Microsoft finally revealed several consecutive minutes ofHalo Infinitegameplay, and though it was a very enlightening experience, it brought to mind a lot of questions as well. One of the main things that fans want to know after what they’ve seen at theXbox Games Showcaseis if the game will be open world.
PreviousHalogames have all been mission-focused, where players would traverse each area of the game one by one separated by loading screens and cutscenes. This has worked great for the franchise in the past, but the gameplay shown ofHalo Infiniteseemed to lend towards an open world feel rather than isolated instances.
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Not long after the showcase, 343 industries' very own Paul Crocker opened up about the matter. Crocker is the narrative director forHalo Infinite, but many may recognize his work on theBatman: Arkhamseries, where he provided the same role to critical acclaim.
When asked whetherHalo Infinitewould be an open-world game, Crocker explained that it would be somewhere in between what fans expect from atraditionalHalogameand the classic open-world formula. He ensures fans that 343 Industries did not want to create something which was just like every other open-world game on the market, taking extra care to include elements that would make it feel distinctlyHalowhen compared to other games. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to go into too much detail about what this meant exactly, as it seems that 343 Industries isn’t ready to reveal too much just yet.
He does go on to claim thatHalo Infinitewill be bigger than bothHalo 4andHalo 5combined, which is a promising concept. Furthermore, it has been stated previously that 343 Industries has no intention of making aHalo 7any time soon, instead,343 Industries is opting to actively supportHalo Infinitethroughout the lifetime of the Xbox Series Xat least. With that in mind, the game will need to be big if it is to survive that long, and an open-world style lends well to this sort of longevity.
When Crocker says it will be a mix of the two, that most likely means that the ring will be broken up into different areas. These independent areas will be large and resemble open-world maps but will still require loading screens or something similar to travel between. There may also beMMO dungeon-like instanceswithin segments that act like the missions from previous games, but this is all simply speculation.
