In the two decades since its first iteration, Halo has become synonymous with gaming and Master Chief has become one of the most famous mascots around the world. Some players have spent their whole lives growing alongside the Halo franchise while new generations are just now being introduced. With each new entry, fans of the franchise eagerly await details from the developer as they speculate what could be in each new game. In a move that will surely appease those fans, 343 Industries released a monthly update that gave a lot away about some interesting new features coming in Halo Infinite.
The Q&A was released as part of 343 Industries "#Ask343" series where the developer will take questions from fans on social media through the community manager. Fans can submit questions by using the hashtag with their question on Twitter, yet this Ask343 session, however, surprised fans with some of the new information revealed. Fans of the franchise walked away from it with a much better understanding of the underlying mechanics and inspiration in the upcoming Halo Infinite.
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With a choice to start strong, the 343 Industries Community Manager asks a few questions relating to features that were in the original trilogy of Halo that some fans have asked to return. The first one that is mentioned is the request for dual-wielding to make a return to the Halo universe, like in Halo 2 and Halo 3. This is denied by the Lead Sandbox Designer, Quinn Delhoyo, who says the studio's focus was more on balancing gunplay with the rest of the world, and so dual-wielding probably won't be in Halo Infinite. The next question asked was about whether or not fans could expect to be able to hop into the role of an Elite like they did in Halo 2. This was denied, too, for the same reason that the developer wanted to focus on their main game feel without the addition of those extra features.
Something that gets touched on heavily in the session is how much of an emphasis Halo Infinite will put on making tactical decisions based on the weather and environment. 343 revealed that players will have to deal with day/night cycles as well as weather that will affect how enemies act. There is mention that at night players shouldn't be surprised to see more Phantom patrols and Grunts sleeping while they're supposed to be on guard. Different biomes and sub-biomes will play a part in that strategy too, while also benefiting the storytelling aspect.
When asked about how open or semi-open the world of Halo Infinite will be, Gameplay Director Troy Mashburn gives a very passionate answer about how the inspiration for the world of this next entry came from the spirit of the Silent Cartographer mission in Halo: Combat Evolved. The freedom to be in that world with those toys, free to choose an approach or lack thereof, was inspiring to 343 Industries, and that's what it wanted to bring to Halo Infinite. Even if the game isn't completely open world, players may be able to utilize machinery from previous missions in order to plan better for the next scenario.
This will likely come as no surprise to people who've been following Halo Infinite's development updates. 343 Industries seems to be focusing on recreating a Halo feel in this "spiritual reboot" by giving players a freedom to explore and strategically plan out their missions. While fans will have to wait and see if that lofty dream can be achieved, the passion is definitely there for the Halo developer.
Halo Infinite is set to release in 2021 for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.