https://youtu.be/Nc_spYGbWeI

I’m not going to cover everything here so if you are looking for an in-depth review this isn’t it. I’ll stick to just the bits that interest me.

First impressions are mixed. The opening cut scene is interesting and presents enough questions about upcoming events to pique my interest in the story. Will we see more of this in future and is this the narrative future for the franchise or just a snippet to tide us over until the main DLC is ready? I like the idea of a multiplayer narrative and if it means we get more regular content then I’m all for it. It might give the team time to craft a better narrative for the main characters which, if you’ve watched any of my other videos you will know I believe are core to the entire games success. If they can get it right in the single player and add some emotional connection for the player to the world, then everything will get easier.

I also like the way your player character is inserted into the cut scene. This made adds another level of immersion into the multiplayer and makes it feel like it’s taking place in the game world.

New game modes. Fun enough and add some variety to game lists which is welcome. If they can keep these rotating and add attrition back in, then this season should be ok. Certainly, the game mode choice is a lot healthier. I would like the ability to select some of these modes from their own playlist though. Right now, many are lumped together under one playlist which, if you aren’t playing for hours on end could mean you end up playing two three games of modes you have no interest in just to get to one you do.

New Modes

I’m not going to cover all the modes now and I’m sure you’ve all seen a list of them by now anyway but the two standouts for me are King of the Hill and Last Spartan standing. Each brings something different to the pool of game types.

King of the Hill we have a variation on the control game type, but everyone is fighting over the same piece of dirt. It’s interesting to me because it really changes up the way the mode needs to be approached. It really requires team work to get through cause if you all camp in the zone you’ll soon be dead.

Last Spartan standing is the standout new mode as it gives us something completely different. It mixes elements of FFA and attrition with the addition of the danger zone. Last man standing is tons of fun. Tense but forgiving enough to suite different playstyles. You can camp out and try to survive but when you come up against the final few opponents you might not be equipped with a suitable weapon. I have seen people make effective use of the equipment lying around to even things up so it’s not all about sweaty 1v1 skills. I also had a real sense of achievement when I won a match. I’d like to see this across some of the other maps as so far, I’ve only played on Breaker. The only problem I had with this mode was in one match where I got down to the final 2 or 3 players and respawned in an area that required me to run through the danger zone which ended in my death. Hopefully, this small bug and wont impact players on a regular basis. This mode has a ton of potential and if we can see it develop with its own variations, I’d be all for that. BR or sniper starts could a be a lot of fun for mid-season event for example.

Performance. This is where the wheels came off for me and for many others last night. Desync was so bad on day one I had to stop playing. Some games were ok, just, but the rest were unplayable, and I had to stop. I was playing in the morning, and everything was fine, so my problems only started after season 2 released. I played again this morning and things were much better. Most of the problems I encountered on the first play through were gone with the exception of some hit registration and melee which seems to not work some of the time. I thought it was me not hitting the button right, but it happened across multiple game modes and maps, and it feels like a bug.

Maps

The new maps are good. Of the two Breaker is my favourite so far with an excellent art style and some nice touches. It will make a terrific addition to the big team battle and any other modes it appears in. There are some innovative design choices which really add something to the gameplay. The verticality of the map alongside the man cannons and slides will make for some great movement plays in the coming weeks. For me, it’s also the first map which feels like the banished are present on Zeta Halo. The original set of maps are a little generic and some, like Bazaar and streets really could be from any FPS game. We now need more maps and quickly as these two aren’t enough to last 6 months.

Changes

There were many changes and fixes not only to the multiplayer but also the campaign. Regarding the campaign changes I’m not too upset. I was unlikely to take advantage of any of these glitches anyway and I don’t believe most players would either. I’d happily watch other people use them to speed run or just blow stuff up with the tank cannon. So, the question is why remove a feature/glitch that affects so few people. Like I said most players won’t care but the ones that do really care and they are vocal about it. The last thing Halo needs is more negative feedback from a fanbase that already feels like the developers don’t get it!

343 have no PR sense

Sliding has been nerfed and this is a strange one. When the game released the sliding mechanics seemed very deliberate and created some sense of skill gap. But I understand the point about map rotation speed creating scenarios where teams could be dominated. The better players can practically spawn camp of they get on top of the other side. I didn’t see too much of this over the last few months but perhaps this has been a problem which needed addressing.

Mangler has been nerfed too but that was op. The Ravager has been buffed and it’s a beast now. It seems far more useful as a mid-range support weapon, even in primary fire mode.

Where does this leave the rest of the game?

What’s clear to me from my limited play time is that two maps really aren’t enough. Yes, it adds more diversity to the map rotation but it’s such a small number anyway that it still gets old pretty quickly. Last man standing is a fine addition to the game and I can see myself playing this quite a lot in the coming weeks. It’s certainly unlike anything else we have in Infinite and is a breath of fresh air.

This is a good start to the season and hopefully player numbers will improve, and fans will recognise that this game needs time. Having said that a mid-season content drop of 3 or 4 maps would go a long long way to improving the situation. With rumours of new games starting development and the additional Warzone / Battle Royale being worked on by Certain Affinity there is a lot to look forward to. It’s just a shame that most of it won’t be coming until the end of 2022 at the earliest.