Following the Campaign Gameplay Demo at the Xbox Games Showcase, Unyshek wrote up a community update to answer some of the community’s top questions about Halo Infinite. Although there wasn’t too much information that we didn’t already know, we did get some new details.
“Since we want to allow players to explore and get creative with their engagements, we’ve tried to reduce [kill barriers] as much as possible in Halo Infinite. There will always be some exceptions, but usually if you can see it, you should be able to go there.”
As one would expect with the sprawling, open environments in Halo Infinite’s Campaign, 343i is actively working to reduce the number of kill barriers that the player will encounter. Very little will be considered truly “out of bounds” of the play environment.
“if you check out the Campaign Gameplay Trailer, watch closely and you’ll catch a glimpse of a BR75”
Despite looking similar to the original model, the Battle Rifle seen in the Halo Infinite Campaign Gameplay Trailer is a new model, the BR75.
“The “Sidekick” is a true sidearm pistol that is lightning fast to draw and fire – truly exceling as a reliable backup when your primary weapon is depleted and a Brute is bearing down on you. Compared to previous titles, this weapon is closest to Halo 2's version of the Magnum.”
The new Sidekick pistol seen in the Campaign Gameplay Demo has been designed to be a reliable backup. While you might swap to it to take out some Grunts or Jackals or when your primary weapon runs low on ammo, it probably won’t stand on its own too much.
“The “Bulldog” is a pump-action shotgun that is punchy and decently accurate, trading slightly lower damage (12 gauge vs. 8 gauge) for a much higher rate of fire. Players will be better equipped to dispatch multiple targets quickly and the “Bulldog” provides more playstyle opportunities for shotgun aficionados.”
The new shotgun does less damage than the Tactical Shotgun in previous games, but it makes up for this shortcoming with a faster reload and rate-of-fire, as well as longer range and an increased magazine capacity.
“There are additional variants of each of these, but the classic Magnum and Tactical Shotgun aren’t currently featured in Halo Infinite.”
Unfortunately, fans of the Magnum and the Tactical Shotgun as they appeared in previous games will be disappointed to learn that these weapons are not currently in the Halo Infinite sandbox. (Edit to add: In this sentence, 343i does confirm that there will be multiple variants of the Sidekick and the Bulldog, perhaps similar to how weapons in Halo 5: Guardians had multiple variants.)
“As we look beyond launch, we have robust plans to continue evolving the game which will include further additions to Halo Infinite’s sandbox.”
The good news is that, just as with Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Infinite will gain significant post-launch support to add a variety of new content, including more weapons. These additions could include such weapons as the Tactical Shotgun and the Magnum, so there is a potential for them to come to the game after launch.
Summary
Although we didn’t learn too much in this community update, it did clarify multiple misconceptions and address community feedback that arose following the Campaign Gameplay Demo last week.
Kill barriers in Halo Infinite’s Campaign have been drastically reduced to give players as much freedom as possible to explore the environments.
The new Battle Rifle is the BR75 model, which is new to the Halo universe.
The Sidekick has been designed as a true sidearm, rather than the primary weapon that the Magnum has been in recent Halo games.
The Bulldog has a faster reload and rate-of-fire than the Tactical Shotgun, and it has a larger magazine and longer range.
Unfortunately, the Tactical Shotgun and Magnum are not currently included in the Halo Infinite sandbox.
However, 343 plans to support this game with robust post-launch content updates. It is possible for the Magnum and Tactical Shotgun to appear in one of these content updates.
Weapon variants for the Bulldog and the Sidekick are already confirmed, and there are likely to be variants of the other weapons in the game as well.