Halo Infinite’s multiplayer has been live as part of its early access ‘beta’ for a few days now. Launched early to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original Xbox, the multiplayer component has been lauded for its classic arena shooter action and polished gameplay experience.
Alas, it’s not absolutely perfect and while I may be nitpicking a little bit here, after 15-20 hours played in the multiplayer section thus far, there are a number of areas where there’s ample room for improvements in Halo Infinite’s multiplayer, so let’s talk about ‘em.
Improved Battle Pass Progression
If there’s one aspect of Infinite’s multiplayer that feels like it’s really letting it down right now, it’s the Battle Pass progression.
Developer 343 Industries has decided that only Daily and Weekly Challenges will earn you XP that contributes towards leveling up your Battle Pass. In-game performances or any medals you earn do not count.
While John Junyszek, Community Manager for 343 Industries has announced that a new ‘Play 1 Game’ challenge will be added and weekly challenge difficulty will be dialed down to make them easier to complete later this week, it still doesn’t feel like it’s going to be enough to satiate the community.
It’s understandable to see why, too. Players have already shelled out around $10 for the Battle Pass, and progression is so slow and unrewarding that reaching the top level before the Season ends feels like an insurmountable task at the moment.
Hopefully, the changes coming later this week will help remedy this, but I’d still rather see our in-game score and medals provide even a slither of additional XP towards our Battle Pass progression, too.
Being Able to View Challenges In-Game
Ways Halo Infinite Multiplayer Could Be Even Better
Speaking of challenges, Halo Infinite’s daily and weekly tasks for players to complete aren’t always as straightforward or as easy to remember as you might hope.
Even if you can remember them, sometimes you just might want to check how many kills you’ve got to get with the Commando Rifle, or how many enemy choppers you need to destroy until the challenge is complete.
Being able to quickly check your challenges and challenge progress in a game would certainly help keep players focused on grinding them out to level up their Battle Pass. I can’t count how many times I’ve forgotten what I should be trying to do in the heat of a game to complete a challenge and end up making no progress on it.
Sure, sure I could write them down or take a photo, but I’m all about the convenience aspect of being able to quickly hit the Menu button and see my progress at a quick glance.
Play of the Game Cam at the End of Matches
Ways Halo Infinite Multiplayer Could Be Even Better
Is there any better feeling than pulling off a Collateral with the sniper? Or perhaps getting an Overkill by wiping the entire enemy team in quick succession? No. No there is not, and you should be able to share your pro skills with others in your game, too.
A number of online multiplayer games have been doing that for a while now. Overwatch has Play of the Game, Call of Duty titles have been doing it for some time now, and given how incredibly skilled the Halo community is, it feels like Infinite should certainly have something similar.
I mean, look at this absolutely insane Grappling Hook trickshot and tell me you wouldn’t want to see more of these popping up at the end of your games, rather than the somewhat dull Post-Match report screen that you can bring up when you’re searching for your next game anyway? I know, I know I’m right.
More Refined Playlists
Ways Halo Infinite Multiplayer Could Be Even Better
During this early access ‘beta’ period for Halo Infinite’s multiplayer, players don’t have a whole ton of freedom when it comes to what game modes they play. You either choose the 4v4 Arena mode, or you choose the 12 v 12 Big Team Battle option. Within those modes, there’s an assortment of actual game types and maps that are selected at random.
That means that if the AI is having a nightmare, you could end up playing the same game mode over and over, or playing the same few maps repeatedly. Not to mention you could be lumped playing the bang-average ‘Stockpile’ mode in BTB, and nobody wants that.
Come next month with the game’s official release, it’d be great to see Infinite get some more refined playlists. Want to just play Slayer/ Team Slayer regardless of whether it’s 4v4 or 12v12? It should be in there. Don’t want to play Oddball? You should have the option to remove it from the potential game modes in rotation for your playlist.
I imagine — and dearly hope — that the limited options to players is all part of 343 Industries’ stress testing of servers and ensuring matchmaking times are kept to a minimum with fewer, larger pools of players. But in order for Infinite’s multiplayer to thrive, players need the freedom to finetune what they’re playing, just as they were able to in previous entries in the series.
More Maps & Game Modes
Ways Halo Infinite Multiplayer Could Be Even Better
Similar to our previous point — and at this point seems highly likely to actually happen — is the need for more maps and game modes in Halo Infinite’s multiplayer come the official launch next month.
Right now, there are only three Big Team Battle maps to choose from, and all of them feel fairly similar. There’s also no Lone Wolves game mode type, no Team SWAT, and most importantly, no Grifball or Infection, the absolute GOATs of Halo game modes.
While the maps may not come so soon, 343 Industries did note in a Halo Waypoint blog post that the team is ready to “identify opportunities to add or remove playlists” based on usage data and statistics.
Exactly how frequent these changes will be and how quickly they’ll come remains to be seen, but I’m hoping to see some changes and improvements before the end of Season 1 in May, 2022.
What would you like to see improved in Halo Infinite’s multiplayer ahead of the official launch next month? Let us know down in the comments below.
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