consequences Halo infinity is close to exposing yourself to constant emotional whiplash. One day it tops the charts. Next, it feels like all social media is calling it a “dead game.” Or maybe the developer adds tons of cool stuff to the game…then breaks tons of other cool stuff…then undoes the broken stuff? Yes, it’s a wild ride. Yesterday developer 343 Industries rolled out a patch Pretending to fix (most of) what was broken by another patch earlier this month to announce it the second season of the first-person shooter.
Released May 3rd Halo infinity‘s second season, dubbed “Lone Wolves,” introduced a handful of new modes and cosmetics to the content-hungry game. But the patch for the update changed the game so much upset Halo infinity‘s core fandom. For one, a bug was introduced that caused the Battle Rifle, a burst-fire weapon that was an integral part of gloriole to s tow for decades. The developers also quietly removed a handful of skill jumps – traversal methods around levels that aren’t immediately obvious to most players, meaning they’re essentially shortcuts used by dedicated or knowledgeable individuals.
That battle rifle bug is now fixed, says 343. (Interestingly, 343 noted that the patch fixed the repeated firing of “semi-auto guns” in the game, but I haven’t heard of any other weapon aside from the battle rifle interference.) Earlier this month , gloriole Senior Community Manager John Junyszek confirmed that the jamming was indeed an unintentional mistake, but the studio has yet to publicly detail how it happened or why it took several weeks to undo the mistake. Representatives from 343 did not respond to a request for comment.
More importantly, yesterday’s patch restores a handful of skill jumps that were removed from four maps: Aquarius, Bazaar, Live Fire, and Streets. Yes, the so-called “pizza jump” – which lets you jump off a pizza shop’s awning to get into an adjacent building – is back, a restoration of one of the most popular map shortcuts in Halo infinity
Hope too pointed out that 343 did not restore every removed jump. For example, an electrical box on Live Fire that players once used as a shortcut to reach the central portion of the map is now purely cosmetic.
But on the other hand, some jumps that were briefly deleted are even better to see. A narrow ledge on Aquarius, for example, now has a yellow tube next to it. Without the whistle, a casual gamer could look at the edge and immediately write it off as part of the visual background. But with the yellow indicator, the curiosity of the player is aroused. It’s Video Games 101. You see a bright yellow thing, you want to jump on it. It’s all part of the developers’ never-ending quest for balance: making sure the game is fun for the most devoted fans without alienating casual gamers.
In this week’s patch notes, 343 simply said that “various skill jumps that relied on small props or thin ledges have been restored on the following maps” without further explaining it. I expect players will spend the coming days and weeks looking for any small changes the studio may have rolled out.
This week’s update also adds a number of smaller changes. In the campaign “Scorpion Pistol‘, an exploit that gives you access to a tank gun with unlimited ammo, is restored. (Speedrunners, rejoice!) And for the dozens of us who actually wear this season’s new Rakshasa armor set in multiplayer, your leg should no longer mysteriously disappear at the start of each game.
