It’s a rare day in Video Game Land when fans demand so much from a live service game and then… actually get it. But that’s exactly what happened today, as developer 343 Industries rolled out a ton of community-requested features to Halo InfiniteIts free multiplayer shooter.
Halo Infinitewas first released last year, It’s been a bit difficult in life. As with many free shooters, Halo Infinite based on the seasonal pattern. Originally slated to last three months, seasons have so far operated in six-month cycles. (We’re entering a second season, which is expected to run through early November.) Fans say this has left the shooter lacking the necessary content — like maps, modes, and cosmetics — making it not as fresh as it could be.
The shooter also has a surrounding structure Implement weekly challenges. Completing challenges will give you XP, which will level up your battle pass, giving you new cosmetic options with each level. Previously, you could only test your active challenges while idling in the lobby between matches. Next update today, you can see them in the middle of the game. There’s a catch, though: Challenges don’t track progress in real time, so you won’t really know if you hit those 5 headers until the game is over. But hey, progress!
Today’s update also marks Halo Infiniteis the first step towards “piercing customization” or the ability to use all customization options on all “core armor”. Instead of a set of armor for your avatar, a 26th century superman, you have five so-called “cores” of armor. Each stone has a different look; You can customize them as you see fit. But the cosmetic options — from accessories to armor parts, even different color options — are tied to each core individually. For example, you cannot use any color from the Mark VII core’s true Crayola armor box on cores lack solid options (looking straight at you, Mark V [B]).
Now, after today’s update, all visors work with all armor cores; they will only automatically show up for all five of your cores. However, unless I’m missing it, the armory doesn’t say which armor core was originally associated with the visor. And since a few are more or less identical — like Yoroi Core Dark Blue Tempered Steel and Rakshasa Core Dark Blue Tempered Steel — you’ll have several visor options that look like duplicates. (Your regular reminder that you can hold down the Y button to compare any cosmetic options with what you currently equip.) But hey, again: progress!
That’s not all. End of month, Halo Infinite will receive competitive and social versions of the Favorite Teams Doubles playlist, where teams of two go head-to-head on the minimap. (We’re currently scheduled for August 23, but 343 doesn’t always hit the targeted dates for Infiniteupdate.) But 343 quietly changed Team Snipers’ playlist today, rolling out an update that wasn’t in official announcementcall attention to it only on social networks.
Since the Team Snipers playlist launched earlier this summer, it has a mode that gets you started with the stalking rifle—a damn good precision weapon… That is also extremely Not a sniper rifle. After today, that mode is gone, replaced by one that only spawns you with snipers. Shotty Snipes, in which you start with a sniper and a shotgun, is still there, thankfully. Sadly, the Brute Snipes mode hasn’t been scrapped, though at least the starting weapon, the skewer, is technically a sniper rifle. Sorry, still no word on yes or no Halo Infinite will get a mode with recoil rifle only. But hey, one last time: progress!
Certainly, personally, these are all small changes. But taken together, it’s a sign of a game that’s slowly adapting to what players want — like Halo: The Master Chief Collection before it. Soon we’ll all wake up and realize Halo Infinite has also legitimately grown into a live service game.
