I have some issues with Halo Infinite Multiplayer

So to preface what you’re about to read, my next article will be talking about the gameplay of Halo Infinite, this is going to be focused on the issues surrounding stats, progression, customization, and microtransactions. So let’s dig in!

Stats and Medals

Every game you play you will acquire medals and other stats of various types that will be displayed to you at the end of each game.

“What’s wrong with that?” I hear you ask.

Nothing at all, I am a stat whore up there with the best of them. The issue I have is I have to look on somebody else’s website to get my Halo Infinite stats? What the hell is that all about? You can see your stats on https://halotracker.com/ but apparently nothing official, not on the Halo Waypoint app, and not even the menus of the game itself. Why? Just, why?

Ok, so that’s the small one out of the way, now let’s address the pelican in the room…

Progression, Customization, & Microtransactions

In Halo Infinite Multiplayer, you get items throughout the battle passes, which have both free and paid tiers. In the free tier for the main pass, you will have access to around 22 cosmetic items, not including stances (2), ai modules (2), or the countless challenge swap and XP tokens. So that’s 22 cosmetics in 100 levels of 1000xp per level. Matches give you 50xp, and challenges, which are limited each week, give between 200-300xp per challenge on average and can take a few games to accomplish. This means you’re gaining levels once every 5-10 games depending on your ability to finish challenges quickly. To put that into time, it’s probably around 1-3 hours per level, on average, depending on the speed of your games and the rate you are completing challenges. So for the sake of argument, we’ll say this averages out to 2 hours per level. Therefore we can consider the battle pass at least around 200 hours worth of gameplay for 22 cosmetic rewards. However, if you pay up the £8 for the premium tier you can get around 95 cosmetic items in that same timeframe. Which, honestly, is pretty much on par with what other games offer.

Now I hear you cry at the back, “This is the same as CoD or pretty much every other battle pass right?”

Well, yes it is. But there’s one key difference, there’s nothing you’re unlocking in the background. In CoD you unlock levels on your weapons for better attachments and on Rocket League it fires out free cosmetics at pretty much an item per game. These systems keep you busy, you can explore them because there’s always a new shiny thing to look at.

In Halo, we are waiting to even use the confusing customization system, when you do unlock something it takes you 5 minutes to find it because the system is alien to you. This is probably something that can be overcome in the future when we’ve had a healthy dose of content, but for now, it’s frustrating at best.

Also, why are weekly challenges finite? And if they are going to be finite, can you at least respect my time enough to give me them all at once as Rocket League does? Instead, you get up to 4 challenges at a time so that you’re constantly micro-dosing XP and consuming the maximum amount of time for bare minimum rewards.

This isn’t the only place I think they could learn a thing or two from Rocket League…

Customization is lacking. It’s difficult to navigate because it’s currently broad in categories but thin in content. Though I don’t necessarily disagree with giving players options, I do take issue with a system that has clearly been chopped up into as many tiny pieces as possible so that it can be sold back to the players. This is of course nothing new for the modern shooter but in other games (such as Rocket League, CoD, Overwatch, etc…), where you get a consistent stream of cosmetics and gameplay items by simply playing, as well as the battle pass, amassing hundreds of items in just a couple of weeks. Halo’s approach looks to be a slow burn before really having any substantial customization options, I think this has heavily contributed to the backlash over progression.

Below you can see the wide variety of customization options, most of which are locked of course. Highlighting the need to give some easily obtainable options for players so they can get to grips with the system.

This brings me to the last part of this issue…

The microtransactions are a disappointing sight. Not because this isn’t the standard now, because it definitely is. And I don’t think it’s implemented in a particularly predatory way either, by any modern standard it isn’t that offensive at all. There’s no pay-to-win bullshit and I could definitely get behind a season pass if they do want to monetize it in a way that offers a good variety of content to players.

But as far as microtransactions go, my personal opinion is that Microsoft doesn’t need a microtransaction system in a console and Game Pass selling title. This should be the XBOX Holy Grail, a loss leader that drags people in by the millions. Giving the press the opportunity to nitpick is shooting yourself in the foot.

One counterargument that I could see for this is that the Pro League cosmetics (assuming the proceeds go to the teams and leagues) are a good thing. I do agree, but that’s just one tab in the shop so I’m going to take an educated guess that this shop is not there to solely fund the Pro League and its teams. I have not been able to find much information on what these deals entail, so we’ll leave that open to speculation.

Conclusion

Fortunately for 343, these issues are sitting on top of arguably one of the best multiplayer shooters of all time and definitely the best Halo in a decade. 343 have even publicly addressed the concerns about progression, which is good. But only time will tell if these issues are resolved. The good news is this is all optional, cosmetics will have no bearing on your performance, which is good.

I don’t think anybody would moan about a season pass either so that can be in there too, pack it to the rafters with content, put all the pro league teams cosmetics in there, and give an equal cut to all teams. Make it a no-brainer and totally pro-customer deal, this is Halo. It’s not some scrappy indie studio that needs the development funds, this is an industry-leading team with the backing of a trillion-dollar company and the face of their gaming division.

It’s a shame that this stuff is an issue, but the good news is you can pretty much ignore most of it and indulge in what is one of the best multiplayer sandboxes we’ve seen in quite some time!

More on that coming soon…

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5 Intermediate Tips to improve your game in Halo Infinite Multiplayer

Here are 5 more tips to help improve your game on Halo Infinite Multiplayer!

Make yourself harder to hit

Move when you are shooting to make yourself hard to hit. Side-to-side movement, crouching, jumping, and using cover are all your friends. If you’re having trouble tracking while doing this, start with just a side-to-side strafe before adding in some jumps and crouches. If you have a partner you can play with then try to weave in front of each other during firefights to mess with the tracking of other players. You can also combo this behavior with a good grenade to get extremely fast kills.

Understanding Shields VS Health

You may have noticed by now that some weapons can rip through shields but don’t finish people off anywhere near as fast but seem to tear through shields. This is true, in general, plasma weapons are far stronger against shields, whereas projectiles are better once the shields are down. I would recommend checking out my first 5 Beginner Tips for a good overview of each weapon’s effectiveness on shields.

It’s also worth knowing that headshots (that aren’t dealt with an insta-kill weapon such as the sniper) do no additional damage to shields. So you can hit the body until the shields are down, then finish them off by aiming for the head. This way you’ll spend more time aiming for a bigger mass, landing more bullets, and frying your targets as efficiently as possible. You will know when the player’s shields are depleted because of a red electricity that sparks off of their armour.

Slide BoostIng

You can make an even faster getaway by learning how to do the more slide boost technique. To do this you must slide just as you’re hitting the ground from a sprint, easiest to do off of small ledges. Once you’ve mastered this technique you can start using it on the offensive too! Getting around faster means avoiding damage and tracking down targets faster, so it’s worth knowing.

The video below will show how to do the slide boost:

Melee is your superpower

It should be no surprise to you that a hit from an 8ft suit of power armour packs a punch. You can both open or close a fight with a melee as it does huge damage. A single melee will either fully deplete your enemy’s shields, or finish off an enemy with no shields. So if you’re close enough, it’s almost definitely going to do more damage than nearly all weapons. Weapons with blades do slightly more damage than those without too, so keep that in mind!

Grenades are as important as shooting

I’m sure you’ll quickly find out that grenades are also very powerful in Halo, so make sure you’re using every single one that you pick up. If you have a hunch that somebody is hidden in a corner, occupying a room, or approaching you, find out with a grenade. You can also use them to help you escape a sticky situation by throwing one in the doorway you’re running through. Learning how each of the grenades works and how to best use them is also important, so make sure to experiment.

If this was helpful, please let me know below!

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5 Beginner Tips to improve your game in Halo Infinite Multiplayer

1. Learn the maps

Learn every little detail of the maps, you’ll find new and interesting ways to get around, but you’ll also know how to quickly save yourself in a dire situation too. It also helps to know where all the weapons spawn. Go into a private match and have a look around the map at what weapons spawn where. You’ll quickly get used to which ones you’re going to need to dominate any given map. In particular, find out where the power weapons spawn, as these will be key to controlling games.

Power weapons are often found in open or hard to defend areas, so once you have them you’ll need to know where the best power positions are on the map. These are usually high points with plenty of cover and good sightlines to other key areas of the map.

Control the power weapons, control the game. This brings me to my next tip.

2. Learn the weapons

Knowing your Battle Rifle from your Plasma Pistol is one thing, knowing you can combine them to make a Noob Combo is another. Once you understand how the weapons work, you can use them together and bring that time to kill right down. Knowing which weapons are going to win you the game goes a long way!

All weapons have their pros and cons, and you should know what they are. There’s no point having the power weapons if you don’t know how to use them.

This video has a great overview of the weapons, what they do and how best to use them:

3. Prioritize your life over chasing kills

TTK (time to kill) is high in HALO is high, use this to your advantage by resetting fights you’re not going to win. Know where your nearest exit to the fight is, make sure you know where the enemy player is and make it hard for them to reach you in time for your shields to refill. And for the love of God, don’t chase somebody through a doorway unless you are close enough to finish them in no more than 1 shot. That one line is going to save you a lot of easily avoidable deaths.

4. Stay with your team

The number 1 way to slaughter your K/D is going to be running straight back into the team that killed you looking for revenge. Even if they are a liability, your teammates can soak up bullets while you pick away at the enemy team. If you’re the liability, they can help keep you alive while you gain the skills you need to conquer your foes! Teamwork makes the dream work!

5. Don’t Ignore your mini-map

The mini-map works like a continuous UAV ping on CoD, and continuously shows 18 meters around you. 18 meters isn’t far, but it’s far enough and will consistently give you vital information, so don’t ignore it! You can even use this info to place pre-emptive grenades and bag yourself some easy kills too.

Stay tuned for my 5 Intermediate tips coming soon!

Did any of these tips help? Let me know in the comments below (:

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