When Halo infinite Releasing later this year on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PC, it will lack one of the series’ most iconic weapons, and 343 Industries says it’s because no one actually uses it, at least in multiplayer. In both the multiplayer and game campaign, players can enjoy a new fast-firing automatic shotgun, the Bulldog. And instead of two shotguns competing in the meta, 343 Industries has added the Bulldog in place of the game’s classic and standard rifle, which is in each Halo game since the beginning of the series on the original Xbox.
As you might expect, this decision has sparked significant controversy and has the potential to cause more backlash on release when the Bulldog isn’t sniffing. That said, according to Quinn DelHoyo, the game’s chief sandbox designer at 343 Industries, part of the reason 343 Industries felt they needed to change things up was because the old shotgun wasn’t used very much, which made many difficult find to be believed, but you would assume that this claim is backed up with extensive data.
According to DelHoyo, the new shotgun isn’t as powerful as the old shotgun, but it fires and reloads much faster. Part of the fun of using a shotgun, of course, is how dependent it is on accuracy. If you weren’t accurate with your first few shots of the old shotgun, you were usually toast. It made using the weapon a serious gamble, but the feeling that it was worth it was amazing. However, it sounds like the Bulldog will be less punitive with its faster rate of fire and reload time. And it also sounds like it could have more overlap with the SMG class, which would beat the target of a shotgun class in the first place.
“The Bulldog is a versatile weapon that gives the player the role of a shotgun and close-up play style in multiplayer more often than before. Halo titles because it is lower on the lethal scale of weapons and thus more common, ”added David Price, the game’s chief weapons designer.
Aside from the multiplayer, it remains to be seen what will give in the campaign the same satisfying feeling as taking down enemies with the battle that the classic shotgun offers. That said, imagine that multiplayer takes precedence over the campaign as it will be a multiplayer that will keep players alive long after launch and will generate most of the revenue over time.