Xbox Game Studios and 343 Industries have finally unleashedHalo Infinite’s multiplayer to a huge population of players for testing. The latestHalo Infinitetest has been open not just to registered Halo Insiders, but also to their friends. The result is a diverse range of players getting access toHalo Infinitemultiplayer for the first time, where they’re able to see and judge the gameplay for themselves. One line of feedback has been unsurprisingly common.Halo Infiniteplayers are questioning where teammate collision is.
Posts shared on Reddit and on Twitter are calling attention to what they see as amajor missing feature inHalo Infinite. That feature is teammate collision, which prevents players from moving through their teammates.Halofans believe teammate collision adds strategic depth to a game and that it would makeHalo Infinitea better experience.
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WhatHaloplayerspoint to when they say strategic depth is the unique interactions that can come through teammate collision. For example, “stacking,” where one player crouches and another stands on their back. This can create sightlines that are unexpected in a competitive environment. Alternatively, players can use jumping off of a teammates' back to reach otherwise inaccessible locations faster or more easily than alone.
343 has, up until this point, said nothing about the possibility of introducing teammate collisions intoHalo Infinite. That, unfortunately, leaves much up to the imagination. It could mean that 343 plans to implement collision beforeHalo Infinite’s December launch. Or it could mean that 343 was hoping players would simply accept it and it wouldn’t become a topic of conversation. Unfortunately, given 343’s silence on the matter, it’s likely the latter.
There’s good reason for343 Industriesto potentially not want to introduce player collision, after all. What players call “strategic depth” could also be a strategic nightmare for developers. It makes certain areas accessible that may not have been otherwise and makes balancing maps that much harder due to the various “tricks” players can do with stacking.
With over two months left untilHalo Infinite’s launch, two possible scenarios arise. In one, either 343 already plans to implement collision orHalofanspersuade 343 and it changes before launch. In scenario two, it’s too late or 343 has no interest in implementing the feature. In either scenario,Halofans should still make sure 343 knows their preference. Hopefully, a response from 343 is offered at the very least.
Halo Infinitereleases December 8 on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
