The developer of the long-awaited Halo Infinite had a few things to share the other day. One of the more notable pieces of information presented in 343 Industries' development update was that Halo Infinite will be introducing the Razorback, a vehicle new to the Halo series.
There has yet to be any footage of the Razorback in Halo Infinite, but some concept art and 343's description of the Razorback as the "spacious and robust cousin" of the Warthog definitely indicates there's a comparison to be made to the franchise's hallmark vehicle, but they will differ in a few key ways.
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Perhaps the most obvious difference between the two armored rides is that the Razorback looks to be a little larger in size than the classic Halo vehicle. The increased size also seems to indicate it has more legroom, too. 343 has made comments about how the Razorback is ideal for taking Marines on adventures, implying that this bulked up armored car will serve the purpose of transporting larger numbers of troops than were possible before.
Halo's Warthog generally allows three people to ride at once—one driver, one shotgun passenger, and one gunner. It's not exactly ideal for getting loads of soldiers around the map quickly, and the Razorback seems to be stepping in to fill that purpose. However, it's worth noting that a model of the Warthog that is similar in function to the Razorback does already exist.
The Troop Transport Warthog was introduced in Halo 3, and in addition to the driver, it can carry an impressive six passengers. That being said, the vehicle has been absent from the series since Halo Reach, and when it was present, players could never fill any seats outside of the front two. The rest of the seats could only be filled by the non-playable Marines.
Considering Halo Infinite's campaign will have online co-op for up to four players, it's possible that the Razorback could succeed where the Troop Transport Warthog fell short by allowing more players to saddle up at once. But as of the time of writing, there hasn't been confirmation one way or the other from 343 regarding how many players can fit into one; all that's known is that Marines will be able to ride along with Master Chief during the game's story.
Another key difference between the two is that the Razorback shown doesn't appear to have any offensive capabilities. But what it may lack in firepower, it could make up for in resilience. The vehicle looks a great deal more dense than the average Warthog, and there's even a roof over the driver's head. Additionally, 343's assessment of the vehicle being a great tool for taking on the Banished could imply the Razorback might be a good defensive vehicle capable of taking all sorts of punishment without skipping a beat.
However, it's still possible that an armed variant of the Razorback could pop up at some point in Halo Infinite, as its relative, the Warthog, has a variety of different models equipped with many different armaments. It's also important to consider, though, that Master Chief was seen driving a Warthog in Halo Infinite's gameplay reveal last year, which raises a big question: Why would 343 include two separate vehicles that function virtually identically?
Since 343's announcement of the Razorback didn't even mention any offense-oriented functions, but touched on its affinity for troop transportation, it seems like a safe bet that the Razorback could be a dedicated support vehicle for transporting troops and possibly players across Halo Infinite's setting of Zeta Halo. It remains to be seen if its popularity will ever reach the same ranks of the Warthog, but for now, it's an interesting concept nonetheless.
Halo Infinite releases in late 2021 for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.