The last three months of 2021 are packed with FPS titles for fans to look forward to. New entries in three of the biggest FPS franchises in the games industry are being released all in time for the Holiday season, with Halo, Battlefield, and Call of Duty all competing for the wallets and attention of players. While the number of titles releasing is good for most shooter fans to find a new game and experience that they enjoy, it also can make it difficult for some fans to decide which titles to pick up.
Luckily, each of the three titles have had betas to give players a chance to try them out for themselves. While the betas have now finished, interested players can still look into what other players and influencers thought of the games, while even checking out some game footage of all three to help them make up their minds. Each of the betas tells a different story about their respective titles, with each game offering a unique experience to players when it releases in the coming months. However, one title in particular seems more ready for its release than the others.
Halo Infinite's Beta
Halo Infinite is bringing quite a number of changes to the classic series when it launches on Xbox consoles and PC in December. Not only is its multiplayer going free-to-play for the first time, but it also is introducing a load of new weapons, abilities, vehicles, and movement techniques to its matches.
The game has now had two closed betas that each focused on its multiplayer mode; there was no content for its campaign, or the forge mode that will come after release. While the betas were not open to all fans, they garnered a very positive reception amongst the Halo Insider community. One particular highlight was the new abilities like the repulsor and grapple hook. The Halo subreddit was quickly flooded with clips of players managing trick shot kills with Halo Infinite's repulsor, while it also received numerous posts praising the beta's polish and exciting new gameplay.
Halo Infinite's betas also included a rotation of game modes that gave players a peek at some of the various experiences the game will offer, such as Big Team Battle and Slayer. The first beta mostly saw players facing off against bots, which impressed many players with how competent they seemed, but players eventually got to face off against one another towards the end of the first beta and during the second.
However, there are some changes that players are hoping to see when Halo Infinite fully launches. These are nothing major, and mostly include player collision, weapon tuning, some ability rebalancing, and a few other changes that could definitely come through balance updates.
Battlefield 2042's Beta
Battlefield 2042's open beta just wrapped up recently, and it has received a mix of impressions from fans of the series. Fans have praised the game's gunplay and new scale, but many complaints have also risen from the community as well.
The beta only includes one of Battlefield 2042's three distinct game modes that will be featured at launch and includes one map, four specialists, and a handful of guns for players to experiment with. However, many who participated in the beta have taken the time to highlight the frequent technical issues and bugs they are experiencing in Battlefield 2042. Of course, every game the size of Battlefield 2042 has bugs, especially in its beta state, but the frequency and severity of the bugs have led some fans to call for the game to be delayed again so that it can launch in a more prepared state.
Fans have also voiced some concerns that they have about the game's core systems following the beta's release as well. These include a number of features missing from Battlefield 2042 that were present in previous titles, such as first-person assassination animations, learning around corners, and crawling backwards.
However, many fans have also voiced complaints regarding Battlefield 2042's specialist system that is replacing the series' iconic class structure. One large complaint in this area is how difficult the lack of factions in matches has made it for players to quickly identify which other players are friendly and which are enemies. It may be difficult for the developers at DICE to make all of the fixes players are calling for by the time Battlefield 2042 launches, but hopefully, the team is able to find the time to address some of the game's issues that are present in the beta.
Call of Duty: Vanguard's Beta
Call of Duty: Vanguard jumped into the beta arena early this year, and already closed out its round of three different betas. The first was for PlayStation players only and focused on Call of Duty: Vanguard's new Champion Hill mode, inspired by Modern Warfare's popular Gunfight mode. While players were largely impressed with the game's visuals and use of its engine, there were many calls for balance changes to Champion Hill for Vanguard's launch. The later two betas were concerned more with the game's standard multiplayer mode, with one being exclusive to PlayStation players who pre-ordered the game and the other being open to players on all platforms.
The second two beta tests were largely well-received by fans of the series, with many praising the game's destruction system and atmosphere. There were some changes called for by the community following the beta, but developer Sledgehammer Games has already detailed some changes that will be made in preparation for Vanguard's launch.
Call of Duty: Vanguard's beta was also relatively well polished, although it did have some technical issues that interrupted the fun for players every once in a while. However, the issues were nothing major and seemed likely to be fixable ahead of the game's release. Hopefully, with all three titles releasing in the coming months every FPS fan will be able to find a new shooter that they can enjoy this holiday season.