A year into the Xbox Series’ life, Halo Infinite has finally released, and it seems like it was worth the wait. The early release of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer was met with much praise, and its free-to-play model opened the doors to more players than ever before. The campaign followed shortly afterward, and released to a fair amount of praise as well. Not everything is perfect, and a few large features including campaign co-op and Forge are still missing, but those improvements will roll in over time. The first few years of 343 Industries’ Halo run were rough, but the developer is finally finding its footing and pleasing fans.

There have been a few particularly divisive elements of Halo Infinite, however, and one of them is the implementation of cosmetics. Spartan customization has been a major part of Halo since 2007’s Halo 3. Making a player’s Spartan avatar feel like their own has been a motivator to some players, and given some armor sets, like the ninja-inspired Hayabusa, a life of their own. Infinite does allow for a lot of customization with its different Personal AI, weapons, and vehicles, but it’s in the ever-present armor that Halo Infinite falls short. There are several problems with how armor customization is currently implemented, and some of them have very simple fixes.

RELATED: Halo Infinite: Who Are the Endless?

All Armor Cores Should Be Cross-Compatible

halo infinite new maps

The current options for armor customization in Halo Infinite consist of armor coating, helmets, visors, chest pieces, left and right shoulder pieces, gloves, hip pieces, and knee pads. There is also an option to apply a preset armor kit based on an existing design. While this sounds like a reasonably detailed customization system, it’s strangely restrictive.

Attachment pieces, helmets, and coatings are locked to specific armor cores, and armor kits replace whatever core they’re applied to with no customization allowed. It makes some sense that differently shaped pieces would be restricted to avoid clipping, but players have noticed that randomly generated bots can use every customization option with hardly any issues. There’s no reason cross-core customization can’t be in Halo Infinite.

Armor Coatings Should Be Unified Across All Armor

halo-infinite-cyber-showdown-armor

Armor coatings also need to be made more widely available and should be unified, if not across all armor and vehicles, then with all armor. Right now, basic colors need to be earned or bought for each armor core, which robs character customization fans of one of their most basic options. It would be better if basic color coatings were made easy to unlock, and that all unlocked colors could be used with any core. Special coatings with multiple colors, unusual hues, and extra details can be reserved for battle pass progression, but players should be given the essentials up-front.

Custom Coatings and Emblems Should Be Implemented

halo infinite winter 2021 event

Granular options are important for detailed character customization, and Halo Infinite is short on them. It would be nice to see custom coating and emblems be implemented for players to partially design themselves. Patterns and presets that players can slot their unlocked coating colors into would be a good start and could make for good battle pass rewards.

Some way to edit emblems would be appreciated, but failing that, it would be a good idea to allow players to layer, edit, and position them on armor, weapons, and vehicles. Even a rudimentary sticker system permitting splashes of mud and numbers (also placed in battle passes) would go a long way towards making player characters look distinct.

Let Players Unlock Armor Through Achievements

Snghnz526ghFiipWVMB9D_1800x900

The suggestion to go back to how Halo 3 handled cosmetic unlocks is easy to make, but Halo Infinite isn’t built to support it. It used to be that certain armor pieces could be unlocked through campaign progress, multiplayer progress, certain achievements, collectibles, and even Gamerscore. While Halo Infinite has some cosmetics hidden in its campaign’s open world, none of them are armor pieces.

However, if Halo Infinite ever gets more campaign content, there should be at least one armor core and associated set of cosmetics unlocked via certain feats. Those would include beating certain levels on Heroic or higher, collecting all of one collectible, and just clearing the story. It would take some pressure off players pursuing multiplayer progression, and it would be a good incentive to invest time and money into another campaign.

Halo Infinite is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: Explaining the Halo Infinite Buzz Lightyear Crossover Rumors