Halo fans might not be able to play Halo Infinite right now like Microsoft and 343 Industries originally planned, but they’re getting one of the next best things. This week, the team behind the highly-anticipated FPS opened up on its plans, and in the process it was confirmed that Halo Infinite will feature a fully remappable control scheme.
Yesterday saw the debut of Inside Infinite, the first in a series of monthly updates for Halo Infinite that 343 plans to release ahead of the game's release this fall. Starting things off, several members of the sandbox team outlined their core philosophies for the game’s gameplay and how its weapons, vehicles, and other systems will reinforce it and make it more intuitive for players.
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Remappable controls will be part of this push for intuitiveness, the studio revealed in the process. Whereas previous Halo games only offered a selection of different controller pre-sets, Halo Infinite will let players arrange the different controller and keyboard inputs however they like. 343 explained that the fact that the game will be released for PC alongside Xbox consoles compelled it to “rebuild the control scheme system to allow players to fully rebind and remap their controls, regardless of platform.”
More than that, though, the development team said that it’s doing this because “Halo is best when the controls feel frictionless, natural, and responsive,” to the point that players are free to basically forget about their controllers or keyboards and focus on the action. “How players control Chief or their Spartan is crucial,” 343 added, recognizing that fully-featured control customization allows players to feel more connected to the game than ever before.
Remappable controls are just one of the firsts that will be coming to the Halo series with its next mainline title. In addition to open-world environments to explore and fight their way through, Halo Infinite’s multiplayer will be free-to-play. This will likely be a welcome change for those who mainly come for the series’ PVP content, as well as a way to encourage new players to dip their toes into Master Chief’s universe.
The entire Inside Infinite post is a worthwhile read for fans eager to get their hands on Halo Infinite, as it’s packed with revealing details about the game’s development. One of the more exciting is that all of the game’s launch content is now complete and playable, and right now the team at 343 is focusing on fixing bugs and polishing the game. With several months to go before the game finally arrives, the developer is working hard to get it “from 90% to a full 100% ship quality” before launch.
Halo Infinite will be available this fall for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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Source: Halo Waypoint