Is it ALL Bad News !??!? - Halo Infinite Sept 2022 | Roadmap Reaction
Alright, let’s dive into the recent Halo Infinite update for September 2022. Honestly, before this even dropped, I tweeted that I was feeling pretty indifferent about the 343 announcements. With all the leaks lately, what’s really going to surprise me? Co-op campaign isn’t really my thing either, so I’m mostly just hoping they fix what’s already there. I just want to see timelines on when things are getting fixed, but even then, I’ll probably just go play something else anyway.
So, Joseph Staten and Sean Barron are here to talk about the future of Halo Infinite. Sean’s body language seems a bit off, almost uncomfortable, but maybe he’s just camera shy. He says he’s focused on everything Joseph’s gameplay team isn’t – basically, everything that isn’t maps, modes, or gameplay items. So, this is the guy we can blame for the current multiplayer experience! Just kidding (sort of).
They mentioned the challenges since launch. They are acknowledging the setbacks and how far behind they are. Sean says their number one priority is achieving seasonality – getting players more of what they want, faster and more consistently. Two seasons a year isn’t cutting it. They want to get to four seasons a year, ideally around 13 weeks each. They also have four other player priorities:
- A Halo Infinite where it’s infinitely rewarding.
- Personal and welcoming experience.
- Fair and competitive environment.
- Stable and high-quality gameplay.
They’re aiming to make significant progress on all of these by the end of 2023. Match XP and career rank are things they are excited about. They want to create more distinctive customization options too, across cores. They are also thinking about more intuitive and personal playlist options and UX. Custom game browser is important, but so is figuring out how to balance player choice with skill-based matchmaking. Anti-cheat is a big deal, especially on PC. They sympathize with PC debugging issues and want to improve the overall polish of the game.
They’ve made the tough call to not ship campaign split-screen co-op to focus resources on these other priorities. Honestly, I’m not even mad about the split-screen thing. It feels like that time has passed. November 8th is the date for a big, robust update – their biggest since launch. They are scaling back expectations, so we aren’t getting everything they initially suggested. But it will include network campaign co-op and the Forge beta.
They’re calling it “no Spartan left behind,” so collectibles and progression will be shared. Forge is a complete game-changer. They are releasing two brand new maps built in Forge: Argyle and Detachment. Argyle is a larger 4v4 arena map that supports stealthy playstyles (aka camping). Detachment is heavily influenced by CTF with unique flag routes and a teleporter.
Covert One Flag, a new mode based on one flag CTF, is coming. It’s spies vs. mercs with asymmetrical loadouts. The attacking team gets pulse carbines, sidekicks, and unlimited active camo, while the defending team gets commando rifles, energy swords, and unlimited threat sensors. They are releasing a progression system early to thank fans for sticking with them. They don’t want people to pay for a battle pass while they’re still tuning the match XP system.
Season 3 is slated for March 7th. Season 2.5 is the Winter event, which is how I would describe this. Season 3 will have a free and paid track for a 100-tier battle pass. They’ll use the tuning info from the Winter Update to make sure people move through the battle pass faster. There will be cool customization content based on the SPI armor core, fracture events, a custom game browser, and more robust player reporting. Season 3 includes two new maps (names not revealed yet), VIP and Escalation game modes, and the Shroud Screen equipment.
Overall, I’m not even mad about this. I kind of expected things to be delayed. The Winter Update thing is pretty cool, and getting the Forge beta will be awesome. That will be enough to hold us over, with a bunch of new game modes and maps to playtest. Campaign network co-op is okay-ish. Bugs will continue to be fixed. Let’s see how it goes.
View On: