A Halo Infinite player has spent over 1400 hours recreating one of the franchise's most iconic maps in Forge mode, with the map first seen in Halo 3. While Halo Infinite has a good selection of multiplayer maps to choose from, there's nothing quite like revisiting an old favorite.
Over the years, the Halo franchise has seen many iconic maps that have defined the success of the series. But as the gameplay has changed, not every map has been deemed suitable by 343 Industries for a return, with the older maps not suiting the modern, fast-paced approach of Halo Infinite. However, with the power of Forge mode, anything is possible now. While Forge wasn't part of Halo Infinite upon release, it was worth the long wait for gamers, being the most powerful iteration of the feature to date. Gamers are already flexing what can be done in the mode, and it'll be exciting to see how far they can push it in the future.
The map recreated in Halo Infinite's Forge mode was Valhalla, which made its debut all the way back in 2007 with Halo 3. It was an immediate fan favorite, and it seems that gamers haven't yet forgotten about it. Redditor PandoraOz implied in their post that it took a remarkable 1400 hours to complete the recreation, and every bit of detail in that time shows. The map is inch-perfect, all the way up to the skybox. The large nature of the map also means it could actually be suited to Halo Infinite's modern gameplay, so it's possible that 343 Industries includes the map in an upcoming community playlist.
This recreation shows how the long-term investment into Forge mode could pay off massively for 343 Industries. Upon release, Halo Infinite was planned to be supported for over 10 years, a plan which to many quickly seemed like a pipe dream. However, with such a powerful Forge mode, the developer now has the community to create an endless supply of maps for them, saving massively on development costs. With recreations like this, creators have over 20 years of maps to pull from, so it's not as if there'll be a shortage of inspiration, either.
Season 3 of Halo Infinite was seen to be a step in the right direction for 343 Industries, which has struggled to gain the approval of the community since the beginning of its tenure. Hopefully, the developer is able to carry this momentum forward over the next few months and ensure that Halo Infinite retains a healthy population after it hemorrhaged so many players upon release. It won't be easy, but after some reshuffling of personnel at the studio, there's light at the end of the tunnel for Halo fans.
Halo Infinite is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.