of us will not have to purchase a brand new console or spend sixty bucks straight away. Microsoft’s commitment to bring us Halo Infinite may have been riddled with minor flaws here and there, but its an ambitious process that we, especially after this illusory heap of dust has settled, should be appreciated.
Are you excited for Halo Infinite? Tell me in the comments down below.
