Halo Infinite [Fall 2021] [XO, XBSX|S, PC, XGP]

[PSman1700]

IMO, it looks great for a multiplayer focussed game, thats going to run not only on XSX level hardware but also OneS and lower specced PC's. Atleast, MS wont need to provide bots to keep its servers populated.
Looks fun as hell to play aswell, i wont be (able) to test it this weekend but im sure going to get this one and BF6 once their out, and out of those two, Infinite might actually be much more fun aswell as better looking.
With in mind Infinite is kind of a dynamic game in the way that this engine/game will evolve and improve over time, aswell as community input based, were in for a nice MP generation with this one.

 

[vspectra]

Graphically still pretty mediocre. Hopefully it's as fun as halo 3's multiplayer.

 

[eastmen]

they have had employee flights for awhile now and the game is a lot of fun

 

[iroboto]

surprisingly a very good looking Xbox One title. It's definitely up there for 60fps titles (though I'm still not sure if it's 60fps based on the footage). But if it's marketed at 60, pretty incredible feat for XBO.

still a little bit more to desire for the Series consoles however. Not sure what else could be done, this games visual style is to have virtually nothing on the screen and super easy geometry. I guess I wish they worked a little more on lighting or FX then? I have no idea.

 

[PSman1700]

surprisingly a very good looking Xbox One title. It's definitely up there for 60fps titles (though I'm still not sure if it's 60fps based on the footage). But if it's marketed at 60, pretty incredible feat for XBO.

still a little bit more to desire for the Series consoles however. Not sure what else could be done, this games visual style is to have virtually nothing on the screen and super easy geometry. I guess I wish they worked a little more on lighting or FX then? I have no idea.

Its a multiplayer focussed title, imo its not supposed to compete with high budget AAA titles designed soley for the XSX/pc. For all its intend, its a great looking MP game. Its sure more more impressive then say BF6. its not about the graphics for such games, anyway. Sony's MP attempt (destruction allstars) isnt quite the high budget true next gen looker either.

 

[zed]

surprisingly a very good looking Xbox One title. It's definitely up there for 60fps titles (though I'm still not sure if it's 60fps based on the footage). But if it's marketed at 60, pretty incredible feat for XBO.

still a little bit more to desire for the Series consoles however. Not sure what else could be done, this games visual style is to have virtually nothing on the screen and super easy geometry. I guess I wish they worked a little more on lighting or FX then? I have no idea.

Yes the xb1 version looks decent, the series X version OTOH looks terrible ( the ascent also on Xbox i saw today looked better and it's not a heavily funded AAA game), A good example of the xbox series x being held back by last gen (and series s)
What they could do?
Increase polygon count by an order of magnitude, more dynamic things, better lighting, ray tracing etc.
Well at least looking like it does you can guarantee it will run at 4k @ 120fps

 

[Seanspeed]

Its a multiplayer focussed title, imo its not supposed to compete with high budget AAA titles designed soley for the XSX/pc. For all its intend, its a great looking MP game. Its sure more more impressive then say BF6. its not about the graphics for such games, anyway. Sony's MP attempt (destruction allstars) isnt quite the high budget true next gen looker either.

Destruction All Stars is hardly the equivalent in Sony's stable compared to Halo Infinite, which will absolutely be seen as a flagship Xbox title.

But it really doesn't look the part. I suppose even beyond the cross-gen considerations where it's supposed to be hitting 60fps on mediocre hardware from 2012, Halo is also not really known for its super detailed, realistic environments, but more on readability and sort of arena-style maps.

Still, this game is gonna need to deliver big on the gameplay and competitive aspects, cuz it will not be in any discussions of the most impressive games around. I would argue it's definitely not more impressive than BF2042, particularly when you remember all that's going on in a BF game.

 

[iroboto]

Yes the xb1 version looks decent, the series X version OTOH looks terrible ( the ascent also on Xbox i saw today looked better and it's not a heavily funded AAA game), A good example of the xbox series x being held back by last gen (and series s)
What they could do?
Increase polygon count by an order of magnitude, more dynamic things, better lighting, ray tracing etc.
Well at least looking like it does you can guarantee it will run at 4k @ 120fps

well it's one thing to be held back by last gen, it's another thing when it comes to art/level design.

I get it's held back, but that isn't necessarily what bothers people when it comes to Halo. When we think about the future, Halo depicts everything as massive wide plains, with simple geometry for everything.
I guess, it my mind it, it's just too sharp.

In many ways, open world design and level design lately looks something closer to the Division, or insert other TPS adventure title.

Halo level design comes across like Counter Strike. It's purely functional for combat.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Yes the xb1 version looks decent, the series X version OTOH looks terrible ( the ascent also on Xbox i saw today looked better and it's not a heavily funded AAA game), A good example of the xbox series x being held back by last gen (and series s)
What they could do?
Increase polygon count by an order of magnitude, more dynamic things, better lighting, ray tracing etc.
Well at least looking like it does you can guarantee it will run at 4k @ 120fps

Don't forget that The Ascent is also on XBO-S/X and XBS-S/X.

Regards,
SB

 

[zed]

well it's one thing to be held back by last gen, it's another thing when it comes to art/level design.

Thats whats holding back the series games, they have to make it run on last gen at 60fps, which is what I assume its doing and pushing to the limits of what the xbox one s is capable of. What do you want them to do with the series x, have totally new levels, that are not so empty? I think levels are the same in both generations.
Sure they can add little details in the series x game, grass, rocks, detailed walls etc but thats only gonna get you so far. Though for looking like the grass didnt look dynamic (nothing did), did things get destroyed? the bullet hole decals fade in 2 seconds, WTF, so there is quite easy stuff they could do to make the series game look better without changing the levels too much, add raytraved reflections at least. Its obviously too close to launch to make any radical changes. Best just to write it off, release what they have, hand the series to another developer and make a new halo game (series X only of course)
Heres a last gen game with a similar setting, about the only thing halo infinite exceeds in is the framerate

 

[mr magoo]

I think it looks good for MP title, the graphics are clean and ascetically pleasing. I was watching yesterday people stream and it really looks and feels like good halo game.
I dont know if this will work well in SP campaign thou, its not very gfx advance game and people may be disappointed that it doesnt look better than many titles we have seen so far.
But for MP part im 100% sold, bring it!

 

[iroboto]

Thats whats holding back the series games, they have to make it run on last gen at 60fps, which is what I assume its doing and pushing to the limits of what the xbox one s is capable of. What do you want them to do with the series x, have totally new levels, that are not so empty? I think levels are the same in both generations.

not necessarily.

Halo has serious roots in level building/Forge. So there are other items there that may also be holding it back from progressing forward. Halo is a ton of game, from several modes of difficulty in single player, wide open vistas to let players choose how they want to engage, vehicular combat, co-op, split screen co-op. Then you have level building, and a ton of different modes to play, and custom matches.

Halo by itself as a game dwarfs most games from a content perspective. Most other studios will fully dedicate their efforts to a single mode and a small play space; Halo is a lot more than that and some.

There's a lot to say about how much Halo needs to cover as a game, and another to suggest that the only reason it's not mind blowing graphically amazing is because last gen is holding it back. Forza 5 runs on XBO for instance, as does the Ascent and a lot of other titles. I think if Halo was nothing more than a single player FPS, all the effort spent elsewhere could have been funneled into a singular goal to bring the graphics up significantly.

Even Battlefield 2042 dropped their single player campaign entirely, they don't have level building tools, and they have limited game types. And all of their focus was entirely on that.

It's easy to rag on Halo, and I do that a lot, but I don't think it's a last-gen holding back next gen problem. I just wanted some better lighting and shadows on series consoles.

There are a total of 21 maps in Halo 5 for multiplayer. 4 completely different types of actual game-styles. Then a dozen variations of some game types. By the numbers:

Warzone: (3)

• Escape from A.R.C
• Raid on Apex 7
• March on Stormbreak

Warzone Assault: (3)

• Dispatch
• Array
• Summit

Arena: (10)

• Coliseum
• Eden (remix)
• Empire
• Fathom
• Orion (forge)
• Pegasus (forge)
• Plaza
• Regret (remix)
• The Rig
• Truth

Breakout: (5)

• Altitude (forge)
• Crossfire (forge)
• Gambol (forge)
• Trench (forge)
• Trident (forge)

There's no AAA game out there with this many official maps in multiplayer. Most of the biggest games are all just 1 map. COD has a 3-4 map rotation if I recall correctly. Battlefield is also fairly limited. Destiny is has still the same number of maps, it hasn't grown all that much and the multiplayer style is all the same, with some minor variants.

That's not even touching how large their single player campaign is, with support for 4 players at once. And of course Forge support.

And Halo Infinite will be even larger. More open world, more of everything really.

I could probably make a similar argument for Gears, but I think Halo is by far the largest packed multiplayer game there is. It is truly a game where there is something for everyone. Moving it to F2P and PC should help showcase how well it supports so many different fps groups.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

How does that map fit into the Halo lore? I think I've played up until Halo 3 and never saw anything resembling a middle eastern city.

 

[iroboto]

How does that map fit into the Halo lore? I think I've played up until Halo 3 and never saw anything resembling a middle eastern city.

From a content perspective, they draw maps from Earth, other planets, Halo Installations, Forerunner installations, the inside of Covie ships etc.
I think for the middle eastern city, I'm not sure if that's supposed to be New Mombasa or other. If I recall from Halo 5, that looks like an updated H5 map to me, but just sections of it. They do call it a new map, so perhaps it's just characteristic design of them to put staircase platforms at the back with covered pillared lanes.

 

[iroboto]

watching it here, it is imo, top 10 MP shooters for graphics. ehh.. maybe top 5. I guess it depends on how many Battlefields and Battlefronts and CODs you want to put into the top 4.

I really hope they manage to improve performance though =P I've only got a 3070.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

At its heart, multiplayer for Halo is basically an Arena shooter with different modes. As such, clarity on the battlefield is far more important that glitzy clutter. As much as I appreciate how nice the Battlefield games look, I didn't enjoy them as much as Halo multiplayer just because target identification was more difficult. There's more battlefield clutter and players on each team are less noticeably different from each other, especially at a distance. Sure, it's more realistic, but then I'm not playing an Arena shooter for realism. But that's fine for Battlefield because they aren't Arena shooters, however I prefer Arena shooters so Halo multiplayer was always more my cup of tea (as well as Quake and UT back in the day).

Unfortunately, it looks like Halo: Infinite is going slightly wrong in this respect, although its likely exacerbated by my red-green color blindness. The red for the red team is far too muted and when combined with the blue shield effect, makes it less easy for me to look at a player and instantly know whether they are friend or foe. IMO, they need to make the red brighter for the red team or change the color of the shields to match the team (red shields for red team, blue shields for blue team). IMO, this is far more important than how good it looks.

Anyway given the constraints for what makes a good arena shooter, I'm not sure how much you can do to make it look graphically impressive while also avoiding the graphics becoming distracting in a firefight. So, for example, the walls being generally large swathes of a relatively uniform color are dictated by this need to keep things focused on the players and target acquisition speed rather than on gaudy or flashy backgrounds. Of course, this being a military installation helps with that form of art constraint. Likewise, you wouldn't want to clutter up the scene with a lot of vegetation, again arena shooter constraints coupled with this being a military installation.

Single player is where they can go nuts with graphical showcase levels if they choose. But considering the "troubles" they've had with the engine and tools during development, I do wonder how it'll turn out. Personally, while I'd love it if single player Halo: Infinite was a graphical showcase, I'm far more worried about whether it'll be something that's true to the spirit of Halo or not. I hated Halo 4 despite it at the time being the best looking Halo to date just because the story and changes to gameplay were NOT Halo. And I still haven't played Halo 5, despite it being the best looking Halo again because of changes to gameplay and story content.

So, if Halo: Infinite rediscovers what it means to be a Halo game, I'll be ecstatic regardless of how it looks. And I'll play the crap out of it. If it's also graphically impressive, that'll just be the cherry on top. OTOH, if it doesn't feel like a Halo game, I'll drop it in a heartbeat even if it was so graphically ahead of any other game on the market that no other game could hope to match it (not like this would happen, but just an illustration of where graphics rate in games for me. ).

Regards,
SB

 

[iroboto]

Single player is where they can go nuts with graphical showcase levels if they choose. But considering the "troubles" they've had with the engine and tools during development, I do wonder how it'll turn out. Personally, while I'd love it if single player Halo: Infinite was a graphical showcase, I'm far more worried about whether it'll be something that's true to the spirit of Halo or not. I hated Halo 4 despite it at the time being the best looking Halo to date just because the story and changes to gameplay were NOT Halo. And I still haven't played Halo 5, despite it being the best looking Halo again because of changes to gameplay and story content.

I've generally found architecture and buildings in the Halo universe to be a sterile as possible. Cylinders, squares, rectangles, and obliques. Golf Green grass, all sorts of extendable bridges without rails. It's a universe that doesn't exist imo. I just feel like nothing would ever look like that, with or without maintenance.

 

[iroboto]

Not sure how accurate here but
Xbox One: 1080p@30
Xbox One X: 2160p@30
Xbox Series S: 1080p@120
Xbox Series X: 2160p@120

not locked, I guess we'll need to see what happens on final release. Was honestly expecting a 60hz mode.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

Not sure how accurate here but
Xbox One: 1080p@30
Xbox One X: 2160p@30
Xbox Series S: 1080p@120
Xbox Series X: 2160p@120

not locked, I guess we'll need to see what happens on final release. Was honestly expecting a 60hz mode.

That's a really nice increase on the last gen consoles. VRR should clean up those drops beneath 120hz. It'd be worth them having variable resolution scaling in there for consistency.

Either way I'd be happy with this. I'd like to see a 1440p@60hz Halo game on XSX just to push out some significant geometric differences.

It'd be fun at 120 though. Enormous competitive advantage compared to last gen - 4x temporal resolution.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

There's nothing special I see graphics wise. Actually, graphically, I think it looks poor say compared to Destiny 2 and Call of Duty.

Gameplay wise, it's limited from I have seen although I do believe there will be more maps etc. That said comparing to Destiny 2 and Call of Duty, gameplay is weak at this point in time.

Bots are poor from what I have seen but then I don't expect any actual MP gameplay to have any bots.

On PC there are a lot more better MP games, Rainbow 6 Siege, CSGO, Overwatch, Destiny 2, Call of Duty.

I was expecting to see something spectacular graphics wise but have been disappointed.