"The Banished" Seem To Be Making an Appearance in Halo Infinite

[Nick Calandra]

Probably the most interesting bit of Halo Infinite news we've gotten so far is this tease that The Banished are going to be making their debut in a mainline Halo game. They were introduced in Halo Wars 2 and are basically remnant extremists from the Covenant, with a very interesting Brute leader called Atriox. He's introduced in Halo Wars 2 and is pretty freakin' ruthless, but we don't learn a whole lot about him during the story.

Curious where they're gonna go with Infinite, but bringing The Banished in instead of the boring Forerunner stuff is a very big step in the right direction I think.

Halo Infinite Teaser Hints at the Return of the Banished

Microsoft has teased the Banished in a Halo Infinite clip. Developer 343 Industries will share more during the July Xbox 20/20 presentation.

www.escapistmagazine.com

 

[CriticalGaming]

I keep forgetting Halo is a thing.

Like does Halo still have an audience? Because i feel like Destiny 1 and 2 have taken that mantle from the Halo series, especially since i heard the Halo 5 was a pile of garbage.

I don't think i know anyone personally who is excited for this......or even aware it's a game that's happening.

 

[thebobmaster]

I keep forgetting Halo is a thing.

Like does Halo still have an audience? Because i feel like Destiny 1 and 2 have taken that mantle from the Halo series, especially since i heard the Halo 5 was a pile of garbage.

I don't think i know anyone personally who is excited for this......or even aware it's a game that's happening.

Hey, Halo fan here. Sup.

Halo 5 was a disappointment, for sure, but it sounds like 343 is aware of the missteps they made with Halo 5 and are actively working to correct them. I hope they pull it off.

 

[CriticalGaming]

Hey, Halo fan here. Sup.

Halo 5 was a disappointment, for sure, but it sounds like 343 is aware of the missteps they made with Halo 5 and are actively working to correct them. I hope they pull it off.

Oh what's up Halo fan! *waves*

Cool. Well i hope the game turns out awesome for you.

 

[Hawki]

Probably the most interesting bit of Halo Infinite news we've gotten so far

More like one of the only.

Seriously, Infinite is meant to come out at the end of this year, and we still know next to nothing about it.

Curious where they're gonna go with Infinite, but bringing The Banished in instead of the boring Forerunner stuff is a very big step in the right direction I think.

I think they're shooting themselves in the foot TBH.

Halo 5 left us with a cliffhanger. However one feels about the game and said cliffhanger, a sequel should, ideally, resolve that cliffhanger. Instead, Infinite seems to be going down the route of a soft reboot. Which is fine in principle, but I feel like we'll have another Rise of Skywalker on our hands. And even not, dealing with the Created and Banished in the same game? That could be iffy.

I keep forgetting Halo is a thing.

Like does Halo still have an audience? Because i feel like Destiny 1 and 2 have taken that mantle from the Halo series, especially since i heard the Halo 5 was a pile of garbage.

I can't comment on the gameplay of Destiny, but on the story/lore? No. Halo and Destiny are very different in a lot of ways.

Halo recycled tropes from Marathon, and Destiny recycled tropes from Halo (and arguably Myth), but Halo has far more in common with Marathon than Destiny, to the extent that some thought they were in the same universe. But even that aside, the 'feel' of Halo is very different from Destiny. Halo is military sci-fi that veers towards the "hard" end of the spectrum, Destiny is science fantasy.

As for Halo 5, to this day, I never got the dislike for Halo 5. It isn't the worst Halo game ever made (*cough*ODST*cough), and it seems that everyone was so busy ragging on Halo 5 that they forgot how terrible Halo 4 was, or at the least, how disliked it was when it was released. Personally, my iffiness about Infinite is that it seems to be trying to ignore Halo 5, which, as stated, ended on a cliffhanger. If you want a soft reboot of a franchise, at least deal with that cliffhanger.

 

[ObsidianJones]

More like one of the only.

Seriously, Infinite is meant to come out at the end of this year, and we still know next to nothing about it.

Can't agree with you more.

Marketing never knows anything about Balance. It's either Movie Trailer amounts of giving everything away that you've already seen the best bits at that moment, or reading a name and remembering it's a thing that someone talked about literally years ago at this time.

Seriously, the Announcement Trailer is now officially two years old. After the disappointment of 5, I don't expect to learn of the story at this point, but at least I expect to be given something to look forward to. Enhancements, features, something.

That leads to problems as well. Now I expect to be completely blown away or I won't care. Little things to keep me hyped keeps me invested. Waiting this long makes it an all or nothing situation.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Since I don't have an Xbox and I don't plan on getting one anytime soon, the only thing that interests me is the story and the updated aesthetic. Hopefully the Chief and other Spartans start looking like soldiers again and not fucking Power Rangers.

 

[laggyteabag]

Since I don't have an Xbox and I don't plan on getting one anytime soon

It is also coming to PC, if you have a decent enough one.

Seriously, Infinite is meant to come out at the end of this year, and we still know next to nothing about it.

I hear this complaint quite a bit, but what exactly are you expecting? It is another entry into a well established franchise - its going to be more Halo, with a few extra bells and whistles attached. Besides, there is no real benefit to marketing much of anything, more than a few months before the thing comes out. Hell, Apex Legends was announced and released on the same day, and that game is reasonably popular - sure, the game is F2P, but it does show that a long marketing campaign isnt exactly necessary for success.

That being said, the gameplay reveal is expected sometime next month, so I would expect the marketing to ramp up after that.

Curious where they're gonna go with Infinite, but bringing The Banished in instead of the boring Forerunner stuff is a very big step in the right direction I think.

I think we are fooling ourselves with the idea that the Banished will be in any way replacing the Forerunner/Created storyline. I'd imagine that The Banished are only in the game, to contextualise whatever Covenant presence there is. The Created will still take center stage, I'd bet.

dealing with the Created and Banished in the same game? That could be iffy.

Every single Halo game, with the exception of Reach and ODST, has dealt with at least 2 enemy factions. Im sure Halo Infinite will be fine.
...
As for me, im morbidly curious about Halo Infinite, but at least a little cautiously optimistic.

Neither Halo 4 or 5 were particularly well received, in anything other than critical reception, and we can see Halo Infinite changing course quite a bit, just by looking at the artstyle. So at least we know that 343 is listening.

Im desperately hoping that Halo Infinite will gO bAcK tO iTs RoOtS , but we will have to see when we take our first look at the game next month.

But if I see a character sprint, I will just assume the worst

Halo just has not been a popular game for quite a while, and im desperate for it to come back to greatness. Reach added in some controversial mechanics, which Halo 4 then doubled-down on, resulting in the game's population basically taking a nosedive after launch week, and Halo 5 made some positive changes, but has been completely absent from Xbox's top 50 games in a while, even with a 5 year-old Call of Duty, DayZ, Fallout 76 and Farming Simulator making the list - so something obviously went wrong, there.

As for the campaign, im pretty sure that they are going for something open-world, and I hate open world games. But at least there is the potential for a cool story.

We will just have to wait and see how it looks - but like I said, morbidly curious (but a little hopeful)

 

[Hawki]

I hear this complaint quite a bit, but what exactly are you expecting? It is another entry into a well established franchise - its going to be more Halo, with a few extra bells and whistles attached. Besides, there is no real benefit to marketing much of anything, more than a few months before the thing comes out. Hell, Apex Legends was announced and released on the same day, and that game is reasonably popular - sure, the game is F2P, but it does show that a long marketing campaign isnt exactly necessary for success.

The thing is though, Halo Infinite was announced at E3 2018, with development entering planning stages in September 2015. So that's five years of development, two years of teasing. If Halo Infinite was announced only a few months before release, sure, but again, two years. And how much do we actually know as fact? So far, it's the following:

-John will be the primary character

-It's a "spiritual reboot"

-It will have multiplayer, including microtransactions

-There won't be a battle royale mode

-At least part of it takes place on a Halo ring

-The Banished will feature

And really, that's it. You might be able to add smaller tidbits, but I can't even give you the basic premise of the game, or tell you anything about its gameplay. In my experience, that isn't a normal state of affairs.

Im desperately hoping that Halo Infinite will gO bAcK tO iTs RoOtS , but we will have to see when we take our first look at the game next month.

"Back to our roots" is a phrase that's often code for "we've run out of ideas, so let's go back to basics."

I don't have a problem with the art style being changed to better resemble Bungie's, but I'm really dubious as to the idea of rebooting the series at this point.

Halo just has not been a popular game for quite a while. Reach added in some controversial mechanics, which Halo 4 then doubled-down on, resulting in the game's population basically taking a nosedive after the week of launch, and Halo 5 is a game that I haven't even seen in the Xbox One's top 50 games in a while, even with games like a 5 year-old Call of Duty game, DayZ, Fallout 76 and Farming Simulator being in the list.

Infinite Warfare is more popular than Halo 5? I find that hard to believe. I mean, I really liked Infinite Warfare, but I'm the exception there.

Also, I'm not sure how fair those comparisons are - Fallout 76 is newer, Day Z is newer, and Farming Simulator, going by Wikipedia, is insanely popular regardless. Halo 5 is five years old, but I can still find matches easily for it.

As for the campaign, im pretty sure that they are going for something open-world, and I hate open world games.

That's my fear as well.

Halo's done exploration well in the past (see the first ground mission in CE for instance), but its wide open levels were still actual levels, and in each game you had more focused levels to balance them. But I've got a bad feeling it will indeed go open world.

 

[laggyteabag]

The thing is though, Halo Infinite was announced at E3 2018, with development entering planning stages in September 2015. So that's five years of development, two years of teasing. If Halo Infinite was announced only a few months before release, sure, but again, two years. And how much do we actually know as fact? So far, it's the following:

[STUFF]

And really, that's it. You might be able to add smaller tidbits, but I can't even give you the basic premise of the game, or tell you anything about its gameplay. In my experience, that isn't a normal state of affairs.

I will give it to you that it is unusual that the game has been teased for 2 years, and we haven't seen or heard of anything else in-between those trailers, but at the same time, this is the sequel to a massive AAA franchise - we can already assume what the game is going to look/sound/play like, based on what we have seen before - everything else is just icing on the cake. If it was some new IP, it would be weirder, but we already knew that a new Halo game was coming anyway, so to me it really doesn't matter.

Besides, we are still expecting the next Call of Duty game this year, and that doesn't even have a confirmed title, yet.

"Back to our roots" is a phrase that's often code for "we've run out of ideas, so let's go back to basics."

I don't have a problem with the art style being changed to better resemble Bungie's, but I'm really dubious as to the idea of rebooting the series at this point.

I just don't think modern Halo has worked too well, so going back to basics is A-OK for me.

I do agree though, with being wary of the idea of a soft-reboot. I never in a million years thought that Halo needed one, and im not really too sure what it means for Halo Infinite, but im curious to see.

Infinite Warfare is more popular than Halo 5? I find that hard to believe. I mean, I really liked Infinite Warfare, but I'm the exception there.

I meant Black Ops 3, which came out in 2015 - alongside Halo 5. Infinite Warfare is almost 4 years old, coming out in 2016.

Infinite Warfare is not on the top 50 Xbox games, if you were wondering.

Also, I'm not sure how fair those comparisons are - Fallout 76 is newer, Day Z is newer, and Farming Simulator, going by Wikipedia, is insanely popular regardless. Halo 5 is five years old, but I can still find matches easily for it.

Its more of a comment on the quality or sheer weirdness of these games.

Fallout 76 was panned by basically everyone, and yet more people are playing it than Halo 5

DayZ was a "dead game", last I checked. Though, looking at the Steam charts, the last time I checked was apparently sometime around 2018, where the game had just under 2000 players - now it has picked up to around 18,000, which is admittedly quite impressive.

And Farming Simulator just struck me as weird more than anything - that a niche Farming Sim game on a console, would be more popular than the last entry to the Xbox's flagship franchise.

The main point was Halo 5's direct CoD competitor, though, in Black Ops 3. Why is it that a CoD game the same age as Halo 5 is on the list, but Halo 5 is not? I would have thought that it would have been somewhere on this list, even if it was middle/bottom, but it is just completely absent. Halo 3 was still in the top 20 in 2011 - four years after that came out - and even though it dropped below the top 20 in 2012, I would have still imagined that it was somewhere in the top 50. What happened with Halo 5?

 

[Hawki]

Besides, we are still expecting the next Call of Duty game this year, and that doesn't even have a confirmed title, yet.

It's either Call of Duty: Black Ops, or Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War.

...yeah, I rag on about Halo doing a reboot, but CoD's about to reboot two of its sub-series back to back.

I meant Black Ops 3, which came out in 2015 - alongside Halo 5. Infinite Warfare is almost 4 years old, coming out in 2016.

Guess my maths was wrong. But unlike Infinite Warfare, BLOPS being more popular than Halo doesn't surprise me. I mean, it's CoD. It's pretty much more popular than most IPs, and as far as I can tell, Black Ops is the fanbase's preferred sub-series.

The main point was Halo 5's direct CoD competitor, though, in Black Ops 3. Why is it that a CoD game the same age as Halo 5 is on the list, but Halo 5 is not? I would have thought that it would have been somewhere on this list, even if it was middle/bottom, but it is just completely absent. Halo 3 was still in the top 20 in 2011 - four years after that came out - and even though it dropped below the top 20 in 2012, I would have still imagined that it was somewhere in the top 50. What happened with Halo 5?

Well, Halo 5 had mixed reception, but even that aside, the landscape that Halo 5 was released in isn't the same one that Halo 3 was released in.

Halo 1 was very influential. Halo 3 and CoD 4 however, released in the same year, and while the former capped off a trilogy, the latter pretty much spawned the MMS sub-genre. At least since then, CoD's probably been the more popular franchise, at least by raw sales numbers. But even that aside, what are the major FPS trends right now? Battle royale, and before that, hero shooters. BLOPS 4 sold itself on its battle royale mode, while Halo Infinite explicitly won't have a mode.

I guess the difference is that however you feel about the IPs, CoD has broader appeal than Halo and shaped modern trends, and also adapted to them. Halo hasn't really been influential for well over a decade.

 

[SilentPony]

I like Halo Reach. That's a good Halo game. The rest i can take it or leave it. And even when it comes to Reach yeah it needs to be multiplayer with friends.