I’ve been thinking a lot about Halo Infinite’s journey. While it had some major flaws—especially with its live service approach and progression system—the core gameplay, feel, and gunplay still seemed really solid and true to Halo. My worry is that 343 Industries or Halo Studios might focus too much on what people saw as failures and end up throwing away the aspects that actually worked well. Do you think they truly understand what made Infinite’s gameplay good? Will they take those lessons forward or risk losing that understanding, especially after rebranding and shifting directions? I’m curious about others’ take on how 343 might handle the future of Halo and if they’ll keep what was great about Infinite intact.
12 Answers
I worry Halo Studios will just wipe the slate clean again, ignoring what worked in Infinite, just like they did with Halo 4 and 5. It feels like the simplest explanation is they prefer to restart rather than build on success.
Honestly, just make a good game and stop making questionable decisions. If they nail those two, Halo will be in a much better place. Pretty simple, but they haven’t quite figured it out yet.
What Infinite really needed was to launch as a complete game instead of a barebones shell that slowly got content patched in over months. For gameplay, Infinite nailed the mix of old and new Halo. But they messed up the live service model by releasing incomplete content first.
If they learn from that and deliver a full experience upfront, then build on it, they might have a shot. But nostalgia is super strong for Halo, so even if they do well, it might never hit the popularity peaks it once had.
They should for sure keep the solid gameplay and art style from Infinite but fully commit to supporting fun, creative maps and modes made by the community. Forge has to be ready at launch and community content should be integrated quickly too. That’d keep the game fresh and exciting.
What hooked me about Infinite was the first trailer—the mystery, the open world vibe, the feeling of exploration in Halo’s universe. It was perfect. If the actual game’s open world and storytelling matched that trailer’s promise, I think a lot of people would have really loved it and Halo could have pushed the genre forward again.
They got the gameplay feel right, sitting comfortably between classic Halo 3 mechanics and modern shooter elements. But what really dragged Infinite down was map design, power weapons, and how vehicles were handled.
Vehicles felt super fragile and with maps leaning towards tight corridor designs, the fun of using vehicles took a hit. Power weapons weren’t as intuitive or exciting to pick up and use, unlike the simple grab-and-go style of older Halo games. Maps need to be designed to balance open and tight spaces to make every weapon and vehicle feel rewarding. 343 needs to focus on making maps that emphasize fun over ultra-competitive balance—people fondly remember Halo for allowing crazy, fun moments, not just perfect balance.
Honestly, after all the updates, Infinite is better, but it’s still pretty buggy and the online experience is rough because of networking issues. I’m hopeful because the studio management has changed, but it’s hard to say if the next game will avoid the same problems. The most important thing is they can’t mess up the first impression this time around like they did with Infinite’s launch.
The gameplay foundation in Infinite was solid, no doubt. Now what they really need is a compelling story and to ship with all the multiplayer features (Forge, Firefight, full modes) ready at launch. If they nail that, it could be a standout Halo game again.
For me, Infinite fell short because it lacked couch co-op, which was a big part of the Halo experience back in the day. It’s surprising how few modern games still offer local co-op, and I feel like that gap really hurt Infinite’s appeal for some longtime fans.
343 seems to have figured out what makes Halo gameplay fun, but their storytelling still feels all over the place. Multiple soft reboots and relying heavily on books and comics for key story points make it hard for casual players to stay engaged.
Also, technical issues from using a complex engine and the challenges that caused at launch show how switching to Unreal could be a fresh start. Infinite laid the groundwork but wasn’t the finished product. If they focus on strong story, complete polished releases, and don’t soft reboot every few years, Halo could finally get back on top.
They definitely nailed the core gameplay loop—the gunplay feels great, vehicles and equipment work well, and that classic ’30 seconds of fun’ moment is there. The problem Infinite had was making that fun last long-term. At launch, the maps and modes didn’t have that hook to keep players coming back endlessly. Also, the progression system was kind of a mess and took away from the fun. If 343 wants to really redeem things, they need to build a full, polished package from the start—kind of like what Halo 3 had, which didn’t rely on live service elements and still kept people hooked for ages.
Yeah, Reach also showed that you can have a modern Halo game if it feels complete. Dropping core features over time and cutting social stuff really hurt Infinite’s momentum.
One big practical issue for me was the UI experience in Infinite. The menus often glitched or took forever to load, custom games were a hassle, and getting friends together was more frustrating than fun. They’ve improved MCC over time but Infinite still struggled to deliver a smooth social and matchmaking experience. Hopefully future titles fix this so jumping into games with friends is easier and less annoying.
I know, it’s crazy how rare couch co-op is now. It used to be a staple, especially for Halo fans wanting to play with friends in the same room.