Support NeoGAF

[BlackTron]

Microsoft can't decide whether they are about supercharged hardware or games as a service.

Trying to straddle both and a great IP is suffering in the process, at its most pivotal moment.

If this game was Halo 1 good AND wasn't constrained to a jaguar CPU, AND was an Xbox console exclusive, AND they let me use a m/kb with it, I would buy the $500 console to get at it.

As it is, I'll just wait and see if it's worth my time on PC, and even if it is, I have a feeling it'll just be another game.

Chief used to be as strong as Mario to me, what a pity.

 

[Deputy Moonman]

They should scrap this game. It looks meh.

They thought it was about graphics textures, it was about general design. You can give me the same game at 8k and I couldn't give a fuck. The game looked like halo 1 with better res.

It's supposed to look like the first Halo. That was kind of the point - to go back to Halo's roots. I love Halo 1 and I assume a lot of others do too. This game isn't a 3rd person cinematic experience. It was designed to do a lot of different things, from being a big campaign to supporting large scale multiplayer battles, and to be built upon over the years. That's something spiderman miles morales and ghosts of tsushima were not. The level of hate this game is getting doesn't even make sense at this point.

 

[Ten_Fold]

It's supposed to look like the first Halo. That was kind of the point - to go back to Halo's roots. I love Halo 1 and I assume a lot of others do too. This game isn't a 3rd person cinematic experience. It was designed to do a lot of different things, from being a big campaign to supporting large scale multiplayer battles, and to be built upon over the years. That's something spiderman miles morales and ghosts of tsushima were not. The level of hate this game is getting doesn't even make sense at this point.

Sony fans hate anything that isn't on their systems. They go praise those cross-gen games but hate when Microsoft does it. Now you are correct it's supposed to be like halo 1 in terms of design similar to how BOTW is like Zelda 1. This game looks amazing, possibly the best looking game this year unless starfield releases.

 

[Krappadizzle]

Can't wait. Glad it's getting proper 21:9 support out the gate, that aspect ratio needs to be accepted by all devs. as a common standard. MCC collection was hit and miss with 21:9 support and it was very annoying, though they did eventually square it away.

As for the game, I'm excited to play it. I never thought it looked stunning, didn't think it looked bad, or not as bad as the shit that was thrown at it. I'm looking forward to playing it coop with some buddies. That's what has me most excited. With the nature of it being this open giant sandbox it really seems like replay is gonna be fun too. Halo coop campaigns have been a tradition for my buddies and I and that won't change for a long time I bet. Looking forward to it. I hope it's a Sept/early Nov. release.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

I get you are excited and I hope you are right, but you are writing what looks like fan fiction there. This is how you imagine it could be and are building a fairly compelling tale. No questions about it, it sounds great, but it is right now fan fiction until we get deeper hands-on at least.

Everything I said was said was communicated directly by the developers themselves. It's in the blog posts. So I'm basically going off of what they've told us. Even if they're exaggerating, the fact that SOME of these choices are actually possible already makes it a different kind of Halo game than any that came before it.

INSIDE INFINITE – FEBRUARY 2021

<p>Welcome to the latest Inside Infinite! In this monthly series, we aim to bring you closer to our development process by sharing our vision for Halo Infinite and speaking to key areas of the game. Our last two posts featured the Art, Graphics, and Live Teams in December and the Sandbox Team in...

www.halowaypoint.com

TM - The Ring definitely has its own story to tell, and the environment artists have done an amazing job bringing this to life. Memories of past battles scars the surface, and evidence of bigger events can be seen in the fractured chunks of the Ring floating in the sky. This is something I really care about because I am more of a "show me don't tell me" kind of player. I find that discovering things and figuring things out for myself go much further to immerse me in this world.

JM - There are missions that will pull you through the "Golden Path" of the primary narrative, but more than any previous game, we are breaking down the walls to create a more open play space offering exploration and discovery. What is that odd tower in the distance, I see a smoke signal over that ridge, what is the source of the odd hum? Go find out. There are entire stories to be discovered. I often describe the experience offered by Zeta Halo as "Halo unleashed" because it is all the experiences and stories you love from Halo presented in a world where you have so much more freedom to explore and discover unexpected adventures.

So that humming noise isn't something I just said. It's really in the game.

Inside Infinite – December 2020

<p>Hey everyone, I’m Joseph Staten. If you’ve been a longtime part of the Halo community, you may already know me. If you’re new to the community: Hello! It’s great to meet you. I was part of the Bungie team who made Halo CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach. I came […]</p>

www.halowaypoint.com

It encapsulates all the excitement and curiosity and joy I felt on my first journey through Zeta Halo, the most mysterious, dangerous, and possibility-rich place in the entire Halo universe. Everywhere I looked, I saw choices:

Do I explore off the golden path? Assault that Banished war base guarding the valley pass? Follow a flight of Forerunner Sentinels into that unexpected cavern? Rescue a squad of marines dug-in and desperate halfway up that mountain? Or do I keep pulling the mainline story thread that feels epic and intimate at the exact same time?

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Oooh so it's supposed to look like an original Xbox game? Why didn't you say so? Then they're doing a great job

Damn, the original Xbox must have been a whole lot more powerful than I thought! Shit, I was missing out.

 

[abacab driver]

Uuuh, microsoft has been positioning this game as their "big next gen" game for the past two years.

It's not next gen, its cross gen.

Graphics are important in this regard, as microsoft has scarcely anything else coming soon thats new and going to be a visual showcase

Haha..Tell us, out off all the next gen 1st party games coming to Xbox; which AREN'T going to look good visually, exactly? I need to hear this.

Its especially jarring when your competition has better looking first party games so far on weaker hardware.

Sony is the only one who is about to release an actual 1st party next gen exclusive (Ratchet) thus far.
You have no 'apples to apples' base for comparison yet.

These haters are something else.
Its ok though..maybe Sony will come with another "Hal0 KiLLaH" this gen to finally put the series out of its supposed misery right?

 

[Calverz]

Really looking forward to playing this. The semi open world is really appealing to me. The gunplay looked great fun too. I just played through killzone shadowfall and it highlighted how much more fun halo is.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

looks like Halo 3 to me TBH

From an artistic standpoint you aren't far off. They were going for the type of look you would see in Halo CE or Halo 3 for oldschool aesthetic reasons during gameplay, but looks like Halo 3...

 

[II_JumPeR_I]

Didnt take long to have Senj here defending 343 lol

 

[THE DUCK]

I don't think you're getting what I'm trying to say lad, obviously gameplay will always trump graphics, but I'm talking about their marquee game, the one to get everyone talking about the series X and how do we get people talking about a console, you blow their minds with visuals first and halo did the complete opposite

Breath of the wild says hi.

 

[Bergoglio]

Is it confirmed for Xbox One?

 

[RJMacready73]

Breath of the wild says hi.

Good for it, I couldn't care less about running Princess moomoo land picking up mushrooms

 

[levyjl1988]

How come my Xbox Series X doesn't support this ultra-widescreen support? I thought it was the strongest, most advanced dedicated gaming console. I guess Xbox will always play second fiddle to PC.
I don't play on TV's but monitors, and thinking of getting an ultra-wide monitor, but I guess not then...

 

[THE DUCK]

Good for it, I couldn't care less about running Princess moomoo land picking up mushrooms

Yet it launched one of the most popular consoles ever and sold millions of copies, despite its rather lackluster graphics.

 

[Tickle My Tendies]

I think people expecting a huge difference in graphics from the Craig Video are going to be disappointed.

I could be wrong.

Huge difference? Maybe not. But seems like they already upgraded the lighting and worked in enemy models a bit.

I'm not expecting a whole new engine, but I think it will look a lot "cleaner" than the Craig footage

 

[SenjutsuSage]

As to people calling this a cross-gen game, I'm very comfortable calling it a next-gen game that will take full advantage of Series X whether there was an xbox one version or not, because of the so far explained design goals. Look at these environments. They look better than any I've ever seen on this scale in any previous Halo. Even the interior pic they showed us, there are some really nice patterns to those structures and they're just massive. The look is amazing.

Did they intentionally go for less detail rich enemy AI? They most certainly did, but it seems more attention is going into making the environments look better and more lively. That's been a criticism of mine in past Halo titles, so I like that this is being addressed. Perhaps there are some more important enemy combatants that will be much better detailed, such as this guy. Sure he likely has himself a cutscene or two. Would be really cool to see how the engine handles elites in the cutscenes, just like the pilot and Chief are a lot more detailed in cutscenes.

 

[Raekwon26]

Sony fans hate anything that isn't on their systems. They go praise those cross-gen games but hate when Microsoft does it. Now you are correct it's supposed to be like halo 1 in terms of design similar to how BOTW is like Zelda 1. This game looks amazing, possibly the best looking game this year unless starfield releases.

This level of delusion is scary

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Didnt take long to have Senj here defending 343 lol

I like their games, and I like where they are taking Halo Infinite, which is easily one of my most anticipated games this gen, so yes, I am defending the studio and the game I'm excited about.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Sony fans hate anything that isn't on their systems. They go praise those cross-gen games but hate when Microsoft does it. Now you are correct it's supposed to be like halo 1 in terms of design similar to how BOTW is like Zelda 1. This game looks amazing, possibly the best looking game this year unless starfield releases.

Ngl, I literally read it three times just to make sure I was actually reading what I thought I was reading.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

This level of delusion is scary

Delusion maybe, but when you really like something it appeals to you more than things you don't like as much. Zelda Breath of the Wild for me looks better than countless xbox one gen and ps4 games because that kind of design speaks to me. To this day people can't tell me Blue Dragon wasn't easily one of the best looking games on 360. Same for Lost Odyssey. Why does Halo need to fit into the same visual identity as other games? Someone can't both find Ratchet and Clank or Returnal visually amazing while simultaneously thinking Halo Infinite looks just as impressive in its own right?

If you ask a generic question of which game is most likely to get praised or awarded for its graphics, that likely goes to Ratchet, Gears 5: Hivebusters, upcoming battlefield, Forza Horizon if they really are showing it and it's releasing this year, and just whatever else other beautiful games are out there. I personally think Starfield will be a real looker. Bethesda's artists craft amazing worlds. And for me I've always been a gamer where if I really like something I don't view it a certain way and think "fuck man, I wish it looked more like Gears 5 or more like this game." Each game is it's own vision, and I try to see if I can get with that vision. Sometimes it doesn't always work for me. I happen to find Yakuza: Like a Dragon to be one incredible looking game.



It has its own identity. It would be boring as hell if every game followed the same exact blueprint. Games need to do their own thing, and I'm glad 343 isn't falling for the pressure and keeping Halo what they feel Halo needs to be.

This may look badass graphically, but I sure as shit don't want Halo to play like or be anything like this.



For story reasons I don't mind getting a little more scripted and linear, but Halo has to be Halo.

I buy into the game developer's vision and just play. This is how I can still play Skyrim Enhanced Edition and it drops my jaw. Or how I can revisit old classics like FF7 and immediately find the game and its world beautiful without a care in the world for all the graphical enhancements that have come since. Calling it the best looking game this year unless starfield releases does seem excessive, because we know there will be plenty of amazing looking games this year, but to think that Halo Infinite won't be in the discussion for among the best looking games this year is probably equally crazy. This game looks fucking good. It really does. I'm not saying the brutes look great. They don't so far. They're merely serviceable for the gameplay. Grunts I think look fantastic, honestly. So long as the look of the play spaces and the look of Zeta Halo altogether when I'm playing doesn't let me down and the cutscenes look great, I'll be a happy camper. The things that most disappointed me in the gameplay reveal were some of the unpolished parts of the opening cutscene whereas other parts flat out look amazing, the pop in and the visual detail at the time not being fully up to expectation, even though I loved what I saw.

 

[Garani]

Sony fans hate anything that isn't on their systems. They go praise those cross-gen games but hate when Microsoft does it. Now you are correct it's supposed to be like halo 1 in terms of design similar to how BOTW is like Zelda 1. This game looks amazing, possibly the best looking game this year unless starfield releases.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

You can have both, hell you should be demanding both, Halo should be taking part in a massive open plain with vehicles and huge space battles happening overhead with capital ships crashing into distant mountain ranges, they should've showed something completely epic and they fucking squandered it and ended up with Craig

And you know none of this takes place in the game, how? A single 8 minute demo?

 

[Yselacrey00]

Damn, the original Xbox must have been a whole lot more powerful than I thought! Shit, I was missing out.

What, some grass that pops in? Lmao.

 

[Umbasaborne]

It's not next gen, its cross gen.



Haha..Tell us, out off all the next gen 1st party games coming to Xbox; which AREN'T going to look good visually, exactly? I need to hear this.



Sony is the only one who is about to release an actual 1st party next gen exclusive (Ratchet) thus far.
You have no 'apples to apples' base for comparison yet.

These haters are something else.
Its ok though..maybe Sony will come with another "Hal0 KiLLaH" this gen to finally put the series out of its supposed misery right?

Uncle phil is proud of you, your a good boy defending your favorite box.

 

[Yselacrey00]

Ngl, I literally read it three times just to make sure I was actually reading what I thought I was reading.

I'm still laughing after reading that. These people are crazy.

I was gonna buy an XSX to play this game but I might as well play it on Xbox one lol.

 

[RJMacready73]

And you know none of this takes place in the game, how? A single 8 minute demo?

It may well take place but you know what, it'll look as epic as my fat arse, the ship has sailed, the moment has been lost and listen graphically it looks average but I hope they at least nail the gameplay

 

[Phase]

You guys really think 343 doesn't know what they're doing or doesn't get what this Halo game needs to be?

Every release by 343 would tell us that the answer to this is yes.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Every release by 343 would tell us that the answer to this is yes.

Halo 4 is my favorite Halo game, so I disagree. And Halo 5 has the best pure gameplay and introduced some really solid ideas. The story wasn't the best, but the introduction of that verticality was very smart. 343 is the right developer for this series. They experiment, they try things, they don't sit on their ass. I very much welcome that. Halo 3 is the worst mainline Halo to me due to story related reasons, but had some excellent ideas that can reach their full potential in a game like this.

 

[stickkidsam]

Looks great so far!

Not quite as good as that reveal in 2018 (the colors man...) but this feels a lot better. Can't wait to see some proper gameplay.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

It may well take place but you know what, it'll look as epic as my fat arse, the ship has sailed, the moment has been lost and listen graphically it looks average but I hope they at least nail the gameplay

If Halo 4 & 5 could do it, I'm confident Infinite can do it way better.

 

[ACESHIGH]

Why the heck are Sony fanboys weighing in on how a competitive FPS should look or play. They have no say on this matter. Which was the last great competitive FPS made by Sony?

Halo is all about having a great artstyle above all. 343 already proved their technical chops with Halo 4. That thing was insane on an ancient 360. But that's not the direction Halo fans want for the game. Halo 3/Reach at higher resolution/framerate with improved texture and lighting in an open world. That's more than enough.

 

[BigLee74]

343 aren't failures.

Halo 5 MP is the best Halo MP out there. They got that one sooo right. If they can marry that sublime MP with a great campaign, then the game will be amazing.

I personally cannot wait.

 

[Raekwon26]

Why the heck are Sony fanboys weighing in on how a competitive FPS should look or play. They have no say on this matter. Which was the last great competitive FPS made by Sony?

Halo is all about having a great artstyle above all. 343 already proved their technical chops with Halo 4. That thing was insane on an ancient 360. But that's not the direction Halo fans want for the game. Halo 3/Reach at higher resolution/framerate with improved texture and lighting in an open world. That's more than enough.

I mean look at this bullshit.

Deluded. Completely Deluded.

 

[Grumpy Toe Nail]

Are there any 4k 120hz HDR/1000 Ultrawide monitors?

 

[01011001]

Are there any 4k 120hz HDR/1000 Ultrawide monitors?

depends on what you consider to be 4K

ultra wide monitors with a vertical pixel count of 1440p obviously have a way higher resolution than a 16:9 screen with a vertical 1440p pixel count.

if you go Super Ultrawide 32:9 at 1440p vertical res. you're getting close to 4k in terms of amount of pixels

 

[Deputy Moonman]

I mean look at this bullshit.

Deluded. Completely Deluded.

There are enough 3rd party shooters for Sony fans to have more than an opinion on what shooters should look like and how they should play, but the part about Sony not having a really good exclusive first person shooter isn't wrong. Xbox has always had a bit of a focus on multiplayer games while Sony has always knocked it out of the park with single player games. I can think of Killzone launching for the PS4 and that's about it.

 

[Tickle My Tendies]

Are there any 4k 120hz HDR/1000 Ultrawide monitors?

depends on what you consider to be 4K

ultra wide monitors with a vertical pixel count of 1440p obviously have a way higher resolution than a 16:9 screen with a vertical 1440p pixel count.

if you go Super Ultrawide 32:9 at 1440p vertical res. you're getting close to 4k in terms of amount of pixels

How expensive are true HDR ultrawide monitors these days? Last time I upgraded my monitor, any true HDR panel at any resolution was pretty steep

 

[twilo99]

Is there anyone here who came from the Doom franchise and actually enjoyed the series? I just can't get over how much it tried to be Doom.. but like pg13 or something

 

[Bar81]

343 aren't failures.

Halo 5 MP is the best Halo MP out there. They got that one sooo right. If they can marry that sublime MP with a great campaign, then the game will be amazing.

I personally cannot wait.

Except they gave everyone an amazing campaign in Halo 4 and all everyone did was bitch and moan and shit on it. So they made a different type of campaign for Halo 5 which ended up a trainwreck and was appropriately shit on. Now 343 is trying to go back to the original to try to please everyone but - big shock - people are still bitching. I'm not sure that Halo fans even know what they want anymore - it's like the complaining is now a perverted pleasure the fan base gets out of Halo.

 

[MonarchJT]

Ngl, I literally read it three times just to make sure I was actually reading what I thought I was reading.

and what should be the best game this year ?

 

[Rat Rage]

When it comes to gaming aspect rations: 4:3 > everything else.

For movies/cinema 24:9, 16:9 is ok.

 

[FireFly]

Except they gave everyone an amazing campaign in Halo 4 and all everyone did was bitch and moan and shit on it. So they made a different type of campaign for Halo 5 which ended up a trainwreck and was appropriately shit on. Now 343 is trying to go back to the original to try to please everyone but - big shock - people are still bitching. I'm not sure that Halo fans even know what they want anymore - it's like the complaining is now a perverted pleasure the fan base gets out of Halo.

I guess they want large open-ended levels (eg. Halo, AotCR, Tsavo Highway, The Ark), non-bullet spongy enemies, a balanced and interesting arsenal (see: https://tinyurl.com/38jwvxdk) and a return to actually playing as the Chief.

 

[DenchDeckard]

No news on a BR mode yet? I'm really hoping that happens as it would just be a perfect alternative to Warzone.

120 ODST dropping into a map...... in my veins please!

 

[SenjutsuSage]

No news on a BR mode yet? I'm really hoping that happens as it would just be a perfect alternative to Warzone.

if they don't do one it will seem like one of the most bone headed moves ever. It's quite literally tailor made for it.

But, beyond that, if I can't dive from a pelican or some other flying vehicle or drop down from a much higher vantage point in style like when you're dropping from a plane in BR games that will be a huuuuge missed opportunity for 343. Spartans do it in the books, they do it the halo 5 opening, halo 4 opening. Time to bring it to the campaign gameplay!!!

 

[Dream-Knife]

Ultrawde looks great, too bad I don't have enough one, nor the room for one.

This could be true. We'll see. I already don't like the materials in those screenshots. They look like Gears/DOOM metal which is completely wrong. I hope they go back and revisit their material shaders.

It looks very Halo to me.

Game looks so bad to me...

them trees... gawd damn. Everything looks bad. The grass.. the rocks.. the lighting... everything.

feel like we are gonna be waiting forever to get a Series X showpiece. This is decidedly last gen looking.

Generations don't really exist anymore. This current gen looks like the games that came out last gen.

 

[OverHeat]

My 38 inch is ready!!!

 

[Tickle My Tendies]

My 38 inch is ready!!!

 

[Tickle My Tendies]

Generations don't really exist anymore. This current gen looks like the games that came out last gen.

Kinda, but not really. I mean, most releases thus far have been cross gen anyway, but even Spider-Man:Remastered or Miles Morales in 4K/RT mode clearly look like a step up from PS4 version.

Demon's Souls remake is clearly a next gen looking game. Flight Sim 2020 and CP77 maxed out on PC are next gen looking games.

 

[Dream-Knife]

Kinda, but not really. I mean, most releases thus far have been cross gen anyway, but even Spider-Man:Remastered or Miles Morales in 4K/RT mode clearly look like a step up from PS4 version.

Demon's Souls remake is clearly a next gen looking game. Flight Sim 2020 and CP77 maxed out on PC are next gen looking games.

I mean, I guess if you just factor in resolution and texture detail, but if we go by that then PC has been in the next gen since 2016.

Other than RT, which isn't really that big of a deal (plus its huge performance hit), there isn't any big jump this gen. It's like a system upgrade, not the jump we've had previous gens.