When 343 Industries launched the first beta for Halo Infinite, many fans came away impressed with the multiplayer experience. While not a complete replica of the earlier games, Infinite’s multiplayer evoked the same feelings and suggested that the developers were on the right track.
Now that the Halo Infinite multiplayer has officially launched (albeit still under a beta label), players have begun to look at the experience more closely. There have already been changes made to the game’s Battle Pass based on criticisms, but there are a few other elements that some players feel need tuning. Grenades, for example, have become a controversial topic as of late.
Halo Infinite and Grenade Usage
While many games tend to use grenades as one-hit-kill options with specific viability, grenades in Halo are almost as essential as weapons and melee attacks. In a way, grenade use is more a part of Halo’s DNA than a lot of other shooters and can be used in a variety of ways. A player can open an engagement with a well-placed grenade to weaken an opponent, and then get some shots to finish them off. At the same time, a skilled player can use a grenade to gain the upper hand in a losing gunfight.
But while that grenade utility in Halo Infinite helps make it unique, it also can be a bit excessive. Some would argue that grenades are overused in Halo Infinite because of how readily available they are. Not only do players start with two grenades without any sort of cooldown, but also the grenade spawns around the map are near-instant. Most Halo Infinite players have likely experienced a ton of grenade spam while playing, if not having thrown a ton themselves.
Newcomers to Halo are those who are most surprised by the experience because so many games teach players to be considerate with their explosives. In Halo Infinite, sometimes the best answer is just to toss both grenades and hope for the best. Obviously more skilled players can do some crazy things with grenades like bouncing them off walls or quickly tossing them at their feet and backing up, but the question is how often that should be an option. Are two grenades too much?
At the same time, the usage of grenades helps eliminate some of the egregious camping that can go on in an objective-based Halo Infinite mode. If a team can simply “turtle” in a specific spot on a map in Oddball, they would normally be able to take a huge lead or even win outright. But the copious number of grenades available allows the opposition to flush that team out and potentially give themselves an advantage when charging in.
343 Industries has already said that it is monitoring feedback from players and it would not be surprising to hear that grenades are near the top of the studio’s list of potential balancing issues. Perhaps setting grenades on a cooldown is the answer, or making it so players only spawn with one grenade could help eliminate some of that excessive use. The hope is that whatever change Halo Infinite makes doesn’t push the game too far from its current identity. Most agree that Halo Infinite is in a good place, gameplay-wise; it just might be worth tuning some elements down a bit.
Halo Infinite multiplayer is available now.