Halo Infinite's first technical preview gave players plenty of time to go hands-on with 343 Industries' latest entry in long-running sci-fi FPS series, though changes to the way the game's radar works compared to past entries had some fans alarmed. For the first time, players got to play with new weapons, test out new equipment, and check out how Halo Infinite's battle pass will work, and while it seems most came away feeling generally positive, the radar remained a sticking point for some.
As players spent more time with the tech preview, some of the bigger changes 343 is making to the tried-and-true Halo formula became apparent. Sprinting, in particular, has seen big changes in Halo Infinite compared to how it worked in Halo 5. Now, sprinting is barely faster than normal movement speed, but allows for shields to recharge mid-sprint. This has been viewed largely as a good thing, but the way the game's radar works has left players decidedly more divided.
This change to Halo Infinite's radar could have big repercussions for how Halo multiplayer is played. In Halo, the motion tracker radar is a powerful tool, showing enemies who move within a certain range as a big red dot. This gives players an immediate sense of whether or not they may be in danger, depending on how many enemies are nearby. That's still the case in Halo Infinite, but with one big caveat - moving at normal speed no longer causes players to show up on radar. Here's why this one change is proving controversial and what it may mean for Halo Infinite multiplayer.
How Halo Infinite's New Radar Works
In every other Halo game, moving at normal speed would reveal players on radar. The only way to avoid this would be to crouch-walk. This allowed players to camp certain areas or or stealthily move from one location to the next without alerting nearby enemies. That's no longer the case in Halo Infinite. Players can move full speed without appearing on radar, with only sprinting, shooting, or "fast moving" players appearing, the latter likely meaning those using the new Grappleshot or other equipment.
It's a huge change. Not only does it make sprint mostly useless in Halo Infinite, considering the tactical downsides, it also means crouching serves no real purpose. Other than using the crouch button to start a slide, or needing to crouch to enter a small space, there's no reason to ever crouch-walk anywhere, since players can simply move normally without appearing on radar. This means its much easier for players, and teams as a whole, to move relatively unnoticed across maps, as long as they are out of enemy line-of-sight, making situations where a player may quickly find themselves outnumbered far more common.
The effect on how the game is played could be more than a little significant. Thanks to Halo Infinite's (albeit heavily nerfed) sprint, slide, and equipment like the Grappleshot, movement already feels fast in 343's latest compared to previous games in the series, excluding Halo 5. Having it so that players can now simply move at normal speed at all times, without appearing on radar, speeds up the game even more, as players rotate around Halo Infinite's maps in search of power weapons and equipment.
Longtime Halo fans still aren't entirely sure how to feel about the change, but if 343's goal was to speed up the pace of its soon to be free-to-play multiplayer, changing how the game's radar works was certainly a major way to do it. It remains to be seen if more changes to the radar will be coming prior to the game's Holiday 2021 launch, but it's becoming clear that after numerous entries in the franchise, Halo Infinite's combat is finally evolving in a major way.