alo: Infinite is not an experience I was expecting to have. Immediately, clear that 343 has stopped trying to steal and expand the Call of Duty audience and gone to the roots of what made Halo so great. In fact I think the gameplay is the most enjoyable of any Halo so far. The modern updates in Halo 2 Anniversary from 343 are on full display here. Hit markers, smooth shooter, perfect sound design for every weapon. They all feel the smooth to use and the most unique they been. Of course most important of all, 343 have answered my prayers and made not only the Assault Rifle the default weapon, but extremely viable. Enemies can be mowed down in one clip; the gun can be burst to control the recoil. It works hand in hand with the one-two pop the shield and melee combo. I always felt AR had this ridiculous wide recoil like the barrel was five times the size of any other gun (maybe that was just the crosshair) and the gun was shooting grunt's nails and M&Ms. It had no oomph. Here the feedback and impact is perfect. Instead of a throw away weapon once you come across something better, it’s as much a default as the AK47 or M4 in Counter Strike. The side-arm feels like just that, not the OP magnum pistol-sniper or underpowered pea shooters. It’s good for precision shooting, mid-range and popping headshots. Not to mention it has the quickest draw time of any weapon like an actual pistol. Depending on what weapon I’d find (close range or long range) I’d often swap out either one. The battle rifle feels great here, balanced, and precise. A map drop and not common – everyone wants one and you feel naked without one. You’ll fight over it and adapt your tactics when you know the enemy has one. It leads to far more interesting gameplay encounters then anything in the MCC. I find most the other weapons unique and interesting to use - even the Needler feels fun and viable to use again. The shotgun feels heavy, brutal and difficult to use. New weapons like heat seeking Hydra and the revolving one-two punch Mangler are great new additions. Stalker Rifle, Shock Rifle and Disruptor are Covenant weapons that take skill to use. The classic power weapons return while the Skewer and Cindershot are the new weapons to find. The former takes a lot of skill to drop a spartan but is oh so satisfying when you do, if you nail a vehicle with it however it becomes a ticking time bomb with the Doom mechanic. The Cindershot feels like something out of Destiny, an energy grenade launcher that explodes in a range of colours and disintegrates enemies into dust if killed. The plasma pistol RIP - really wish this would EMP or do uber damage to vehicles when charged up.
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| Hydra is my favourite new weapon. |
Sprint isn't overpowered and the power ups are fantastic. Pick them up and use them at your will instead of wasting them right away. Use overshield, camo and thrusters to knock enemies off maps – every time you have one you feel good about it. Except for the drop shield that is, this needs a buff as it only blocks a few bullets and you take more damage in the time it takes for you to put it down. To be fair it’s good against explosives and if you throw it around a corner you have some viability. It might be that it’s best for anti-explosives and snipers, I just haven’t clued onto using it effectively yet. A special mention is owed to the grappling hook. This is game changing. It’s not as basic as hook onto ledge and pull you there. No you can swing around ledges like Spiderman, use it as a get out of jail free card, latch onto and hijack vehicles, including ones in the air, latch weapons to you and so much more. It’s a power up with limited uses so it never gets op. The experimentation is infinite, but most important of all it’s just fun and feels great to use. If you asked me if Halo needed more mobility a year ago I would have said "fuck no", that’s Call of Duty and just look at the failure of Halo 4 and 5 as evidence with its inclusion of sprint, jetpacks and power ups. But between the power slide, limited sprint and finite grappling hook the mobility has the perfect level of compromise, enough to make you feel like you're slogging but not too much so that you feel like you can outrun a warthog. They make Spartans much more viable against vehicles too, especially if you prefer to shoot on foot like me. Vehicles feel a little off, you have an invisible shield while in the vehicle but they also feel paper thin (especially the Banshee).
The maps and modes are all brilliant. I absolutely love the new additions and how they serve the gameplay. The big maps fit 16 players well and never feel too chaotic and out of your control. Fragmentation and Highpower, beside their dumb names stand up there with the greats. They have so much winding paths and verticality ripe for either vehicles, grappling hooks or snipers. Capture the Flag has never been so fun. Without the hook I might put them below Blood Gulch, but with it they’re absolutely above. The small game maps feel tight and intimate, and remind me a lot of Counter-Strike in their vertical and horizontal approaches to objectives. They’re fantastic. Behemoth is a favourite and reminds me a lot of Relic / Remnant, which vehicles on the outskirts and safe structures in the centre – they provide more of a passage way than a vantage point. But throw in man cannons and it’s easily the best map for my favourite mode – Capture the Flag. While the maps available are fantastic after a while you do feel starved for content. If this is all they had at release I really wish they dropped a few remakes of classic maps like Blood Gulch or Stonetown. Maybe even introducing them on a seasonal rotation from MCC based on the game (Halo 1-4). I love the classic modes: CTF, Oddball, Stronghold and Total Control (Domination). Slayer has never been my fancy as someone who likes to play objectives and strategy, but it’s still fun. Fiesta is novel at first but still utter chaos as everyone scrambles for power weapons. I would have much preferred a gun game mode that starts with a rock launcher and ends with a plasma pistol. Stockpile is just bad and needs a complete rework. It’s not fun to lug 5 power cells back to base in a second-rate version of CTF. I just avoid the objective, go for the kills and have a lot more fun in that mode which is sad. The could have done some clever things with this mode, like a capture the flag meets domination and having the power cells ticks up your score. It would make stealing them from the enemy far more viable. The interactive elements from prior maps like Stonetown are sorely missed as well.
There’s a lot of controversy around the progression and how much it costs to unlock cosmetics. While I understand the concerns, I don’t care. I played and enjoy Halo 2 Anniversary the most out of any MCC title, as I did back in the day and it has zero cosmetics. What is here, the core experience, is a brilliant and fun evolution of the Halo formula. I’m having a great time with the game and that’s all I care about, 343 did the unthinkable.
So, it’s sad that I’ve stopped playing for one reason alone. The net code is terrible. The game lags, has desync, you often trade in melee. Post-release in Australia I struggle to find a game below 100 ping. The game quite literally at this point is unplayable. The matchmaking focuses on finding a match quickly instead of a low ping match. Which seems like a massive oversight. It’s quite sad because I don’t remember the last time I had so much fun playing a competitive multiplayer game. One where I could experiment and learn the intricacies of its systems and map – feeling that sense of progression, not artificially from cosmetics and how my character looks, but in the skill and understanding the dynamics of the game. So I hope they fix the network ASAP before I move on entirely. Well done 343, you surprised everyone and delivered a great sequel to a beloved franchise after 10 years!
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