It’s possible that I was simply expecting too much from Halo Infinite but I was honestly shocked at the trailer they showed yesterday. Nothing about what I saw seemed especially “Next Gen” to me. In fact, there were parts that barely looked current gen. Had MS started with some sort of message letting us know that this is early footage (2016?) or that due to COVID they are not ready to show the final game. The long close up shot of your bad guy giving a monologue is what you do when you’re showing off just how incredible your tech is. Beyond the strange visuals, the game play was unbelievably boring. I understand that Halo Infinite is supposed to be a return to basics in some ways but what I saw felt regressive. Again, maybe I had set my hopes too high. There’s also plenty of time before the launch but you only get one chance to make a first impression and that wasn’t a good one.
The rest of the presentation was fine. It makes a very strong case for Game Pass which I already subscribe to. I’m very excited for Everwild and I think Fable will probably be excellent considering they gave it to Playground games. I just keep thinking back to the trailer they released for Halo 5. I know that's a cinematic, but nothing has ever gotten me so pumped to play a video game. I actually went out and bought a Halo book to fucking read after watching that trailer. I was ready to be excited for a new Halo game. I was ready to see Microsoft’s flagship title showing off the power of their new box. I'm still looking forward the new Xbox but I didn’t see that.
-Gabe out
