Sker Ritual is a round based survival game developed and published by ‘Wales Interactive‘. Sker Ritual is said to be coming out the 18th of April 2024 on the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PS5 and PC. X35 Earthwalker will give this game a chance and examine it for a moment. Sker Ritual is looking to bring that monstrous, dark horror feeling to the action. Let’s take a look.
Sker Ritual is all about stopping that mean lady Elisabeth. She’s going to use the siren’s song. So what’s the solution? Fight, blast and shoot many things in rounds to victory. That’s how. You’re helping Elisabeth’s daughter Arianwen to stop her. Mother daughter drama possibly. At its core, Sker Ritual is just about that action. It’s a zombie horror shooter really and that’s good stage as there are players to just want to fight zombies… no story, just fight.
So the main threat of course are the hordes of ‘Quiet Ones’. These guys are continuous and will not stop, unless you stop them… for them. While the relentless hordes are after you, you’ve got to solve mysteries as those are your main true missions. Off course players will need to upgrade their weapons to match the dangerous threat of the quiet ones. There’s even what’s called miracles. These miracles are Celtic god powers. We hear there’s a whole load of them. What miracles do is “offers a choice of three random upgradable powers that buff or alter your shooting, melee, grenade and healing”. They have different attributes, rarity and power off course.
Now off course the main stars here are thews hordes of enemies. The quiet ones are here and ready to play… a bit rough. Sker Island has got some buffed up guys. The elites who each have their own abilities. They will hopefully force players to shake things up, like change location and combat approach to deal with them. No one strat carries through game. So you know about the quiet ones but we hear that there’s more threats… new ones too. Some reportedly do not even have a face!!! Regardless, kill themn you must, especially if you want to grab miracles.
We checked out some Sker Ritual gameplay and it’s what we expected. Players with experience in call of duty zombies and arena battles will do well here. Gamers who played Maid of Sker will notice that Sker Ritual follows the evil ending. Miracles can be enhanced to make things truly supernatural. There’s elites and then there’s supercharged elites who will bring the pain. Those who are here to play can grind through the ‘sker pass’ and even dread levels. Strangest of all maybe… there’s Easter eggs (bunny not included). So maybe look for them. Almost best of all is that Sker Ritual is multiplayer. You can play with three friends or family online to face the hordes together… as friends and family should. No local co-op sadly & shamefully.
Overall Sker Ritual looks like it’s going to be a great game. There’s depth to it and multiple ways to play. It’s all about action and gets players right to it. Don’t worry about fighting solo as it’s been said that “the intensity of Sker Island’s hordes scale to the number of players.” Also there’s interchangeable masks for players to collect and use to “induce fear on “Sker’s inhabitants”. Look into that yourself. It’s good to see games that just focus on the action sometimes. Graphics do look good enough too. The developers ‘Wales Interactive’ have done a great job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker will keep an ear open concerning this. Now Sker Ritual may have quiet ones but they are too loud for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered is an action adventure First Person Shooter game developed and published by ‘Nightdive Studios‘. Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion is said to be coming out the 14th of November 2023 on the Xbox Series X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS5, PS4 and pc. X35 Earthwalker has many questions regarding this game. Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered out here wanting to bring back some experiences. Let’s take a look.
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered is obviously a remaster. Not a remake. So players who are a fan of the Turk series should already know what to expect. Those who truly enjoyed Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion should definitely get a kick out of Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered. The remaster strongly implies there’s going to be a an upgrade in the visuals and graphics. at the bare minimum there has to be.
Here’s what was said about Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered, “it now supports gameplay on contemporary devices with impressive 4K resolution at 120FPS. This title complements the esteemed remasters of Turok and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, brought to life by Nightdive Studios, Universal Games, and Digital Platforms, rounding off the trilogy. The remastered version boasts refined gameplay, sharp high-resolution textures, advanced lighting and rendering, and gamepad support.”
Other from this we hear that Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered will also have more features like anti-aliasing, ambient occlusion, bloom, dynamic shadows and motion blur. There’s also updated weapon models, “remastered environment art” and better character models. On top of all that there are new achievements. So players have new things to fight and aim for… if you care about the achievements.
We checked out some Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered gameplay and it’s not really what we expected. We did expect the visuals to be better though. It’s easier said than done but we have seen better jobs. The performance is definitely much better though and that does matter a lot. Our main concern is the problem that almost every remaster game has which is what else do they offer. they don’t have top offer more but it definitely adds far more reason to get the remaster besides just playing it again. Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered being available on next gen and modern consoles is. big deal and added accessibility. X35 Earthwalker just always wants there to be some bonuses included.
Overall Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered does look like an alright game. Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion wasn’t out favourite Turok. We wanted more Turok evolution. That would be big move. The developers ‘Nightdive studios’ have done an alright job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker will have to hear what this game does. Now Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion Remastered may have brought an upgrade but it’s too noticeable for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Trepang2 is an action First Person Shooter game developed by ‘Trepang Studios’ and published by ‘Team17’. Trepang2 is said to be coming out the 2nd of October 2023 on the Xbox Series X and PS5. Trpang2 already came out on pc. X35 Earthwalker never heard of this game before. Time to see. Trepang2 is going for the fast and serious approach. Let’s take a look.
Trepang2 has a simple story here for players. You are an escaped soldier who has no memories of his past life. This soldier also somehow has supernatural abilities. Your mission? Revenge! You gon roll up in there and kill everything and everyone. Why? Revenge! Trepang2 is also set in the distant future. Why? Revenge! Alright we’ll stop.
Trepang2 is all about the action. The story doesn’t matter much at all. It’s about the fast pace movement, the action, the shooting, the guns, the explosions and the kills. There’s lots of blood and some say gore. Enemies will explode in a glorious fountain of red… Well maybe not that but you get the picture.
You fight not just for… Revenge! You also fighting to learn the truth. A group helped you escape so maybe be grateful to them. As you fight to learn more and more… you might just come face to face with a foe or problem that’s a bigger deal than you.
In Trepang2, players have supernatural abilities. We mentioned that. For example superhuman strength and speed. So smashing and charging through armed dudes is easy for you. you can slow down time so that dodging bullets is just a Tuesday for you. Your guy can even cloak. Halo active camouflage type stuff. So yeah become invisible and then grab foes for meat shields, Gears of war style, or straight up execute them… like a good ol fashion neck break.
We checked out some Trepang2 gameplay and it’s not exactly what we expected. Things are quick and definitely bloody. Many guns, grenade launchers, corpses around you, stained walls, numerous enemies but off course all action. Make your way up stairs, kick enemies, throw people, stealth around and charge in. You get what it says on the front of the box.
Overall Trepang2 looks like a very good game. Of course some things need to be cleaned up like the environments and walls especially but you don’t really care too much about that. It’s about the action and this game delivers that. the developers ‘Trepang Studios’ have done a good job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker will keep and eye open for this game. hopefully it brings the real heat now that it will be on console. Trepang2 may have some bloody action but it’s too family friendly for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Back 4 Blood is a cooperative First Person shooter zombie game developed by ‘Turtle Rock Studios‘ and published by ‘Warner Bros Games‘. Back 4 Blood is an excellent game but got unfairly bashed by the ignorant gaming community. Another victim of this like the Callisto Protocol. X35 Earthwalker did a whole podcast episode talking about Back 4 Blood. So check that out as well. Back 4 Blood is definitely better than Left 4 Dead 2. Let’s take a look.
Let’s not make this long as there’s a whole podcast on this as well. For starters Left 4 Dead 2 was released in 2009. An old game like that is not beating a new game like Back 4 Blood. The huge gap in time means a gap in technology and software. So it’s obvious that Back 4 Blood has superior graphics and visuals. The levels look much better as well. The character designs are more detailed. That’s the obvious stuff.
Left 4 Dead 2 has 4 characters and only one of them is actually memorable. Back 4 Blood has 8 characters right off the bat but an additional 4 as additional content. So a total of 12 characters. So Back 4 Blood has 3 times more characters. More options. What’s also better is that Back 4 Blood’s characters have abilities. Each character has an effect for themselves and then a buff for their team. So for example a character might have a maximum stamina boost for themself but then grants faster stamina regeneration for the whole team. So yeah, remember that there’s 12 of them.
Next off course is the ridden… the zombies/infected. There’s more threats and ridden variety than what you have in Left 4 Dead 2. Left 4 Dead 2 has regular zombies, jockey, smoker, spitter, boomer, charger, hunter, tank and witch. Each of course do their own thing. For example the tank is the biggest, strongest and most dangerous. Witch only attacks with lethal strikes when started or disturbed by players. Jockey likes to hop on players to incapacitate players and render them useless. Smoker tries to kidnap players with its long tongue. Charger believes in charging you down to pin you and do big damage.
In Back 4 Blood you have: regular ridden, snitcher, Tallboy, Reeker, Stinger, shredder, ripper, sentinel, urchin and these have variants too and ones that have armour too, making them even more. For example there’s three types of sentinels which each have different annoying attacks like an actual swarm and the other lobs like fire bombs. The Tank is like the boss enemy of Left 4 Dead 2 but not an actual boss. Back 4 Blood actually has bosses with health bars, so another step up over Left 4 Dead 2. There’s currently 3 bosses at least that you can encounter even in a level as a surprise guest. Ogre, Hag and Berserker. Each one is a major problem. Ogre is the largest thing ever and can hurl massive boulder like projectiles. Hag is basically the superior witch as when startled it chases the player down and proper chomps down on them. Than can escape by digging into the ground. The Berserker is armoured up and leaps great distances to slam and throw players around. Basically a discount Berserker from Gears of War. So way more threats and enemies in Back 4 Blood.
Next up are weapons. There’s way more weapons in Back 4 Blood. More ranged weapons, more melee weapons, more throwable weapons. M4, M16, MP5, UMP45, Ak-47, RPK and way more rifles and guns of different types too. Shotguns, snipers and rifles like the M1. So whatever is your style you can do it. Even a sawed off shotgun. There’s bow and arrows with the arrows being infinite. Melee weapons there’s spiked baseball bats, axe, machete and even wolverine claws. There’s Molotov, pipe bombs (of course), grenades, smoke grenade, flash bang and let’s just say green glow substance to attract ridden to it. There’s also support items too like a stun gun to free yourself from being incapacitated by a special ridden that grabs you. We will say that the pipe bomb in Left 4 Dead 2 has a much better explosion than Back 4 Blood.
Another big advantage Back 4 Blood has are the weapon attachments. Both have them but Back 4 Blood has much more and deeper mechanics concerning it. Nozzle, magazine/bullets, scope and stock. The one you equip will have different parts and there’s different grades to the parts from common all the way to legendary. Even the melee weapons have attachments. Giving damage resistance, increased damage, melee speed, movement speed and more. So clearly Back 4 Blood has more mechanics and deeper than Left 4 Dead 2. Back 4 Blood even has a full weapons range for basically every weapon you can find in the game. Pick em up, try em out. Every throwable and attachment is there too. So you can get a feel for them, see the difference the attachments make and see the exact damage with the targets. There’s even a flamethrower!!! And it’s mad strong.
The last major factor that puts Back 4 Blood way above Left 4 Dead 2 is the card system. These cards completely change the game. Use these cards to create builds. Some builds increase your damage with a certain weapon. Some increase your health. Others gave increased damage resistance. Some are a trade like -5% health but gain 40% stamina. When you unlock the strongest cards you can make yourself ridiculously strong. X35 Earthwalker the one true Earthwalker, the legendary soldier himself has multiple builds and he is over powered. There’s a melee build where it’s basically impossible for him to die while fighting. He has a mighty shooting build where he never needs to reload and does massive damage with guns.
Back 4 Blood has received additional content so more things have arrived. There’s lots happening and when done on some of the hardest difficulties, things can get insane and intense. Left 4 Dead 2 is very easy. Easy game. Your melee attack is over powered. Back 4 Blood is a much harder game and requires far more strategy and good gameplay to beat, instead of spamming melee. This isn’t everything that Back 4 Blood does better than Left 4 Dead 2 but it’s already really clear which game is better. X35 Earthwalker is never wrong. Back 4 Blood may be better than Left 4 Dead 2 but neither are own the level off… the ‘Earth Walk!
Redfall is a great game. Had lots of fun with this game. Redfall is an Xbox exclusive and was developed by ‘Arkane studios‘ and published by ‘Bethesda‘. X35 Earthwalker wanted to do a simple review/talk about Redfall. Show why it’s very good… especially since many ignorant and foolish people have bashed and attacked this game. Mainly pc and PlayStation players. So instead hear from X35 Earthwalker who is the smartest and wisest gamer of all time. Let’s take a look.
Redfall is quite simple to understand. You was in Redfall, which is a very lively town. Then suddenly things go very wrong. Vampires show up, they form cults who will attack and shoot anyone. You encounter a powerful vampire who is called black Sun. The sun gets blocked out making things free season for vampires. The survivors are being hunted down. so why not leave? Well somehow the vampires have raised up the sea… copying what God did with Moses, but a discounted not as good version of it. It’s solid stuff you can’t swim through and traps boats. So yeah, you can’t leave. Help the survivors and defeat the vampire so called gods.
Redfall is an open world game and it shows. Not the largest world at all but it’s split into two maps. The image above is the first map and where you start off. It’s also the smaller map. What’s weak though is that you can’t go back and forth between them. It’s a progression thing. Part 1 and part 2 of the game. Aside from that, the open world is probably the best thing about Redfall. The world is so excellently designed. Redfall town clearly looks like life was big here. You see the churches, the shops, markets, cinema, trailers, lighthouses and more. The ferris wheel and hotels. Our favourite thing about Redfall is after clearing out thew enemies, go for a tour and stroll around the town. You see everything. You can clearly see how life was like in this town. X35 Earthwalker will do a podcast talking about this soon-ish. It’s fun and detailed.
Speaking of detailed. Redfall has if not probably the most detailed open world in gaming. Watch the video above. The developers didn’t need to do all that. The posters on the wall are detailed and have actual information. There are job advertisements with contact information and terms. The food and items aren’t just generic brands, blank or copy and paste. Redfall has actual brands and names. From the tomato and fish tins to milk and beverages. Sweets and chocolates have names as well and eventually you’ll get to know them as you explore more corner shops and stores. It’s not just shops either but important buildings as well. The documents, writings, prints and more. Walk around ton and see for yourself.
The issues we hear from pc and playStation players. All seem to be performance issues. All of these issues were mainly on the pc. So much for pc master race… more like pc inferior race. pc has been having launch issues with new games recently. Not good but it happens. On the Xbox Series X, X35 hasn’t encountered any of those issues. So our experience has been excellent. Some say it’s 30 frames per second. Hard never been a problem. Sure it’s not as smooth as 60 obviously but it didn’t effect the gameplay for us. pc players claimed the world was empty concerning enemies. Wrong again. On the Xbox we had many enemies. We saw cultists, bellwether, vampires and vampire variants. We even witnessed cultists with vampires fighting against bellwether, multiple times. So yeah, pc and playstation players aren’t correct.
There’s a decent set of weapons in Redfall. Pistols, shotguns, rifles, sniper rifles, UV beams and stake launchers. There are some variety to each weapon class and you can carry 3 at a time. There’s also a blood remnant and a vampire god remnant. Both remnants need more options and have stronger effects. The weapons are all very effective. There are what’s called ‘unrivaled’ weapons. Basically legendary weapons which have the best effects and much stronger than other weapons of the same level. What they should have added is the means to level up your weapons sop they stay powerful with you.
We don’t want this to be too long. There’s many things to say about Redfall. Combat is good, there’s lots of action, many things to do like quests, lots to explore and do not underestimate the lore in Redfall. There’s loads to read and loads to learn. From authors and their pieces, to news and reports. Bill, from Bill… and bob over the radio. Documents, grave locks, recreations of the past and more. There’s lots going on, lots of tragic stuff too. So yeah, be patient and do some reading (for once in your life). Those vampire bosses, those so called gods… they suck (vampire joke). They are string and capable of killing you real quick. Each boss is very different. VERY different. Learn quickly. By the way, best character is Devinder.
Overall Redfall is a great game and worth playing. It’s not perfect and needs some more tuning up like being 60 frames per second and additional attack or ability for vampires and off course make climbing those darn rocks easier. Redfall is currently available on Xbox game pass. X35 Earthwalker finished the game. It was some good times.
Nightmare Reaper is a 2.5D first person shooter game developed and published by ‘Blazing Bit games‘. Nightmare Reaper is said to be coming out the 11th of May 2023 on the Xbox Series X, PS5, PS4 and pc. X35 Earthwalker knows a good first person shooter when he sees it. We will be the judge. So, Nightmare Reaper… What chu got? Let’s take a look.
What’s the story here? You’re this lady who’s a patient at a psychiatric ward. You are in this room with lots of writings and scribbles and whatever on the walls. There’s mysterious notes too that have information concerning experiments… ominous ones. so day time is boring but once you go to bed it’s a whole different story. A nightmare filled with loads of monsters, demons, fighting weapons and death. So yeah, load up your weapons or other means of dealing death and fight for your life.
So right of the bat players might think of Ultimate Doom. We also think about Prodeus but not as much. Style too different. Nightmare Reaper is blending old school and modern gaming. You can upgrade and improve your character. Use your gold to purchase them. There’s also mini games, so do them for new abilities. Which you’ll need as we hear there’s a whole lot of enemies, loads of surprises and… and… treasure! We do like us some treasure.
We gone make this easy for you guys. If you like first person shooters then tick a box. If you like ultimate Doom, then tick another box. If you like classic old school style then tick another box. How many ticks do you have? Doesn’t matter, you will probably like this game. These nightmares have been described as “procedurally generated journeys” that “get tougher the more often you go”. So take that into account. Variety shouldn’t be a problem.
We checked out some Nightmare Reaper gameplay and it’s what we expected for the most part. We like the modern twists thrown in here and that that’s needed in todays gaming. there’s said to be like 80 different weapons. We have seen some crazy weapons. A game like this needs over powered dumb stuff to make things fun. There’s laser blasters, orb launching from hands, machine guns, double barrel shotguns, pump action shotgun, sword, M1 Garand, strong rifles, swarm launcher and more. You love to see it.
Overall nightmare Reaper looks like a good game. Silly, fast paced but crazy fun. You get to run around and blast away monsters and demons. The graphics are ugly though and we aren’t a fan. They could easily clean that up. There’s secrets to find. There’s multiple game modes. Random events and lots of danger. There’s a place for games like this. The developers ‘Blazing Bit games’ have done a good job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker will keep an ear open about this game. Nightmare Reaper may have crazy weapons but none of them is effective against… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Meet your Maker is an action first person shooter game developed and published by ‘Behaviour Interactive‘. Meet your Maker is said to be coming out the 4th of April 2023 on the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4 and pc. Meet your Maker looks like it wants the community really involved. X35 Earthwalker is known as the universe’s ultimate strategist. Let’s take a look.
So what’s the story here. Well you are described as “the custodian of the chimera”. You was made to be a last resort to save life on earth. That’s basically it.
Meet your maker is first person where the levels have been designed by players. So expect a huge variety. Some will be simple, some creative and fun while others may be unfair even. Of course you can create your own mazrlike outpost for other players to raid and attempt to conquer. Of course these outposts will most likely be loaded with traps.
Players must “adapt, upgrade and evolve” if you want to be victorious. When building the levels for players, you have to use some brain power. You may just have to try and outsmart players. Out think them. Like a good builder, players have a wide range of options. There’s “a huge array of customisable blocks”. There’s traps off course and even guards. Already you can imagine how to mess up intruding players.
Once your outpost level is complete then share it with the Meet your Maker community. Players will of course attempt to raid your outpost. You get rewards for every player who dies in your domain. Those who live you will have to learn from that and do better. So adjustments are needed.
We checked out some Meet your Masker gameplay and it isn’t exactly what we expected. Before you jump into an outpost for the raiding, make sure you carefully select your loadout. Options concerning melee, defensive skills, ranged, perks and maybe your consumables. Use replay system to see how they died or survived. Raid an outpost with a friend. Teams of twos.
Overall Meet your Maker sets like it’s going to be a great game. Getting players involved in the games is a good move and create features like Halo Infinite’s Forge allows big extensions and more content. The graphics and the animations are looking very good. We are liking the details of the level creation too. The developers ‘Behaviour Interactive’ have done a great job so far. We at X35 Earthwalker will keep an eye out for this game. Now Meet your Maker may have numerous player created levels but they are all weak builds compared to the construction builds of… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Halo Infinite Season 2 – Lone Wolves. Think about that for a moment. Halo Infinite isn’t done yet… obviously. A very good as it is already nu8t off course it needs much more. This update is just a start. A wise person would have read the previous G-blogs written by X35 Earthwalker himself. Meaning you’s know Halo Infinite’s strengths and weaknesses. Halo Infinite Season 2- Lone Wolves… some quick thoughts.
The developers explained a number of things, hoping to answer the main questions of the Halo Infinite community. Here’s what they said: “I’m here to answer two questions that we know are top of mind for the Halo community: “What is the Halo Infinite team working on right now?” and “When can we expect new content and features?” I’ll start with brief answers, and then get into more detail, including sharing some new info on what’s coming with Season 2.
This is the focus of the Halo Infinite team, in priority order:
1 – Addressing issues negatively impacting the player experience. 2 – Completing Season 2 and delivering it as promised on May 3rd. 3 – Continuing work on Campaign Co-Op, Forge, and Season 3.“
This part alone gives us bad signs already. Notice that the Campaign co-op AND Forge are the bottom priority! That’s so wrong. Bad priorities. The campaign is currently the best thing about Halo Infinite. An excellent campaign. It needs updates now. Forge can easily be the biggest factor of Halo Infinite. Those two are top priorities! Now that’s not to say that addressing (not fixing) issues negatively impacting the player experience isn’t important. That does matter still. One big negative issue is being forced to play with PC players. give players the option to disable that.
Halo Infinite Season 2 – Lone Wolves is said to be coming the 3rd of May 2022. We are hearing about Lone Wolf Spartans. Think of these guys as special forces spartans who tend to work alone deep behind enemy lines. Here’s the description “Lone Wolf Spartans are hunters. Trackers. They’re resourceful improvisers, operating deep in enemy territory without resupply or support. They’re fierce, rugged, and prefer to work alone—but they’re still loyal to the Spartan pack”. Now this is very cool. We like this idea of a variety of highly skilled spartans in different fields with different purposes.
We know that the spartan on the left is Sigrid Eklund and the one on the right is Hieu Dinh. These two look very cool. Fantastic details. They look like they might actually be a problem for the Banished. We want to see this type of graphical details in the game as well with multiplayer. Now will the Halo Infinite Season 2 – Lone Wolves give us a Halo Reach Noble team connection or feeling? We hope to actually care about these spartans and their names while giving them realistic interactions with the enemy within their abilities as spartans.
We hearing that there will be new games modes too. This sounds like it includes Infection. Infection also needs improvements. The whole mode need to be harder for the survivors. The infected need to be scary. The levels should be dark with clear footsteps for atmosphere. The alpha zombies need to be a real threat. Either they can’t be head shotted or they get extra abilities to make their advance more deadly. Infection overall should be a harder game mode. Big team battle doesn’t feel like a big team battle. The amount of vehicles are lacking too. We are keeping hi short remember? We can easily say so much more.
Overall we are glad to hear from 343 Industries. Their response wasn’t great but quite detailed. Forge and campaign co-op isn’t coming just yet. We must be patient. Developers, DO NOT RUSH. Take your time. There are a number of things that need fixing and changing. We at X35 Earthwalker are looking forward to Halo Infinite Season 2 – Lone Wolves. Halo Infinite Season 2 – Lone Wolves may have a big update on the way but it’s so insignificant compared to… the ‘Earth Walk!’
Halo Infinite has been out for a good while now and there’s a lot to say about this Halo game. First of all X35 Earthwalker is really enjoying Halo Infinite, as are millions of others who are inferior players. Was excited for Halo Infinite and ended up having many adventures. We won’t really talk about the multiplayer since we already made a G-Blog on it. We are going to do a quick shot review G-blog this time. Let’s take a look.
Let’s firstly talk about the campaign. The campaign is without a doubt, hands down, pants down, the best part of Halo Infinite by far. The campaign is fantastic. It’s mostly what we wanted but let’s talk about it. The campaign is big open world like we predicted and wanted. You are also given the tools to explore this world which is split into islands really. You can unlock vehicles like warthogs, mongooses, and eventually a Hornet which is a flying vehicle and even get a Scorpion tank. Your armour abilities like the grapple hook is the star of the game and it makes traversing the world real easy and fun but more on the grapple hook later. Halo Infinite looks beautiful. top level graphics for sure. When you get to the top of a high point like a mountain or installation and just take a moment to look round, you see a lot and it’s fun to do. Lots of hard work went into Halo Infinite and it’s visuals fantastic. The attention to details is excellent as well. The campaign is also riddled with Easter eggs and secrets.
We found the Halo theme song from Halo 1 (Combat Evolved). It started playing when we got to the top of a tall installation. It started playing while we was taking in the view. That was a excellent touch and the developers 343 industries did good to put that in. We also found a original Halo Infinite arcade machine… within Halo Infinite. All you need is a coin. These things are needed in a big open world as it makes exploring fun, especially when you wonder what else is out there.
There’s an upgrade system for your equipment: Grappleshot, Threat sensor, Drop wall and thruster pack. Also Armor core but that’s passive and not equipment. This is a game changer literally as it makes you become a powerful super soldier indeed. The grapple hook is not just for traversing but for mobility. You can use it to pull yourself in for a melee strike against enemies, dodge attack, get the high ground (no obi wan), pull a weapon towards you, grab those coil fusions and climb mountains. When upgraded fully you can use it more frequently, add an electric effect to shock enemies, unlocked a grapple power punch which then can have greater area of effect. The grapeshot with the reduced cool down allows it to recharge so fast that you can pull yourself up a mountain and when launched into the area after grappling, it recharges allowing you to grapple again, allowing for literal climbing. Thruster pack when fully upgraded is crazy good. You get active camouflaged when you thrust and lasts a few seconds. Helps with escaping and approaching enemies. Threat sensor is heavily underestimated. Unqualified reviewers who lack skill like angry joe downplayed and dissed everything but the grappleshot. When you play Legendary difficulty like X35 Earthwalker did, you’ll understand and appreciate how useful ALL these abilities are. Threat sensor when fully upgraded is powerful. You can launch two of them, they reveal the enemies clearly and show their health, which helps big time. Knowing how much health the enemy has makes a difference, especially with Hunters. Drop wall just ends up saving your life and giving you a few more moments to fight back or get your shields back up. Once X35 Earthwalker was surrounded and attacked by sentinels. Destroyed most and then got his back to the wall, used his drop wall which blocked all the beams and electrifies all shots he fires through at the sentinels. Use all the abilities to survive in Legendary difficulty.
The in-game cinematics are excellent. The opening scene of Master Chief fighting the banished, using his grappleshot to grab a weapon and then getting into the big 1v1 fight with Atriox himself. The fight itself was very good but a little too one sided. In actual lore, Master Chief would destroy Atriox but in terms of in game action, Atriox trashes Master Chief seeing how Atriox did 1v3 spartan red team in Halo Wars 2 and won easily. Spartan red are spartan 2s just like Master Chief, going through the same process and training so if Atriox can beat three of them, then he should easily rip apart Master Chief. Seeing the spartans, the brutes, the speeches, Escharum in showing up and even the elite spartan killer was all fun to see. The scenes are excellent. angry joe had a complaint that we never got to get revenge on Atriox. I understand him completely but that would be bad writing. Revenge would mean beating Atriox as in kill him. Atriox is too good of a villain. They need to save him for that one big moment when they clash in a final battle. When Tremonius stated that Atriox is dead, X35 Earthwalker was almost angry. He said, “What?! There’s no way. If they kill of Atriox now, especially off screen… I’m done with 343 industries and will declare them as idiot game developers.” We are glad Master Chief didn’t get revenge… not yet.
The high profile targets was an excellent idea. Placing infamous and powerful enemies around the map for you to find and beat added flavour to the campaign. These were a range of units: Grunts, Jackals, Elites, Brutes, Hunters and that new flying enemy which we referred to as Drones from Halo 2 as they practically do the same thing which is fly around and shoot. Not as fast or annoying but bigger weapons. These fights were sort of underwhelming at times though. Especially when you read their resumé. One of them called ‘Okra Vagaduun’ was described as “considered one of the most lethal infantry assets in the covenant.” Having “remarkable combat resolve”. He “hailed from a long line of sword fighters” so he’s well trained and “repeatedly defied odds, surviving even when VASTLY outnumbered”. This guy sounds like the Master Chief in some ways. He’s the real deal and should be a major problem and battle… but nope! Just put my ghost vehicle in position and sprayed at him until he died. He behaved like a regular elite really and it was lame compared to his reputation and experience. they should have made these guys big big battles like boss battles or show them do something impressive at least. Most of them went down like female dogs. Zeretus was a real problem though as long as you didn’t cheese him out. He had a homing shot rocket launcher! You can’t beat that. So yeah, the high profile targets was a good move, not executed perfectly though.
This leads to one more thing. The boss battles. They are epic. We finally got actual boss fights. They are powerful and no joke. They can kill you within second if you played on Legendary difficulty. Bassus was especially crazy as she wield a powerful gravity hammer in close corners. He has a lunging attack where he leaps forward quickly and smashes the ground. He even uses it to get across a gap and kill you. In legendary difficulty, he needs one hit to kill you. Same for the Escharum as well. All he needed was one hit and his ranged weapon shredded you. In legendary difficulty you couldn’t stand up to these guys. You have to run and dodge for your life… literally. The cloaking elite boss fight was tense and difficult. If you made a mistake you were dead. simple. We hoped the high profile targets would have fights sort of like this. The bosses are fun and each one is memorable.
We love the Grunts. Halo Infinite has the best Grunts so far. Everyone including the marines have better and more dialogues and lines but Grunts have the best. They perfectly do their role as cowards who are comical. We have heard them mock Cortana, mock the Master Chief himself, make fun of humanity. Brag about their greatness. Accuse you of being a coward when you run to get your shields back up. Point out that everyone is dying. Even beg. Act brave-ish. Even accuse you of cheating. It’s very funny and entertaining. We suggest you just listen to the Grunts talk. Especially the propaganda towers. the dialogue of everything is significantly improved. We here the banished communicate with each other. Update each other on what the player is doing. Even give instructions to others like telling one to rush the player as they know you are hiding to get your shields back. One jackal told a brute to go after X35 Earthwalker but the brute replied “Don’t give me orders” or “don’t tell me what to do”. Something like that. The enemies feel more real and like an actual team. We even saw a brute weapon top of our moving vehicle and climb on to pull a marine out from the vehicle. These additional things completely add to the game. There’s always going to be that one guy who will fearlessly take a risk like diving on to a moving vehicle.
Next is the FOB. These forward bases is part of a whole system which adds a role playing game effect to Halo Infinite. As you completed those missions like unlocking those mini bases, rescuing marine squads, destroying propaganda towers and completing main missions gives you valor. Get enough valor and you unlock new things. You can get marines who spawn at the base and can follow you. Then stronger marines with different weapons. A marine with shotguns, marine with sniper, marine with rocket launcher. You can get gungoose which is surprisingly powerful, a razorback which is the best vehicle and we will briefly explain why later. You can get the scorpion tank and even the hornet which can fly. You also unlock weapons as well which you can get free of charge unlimited amount from your FOBs (those mini bases you take back). This is awesome as you can equip your marines with whatever weapons you want. Get a Razorback, get fie marines and give them sniper rifles and rocket launchers and maybe one gets a ravager. Then get them all in your vehicle and just go for a ride. Marines have unlimited ammo and excellent aim. Able to shoot and hit targets well out of the normal optimal range. Almost unlimited at times. It’s crazy how good it is.
We don’t want this to be too long so we will make this the last positive significant thing. We liked that Halo Infinite not fully but address the issue that is Master Chief’s humanity. Cortana hinted and talked about it in Halo 4 and Halo 5 Guardians. Master Chief is a spartan 2. Kidnapped, abused, indoctrinated, forced to train etc. He didn’t have a normal life. No graduation, no part time job, no dates, no cinema, no first crush or first kiss, no normal conversations etc. You see this through the game. He hardly talks and when he does it is because a superior in rank like lord hood, captain keys etc speak to him. Or it’s military related. Short and quick. He doesn’t have casual conversations and never really mentions how he feels. He doesn’t seem to be afraid of anything either. Is he man or machine? That’s what cortana wanted him to figure out. She said something like “figure out which one of us is the machine”. That hit kind of heavy. Halo Infinite campaign is the first Halo game that forces master chief to sort of deal with this issue slightly. When he tried to delete the weapon AI which led to them having a fall out (no 76) they weren’t talking. Everyone was disappointed in master chief even the pilot. Yet master chief never said anything but kept it mission first and business.
X35 was saying that chief needs to apologise but besides when he was a child, has master chief ever apologised or had to apologise for anything? Even at the end of the game he never said I’m sorry. That’s sad. Yes the weapon is an AI and not an actual person but still… come on. She was clearly upset and felt betrayed and even got an attitude like a real woman. Yikes. When he put his hand to the console to collect the AI he hesitated a bit as if he wanted to ay something, like address the situation, maybe apologise or whatever but quickly dismissed the thought. Then when the pilot hugged master chief which is a huge deal by the way, as no one has hugged the master chief. When hugged, the chief didn’t wrap his arms around and hug back. He moved his arms then stopped them. It’s like he didn’t know what to do, which hit hard. A call detail but a big deal. He didn’t know what to do. Imagine a person who never talks about his feelings, can’t say sorry and doesn’t know how to return a hug. A broken sad person. That’s the master chief’s biggest human issue. Cortana was more human than him she didn’t want it to be that way.
So when that amazing scene happened where the pilot confronts and kind of yells at the master chief when he was afraid after chief saved him from the two spartan killer brutes. He reminded the chief that he isn’t a super soldier like him. Fearless, can fight and do anything. He’s just a man, not even a soldier, just a pilot. Like when he gets scared the chief tells him to “stop it” like he’s a child. He’s normal. He knows he’s nothing compared to the brutes, he knows he doesn’t stand a chance. Hiding the entire time. It caused chief to stop, take a knee down next to the pilot who was on his knees feeling worthless and pathetic and give the pilot a bit of a heart to heart… sort off. He tried to relate to him that he failed once. We won’t say everything but the scene was excellent. Not everyone is like you chief. He isn’t spartan blue team. He’s a normal family man who gets scared when a 10 foot brute rolls up with a big gravity hammer wanting to kill him. That was big.
Now let’s talk about what’s not good quickly. First and foremost there’s no split screen! AGAIN!!!! This clearly shows that 343 industries didn’t learn from their past mistake. Many including X35 Earthwalker are angry about this. Splitscreen is a Halo tradition. Bring it back or admit that you suck as developers. Halo Infinite has a world made for team exploration but you can’t do that. Next big issue is that there’s no reward for players who beat the whole campaign in Legendary difficulty! that’s so stupid. Always reward your players for doing hard or impressive achievements. It’s hard to beat a Halo game on legendary difficulty. Give us something cool like a unique spartan skin for multiplayer. Or a stance or armour effect that epic that shows this guy completed the campaign in legendary. Something that can’t be bought but earned. Gears of War 3 had rewards for completing in the hardest difficulty so 343 industries has no excuse. ALWAYS reward your players. It doesn’t cost you anything to make a cool reward for it. Speaking of earn. The little that you do get in the campaign which are the mjolnir cases which when found give you some customisation item. They suck! We can’t think of one thing we got that was memorable or epic. They all suck! We completed the whole campaign on legendary difficulty and it feels like we got nothing. That’s because we got nothing. None of it matters. We checked the customisation menus and everything is basically locked. Got nothing cool. No armour effects, no armour attachments, no cool helmet, not even a visor (Halo 5 Guardians gave a visor) or anything. Nothing to earn unless you have tons of free time as in you got nothing else going on in your life or you have lots of money to throw at the store. If you are in college and after doing your coursework or whatever you then have free time like we use to then that’s good for you. If you are rich or have a rich uncle, then good for you. Overall this is terrible. No rewards and no customisation and many players look exactly the same in multiplayer. So much for thousands of different combinations.
We won’t talk about the multiplayer as we already did a blog post on it. Forced to play with pc players, weak so called power weapons, pc cheaters, lack of mode selection and more all done in that post. Check the top of this blog. Next big issue is that there’s no cinematic viewing mode. Halo Infinite has excellent cut scenes which you want to watch again or check for small details but you can’t because there’s no option to view the scenes again. WHY!? Gears of War Ultimate edition has a feature where you can rewatch all those cool improved scenes. Gears of War ultimate edition isn’t a new game. Why do they have it and Halo Infinite don’t? Proof that 343 Industries don’t learn and make dumb decisions. If X35 Earthwalker was ultimately in charge of the design, as in supreme command, Halo Infinite would be so much better. Not just Halo Infinite but many other games too. So if you missed a cool scene or missed a small detail or whatever you can’t view it ever again unless you start a new campaign and play through the whole thing again. That’s stupid. We checked everywhere and didn’t see a feature for it. If you find it, then tell us. So sad to say the but there’s nothing to gain from playing the campaign. Want to know the story? Then watch the losers on youtube and twitch who played and beat everything on day one and spoiled everything with their thumbnails. You don’t get anything. Like for real. Why couldn’t you give as a reward for beating legendary difficulty a cool lightning armour effect, or water effect or a victory stance where you are posing with Escharum’s gravity hammer or that final elite boss’s red beam sword? Or where your spartan is sitting on a throne chair like a boss, learning on the arm of the chair on his hand, legs spread with a cocky look. Something! Anything!
Overall, we have more to say but it’s better done in videos and besides this blog post is long already and took us hours. Halo Infinite has a fantastic campaign which has a few issues relating to it and the rest of the issues are related to multiplayer. We will do one more that’s a quick summary but that’s it. Fantastic campaign and the campaign is what’s carrying Halo. Now Halo Infinite may have a fantastic, we mean a mid 10/10 campaign but it’s not as good as…the ‘Earth Walk!’
Halo Infinite’s multiplayer has done very well right now. Millions of gamers are playing it and overall everyone seem to be saying positive things about it. Halo Infinite off course is the latest Halo game and the big game release for Xbox that is currently crushing everything else. Call of Duty Vanguard and Battle Field 2042 have both been soundly crushed by Halo Infinite. Xbox once again solidifies it’s lead over Playstation. Even Forza Horizon 5 is dominating both are Xbox exclusives. Back to Halo Infinite. Let’s take a look.
Halo Infinite has great multiplayer right now. Not perfect off course but great. The action feels like a good speed right now. There’s a variety of weapons which behave very differently from each other. The assault rifle feels useful. The game modes are fun for the most part. Oddball, slayer and stronghold are the best ones. Capture the flag can easily be exploited by sweaty try hards. The time to kill feels a little too fast but it’s okay. Most of the maps are nice and seem good for every game mode. The amount of mobility you have in Halo Infinite is good with the climbing up ledges, nice high jumps and off course the ability to sprint (as a super super soldier should be able to); however it is a clear downgrade from Halo 5 Guardians mobility options.
Let’s talk more about what’s wrong. First is are the weapons. The default weapons are fine except for the side kick pistol. It’s too inconsistent. At times the pistol melts the shields and kills fast. Other times, the pistol sucks and does nothing. It’s mostly strong but too inconsistent. Started to use the assault rifle more than the pistol. Assault rifle feels better and more reliable. The pistol isn’t as inconsistent as the grenades. The frag grenades suck. Have seen players run through the grenades and take little to no damage. When we use grenades… it doesn’t matter to the enemy. When the enemy uses grenades they practically stick to use, kill all our shields or straight kill us. Grenades need to be fixed.
Next problem and it’s a big one. Cross play is forced. Unless they changed something recently. We can’t turn it off. We don’t want to play with pc players. They have quite big advantage. Also pc players have the bigger capacity and are more likely to be cheaters. There’s been reports of cheating already. A lot actually. Reports from complete removal of bloom, to stronger shields, to increased rate of fire, unkillable and more. Give players the choice if they want to play with pc players or not. Playing against pc players is not fun. Give us the option.
Next issue is the special weapons themselves. They suck for the most part. The commando is weaker than the battle rifle for some reason. The ravager is the worst so called power weapon. It does no damage. What we mean is, that it does such little damage that it’s not worth carrying. The pistol beats the ravager. The assault rifle beats the ravager. The plasma pistol beats the ravager. The ravager SUCKS!!! The heat wave does too little damage. The shotgun does too little damage. Hit someone cleanly t close range and they survived and killed us instead. What a joke of a shotgun. The shock rifle is a poor substitute for the sniper and it’s too inaccurate. Even when you aim it well it can still miss. The hydra does very little damage when you use the homing mode. How does directing homing missiles do such little damage? Even streamers have stated that they don’t see a point to getting the special weapons. They need to be fixed. The special weapons feel bad for the most part.
Next problem is the aiming system. The aiming is terrible. Majority of console players admitted they need to adjust to the aiming as it felt weird. Same with Lemnis Gate, that the aiming isn’t good. This becomes a huge problem especially if you are on console and you grab a sniper weapon. You end up feeling like you can’t snipe at all. X35 Earthwalker has multiple sniper kills and some of them are in his uploaded gameplay videos. X35 can easily snipe but in Halo Infinite it feels like the worst sniping of all the halo games. No joke. Maybe add more aim assist or reduce global sensitivity. Individual sensitivity doesn’t fix the problem as you will end up being too slow to turn and face the enemies in time. It must be global.
Lastly off course the progression is trash. You have unfair challenges that are for the most part not easy to do. They give you a little bit of exp. You get 50 exp for completing a match. You need a 1000 to level up so that means you must play 20 matches to level up which is so slow. Slow progression leads to boredom and discouragement. The samurai armour event thing isn’t balanced with the regular progression as you have three challenge slots. You get four if you buy the battle pass thing. Those three challenges are random but you can look ahead to see what’s going. To progress the samurai event you need to specifically complete challenges labelled for that event. You can’t level both at the same time from what we have seen. Not good design and off course there is no way to choose what game type you want to play. You have no control as to whether it’s oddball, capture the flag or stronghold. Just get random which makes completing challenges harder as you might get a challenge that can only be done in oddball but you get three capture the flag matches in a row.
Back to something nice. We like how graphically good the game looks and definitely liking some of the sounds in the game. You can clearly hear a spartan grapple hooking near you, hear footsteps, so you can ambush someone. Game looks excellent for sure but we expect the campaign to have better details and impressive environments. Halo Infinite definitely has a lack of content but we know more is on the way. We are looking forward to the campaign and what else the game has to offer. Halo Infinite is our most excited waited for game of the year. We have very high expectations for Halo Infinite and this game hasn’t reached there yet. We have more to say but we tried to keep this as short as possible.
Overall Halo Infinite is a great game but has some stuff that needs to be fixed and very quickly. There’s lots of potential and we have had some fun matches to very fun matches. Just recently been having bad matches with connection, cheaters, pc players etc. Come on 343 Industries. You guys can do this. Now Halo Infinite may be the biggest and best game but it’s still not ready for… the ‘Earth Walk!’
