Author's Note: There are spoilers in this blog related to Halo 4 and 5.
Yo, Where Did All The Prometheans Weapons Go?
It would appear the internet is still buzzing about Halo Infinite's multiplayer. A glance of any video game forum or social media platform will unveil a smattering of largely positive chatter about the game's many modes and customization options. If there is one significant negative talking point, it is the general sense that the multiplayer's progression system still needs some work. That being one of the few complaints is a bit of an accomplishment for 343 when you consider where the franchise was with Halo 4 and 5. While both games were generally well-received by critics and the franchise's most ardent fans, there was a clear sense that both games were chasing after dragons and zeitgeists it had no real hope of catching. This is partly why many people have enjoyed Halo Infinite's rollback of several features and gimmicks from prior Halo games. I understand people are bound to cite the Grapplehook as a "game-changer." Still, I'd argue it is more in line with the identity of what a Halo game plays like than some of the Promethean weapons in Halo 4. As we will discuss shortly, calling Infinite a "return to the basics" is an understatement, and 343 Industries have seriously parred down some of their experiments from previous games.
However, to return to my earlier point, there are only three Promethean/Forerunner weapons in all of Halo Infinite's multiplayer (i.e., the Cindershot, Heatwave, and Sentinel beam). Of these three, only one, the Sentinel beam, has appeared in previous Halo games. With Infinite, 343 have emphasized UNSC and Banished weapons and left the Promethean weapons from 4 and 5 mainly in the dust. Furthermore, I found it slightly funny that when introducing the Cindershot and Heatwave, 343 altogether avoided using the word "Promethean" and instead favored the term "Warrior-Servants" when discussing the original users of said weapons. Likewise, it is incredibly telling that while 343 were happy to bring back icons of the series, the weapons most likely to get axed debuted in Halo 4 and 5. While I think there's a pretty apparent reason for this when discussing Halo Infinite's multiplayer, what this absence could mean for its campaign is anyone's guess.
This leads me to a final admission before we jump into the "meat" of this blog. I am now, and always have been, someone who plays Halo games for their campaigns and single-player modes. I have nothing against Halo's multiplayer and, over the years, have come to appreciate what the franchise has contributed to the gaming landscape in terms of online matchmaking, alternate control schemes, and match customization options. There's also something to be said about the enduring legacy of Halo and the fact it is the last multiplayer shooter of its kind still standing. Simply put, they are not making open-world arena shooters anymore. Not with the unforeseen retirement of Tribes, Unreal Tournament, and even Quake. That said, I remain someone who comes to Halo games for their scripted single-player campaigns and high-budget science fiction storytelling. A lot of this has to do with the Halo franchise being something that caught me at the right time and place when I was young, and I haven't been able to shake it away since. While many people advocate for the multiplayer progression system to be tweaked, I have been sitting here idly twiddling my thumbs for any signs that 343's era of Halo storytelling will be less of a mess.
Explaining The Absence Of Promethean Stuff In The Multiplayer Is Incredibly Clear-Cut
Before I attempt to speculate what the axing of Promethean weapons could indicate about Halo Infinite's story, let's discuss their absence in the game's multiplayer. The reason for this is pretty straightforward, as 343's messaging has been the same for a while. Halo Infinite is intended to be a "return to form" after a brief period of experimentation for the franchise. Rather than make all of the speed and item-based mechanics "work" a third time, 343 ditched those ideas in favor of a multiplayer experience that echoed the Bungie-era games. Fuck, remember when one of the first things 343 did to get some skeptics of 4 and 5 back on board was to prove Master Chief's armor in Infinite more closely mimicked his armor in Halo 3? Yeah, that's what they did with the parred-down weapon list in Infinite! They shit-canned a ton of Forerunner energy weapons most people did not like and replaced them with a bunch of slug-based UNSC and Brute/Banished weapons. And if we are being honest, these weapons play better into the stiff but deliberative feel of Halo than the sleek and glass-canon-like weapons of the Prometheans.
From a practical standpoint, I don't think these weapons can work in Halo Infinite unless the movement-based additive and customization mechanics in 4 and 5 return. When you go back and look at the Promethean weapons in Halo 4, you also realize how inconsequential they are in the grand scheme of things. Most were different interpretations of long-standing icons in the series, but in a different shell that allowed 343 to ease people into the many item and weapon-based gimmicks they were selling at the time. Likewise, most of the weapons were never especially well-received from the greater Halo multiplayer community. They certainly looked nice, but by Halo 5, they were a clear indicator that 343 was attempting to chase after the popularity of other multiplayer zeitgeists rather than celebrate the distinctive look and feel of the series. So, if Infinite is an honest attempt to bring back long-time fans, 343 needed to revert to series standbys.
If you ask me, I always felt the Promethean Weapons worked far better in the campaign and Spartan Ops missions than the multiplayer. Most of them worked best when you were down on your luck and had nothing else to use. Ultimately, they were fun last resort options while traversing larger Forerunner-based environments when ammunition for other weapons was hard to come by. And if Infinite isn't going to launch with the single-player campaign and with no indications of a Spartan Ops or Firefight equivalent coming any time soon, why put more on 343's plate than needed? What people are buzzing about right now is only possible if 343 tackle a bite-sized chunk of what is normally included in a Halo game. They needed this game to resonate with Halo fans, both new and old, and that is what happened.
Does This Mean Anything For The Campaign?
Now we get into the section of this blog that is more speculative. Again, as someone who comes to the Halo games primarily seeking single-player and cooperative experiences, my opinion of the "343 Era" is even more mixed than the multiplayer community's impressions. First, the current state of the Halo canon is a complete mess. Halo 4 and 5 didn't help matters in that both games failed to commit to the "Reclaimer Saga" 343 initially billed as the next big thing for the franchise. With it, we have seen the Forerunner and Prometheans go from being a huge selling point to second-fiddle to remnants of the Covenant as well as the Brutes. The Didact initially appeared to be a possible figurehead for a pivot for the franchise, and then 343 offed him in a less than ten-minute boss battle. Both Halo 4 and 5 struggled to strike an effective balance between providing new enemies or factions as well as doling out fanservice. And the less said about both games struggling to engage in even the most basic worldbuilding and instead relying on computer terminals to explain essential plot points, the better. But the most significant point of failure for the "Reclaimer Saga" continues to be its downright awful attempts to humanize Master Chief. I have always argued 343 should have used Dr. Catherine Halsey as the focal point for an entire game as a massive thorn in Master Chief's side. And yet, 343 completely squandered Halsey as a character after building her up for literal years. It's a fucking mess.
So here we are, with the two most prominent factions in the multiplayer being the UNSC and Banished, a breakaway resistance faction from the Covenant Empire. You also have to consider the larger emphasis on Cortana's "Created" faction. For those who may have forgotten, at the end of Halo 5: Guardians, Cortana founded a collective of rogue A.I. called the "Created," which seek to use the Mantle of Responsibility to take over the galaxy. It's a pretty contrived plot beat, but Halo, even during its "Golden Age," wasn't exactly a bastion of original science-fiction storytelling. Nonetheless, with the campaign demo 343 released, one thing is for certain. The Prometheans and Forerunners are taking a backseat... again. After spending the better part of Halo 4 and 5 building up the return of the Forerunners as a significant plot point, Master Chief is instead going to tango with a Covenant resistance movement and a rampant Cortana. Yet again, 343 responded to negative fan input about their creative decisions in previous Halo games by ditching their experiments and shotgunning new shit to fill in the gaps. This is odd considering the last time 343 invested in supporting media for the Halo franchise was for a trilogy of books called the "Forerunner Saga."
That last point leads me to my most pressing quibble with 343's strategy whenever they make a new game. Often 343 repackage a bunch of enemy types from previous games, give them a new name, and then use characters from these factions to present a bunch of subplots. Besides the lack of creativity, the issue here is that Halos 4 and 5 still have completely unresolved plot threads. 343 have a bad habit of never remaining too married to any of their creative ideas, and that's a concern I have going into Infinite. Even if Halo Infinite's campaign strikes a balance between open-world environments and scripted levels, there's no telling if anything from this game will represent a tangible real-world change for the franchise. And this impacts those of you who seek Halo games for their multiplayer-based experiences as well. There's no telling if any of the current multiplayer mechanics or gimmicks this time around will persist.
Why Single-Player Halo Fans Should Still Wait
I forgot to note I'm not opposed to any of the fundamental changes 343 are proposing with what they have shown and released thus far. I'm glad they are trying to shake up the structure of a Halo campaign because I think even die-hards will admit 343 is not equipped to copy the format that Bungie pioneered with earlier games. We know this to be true after two mainline games attempted just that, and the major structural and storytelling issues that entailed were not exactly secrets. However, I don't think for a minute that moving things into an open-world format or adding on a tech tree will absolve 343 of some pretty glaring design and narrative mistakes that they made in Halo 4 and 5. For example, the four missions they have provided to the press don't clarify if 343 will YET AGAIN use terminals to convey fundamental aspects of Infinite's worldbuilding. Also, even if the campaign in Infinite is "perfect," that doesn't change the fact that the franchise is a narrative mess. There are still characters that populate the world of Halo that feel half-baked or still have yet to get their complete character-defining moments.
I hate to say it, but part of me is expecting the Prometheans to make a sudden unwanted re-appearance at the butt-end of Infinite's campaign. It would be the absolute worst thing 343 could do, but it is not outside of the realm of possibility. Nowadays, writing the story for a Halo game seems more like a plate-spinning circus act. With each game, the writer needs to keep five or six plates spinning at all times or otherwise risk them falling to the ground and breaking. Not seeing their perilous position, 343 keeps adding new dishes to their circus act and has no signs of slowing down. My point is I'd like them to relax and reflect on what they have added to the Halo universe rather than keep adding in more shit that they cannot conceivably prevent themselves from breaking. But alas, that's not what people want. People want big guns that shoot eleven laser beams and rip apart Brutes like a hot knife through butter.
All that aside, it is fantastic to see people excited about Halo again. As I mentioned in the first section, Halo is all that remains of a very particular style of FPS campaign and multiplayer design. They simply are not making arena-style multiplayer shooters like they once did, and Halo's level-based shooter puzzles are rarely replicated these days. I know I am guilty of saying "I want this game to succeed" a lot, but I honestly do want Halo Infinite to "work." The diversity of styles of FPS games has taken a pretty dramatic dip in the past ten years. Hopefully, if this game captures even a portion of the series' highs, while also blazing its own path, 343 will finally feel like they can make a Halo game on their terms rather than those demanded of them from unflinching fans. I know portions of this blog might make it seem like I fall into that camp, but the opposite is true. All I wonder is if 343 can finally shake away their indecisiveness and commit to what they pioneer in a game for once, and only time will tell if that is the case. But I swear to fucking God, if two games down the line, the Didact comes back from the dead and leads a group of Prometheans called "Titans," I'm going to fucking die. Mark my words, I'm going to fucking die.
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