With the next-generation of console drawing ever closer, Halo Infinite remains one of the biggest games of 2020. Halo has always been Microsoft's biggest franchise, and launching the Xbox Series X with Halo Infinite is a no-brainer.
On July 23, 2020, Microsoft held its Xbox Series X games showcase, which gave fans their very first look at Halo Infinite gameplay. Unfortunately, the footage didn't exactly impress a lot of fans and even drew quite a bit of backlash for Xbox.
It's a bit worrying considering Halo Infinite is Microsoft's big title of the year, and it's headlining launch title for the Xbox Series X. It's not incredibly complicated why there's fan backlash, however, as a lot of it boils down to the promised performance of the Xbox Series X.
Why Halo Infinite Is Getting Backlash From Fans
Halo 5: Guardians was an incredibly divisive game, which means expectations for Halo Infinite are already high. The simple answer for Infinite's backlash boils down to graphics and presentation, and how unimpressive the gameplay demo was. Many fans noticed that Halo Infinite practically looked like a last-gen game, in terms of overall visual quality.
Halo Infinite is going for a stylized look, one that falls in line with the style of the very first game. However, character models and close-up textures looked particularly rough during the presentation; like the Brute that's now become a meme. On top of that, the live stream itself had a rough presentation and had slowdown at multiple times during the Halo Infinite demo, which only made matters worse.
While it was just a gameplay reveal, the reason it hit so hard with fans is because of Microsoft's entire messaging plan around the Xbox Series X. Ever since it's reveal, Microsoft has been calling the Xbox Series X the "most powerful console ever." Even going to the official website the first thing someone sees is "fastest" and "most powerful." When Microsoft trots out its absolute biggest game and it falls well below that most powerful ever idea, it's understandable that fans might be worried.
Things have gone even further with fans comparing Halo Infinite screenshots to PS4's The Last of Us 2. Sure the reveal was marred by some technical issues, but it isn't just Microsoft struggling with how to properly show off next-gen games. Eurogamer and Digital Foundry have a video going over the gameplay in detail and talk about how Halo Infinite switches to a brand new dynamic lighting system. Halo Infinite's reveal definitely didn't hit the way Microsoft wanted it to, but do fans have anything to worry about?
Halo Infinite Is Still an In-Development Game
The most important thing to keep in mind is that Halo Infinite is still a work in progress, and that work in progress was only hampered even more by the poor quality on YouTube. The Xbox Series X has 12 teraflops, and can even outstrip the PS4 in terms of raw specs. It's easy to see, however, how this presentation may not have been representative of the actual game. The gameplay section shown off was entirely outside, whereas an indoor segment may have looked better. It's also important to remember that Halo Infinite will run at 60fps at all times, which may lead to some slight compromises in terms of visual quality, even with the power of the Xbox Series X. Since Halo Infinite's reveal, 343 Industries has recommended that fans go back and watch the 4K version of the trailer, to see its "full fidelity." Even then, though, fans might be limited by the hardware they use. Apparently, the demo was also an "in-progress" version played on PC, according to 343 Industries.
At this point, it's too hard to say if Halo Infinite's graphics have been properly shown off. Considering the game is still in development 343 Industries may have more fine-tuning to do, but that won't stop fans from comparing Halo Infinite to other games in the series, and games on other platforms.
Halo Infinite launches Holiday 2020 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and PC.