Halo Infinite’s launch has been rocky to say the least. From the very beginning, the game has been plagued by controversy from a variety of sources such asmonetization policy,missing features, bugs and design decisions. Indeed, the game leaves a lot to be desired in its current state, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Its fundamental gameplay is solid, so 343 at least has a foundation to build upon.
This situation actually resembles that ofHalo: The Master Chief Collectionwhen it first launched in 2014. It’s unfortunate that fans are seeing a repeat with Halo Infinite, but that could also mean that there’s hope. In the eight years since the MCC was launched, it’s become a fantastic Halo experience, which means that Halo Infinite can too if 343 shows similar dedication in its post-launch support.
It’s actually incredible to look back at Halo: MCC’s launch and realize just how far it’s come in the years since. As of a couple years ago,the game was already unrecognizable from its launch state,and it’s only gotten better since. Since 2014, Halo: MCC has transformed from a threadbare, buggy, poorly-optimized and frustrating mess into what’s essentially the definitive Halo experience. Far from having almost nothing to offer fans, the current version has everything fans asked for and more.
Starting with multiplayer, Halo: MCC more or less has all of its bases covered now. The search filter system implemented a few years back still works well, and players can now even matchmake for niche modes like Firefight and filter for things like games and variants. Wait times are longer than ideal due to a smaller player population, but games can still be found in a reasonable amount of time. This applies to just about any game or mode one could want to play.
Even with a smaller player population, though, the custom games community is still going strong, enjoying more support than anyone ever dared hope for. Custom game enthusiasts can both host and browse for custom games. They can look for specific kinds, set filters and can even create and host their own custom game playlists, with full control over how long each game is played. Halo file shares are fully supported too, so if a player isn’t seeing their favorite custom game, all they have to do isgrab it from another’s file share.Custom games are even hosted on private servers. It’s everything a custom game lover could ever want.
343 even managed to dream up and implement a satisfying progression system for Halo: MCC, something that seemed all but impossible in the game’s early days. Players can earn a global rank in a style similar to Halo: Reach, they can earn playlists ranks as in Halo 3 and Halo:4, and they can earn points towards unlocking cosmetic content found in the various content seasons. There are even challenges in both single and multiplayer to help earn points faster. What’s more, earning content isn’t strictly linear. Players unlock tiers and can choose whatever they want within a tier. Everything must be unlocked in order to advance to a new tier, but there’s at least agency this way. Truly, it’s an excellent system.
All this is to say that there’shope yet for Halo Infinite. The game is in rough shape at the moment, and fans are rightfully annoyed at that. Frankly, a lot of the problems we’re seeing at the moment shouldn’t have been issues in the first place, so one cannot help but wonder how it was that the game launched in the state it did. It was the same at the beginning of Halo: MCC’s lifespan too, though. At the time, 343 promised to continue supporting and developing the game and it did eventually deliver on all its pre-release promises.
Will the same be true ofHalo Infinitein a few years? Well, that’s up to Microsoft and 343. If they support the game like they did Halo: MCC and use their work on that game as a model, then perhaps everyone will be singing its praises eventually. If not, then Halo Infinite could very well wind up going down in gaming history as an overall disappointment. The potential is there, it’s just a matter of putting in the effort needed to bring it out. 343 did it before and only a few years ago at that, so it’s not too unreasonable to hope that it’s still capable of doing so again.
