With the Halo Infinite Technical Test kicking off this past weekend, and giving us or first taste of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer (albeit with bots), we learned quite a few things even if this is an alpha (or beta), and a small slice of the things to come in the final game this holiday 2021.
Fortunately, we got an invite to test it out, and test it we did! We clocked in more than eight hours of playtime busting bots, learning the new movement speed, and more. If you want a handy list of facts based on actual hands-on, you’ve come to the right place!
Everything We Learned From the Halo Infinite Technical Test:
- The main title theme kicks ass, ’nuff said.
- Halo 5 featured thruster and Spartan Boost. Although the beta doesn’t feature either, under the control settings there is hints that Thrusters will be making a return in some form as it can be assigned to a key. Potentially campaign only or a field pick-up during multiplayer.
- Sprint speed has been adjusted from Halo 5. Walking feels more like a viable option, and is barely slower than sprinting. Gives it a Halo classic feel.
- Overall movement feels grounded, tight , and responsive. Going back to that Halo classic feel, it’s comparable to say more Halo 3 and before rather than the later titles.
- Auto clamber (climbing ledges) can be turned off in settings for those not a fan of it.
- You can ping locations, enemies, and weapons.
- Vehicles will be able to perform tricks per game settings.
- Theatre/Observer Mode is confirmed as making a return via in-game settings.
- Push to talk and text chat exists.
- Xbox Series console has two modes to select from – Quality and Performance. Performance opts for better FPS while quality has higher resolution and overall better visuals.
- FOV confirmed on consoles.
- Speed lines can be disabled if you aren’t a fan of that, along with motion blur.
- You can set sensitivity level for every type of ADS and scope view.
- Battle Pass – The season 0 BP had 31 rewards with 20 tiers total. Some tiers can consist of anywhere between 1-3 rewards. For comparison, Halo: MCC seasons typically consisted of 100 tiers with 100 rewards. The exception are Season 3 and 4 where they were only 50.
- BP also works differently. Whereas in Halo: MCC BP progression is earned from just playing with rewards being unlocked by earning Season points from completing daily and weekly challenges, Halo Infinite ties progression to XP earned from completing these challenges. Rewards are just unlocked as you make your way through the tier. This may change of course.
- Weekly challenges can be swapped out by using challenge swaps token. Unsure how to get more.
- There is a reward for completing all the weekly challenges assigned. From the test, this was a new color shade.
- Grappleshot allows you to grapple to any reachable in zone spot, as long as it’s within range. You can also grapple to teammates and enemies, as well as use it to grab the Gravity Hammer.
- Depending on the movement the player is doing this will also effect the Grappleshot. The slower the momentum the slower you move, and the faster it is, the fast you’ll go.
- Because of how some of the physics work in the game, you can chuck a grenade at the Gravity Hammer to send it flying. If you are skilled enough, you can follow up with a Grappling Hook to reel it in towards you as it gets propelled from the grenade.
- There are small animals roaming the maps. Bazaar specifically had rats along with some chicken lookin creatures. They can be shot at.
- Test maps were small and followed a three lane system.
- Test maps also had a good amount of verticality, and contrary to one Jedi the high-ground did not always provide the best advantage.
- There are some secret routes scattered on the maps that break away from lanes.
- Most action is in the center, though it can quickly be moved to different sections depending on the map.
- Power weapons/equipment spawn on a timer, one at a time. If killed, it can be retrieved from other players.
- Power weapons/equipment were typically placed near focal points of the map where most action would happen, though some were out a ways to try and lead fights elsewhere.
- There is alternative fire modes on power weapons such as the S7 sniper with zooms, heatwave with different spread, and more.
- You can pick up and drop weapons. Pushing right on the d-pad will drop your currently equipped weapon. Prior Halo games only allowed you to swap one weapon with another. This is useful if you picked up a power weapon but wanted to hand it off to someone else.
- Weapons you pick up also display a bit of information before picking them up, such as damage type, firing rate, and a few other important things.
- Like power weapons, weapons that are placed on the wall of the maps also are on a respawn timer which is indicated by a blue bar above them.
- Hitting down on the d-pad will perform a AI scan, which scans the map for weapons, pick ups, and teammates.
- Physics: Explosives, melee, and strong impact shots have pushback. On players this will produce a rag doll effect. *343 Industries please don’t change this
- There are a number of objects that can be destroyed. There’s are very small objects such as wooden crates. They feel independent as they can break up into smaller parts.
- Fruits on the other hand, if grouped, all explode. They are considered one object rather than individual. Not a major thing since you won’t really notice it during gameplay.
- There is a ton of customization available to players. They can edit types of armor Spartans are wearing, the coloring of it (so no more two team colors only,) to even the visor on the helmet itself!
- Players can also select different AI models who will narrate things during the match. The test had four available, and each of them had different voice actors. You can watch a video of them here.
- Outside of the PVP/PVE game modes, the tech test also offered “Weapon Drills”. These were a series of challenges that players can do in order to familiarize themselves with a specific weapon. Thing almost like a gun range.
- Bots came in two types of difficulty, ODST and Spartan. There was a huge difference in Bot behavior between the two, with Spartan being the higher difficulty the bots would tend to be more aware of enemy players. They would also travel in packs, whereas in ODST it was more common to find them solo.
- Bots would throw grenades in attempt to flush you out, or push you towards them so they could follow up with a melee. A lot of times, you will not find them stationary and in some regard, show some strategy in their behavior.
- Opinion – I think players will be happy with how the bots are handled in Halo. While they are sometimes super easy, other times they proved to be quite formidable. They had a good balance overall where weren’t for the obvious bot names, you could easily confuse them for real players at times.
Halo Infinite Multiplayer Modes
- Slayer Bots (available during test)
- Slayer PvP (available during test)
- Stronghold (Not available in test though spotted in a weekly challenge)
- Capture the Flag (not available in test though spotted in a weekly challenge)
Campaign Related Details
Nothing from any of the datamined here, just some confirmed mechanics via the settings.
- Fast travel has been confirmed and is accessed via Tacmap while in-game.
- You can hotkey Tacmap, upgrade, database, and other campaign menus.
Note, the weapon and vehicle list is solely based on what was available or seen in the technical test meaning this does not represent a final list in anyway. Vehicles were not usable in the test, though they did appear in the customization window.
Halo Infinite Current Weapon List
- MA40 Assault Rifle
- Pulse Carbine
- BR75 Battle Rifle
- VK78 Commando
- MK50 Sidekick
- Plasma Pistol
- CQS48 Bulldog
- Heatwave
- Needler
- S7 Sniper
- Skewer
- Ravager
- M41 SPNKR
- MLRS-2 Hydra
- Gravity Hammer
Halo Infinite Current Vehicle List
- M12 Warthog
- M290 Mongoose
- M808 Scorpion
- AV-49 Wasp
- M15 Razorback
- M290-M Gungoose
- M12R Rockethog
Don’t forget, there’s a lot of tweaks, feedback, and more being considered by 343 Industries, so there’s bound to be some changes and additions from this Technical Preview to the final game. Chances are, we’ll be posting another article like this soon once we get our hands on a different build.