Halo Infinite- Out December 8

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Mantis
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Re: Halo Infinite- Out December 8

Post by Mantis » Fri Dec 10, 2021 11:14 am

I think the story and plot progressively grew to become a big focal point as the original trilogy progressed so that by the time Halo 3 came out there was a very cohesive and compelling narrative with a fairly decent cast of characters. Certainly Reach continued at that level when Bungie finally left the franchise. Unless the gun play is absolutely perfect (it never is) then I need some decent plot hooks to actually compel me to keep playing, not just a big list of samey objectives to do.

343 have a very bad case of Destiny syndrome. They just throw a whole load of random names at you and then never explain any of it. The original trilogy had silly names for things too but it took the time to build them up and explain them. Halo Infinite seems to basically retcon the events of Halo 5 and just throws a whole load more random clichè Sci fi names at you.

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Re: Halo Infinite- Out December 8

Post by Raid » Tue Dec 28, 2021 9:04 pm

So I've made a start and it makes a great first impression. It doesn't feel like it's by the same developer that made 4 (although I suppose there've been nine years for them to learn), I think 343 finally managed to replicate Bungie's games in terms of feel and entertainment. Every weapon I've tried so far has felt useful, and some of them have been rebalanced a bit to make them feel more in line with the rest of the arsenal, most notably the Needler. The grappling hook doesn't feel particularly Halo-ish, but it certainly adds a lot to the gameplay. I had more kills with grenades in just the first level than I did in the entirety of Halo 4.

The first couple of story levels were pretty good, although I do agree with some of the comments people have made about the boss being a bullet sponge - it feels a bit out of place compared to every other enemy you fight. I actually nearly killed the Brute on my first attempt having stuck him with a grenade right from the off, but on subsequent attempts it started with him immediately leaping at me as soon as the level loaded and I really didn't have the chance to reuse the tactic. I started the fight holding a sniper rifle and the UNSC pistol, which weren't particularly good choices for a tank that's constantly jetting into melee range, and two jackals with shields. It was a little chaotic getting around the arena scrambling for something more suitable, and to be honest it was actually a lot of fun. After playing Halo 4, it's refreshing to be able to pick up pretty much anything and be able to use it.

The open world does feel a little soulless, but then most open worlds do. I maintain that I'd have preferred a standard linear campaign, but at least the minute to minute shooting is compelling enough to carry the experience, at least for now.

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Re: Halo Infinite- Out December 8

Post by DjchunKfunK » Wed Dec 29, 2021 4:13 pm

If you stripped out the open world from Infinite I think it would be a soulless and pretty bad game. The level design "inside" is pretty much non-existent, it's just a procession of corridors. I didn't mind it when I had the open world bits sprinkled in between but the last hour or so is just corridor after corridor and it's a real drag.

Overall Infinte feels like a game that has a bit of an identity crisis, which is not a surprise considering the stories about it's development. The corridor bits feel like they have been tacked on in the last year or so as the game pivoted away from a mass open world. Despite that I enjoyed it as the gunplay is really good with the grappling hook making everything sing.

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Re: Halo Infinite- Out December 8

Post by Raid » Sun Jan 02, 2022 6:02 pm

So I'd been largely enjoying this up until the point where I had to fight Bassus. Just who the hell thought that trapping you in a confined arena with an enemy holding a gravity hammer that can kill you in two hits, while not giving you any notice so you could find appropriate weapons was a good idea? Christ, I started with a rocket launcher and 5 rockets, and I still can't beat this fucker. It doesn't help that it quicksaved halfway through after I'd used the rockets to take down his shield, but seconds before that shield starts to recharge meaning every single time it loads I have to very quickly hit him with something before I can go to find another weapon, and the only other gun I'm carrying is the battle rifle which does absolutely sod all to him. I get absolutely no opportunity to find something else, because he kills me so quickly that I can't look away from him for a second. I'm moving around the arena like sodding Spiderman with my fully upgraded grapple, but I still can't get any distance on him because it's all so cramped.

My god the bosses ruin this.

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Re: Halo Infinite- Out December 8

Post by Animalmother » Sun Jan 02, 2022 7:19 pm

I came so close to uninstalling the game because of this guy so your not the only one mate. I did eventually beat him but it was a rage inducing slog that took me 10 to 15 attempts and I was just lucky. Try stick him with grenades, throw plasma cores at him and use the big spike launcher gun near the entrance to the two rooms and honestly just hope for the best.

The boss battles are fucking awful at times alright.

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Re: Halo Infinite- Out December 8

Post by Raid » Sun Jan 02, 2022 8:57 pm

When I loaded the game up again it deposited me back before the boss fight started as if it had loaded someone else's save (a lot of enemies had respawned, weapons I know I'd taken already were once again available, and I was in a location holding a heavy weapon when I know I'd never been in that spot with one). This let me prepare the arena by depositing some better weapons around the place for me to grab if needed, but it actually only took me two attempts, showing just how important weapon selection is for these fights. I'd managed to grab some extra rockets, took his shield down with those, and then beat the shit out of him with a matching grav hammer I'd found outside. I think I may have roared when I smashed him to pieces. I'm glad I live alone, but it was utter catharsis.

I think I said when I first started playing that 343 had finally matched Bungie's lauded combat design, but I'm absolutely taking that back. The game just keeps throwing stupid difficulty spikes at you, from bullet-sponge bosses using melee weapons to swarms of flying snipers (another truly awful enemy design). They just can't balance most of these combat encounters - the majority are too easy, and then there's one or two that are so difficult that end up being frustrating.

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Re: Halo Infinite- Out December 8

Post by arqueturus » Mon Jan 03, 2022 3:03 pm

I'm nowhere near that far in (I think) and I'm running out of steam - does anything new happen after the first few FOB captures, headhunts and whatnot? It all seems so cookie cutter. The open world is pretty but there's nothing to do, not really, it feels unfinished. I'm a hair's breath away from dumping it for something else now.

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Re: Halo Infinite- Out December 8

Post by Raid » Mon Jan 03, 2022 3:55 pm

The only thing I've noticed coming from FOB captures is unlocking new weapons and vehicles that you can generate while you're at a FOB. The assassination ones at least give you a specially modified weapon, but unless I've missed something there's no indication as to what any of them actually do (there's an energy sword that I noticed increases your run speed, but I haven't worked out anything for the others I've unlocked).

I'd been quite enthused when Eurogamer mentioned a week or two back that the open world didn't feel generic, but that's absolutely not been the case for me. Every FOB capture and Squad Rescue has been pretty much identical. It's everything I hate about open world games.

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Re: Halo Infinite- Out December 8

Post by Mantis » Mon Jan 03, 2022 7:44 pm

As far as I could tell it was pretty much rinse and repeat of generic open world guff for the entire game. It pales in comparison to some of the classic design linear levels from the previous games, though it is bearable just about. The bosses are the main reason I packed it in.

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Re: Halo Infinite- Out December 8

Post by Sly Boots » Mon Jan 03, 2022 8:49 pm

Not played it yet, might even uninstall before doing so, not sounding like something worth the time

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Re: Halo Infinite- Out December 8

Post by Raid » Mon Jan 03, 2022 9:57 pm

What's really frustrating for me is that despite it's pretty massive difficulty spikes, there are bits where it's utterly brilliant and you feel like a god damned raid boss. The mobility the grapple gives you turns this from an ordinary shooter into something quite special, and I get the feeling my experience with the Tribes games has helped a lot. You can't quite conserve momentum in the same way, but there's a bit of it there - you have to judge your angles to grapple terrain correctly, then jump as you hit the ground to keep your speed up, and you can just swing all over the place.

Case in point; during the mission to blow up some Banished AA guns, you encounter a couple of Hunters in an area filled with narrow walkways running between small hills. It's a bit cramped, and the Hunters, with their fuel rod cannons, are a real threat because it's easy to get hit by splash damage. The Hunter AI has been changed for this, and it's so much more difficult to get behind them (where their weak spot is) than it used to be, so they're a much tougher opponent than in other Halo games. Well I had to fly around this arena dodging their fuel rods and killing all of the lesser enemies to give myself some breathing room, and the two Hunters were following me around, catching up and acting like mobile artillery, so I had to stay mobile. As seems to happen quite frequently in this, my go-to weapons (the VK-78 which I usually pair with a Mangler) weren't great for taking these things down, so I had to cover a lot of distance to find something.

Right at the back of the arena, in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying Beware of the Leopard, I found a Gravity Hammer, and so became Thor, God of Thunder. Hunters take a good few thwacks with the hammer, and they can kill you if they hit you with their shield, so I had to grapple in, smash them in the rear to get to the gooey centre (yes), zip over to the other one, repeat, all the while avoiding fuel rods. It was epic.

There's an absolutely cracking game in here, but the campaign needed another few months of work. The open world adds absolutely nothing, and the bosses need balancing properly. I reckon it could be fantastic in co-op.

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Re: Halo Infinite- Out December 8

Post by Animalmother » Sun Jan 30, 2022 7:57 pm

So I stuck this on today for a quick blast as I hadn't played it since before the Christmas holidays. Much to my fucking surprise it's reverted all my progress back to the boss fight with Bassus, the utterly worst part of the game. I see from a below post by Raid the same thing happened to him. I'm now a ball hair from uninstalling this out of utter frustration and contempt for the game :x

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