Halo Infinite's multiplayer progression feels more tedious than it needs to be (but here's how to fix it)

Halo Infinite Fracture Tenrai Event Source: Xbox Game Studios

Halo Infinite multiplayer is confidently one of the best shooters yous tin can play right at present when it comes to overall polish and moment-to-moment gameplay. 343 Industries meticulously reimagined the defining pillars of this franchise's long-running multiplayer legacy in ways that feel simultaneously familiar and fresh. This team set out on a mission to reinvigorate lifelong fans as well equally draw in a new generation of players, and in nigh every way, it seems they've accomplished this goal.

However, a less-than-desirable progression system is one abiding deject looming over the general excitement of the launch. As more and more players swoop in, more than passionate conversations have sparked surrounding the programmer's decisions to seemingly adjourn progress at every possible corner. While I'm enjoying my time with the game, I tin can't help simply feel that Halo Infinite'southward multiplayer progression is more ho-hum than information technology needs to be.

Communication is cardinal

Halo Infinite Source: 343 Industries

Before we discuss the current state of Halo Infinite'south multiplayer progression, its battle pass, and the latest concerns introduced with the Fracture: Tenrai event, it's disquisitional to remind everyone that 343 Industries is actively listening to fan complaints and has already acted to quickly improve progression where possible. After some overwhelmingly negative feedback following the launch of Halo Infinite multiplayer on Nov. fifteen, the team rapidly rolled out a series of tweaks and changes to the game'southward daily and weekly challenges inside a few days.

Team members have also stated that more than extensive and impactful changes are on the horizon for the battle pass and challenge system. Unfortunately, modifications on this calibration volition have significantly more time to implement than the ones nosotros saw soon after the game'south release. While the team is currently on a well-deserved suspension for Thanksgiving, we'll receive further updates in the about hereafter. Despite how you experience near the current state of Halo Infinite's multiplayer or its future, I discover 343 Industries' transparent communication with its audience is refreshing.

The current bug

Halo Infinite Multiplayer Source: Xbox Game Studios

First off, Halo Infinite multiplayer has a serious progression problem. From the irksome slog required to climb the 100 levels of the battle laissez passer to the baffling specific weekly challenges, the complaints regarding the central blueprint of te game'southward progression seem relatively universal. In fact, many members of the Halo community are echoing the exact same sentiments. Non since the release of Gears v have I seen a customs and so intensely decline the progression system offered past developers.

Even following the addition of smaller XP rewards upon completing matches, Halo Infinite multiplayer doesn't consistently provide a tangible sense of accomplishment. The weekly challenges tied to the battle pass are actually your only practical options for gaining levels, and they shoehorn players into engaging with the game in specific ways, especially if you're playing objective-based modes like Capture the Flag. Winning the lucifer means literally nothing compared to killing 10 Spartans with a Shock Rifle or splattering an enemy with a Chopper. While likely designed to encourage folks to experiment within Halo Infinite'due south sandbox, these weekly challenges aren't the well-nigh accessible for novice players still learning the basics of the game.

Unfortunately, in this multiplayer suite, you're required to jump in the general Big Squad Boxing pool and promise for the best.

What if you don't feel like killing 45 enemies with the Plasma Pistol in Halo Infinite only still want to progress? Well, this is where Challenge Swaps and XP Boosts come in. These consumable items permit players to exchange current weekly challenges for random replacements or provide double XP for challenges completed inside ane hour. In theory, these premium consumables sound similar terrific ways to add together flexibility and reward to the overall experience. However, they are minimal unless you fork out some hard-earned cash to buy more or torture your digestive system by drinking a agglomeration of Rockstar Energy Drinks for the redeemable codes.

Hyper-specific weekly challenges and wildly restrictive playlist options are also a recipe for grind-flavored gruel. Allow's say you have a seemingly simple challenge similar "complete one match of Total Control." In nigh games, you lot could only select the Total Control matchmaking options and queue upward for that specific game mode, but not in Halo Infinite. In this multiplayer suite, you lot're required to leap in the full general Big Team Battle pool and promise for the best. It took me 12 Big Team Battles matches before I finally got to play the i game of Full Control I needed. As information technology currently stands, information technology's hard non to feel like the restricted playlists and painfully specific challenges are incorporated to push Claiming Swaps.

Halo Infinite Multiplayer Source: Xbox Game Studios

In the recently introduced Fracture: Tenrai event, all players are given the opportunity to earn free, genuinely fantabulous samurai-themed armor options that be outside of the premium battle laissez passer. Unfortunately, the system for unlocking these limited-time cosmetics is dramatically more confusing and drawn-out than it needs to be. Instead of offering a continuous event that allows players to complete unique challenges and earn rewards, Halo Infinite has decided to besprinkle this event across six separate weeks over the grade of the side by side six months. With a hard cap on how many levels a player can gain in one week, this means y'all'll need to wheel back five of the six weeks to consummate this event. Another restrictive choice transparently designed to maintain engagement through FOMO.

Alee of Halo Infinite'due south multiplayer release, I was excited to see how this legacy franchise could innovate the gratis-to-play model based on features like battle passes that would never expire. Admittedly, it was probably unfair of me to look Halo to gear up a new gold standard and completely eliminate the issues many players have with costless-to-play monetization, only I don't think it was unfair for anyone to expect better for the game's launch. While Halo Space's progression and pricing aren't egregiously worse than most complimentary-to-play games on the market, the biggest disappointment for me is that information technology isn't much improve.

How to fix Halo Space's multiplayer progression

Halo Infinite Battle Pass Heroes Of Reach Source: Windows Central

So how exactly do 343 Industries successfully translate Halo multiplayer to a free-to-play model while earning enough money to survive and respecting players' time investments? Well, that's probably a million-dollar question companies have been debating for years. I don't have the solution, but in the case of Halo Space, there are some direct comparisons to other Xbox first-party titles with better battle passes and progression systems in place we tin indicate to for means this title tin improve.

Currently, Sea of Thieves has the all-time Xbox first-party battle pass and mayhap one of the near rewarding in the manufacture. From line-fishing to killing skeletons, every activity you complete in Body of water of Thieves earns you progress in the 100 levels of seasonal Renown. This means you lot can play the game exactly how you prefer and however experience rewarded for your time. In addition to general progression for all the essential activities in Sea of Thieves, there are pages and pages of specific challenges that will boost your Renown fifty-fifty farther. There are no weekly level caps or arbitrary restrictions to deadening your progress.

Gears five has fabricated enormous strides to amend the experience since its launch. After a particularly vocal outcry from the customs regarding the lack of a sense of reward, The Coalition established some other impressive first-party seasonal progression system. In addition to rotating daily challenges, Gears five also introduced a massive assortment of stock-still challenges that provide players with boosts to their battle pass as well as sectional cosmetic items. To meliorate on this even farther, players who missed sure seasonal unlocks could employ in-game currency to acquire these items at a later date.

It besides seems similar a no-brainer for Halo Infinite to borrow from the established practices of both Sea of Thieves and Gears 5.

What's especially frustrating about Halo Space'due south multiplayer launch is how it fundamentally ignores what Rare and The Coalition learned on their boxing pass journeys. Halo Infinite is Xbox's starting time massive-scale foray into free-to-play gaming, and not everything translates. Yet, even relatively small changes have the potential to overhaul the sense of reward in Halo Infinite multiplayer completely.

First and foremost, Halo Infinite needs to incentive functioning and teamwork outside of daily and weekly challenges. There should be additional XP rewarded for winning a match besides as being your squad'due south MVP. Providing an extra 50 XP for defeating an enemy team and 100 XP for standing proudly as the best player on your team, for case, seem similar simple additions to the formula that would make playing matches and using XP Boosters more valuable. Let'due south likewise translate some of the fantastic medals you earn into noticeable progress. If I execute a wicked grapplejack or try-hard 360 no scope, I'd beloved to see some of those things converted into XP for my progression.

Halo Infinite can also infringe from the established practices of both Sea of Thieves and Gears 5 by introducing a broader list of seasonal challenges. With a glaring limit to players' progress each week, this would dramatically incentivize players to continue playing even later on completing their rotating weekly challenges. Bonus activities like the Fractured: Tenrai consequence are admirable steps in that management, but with a restrictive four-count limit on active challenges, these supplemental missions only further slow your progress in the conventional 100-level Battle Laissez passer.

The road ahead

Halo Infinite Warthog Image Source: Xbox Game Studios (screenshot)

What 343 Industries has delivered with Halo Infinite's multiplayer is nothing short of remarkable. Players are constantly sharing exciting clips and discussing memorable moments. Every time I open Twitter, I'm treated to some new physics spectacle in Halo Infinite I didn't even know was possible. Unfortunately, with 343 Industries getting so much of this package right, it becomes increasingly hard to ignore the few areas of improvement.

This development team has worked incredibly hard to send a tight, polished multiplayer game in a time where nosotros, quite bluntly, expect disastrous multiplayer launches. It'south commendable for whatever studio to come up out of the gate with an online game this strong and free of gameplay or network issues. That's why information technology's disappointing to meet some fundamental aspects of the feel fall brusque.

Equally I stated above, the team is actively assessing and implementing changes based on the customs's feedback. I'chiliad hopeful the correct moves volition exist made. The controversies and conversations surrounding Halo Infinite's progression system will merely be a thing of the past. However, for now, it continues to be the most glaring trouble with 1 of the best shooters on Xbox. I wait forward to hearing how 343 Industries aims to address fan concerns and adjust its progression system in a way that rewards its audience for its dedication and time.

A new era of Halo

Halo Infinite Reco Image

Halo Space

Chief Chief is back

Halo Space is the next chapter in this legendary first-person shooter franchise, and it sees epic multiplayer return alongside another Master Chief adventure. Halo Infinite'south multiplayer is meliorate than ever, and gives players a number of ways to personalize their Spartan.

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