We now know that there is quite a bit of waiting for Halo Infinite to arrive this fall, but 343 Industries has committed to filling that time with regular blog post chats from developers. This month they convened a team to talk about what makes Infinite a “spiritual reboot” of previous Halo games. They’ve also sneaked into a brutal defense of the grappleshot.
In this month’s Inside Infinite, campaign art leader Justin Dinges says that 343’s art direction focuses on themes such as ‘legacy’ and ‘simplicity’.
“We really want players to feel like they are experiencing a game they will fondly remember (Halo: Combat Evolved), but of course with updated graphics,” said Dinges. “Another great example is how we’ve brought the visual design of the Jackals and Grunts closer to their appearance in Halo 3 and previous titles. We want players to feel a nostalgic familiarity with these designs, like meeting an old friend. as they experience everything Halo Infinite has to offer. ”
In terms of simplicity, Dinges says the Halo 5 team’s takeaway was to stay away from “noisy” designs and move towards an artistic interpretation of the world rather than photo-realism.
Gameplay director Troy Mashburn explains that “spiritual reboot” is also a concept that 343 has used to accompany the recording of new things, such as the grappleshot.
I haven’t done any serious Spartan activities since Halo 3, and even I couldn’t help thinking “really? Why?” when the grappleshot was revealed. We will only have to rely on this one, it sounds, as all three participants this month showed up to sing the praises.
“If you’re a fan of using melee, like me, you’ll love wrestling at enemies to get that powerful knockout blow. Soooo satisfying,” says Mashburn. It also allows you to reach all kinds of locations that you wouldn’t have been able to reach in previous games, Dinges adds, which will open up nice vantage points. John Mulkey, world leader in design, says the grappleshot itself is fun, and that he also combines it with other devices that have their own functions. “I can’t wait to see the YouTube videos people are sharing showcase movements we never imagined.”
Okay okay. I will reserve my opinion on the grappleshot a little longer.
As they near launch this fall, Dinges and Mashburn say their teams are focused on fixing bugs, improving and addressing user feedback from internal playtesting.
As always, this month’s Inside Infinite is pretty chunky, so there’s plenty more from all three developers if you’re in the mood to read.