Analysing The Halo Infinite Campaign - The Infinite Show 2

The Infinite Show, Episode 2.
Laper Larden: / laperlarden
FootedGhost: / footedghost
The Infinite show focuses it's eyes on the Halo Infinite campaign. Getting to cover some ground that couldn't be directly addressed in a review. Oh, and also uncovering the Halo multi-universe theory, with some convincing evidence.
Join the Discord: / discord
#Halo #HaloInfinite #HaloCampaign

[@FootedGhost]

I had an awesome time discussing the campaign with these 2 lads. Thanks again ShreddedNerd for hosting :)

[@jurassicarkjordanisgreat1778]

I don't really like how the banished scarab and most of the banished vehicles in infinite have just been made into reskinned covenant vehicles. Don't get me wrong the scarab looks awesome in the concept art and perhaps it could just be made a variant but I really wish we got most of the HW2 designs cause they look way more different then just red halo 5 vehicles with cool metal on them. BTW Also check your description btw Shredded. It says its episode 1 when it should be episode 2.

[@PackHunter117]

My counter to that would be look at the HW2 Banshee, Wraith, Ghost, and Chopper. They all look very similar to the Halo 2 and 3 versions just with a lot more armor. So infinite to do the same makes sense. The Banshee and Ghost look like the Reach versions with more armor and different boosters for the Banshee. The Wraith does look more Halo 5 though.

[@garretttekampe9564]

It's tedious if the player keeps going through the missions the same way. They're expected to try all the different possibilities and that makes the game special like you guys said. Gamers have become too comfortable having to not think about anything and only do what the game explicitly tells them, or only stick to one play style that they usually do well with. The game can be incredibly variable and that's the mark of a great game that makes it replayable

[@todddouglas7231]

While I agree with this as it can be attributed to many games (MGSV for example) I think it’s also arguable that the mark of an even greater game is variety that the game makes FOR the player rather than what you described: player making the variety themselves. The bungie titles used level design variety paired with player made variety. Each combat encounter and environment (with of course the exception of some of CE) was unique and memorable while at the same time, players could choose how they want to approach them. Infinite lacks the former. You have to make your own fun. Is that a bad thing? Not really but I much prefer the former.

[@ThatGuy-ky2yf]

@@todddouglas7231 The next part of the story should have more side quest variety and open world changes. Maybe even long linear sections in banished settlements akin to the missions in previous games.

[@garretttekampe9564]

@@todddouglas7231 yes that's certainly true and what made Halo 3 my favorite was that variety where no two missions where the same. Environment and level design. If the player says they were board from doing the same thing over and over, I might attribute that to a mixture of level design and requirements as well as their chosen play style. There's nothing worse than having the same objectives every level. If there's no room for changing up the approach of a level it's just going to multiply that tediousness. So that's definitely right. I want to see every corner of installation 07 now.

[@blondbassist]

Unless you play on Legendary, then its all hanging back with the BR.

[@obanesforever2012]

Sometimes, players will simply optimize the fun out of a game. What comes to mind is commentary that the developers of Doom 2016 made about how the campaign was played. Some players would rapidly switch between weapons on the fly, for whatever the situation called for, or simply what was the most interesting action to do and reported having fun during the entire game. Others would get the Super Shotgun, upgrade it all the way, and just breeze through every combat encounter with zero effort. The latter players would either report having less fun in the second half of the game, or just tap out entirely and not finish. So, in the name of keeping the gameplay interesting and fun for these players, they did some serious rebalancing of all the combat systems so that players literally COULDN'T optimize the fun out. Every gun didn't just do the same thing adequately, they had strictly different roles. In essence, they gave the meta-gamers a meta that was the most fun way to play.

[@abysschef5078]

One of my main issues with infinite’s campaign is the difficulty, it feels like the intended difficulty for playing the game is legendary instead of heroic. Heroic felt very easy and I only ever had to use the grapple while legendary felt ok difficulty wise and actually had me using my entire equipment.

[@owenfitzsimmons5511]

Heroic felt pretty casual. Normal and easy probably feel like Doom lmao

[@junpei6180]

@@owenfitzsimmons5511 what do you mean

[@tostie3110]

yeah I legit had to strip myself of all the upgrades in my first playthrough, and my guess was right. and it was still easy on Heroic. it's like only half the sandbox is at the desired difficulty.

[@Nikkerman]

Really I still feel like the threat sensor is too useful not to use it against invisible elites

[@owenfitzsimmons5511]

@@junpei6180 u can probably sprint through hordes of enemies like in doom

[@PackHunter117]

I think they could’ve simply kept the Scarab mechanics the same as Halo 3 however they would’ve had very beefy and accurate enemies on the Scarab protecting it that you’d have to kill first

[@exilestudios9546]

my hope is that the endless don't just turn out to be generic villains that are evil because thats what the plot demands since everything that has been set up makes it seem like they were just some random species that somehow survived the firing of the rings and because of they committed the crime of continued existence the forerunners imprisoned them but knowing 343 they will ruin an interesting idea

[@dearadolfh8744]

I was weak for legendary so I was forced to use thruster and sensor to make up for my skill and I loved it. there was 2 hunters in dark room so I was basically playing hide and seek be thursting around and flanking. one problem. I heated 1st play it was hard but one second it becomes more like cake walk

[@Cheezmonka]

WTF is up with your username though? I have to know.

[@oldoldmeme]

Infinite faced many of the same problems that Breath of the Wild is riddled with, which makes sense considering both games marked the greatest change in gameplay that their respective franchises had ever seen. In BOTW, the game can often times feel aimless, which isn't inherently bad because the game encourages you to seek your own goals via exploration, Halo attempts to deal with the aimlessness issue by locking off parts of the map behind narrative barriers, as well as having a bit of encouragement towards exploration. In the long-term, I feel that BOTW holds itself up better because it's exploration is infinitely (aha) more rewarding, there are many times in Infinite where I will have gone to great lengths to get to a place that seemed to be of some importance, only to find... Nothing. No audio files, no Spartan cores, not even an Easter egg. These things are present in the game but not to the extent where it makes me feel like exploration is a key focus of the gameplay. So, I assume Infinite is mainly focused on the narrative and combat. The combat is, well, fucking amazing, the best feeling combat I've ever experienced in an FPS, it truly is a pleasure to play around with, something it undeniably tops BOTW over. As for the narrative however, eeeggghhhhh, I wasn't a fan. The characters were all pretty awful IMO, Chief was pretty much the only one I cared about but even he had a few moments that felt totally uncharacteristic. Nearly every single character said how they precisely felt about every single thing 100% of the time, there was no subtlety to the dialogue or acting whatsoever. Halo hasn't always had super deep characters, but it's had believable ones within the confines of this narrative, but Infinites characters felt more like Marvel characters; constantly making unfunny or totally random/ironic comments because that's apparently what writers these days think makes a good character. Weapon was simply annoying and intrusive, the Pelican guy, can't even remember his name, was the most dull, predicable piece of trash I've seen in a game, the villains were kinda cool but their goals aren't fully clear to me besides "We gotta do the big secret plan, Master chief won't bother us so we don't need to stop him, whoops, guess we do need to stop him now". The Chiefs relationship with Cortana was beat to a pulp, we get it, he loved Cortana, there's absolutely no need to constantly bring it up whenever you're in a forerunner construction with those cringe flashback lines and projections. The narrative serves its purpose in giving the player a goal, but compared to narratives of, say, Reach, CE, 2 or 3, it's pretty fucking pitiful. Overall, the games a good time but is tarnished by being a triple A game in current year, it simply doesn't have the personality and charm of the Bungie games because this isn't a game made out of love, and we shouldn't expect it to be, this is 343 Halo, not Bungie Halo. Music is good tho.

[@mitchie2267]

BOTW’s open world offers way more than infinites.

[@Monkeyman-qt1sm]

@@mitchie2267 I stopped reading when he started comparing these 2 games lmao

[@exmanolive305]

I played the campaign on legendary and I used the other equipment to be able to help through some of the harder encounters. The upgraded dropwall was actually very good because of the shock ability.

[@MJS-lk2ej]

I Did my playthrough on legendary and found the Hunters could almost always see me when invisible, with the most effective way to kill them was swinging around with the grapplehook and staying mobile. I also found that I was better at seeing invisible elites with my naked eye then the pulse sensor, it just didn't ping often enough, the elites always attacked between pings and hid whilst they where spotted.

[@Sufferinwithmat]

How did you go invisible?

[@MJS-lk2ej]

@@Sufferinwithmat fully upgraded thrusters

[@seapanda-117]

I think the six month time skip is a great way to have a second try at introducing a Locke centric story without setting up false expectations. Hopefully also with a smallish cast of familiar characters this time. Locke, Buck, Halsey, and Lasky would make a great leading cast for that dlc.

[@LaperLarden]

The Endless have returned to enact their fishy revenge.

[@McMingus]

I love this format of content please keep this up, it’s so nice just to stick on in the background and listen to you guys chat it’s like a mini podcast

[@Tomahawk1]

I’ve got say once I got used to fast swapping my equipment in combat it made feel like a badass

[@ZeSgtSchultz]

30:00 Honestly, that's a good idea. The amount of engery contained an then released from one spot when the ring fires would be INSANE. You could easily say its eniugh to open a gateway or let some things nearby slip thru

[@nzpowa._.6662]

The one thing I've been trying to pitch, is giving us valor missions involved with Marines. The higher the valor the more difficult the fight will be, or easier! Really depends on how you tackle it!

[@iunnor]

Dpad equipment is clunky but relatively okay because they don’t change. Dpad for grenades feels awful, as you cycle through grenades of different types so often that selecting a specific one requires taking your eyes off of combat and making sure you even have one to select.

[@citizen3000]

The grenade selection system is shockingly bad lol. I can’t believe they thought that was a good idea.

[@jimmybob331]

Comparing the beacon mission to the 2nd mission on Halo CE is a perfect example of why Halo Infinite is so much weaker than the bungie games. In the CE mission you have to rescue a group of marines who are defending a tall structure in an open field while waves of enemies approach. You have choices, you can fight them from the top of the structure or you can fight in the field and even get up close to the enemies as they land. Then you go through a unique and interesting forerunner cave. You fight some enemies defending the light bridge and go up and press the button but you can race around in the warthog and kill the enemies that way or you can get out and fight on foot but ultimately you have to get out and fight two elites (who are like mini-bosses) in close quarters to get to the switch for the light bridge. Then you escape the cave and have three lifeboats to rescue and each environment is different. In one you're fighting into a structure on the edge of a cliff, CQB, warthog options. In another you have to defend some marines on top of a hill and you're given a sniper for the first time. In another you need to fight your way to marines who are in among the rocks then you have to defend those marines. You can get high and try and use your sniper against the waves of attacking enemies or get close and personal. You have lots of choices about how to approach each situation. In addition, the enemies are actively fighting against your allies and you save them which makes each encounter feel meaningful. By comparison, in the beacon missions you have the sandbox at your disposal, which is good and this is (like you say) where the game shines. However, in terms of level design each encounter is really bland. There's usually only one way to approach the beacon and the enemies aren't doing anything meaningful, they're just waiting for you to show up and kill them. Finally, you get the same cutscene each time which robs the mission of any sense of meaning. It's just go here and press button, go there and press button.

[@saisameer8771]

Combat evolved gave you a ton of choice in how you can tackle the challenges. Assault on the control room for example is the "Tank mission" of the game. But I did a no Scorpio run a couple of times on legendary nonetheless.

[@citizen3000]

Well said man.

[@Nikkerman]

Mabye when the F2P shooter stops being a trend we could see the next halo go back to being a paid experience because with the campaign we've seen how much better the paid experience is than the disappointing feature lacking f2p multiplayer

[@Monkeyman-qt1sm]

The campaign was awful?

[@WhopyStompy]

I just started my second Legendary playthrough and I agree wholeheartedly with everything said about the gameplay and the missions. I don't understand how some people thought the Pelican down and the 4 Spires missions were boring or "droned on0." Each subsection of those missions gave you a different playground to fight through and I thought it had phenomenal variation. I would make a point to challenge myself and forgo bringing in "the big guns" on these missions and limit myself to some MGS style "on site procurement" even though, by this time, I could have gone to a FOB and gotten some really OP weapons. Doing this on Legendary was especially rewarding. Having to take on the Spire with the two Wraiths on foot and taking full advantage of all my equipment really made me feel like the Master Chief. I'm pretty sure I even intended to fly a Banshee to that one but got shot down before I could even put a dent in the Banished occupancy. Nerd, I liked this podcast. I know I'm late to the party, but I had this tab pulled up on my browser for the last week just waiting to get around and listen. Glad I did! We need more of this!

[@SilverViper1000]

I highly disagree on the hunters. They are just poorly designed. Even with thrusters or drop wall they are way too mobile. If you go melee they sometimes still shoot at you, even with rapid fire. Also... You can't pretend their rapid fire. They are just doing it like a norm shot instead of charging or anything. You do NOT have any indicators to see or know what they are doing. They just do everything without a warning. At least the thrusters should stun them for a moment so you can make a hit from behind. But even the invisibility doesn't work on them in melee. It just works on midrange. Hunters in infinite are no fun if you do not have any high power weapons or explosives. Its pure luck instead of skill killing them. Especially on legendary. In the older games they were a challenge in this game they are an annoyance

[@citizen3000]

Yep, they’re unbalanced and with the changes they no longer feel like Hunters anymore. They feel like a new, worse enemy.

[@Gyrfalcon312]

Good roundtable discussion, dudes! 👍👍

[@optiTHOMAS]

Yeah, I loved the development of master chief. You get a lot if emotion out of him, aswell as him being a badass! You can really hear him grief over Keyes. It's also very deep when the pilot ask him if he has any family to fight for. Loved the characters and dialogue in infinite. Paraphrasing Pilot: you got any family back home chief? Chief: no. Pilot: then why do you keep fighting? Chief: it's all I know... That hit me hard, man! 😢

[@jimmyjazz4605]

Great video again 👌

[@philipb7400]

Praise God And God Bless!🎄➕

[@warrantyV0IDED]

Oh hey, I caught this as it uploaded

[@mitchie2267]

Once completing the objectives/collectibles the open world offers nothing, it’s so milquetoast. Imo the best parts of infinite were the linear levels at the beginning and end of the campaign.

[@MobiusTrigger7]

Love how people actually thought it was time travel

[@inquisitordragon6827]

When it comes to Atriox, when does Blowing up Halo Rings kill badasses. Johnson is a special case, he was basically dead beforehand, he doesn't count.

[@yukoimichi8613]

We used to have high action moment like ride a scarab and the mission after fight the flood with an apocalypse setting, then being introduced to a big flood boss then going to another planets with huge ship entering the planet atmosphere, also great writing and memorable personalities. Now it's open world walking simulator ala Ubisoft Tom Clancy's/Far cry style. Fuck 343 Industries and Microsoft.

[@MeMyselfAndKgore]

I expect that it'll be a big revelation (possibly relating to time travel) for the dlc to explain who deployed the weapon because she thinks it's chief but cheif eludes to not knowing anything about that

[@JJJBunney001]

Huh? Chief explains the entire thing to her about who she is and how she was used, that heavily implies it was chief

[@henryfleischer404]

I really liked the lighting and shaders in this game. It's A cut above the rest.

[@pallas7246]

the rings that are scattered around the map are probably portals to another world, the multiverse is a literary tool and concept that holds infinite possibilities. Or just a lazy way to revive dead characters and bring in new alike

[@T.h.w.T]

I feel like the technique for the hunters is to use the needler, I mean you're cheesing it, but it makes it better than other techniques

[@JJJBunney001]

I think most of the campaigns issues were because of the trend chasing and 6 years of development, yet somehow it was still rushed. So many resets and you can still see them, the implementation of the abilities and firebases don't really mix well with the open world. It seemed like they tried to copy CoD, Ubisoft open worlds, Titanfall and older Halo games and it just didn't mash well. That and the ring was kind of boring, most Halo games have a different look and feel to nearly every mission. Even Halo 5. That being said, even on LASO, I had a blast with the upgraded grapple and sword

[@Connor-to8px]

Skewer + fully upgraded drop wall or sniper = damage, lots of damage

[@MeMyselfAndKgore]

Shredded nerd is how funny I think that I am (while knowing I'm not)

[@hiwasded3483]

Discount marty big stage

[@YourHaloCreations]

When you can pick & choose without consequence what you want to bring to a fight, what sense of progression is there thru this gameplay versus linear design? Why wouldn’t the player pick the easiest, quickest strategy in the open world compared to linear design? When you must fight for your resources and make use of the tools available via the designer’s hands, that’s where the creativity lies for the player, experimenting with the sandbox. Not sure what this open-world design offers in Infinite.

[@citizen3000]

It really adds very little while clearly damaging the designers ability to design tight and interesting combat encounters.

[@pallas7246]

fractures meaning a fracture in space and time?

[@Monkeyman-qt1sm]

Imo it feels like halo fans have 0 standard when it comes to a campaign at least. I was severely disappointed by this, sure the shooting felt alright at times but that’s literally the only good thing? It’s over in like 4-5 hours and there’s nothing rememberable from the story. I forgot the thruster was even a thing because everything other then the grapple is worthless and unfun

[@someirishguy1662]

Im beginning to despise the whole multiverse shenanigans, its becoming a bloated cliche in media

[@MeMyselfAndKgore]

Saying the idea of mulitverses starting with marvel is peak cringe. Real fans know it dates back to It's a Wonderful Life

[@cesruhf2605]

The grapple being so fast to use sucks a little :(

[@SilverViper1000]

The forerunner structures are the most beautiful we've ever got in a halo game. They are the true and only evolution halo 3 structures needed. With this new design I am really begging for a halo 3 master. My problem with the openworld in infinite is, the sandbox is small to me. There are only 2 valuable vehicles: razer back and wasp. The mission with 4 spires is the best example. They are too far away from each other to travel by scorpion. So I used a banshee but abandoned it immediately after finding a hub. Switched to a razer back and marines. Scorpion is just to weak and slow in my Opinion. You always have a better choice. Also the weapons. We may have the most weapons ever, but some of them jsut feel useless. Especially with low ammo counts and beeing thrown into an "arena" many times to fight waves of enemies.... Over and over again.

[@ayemaksicur2314]

So Shredded Nerd is an Endlessposter huh? Shameful.

[@4realm8rusirius]

What?

[@cesruhf2605]

343 should ad the abelitee to kill mareenes

[@craigthebrute3945]

Easily 343s best campaign by miles. But it could have been a masterpiece & it wasn't.

[@mitchie2267]

Feminist Analysis of Halo Infinite; where the idea is that Cortana got replaced by an annoying whining soy male showing how the soys believe they have fully conquered the female essence and now want to be the center of all discourse, attention and adoration and have foreclosed the sophiological divine feminine.

[@centurymemes1208]

the story is the main issue too. invalidating halo 5 is a stupid move. this is a series..continue and fix it, not abandoned it. but ofc fanboys wouldn’t care.. they only care about gameplay

[@sheravmaharaj317]

Are you saying that gameplay is not a core part of a video GAME? Idk seems weird to complain about people praising good gameplay. If you're looking for a good story then read the novels

[@centurymemes1208]

@@sheravmaharaj317 It is but it has to work with story. video games aren’t just for gameplay nowadays it has to have a good story. its what keep people playing aside from multiplayer

[@Nikkerman]

It was an amazing move because it still respects what 4 did with it's story while getting away from 5

[@magnenoalex2]

I felt it addressed it while getting rid of the worst decision made by 343.

[@magnenoalex2]

@@Nikkerman exactly it's not like it's saying 5 didn't happen it did. It's just getting rid of the problem moving forward.