343 Industries addresses feedback about Halo Infinite visuals, multiplayer beta, and specifics

343 Industries, the developer of Halo Infinite, has answered some questions about visuals, multiplayer beta, and specifics made in response to the first eight-minute gameplay demo played during last week’s Xbox Games Showcase event, which went live on July 23.

Community manager John Junyszek scattered the forums for the most-asked questions and feedback to address them on Halo Waypoint. “From our perspective, there are two key areas being debated around the community – overall art style and visual fidelity,” Junyszek said. 

Many fans complained about the “simplistic” aesthetic they saw in the gameplay demo. Junyszek explained that the developers took into consideration the feedback from the community throughout the releases of Halo 4, Halo 5, and Halo Wars 2 and chose a “more ‘classic’ art style.”

But the team paid attention to the negative feedback about characters and objects appearing flat and plastic-like. Some people said the lighting felt “dull and flat” and the team agreed with them, even mentioning the homemade examples of retouched content.

“We do have work to do to address some of these areas and raise the level of fidelity and overall presentation for the final game,” Junyszek said. “The build used to run the campaign demo was work-in-progress from several weeks ago with a variety of graphical elements and game systems still being finished and polished.”

For multiplayer and flighting, Junyszek repeated what 343 head Chris Lee said last week that the “original plans for large-scale flighting aren’t where we originally intended in large part due to the challenges of working from home during the COVID-19.”

343 isn’t sure a beta will end up happening, but it hopes “to have an opportunity for broader hands-on before release.” The campaign will support two-player split-screen and online four-player co-op. 

He also addressed already-confirmed features in the game, such as microtransactions, players customization, and the Forge. Here’s a list of the already-confirmed aspects of Halo Infinite:

• In Universe Timing: It follows the Master Chief’s story some time after Halo 5: Guardians’ conclusion
• Pro Team: We’ve assembled an internal Pro Team for Halo Infinite.
• Split-screen: Yes, split-screen will be a thing.
• LAN: Halo Infinite will support LAN.
• Back in Black: Black undersuits will be in the game.
• Microtransactions: Halo Infinite won’t include real-money loot boxes.
• Player Customization: If you liked the level of armor customization options in Halo: Reach, you’ll be pleased.
• SR 152: Players who hit SR 152 in Halo 5: Guardians will receive a token of appreciation in Halo Infinite.
• Forge: Our famous editing tool will be in Halo Infinite and will have Undo & Redo buttons, which is a first for the Forge.

Kill Barriers and “Return to Battlefield” zones will be reduced in the campaign to encourage exploration in Halo Infinite’s open world. The Battle Rifle (BR75) is also confirmed to make a return. 

Halo Infinite will be available on PC via Xbox Game Pass for PC (Beta), the Microsoft Store, and Steam in addition to Xbox Series X and the entire Xbox One family of consoles during the holiday season.