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Halo Infinite's campaign launched last week and Spartans could finally witness Zeta Halo first hand. It's been almost seven days since the effort to liberate the ring from the clutches of The Banished kicked off and we've had quite a few stories in that time.
Microsoft Applies For Halo: The Endless Trademark
Reports about Microsoft filing a trademark for a new Halo property sprung up barely a day after the campaign launched. The filing document mentioned the name 'Halo: The Endless', but no other details were provided. The theories include everything from a DLC to a mobile tie-in. While only time will tell what this eventually ends up being, the document does mention that it's a "downloadable game software".
Throughout the campaign, references were made to an alien species said to be "worse than the Flood". Perhaps The Endless is this species and will make an appearance in an upcoming campaign DLC.
Missing Features
The campaign's launch was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews and remarks about how polished it was. However, this fine tuning did come at a cost, and that was the delay of a number of features. Firstly, 343 noted that the ability to play the campaign in co-op mode, as well as the Forge mode, would not be available at launch. 343 Industries head of creative, Joseph Staten, later mentioned that we won't see these features until at least May 2022.
Another feature missing from the launch edition of Halo Infinite's campaign is the option to select and replay story missions. However, associate creative director Paul Crocker confirmed that "[Level select] is all part of this stuff that's being worked on at the moment". However, no date has been announced as of yet.
Halo Infinite Had Two Thirds Of Its Content Cut
Zeta Halo is huge as it is, but it was reportedly planned to be much bigger at some point. A report suggested that the game was originally conceptualized as a vast open-world with no linear mission structure, much like everyone's current favourite template, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Halo Infinite was originally supposed to launch alongside the Xbox Series X|S, but 343 had to go into "crisis mode". The decision to scrap the open-world idea was made during this time, resulting in the current semi-linear format.
Halo Infinite Crossplay Labelled "Unplayable" Because Of Cheaters
It was almost inevitable that like every multiplayer game on PC, Halo Infinite would also get infested by cheaters. Reports of people using exploits began appearing some time after the launch of the multiplayer, leading to console players asking for the ability to opt out of cross-play.
However, these reports have only become more frequent, with frustrated players pointing out blatant use of aimbots and wallhacks and labelling the game “unplayable” with cross-play.
Halo Infinite Is Getting More Playlists
343 Industries has confirmed that more playlists will be coming to Halo Infinite's multiplayer mode, including the highly anticipated Slayer playlist. Community director, Brian Jarrard confirmed that playlists for Fiesta, FFA, and Tactical Slayer (SWAT) will also be added to the game on December 14.
"To address player feedback for Slayer in the near term, we'll be releasing a basic Slayer offering to start and will look to bolster and expand with more variants in a future update," he added.