Halo fans created comparison images that highlight how much Halo Infinite's visuals have improved since its showing in 2020. This effort comes just hours after Microsoft and developer 343 Industries unleashed a brand-new story trailer for Halo Infinite, which showcases the shooter's graphical upgrades, plot, and semi-open-world areas of exploration.
Originally unveiled at E3 2018, Halo Infinite's first major showing occurred during the Xbox Games Showcase in July 2020. The less-than-stellar gameplay reveal left viewers disappointed, due in large part to a subpar graphics display that remains the stuff of internet memes. It came as no surprise, then, that Microsoft and 343 decided to delay the game's release outside of its initially scheduled November 2020 launch. As such, the development team has spent the last year and change improving upon the new Halo entry from every angle. And though features like ray tracing won't come to Halo Infinite until after launch, it's abundantly clear how much the protracted development period benefited the overall project.
In the wake of the new campaign trailer, Halo faithful have taken to websites such as Reddit and Imgur to share comparison shots of the 2020 footage and the latest look at gameplay. One comparison image from Redditor Okapi05 demonstrates Halo Infinite's much-improved lighting and graphical fidelity. While not in-engine, screenshots uploaded by Lost-Hero highlight changes to the infamous Brute character. Another Brute takes center stage in sso02147's comparison picture, which offers a glimpse at the character model's enhanced textures. Finally, a pair of stills on Imgur accentuate the lighting, texture, and hair improvements to human characters.
brute close pic from halo
As evidenced in the recent Halo Infinite Technical Preview, 343's latest endeavor in the Master Chief-starring universe has received more than fair few drastic changes. And it seems the studio's efforts have helped restore faith in the forthcoming shooter.
Bungie passed the green baton to 343 Industries roughly a decade ago, culminating in the latter's first solo Halo adventure - 2012's Halo 4. The crew at 343 has since co-developed Spartan Assault and Spartan Strike alongside Vanguard Games, helmed Halo 5: Guardians, and worked with Creative Assembly to bring Halo Wars 2 to market in early 2017. Reason suggests the adventures won't stop with Infinite's launch.
Halo Infinite hits PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S platforms this holiday season on December 8.