We now know that Halo Infinite has yet to wait until this fall, but 343 Industries is committed to filling the time with regular blog post chats from developers. This month, they put together a crew to talk about what makes Infinite a “mental reload” of earlier Halo games. They also sneaked a rude defense from the gray spot.
In this month’s Inside Infinite, campaigner Justin Dinges points out that 343’s art direction is focused on themes of “legacy” and “simplicity.”
“We really want players to feel like they’re experiencing a game they like to remember (Halo: Combat Evolved), but of course with modernized graphics,” says Dinges. “Another great example is how we took the visual design of the Jackals and Grunts closer to their appearance in Halo 3 and previous titles. We want players to feel a nostalgic familiarity with these designs, such as a meet old friend as they experience all that Halo Infinite has to offer. ‘
In terms of simplicity, Dinges says that the team’s takeaway from Halo 5 was to move away from ‘noisy’ designs and to an artistic interpretation of the world rather than a photo-realism.
Game director Troy Mashburn explains that ‘mental reload’ is also a concept that 343 used to lead to the inclusion of new things like the grappleshot.
I’ve not done any serious Spartan-ing since Halo 3, and even I could not help “really? Why?” Not to think. when the grappleshot was unveiled. We’ll only have to rely 343 on this one, it sounds, because all three of this month’s contestants showed up to sing their praises.
“If you’ve a fan of using a melee, like I am, you’ll love wrestling with enemies to land that powerful knockout blow. Sooo satisfying,” Mashburn says. It also allows you to reach all sorts of places that you would not have been able to do in previous games, adds Things, which will provide neat vantage points. World designer John Mulkey says the grappleshot itself is fun, and it also combines with other equipment that has their own features. “I can’t wait to see how the YouTube videos people share show what we never even imagined.”
All right, all right. I’ll give a little longer verdict on the grapphot.
As they begin this fall, Dinges and Mashburn say their teams are addressing their focus on fixing bugs, polishing and feedback from users of internal tests.
As always, this month’s Inside Infinite is pretty thick, so there’s a lot more of all three developers if you fancy reading.