Halo Infinite quick take (Gaming)

by Joe Duplessie (SNIPE 316) , Detroit, Thursday, July 23, 2020, 10:32 (1375 days ago) @ Cody Miller

This may be a small thing, but the small things are what made Halo great. The reticle in Halo infinite (and Halo 5) is in the center of the screen.

Glad you brought this up. It's pretty important to how Halo games feel, and it just feels way better with a controller.

That's why so many other shooters are lowering the crosshair these days (Far Cry, Borderlands, Prey, The Outer Worlds, Hunt: Showdown, etc). Studios are finally figuring out things that Bungie nailed in 2004.

In Halo 2 and 3, you'll notice the reticle is lower than center by a good amount. This will tend to make you look 'up'. This has the benefit of emphasizing the world around you, since with a center reticle the ground take up more of your view. But the ground is boring. We want to see the environment. And in an open world game, how could you not implement that? I see a video where mountains and buildings tower over you, yet when playing you don't see them because the ground takes up half your screen when fighting dudes.

So much of this wisdom simply didn't carry over to 343 when they received Halo from Bungie. It's the kind of wisdom that made Halo and Bungie great. It's the kind of stuff we need to see rediscovered and expanded upon.

H4 Actually retained the lowered crosshair. Of course, it was essentially a Reach reskin, but still.

Good luck to the team, and I hope they create something great this time around.

They didn't, and I firmly believe they never will.