Halo Infinite’s open world underwent major scaling back for its launch. Taking a look at halo infinite’s original open world, you could clearly see that it looks different. This is a result of developer 343 studios making significant cutbacks and changes during its development.
Halo Infinite’s Open World Underwent Major Scaling Back for Its Launch
While Halo Infinite was the very first entry in the classic sci-fi FPS series to introduce an open environment, its non-linear design went through various iterations. The world that then appeared in the final release is a pared-down version of what 343 studios had planned originally.
“The team went through a lot of iterations on scope and biome variety before I joined,” 343 head of creative Joseph Staten, said, speaking to the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “Even after I joined the team, we had to make choices about where to scale back.”
Staten cited that the team did not have much time to create as varied a world as they had planned to while meeting the level of graphical fidelity, detail, and world depth that gamers and players have come to expect. And although he thinks they made great strides from halo Infinite’s maligned 2020 E3 demo, various targeted cuts were necessary.
“We didn’t end up cutting that much ultimately from the open world, but I know from the original designs there was a pretty significant scaling back of what the team had hoped at one point that they could deliver on. We knew that we needed to truly deliver a quality experience [and] scope our ambitions to make sure that the stuff that we did ship met expectations.”
What Gamers Should Expect With the New Design
But those expectations, however, were themselves very tricky to navigate. And although pitched as an open-world experience for the Xbox Series X, the game doesn’t include some of the staple features that gamers and players alike might associate with the style. During the designing process of the game, the team was careful enough not to include mechanics that would sit at thematic odds with the series and its characters.
“We are an open-world game in as much as our game is a lot more open than it used to be,” Staten says. “Halo’s always been a relatively open game in terms of its geometry, for a shooter, but we weren’t layering on a whole bunch of systems. We talked a lot about crafting, for example, and my infamous line to the team was something like ‘Master Chief doesn’t need to kill animals to make leather shirts for himself. He’s a massive armored super soldier. If he wants something, he goes and kills it, grabs its gun, and then keeps on going.’”
The difference this very time is that you achieve that while you grapple-hook across a craggy landscape. Also, you can do it with a friend or buddy now that Halo Infinite co-op is now finally here for Xbox insiders. All the cutting back may just be the reason why Halo Infinite is one of the best Xbox Series X games ever and also a reason why you should get Game Pass.
