The Halo Infinite trailer is one big Destiny Déjà vu
Don’t get me wrong, an upcoming game having similarities to a pre-existing (and massively successful) game isn’t necessarily a red flag. Fortnite was compared to PUBG. Borderlands 3 was compared with Destiny.
It’s been a long time since 343 Industries released a major Halo title, and players have been eagerly looking forward to Halo Infinite. With live service games being incredibly successful over the last few years, it isn’t surprising to see the newest Halo title on the list as well. Online co-op makes for some great gameplay, more so when you have interesting worlds to explore and common team goals to achieve.
343 has even called it the beginning of a new decade for the Halo series, which is very similar to what Bungie had said about Destiny. But when the Halo Infinite team finally released an 8-minute gameplay video last week, plenty of people had mixed opinions about various aspects of the game. While the gunplay looks smooth and crisp as ever, the graphics aren’t on-par with a 2020 AAA title. However, what stood out the most were the noticeable similarities with Bungie’s Destiny.
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The Environment and Initial Gameplay seen in the Halo Infinite trailer
The Halo Infinite gameplay starts off with a cutscene of a pilot in a ship, and once you land there is some driving around in a jeep, but what follows looks a lot like the first mission of Destiny 2. The layout of the path you’re following and how the objects are positioned around you is all too familiar if you’ve been playing Destiny for a while.
And it doesn’t help that both games are first person space shooters. The environment right after you start fighting enemies is so reminiscent of Destiny 2’s beginning that it takes away from the freshness Halo Infinite should have had. What makes it worse is that Destiny has much better graphics and lighting, as of now. We do know that the Halo Infinite gameplay trailer we saw wasn’t the final product, but man, does the game have a lot of work to do.
The Open-world Campaign structure
The Halo Infinite campaign is supposed to be an open-world and expansive experience, much larger than their previous two campaigns put together. This experience is supposed to create an immersive experience for players to explore a new world and discover various aspects of it and gain gear and weapons along the way.
About two minutes into the trailer where the player stops to aim the gun around to give us the glimpse of the world, you just can’t not think of Destiny. Even with how the developers have talked about it, Halo’s approach towards the free-roam experience sounds a lot like what we have with Destiny’s patrol zones. These zones have activities such as World Events and Strikes in Destiny, and various aspects for players to explore.
Halo’s open-world structure sounds quite fun and can be a very interesting experience with a variety of in-game movement mechanics.
The look and feel of Weapons
The weapons in the Halo Infinite trailer feel very familiar too. Destiny has the “softer” feel to its weapons compared to some of the weapons in games like Warframe where you can almost feel the weapon recoil in your hands, as if you’re actually holding the weapon. Destiny never gives you that feeling, instead going for a more subtle and smooth feel to its weapons. If you got to the 3:30 mark in the trailer and watch it with your volume turned down, you can almost hear the sound of the quick firing pistols from Destiny.
Pick any weapon from the trailer and imagine it were released in Destiny a few weeks ago. It wouldn’t feel out of place at all, but put it in The Division 2 or Warframe, and they’ll clearly stand out from the loot pool of those games.
Some of the Abilities and Enemies in the Halo Infinite trailer feel familiar
Along with the gunplay, the sticky grenades showcased in the trailer are also reminiscent of some of the grenade-based abilities in Destiny 2. When the character in Halo Infinite throws it, it’s hard not to think of Destiny 2.
The brute-like enemy featured in the Halo Infinite trailer feels very similar to the Red Legion Cabal from Destiny 2. The way some of the enemies move around with jet packs is also similar to those from Destiny. Aside from these, the enemies carrying translucent, portable shields are all too familiar. Hopefully this preview isn’t an accurate depiction of what Halo Infinite actually has in store.
Endnote
It’s not surprising (and not the first time) that Destiny and Halo are being compared, considering both are sci-fi FPS shooters set in space. Moreover, both franchises have their starting point at Bungie. And back when Destiny came out, it was naturally being compared to Halo.
Halo Infinite is supposed to be the beginning of a new era for the Halo series, and a grand platform to “keep content together”, a game that will grow over time rather than having a segmentation format. The game is very likely to have DLCs, and microtransactions are also to be expected, being a staple for live service games. We don’t know what they will be for – most likely cosmetic upgrades– but we hope they aren’t a big part of the game. It seems as though Halo will not have Destiny’s loot structure with random rolls on weapons, but players can instead earn upgrades along their journey.
The Halo Infinite trailer might have a lot of similarities with Destiny 2 and some of them, like the jetpack enemies and some of the environmental enemies, surely stand out. At some parts, it certainly felt like another level in Destiny, minus the details in the graphics. However, it is to note that the game will go through changes before we get a final product. Regardless of the similarities between the two games, we are hopeful for Halo. Space shooters are always very cool, and we look forward to exploring another new world with its weapons!
