There’s been a lot of talk aroundHalo Infinitesince its gameplay reveal last week during the Xbox Games Showcase, all a mix of good, bad, ugly (depending on who you ask), and Craig.
In its latest community update,posted Thursday night on Halo Waypoint, developer 343 Industries set out to address most ofInfinite’smajor points of conversation, the biggest of which –well, aside from the internet’s new favorite Brute– being its graphics.
Infinite’scampaign demo received a good deal of criticism for looking visually underwhelming, especially when it’s taken into account that this game is supposed to be the headliner for the launch of the next-gen Xbox Series X later this year. Common complaints consisted of characters and environments looking flat, instances of object pop-in, and dull and simplistic lighting.
343 heard all of it,saw the Digital Foundry analysis too,Halo community manager John Junyszek wrote, going on to explain thatInfinite’slook is the result of a choice in overall art style and a level of visual fidelity that’s still a work in progress.
“Based on our learnings fromHalo 4,Halo 5, andHalo Wars 2– along with strong community feedback – we decided to shift back towards the legacy aesthetics that defined the original trilogy,” Junyszek explained. “WithHalo Infinite, we’re returning to a more ‘classic’ art style which was a key message going back to the very first reveal that garnered enthusiastic and positive responses. This translates to a more vibrant palette, “cleaner” models and objects with less “noise,” though it doesn’t mean less detail.
“While we appreciate this may not be everyone’s personal preference, we stand by this decision and are happy to see it resonating with so many fans around the world.”
Junyszek added that the build used to run the gameplay demo was several weeks old by the time it was shown off, and had various graphical elements and in-game systems still being fine-tuned. Some of the feedback the team was already aware of and working on, he wrote, but that fans also raised some new points that devs are now assessing.
“We don’t have firm answers or outcomes to share yet but the team is working as quickly as possible on plans to address some of the feedback around detail, clarity, and overall fidelity,” Junyszek wrote. “The team is committed and focused on making sure we have a beautiful world for players to explore when we launch.”
Soon afterInfinite’scampaign gameplay debuted,343 had to squash a rumor that the game’s multiplayer was delayed. It will be there when the game launches. A pre-release beta though? That one is up in the air.
“The Xbox Games Showcase was only meant to focus on Halo Infinite’s campaign. However, I can’t blame you all for being curious about the multiplayer experience,” Junyszek wrote. “As Chris Lee mentioned in his blog which accompanied the demo last week, our original plans for large-scale flighting aren’t where we originally intended in large part due to the challenges of working from home during the COVID-19.
“At this time we’re honestly not sure what is going to be possible in terms of flighting but we still hope to have an opportunity for broader public hands-on before release. And, as we’ve previously stated, we’ll be relying on flighting and continued feedback and community partnership well beyond launch as we grow and evolve the game together.”
As for the chances of a public release of the campaign demo: No luck there, have to wait for the game to come out.
Other news and notes fromThursday night’s update:
