‘Halo Infinite’ Team Makes Tough Call – Cuts Content for New Season
Halo Infinite’s multiplayer just got a little less interesting.
Halo Infinite is the latest title in the long-running Halo series and the multiplayer mode has been a mixed bag since launch. It was loved in the beginning and then slowly lost favor with fans due to a lack of multiplayer content. 343 has been doing there best to release content despite internal issues earlier in the year. Season 4 of Halo Infinite is upon us with the announced return of a fan-favorite mode and it seems that came at a deeply disappointing cost.
via Halo Waypoint
Cutscenes, More Like Scenes Cut
Brian Jarrard, Community Director at 343 Industries, confirmed on his Twitter Page that the dev team has made a hard choice for the game. They will no longer create the cinematic narrative cutscenes starting with season 4.
PSA: As we’ve refined our top priorities and shifted resources internally this year, we had to make the decision to forego seasonal narrative cutscenes to make room for the team to continue focusing on highly requested features, content, and improvements for Halo Infinite.
These…
— Brian Jarrard (@ske7ch) June 19, 2023
The decision to cut the narrative that was going on is actually pretty disappointing since it was one of the more interesting things going on in past seasons. The decision to no longer due them makes sense here though since they need to focus on things that will keep people long term like the many requested features, improvements, and, yes, more actual content to play besides the little that has been coming out per season. The new season promises to bring a ton of content though to make for it.
Season 4 is a Go!
The new season has started and with it is coming some great new content. The biggest is of course Infection and 343 confirmed with the blog post on Halo Waypoint that it is a permanent playlist and will not disappear. This is great news since sometimes a playlist you are really into just up and disappears while playing with friends. The rest of the content is very exciting with a new armor core called the Hazmat armor and plenty of Infection armor effects you can add to your Spartan to immerse yourself in a zombie fight.
The Battle Pass is very much centered around the HAZMAT armor core and like the Battle Passes before them, they will not expire. This will give you plenty of time to unlock everything on any Battle Pass you may still have going on, so there is no rush. The Premium Battle Pass Bundle, like the ones before them, will give you enough extra XP packs to get it up to level 25 if you don’t mind spending the extra cash to get a head start.
via Halo Waypoint
New Maps, Equipment, and Forge Updates
The season brings 2 new maps called Scarr and Forest. Scarr is a large mining operation map that is perfect for large-scale fights like Big Team Battle with plenty of vehicles, teleporters, and kinetic launchers. Forest is exactly as it is named, a forest area with a temple which makes for a very interesting map for plenty of different modes.
One of the biggest additions is the new equipment introduced called the “Quantum Translocator” and the “Threat Seeker”. The Quantum Translocator is a portable teleporter that lets players place it somewhere and use it again to transport them back to that location. The explanation seems to indicate that once used, the player will then be able to transport back to where they just were once more after that, but not back again. This leads to some interesting possibilities and has a cool down, so it cannot be spammed.
The Threat Seeker is simply a pulse sensor that lets players know where other enemies are if they are nearby in front of them, so don’t expect it to work through walls. It is not as interesting personally but could be useful if used correctly.
via Halo Waypoint
The last thing I want to highlight is the updates to the Forge mode. The update is adding brand-new objects, palettes, and some very interesting VFX. The additions to the mode lend to some crazy creative possibilities.
- Static Water Plane: Players can add placeable and scalable water on the map. It could be used for that extra flourish or as an obstacle.
- Forerunner Palette: New objects and decals to create Forerunner maps easier
- MiniGame Mode: The ability to create a map centered around modes with Capture Zones, Skulls, and Ball objects
- VFX Scaling: VFX Objects(such as fire and explosions) can be placed around the map with damage and audio outputs to use them as either just set dressing or obstacles
via Halo Waypoint
Halo Infinite Season 4 has a ton of content that can be looked into further Halo Waypoint site that I didn’t even cover, so give it a look-see for the most in-depth explanation for its new content. The new season is shaping up to be spectacular and hopefully will be the biggest step in the right direction, even without the cutscenes. Halo is one of my all-time favorite series out there and I want it to flourish more than fail. See you all on the battlefield.
“Thought I’d try shooting my way out—mix things up a little.” – Master Chief
