343 Industries has revealed three new details about Halo Infinite, which is still expected to release on PC and Xbox by the end of 2021. The Scrap Cannon is a new weapon, and the Razorback is a new wheeled vehicle, as well as two new Brute characters that Master Chief will meet on his journey.
Halo Infinite was supposed to be out in November 2020, alongside the Xbox Series X/S. Microsoft and its collaborators were so committed to meeting the deadline that Master Chief was featured on the console box art, and a Monster Energy campaign promising in-game prizes for a game that couldn’t be purchased went ahead.
The game was moved back to a vague 2021 release date in August 2020, perhaps due to pandemic-related development problems, but more than certainly due to harsh reviews of a July graphics preview. Since the pandemic is still underway and Microsoft doesn’t want to screw up its largest franchise, Halo Infinite may still be delayed until 2022.
According to 343 Industries in a blog post, the Scrap Cannon is a turret-mounted weapon used by the Banished’s Brute power and was originally known as the “Gatling Mortar.” Like any of Halo’s other heavy guns, Master Chief will be able to aim it from a turret or disconnect it.
This will almost certainly come at the expense of precision and moving speed, not least because fighting will otherwise be seriously unbalanced. Meanwhile, the Razorback, a “more spacious and durable relative” of the famed four-wheeled Warthog, has been unveiled.
According to model art, it should be able to accommodate more passengers, but the exact number is unknown. There’s also no sign of a turret, which means it’ll have to rely on crew firepower to defend itself. The explanation of 343 may imply that it would be more resistant to siege. Hyperius and Tovarus, two imposing Brute brothers who will likely prove to be formidable enemies in the game, were also teased in concept art by 343 Games.
The studio has remained tight-lipped over a new release date, but a revised Halo Infinite trailer is expected to debut at E3 2021 in June. Updated campaign screenshots were released at the end of April, and 343 has been increasingly releasing other content in the hopes of appeasing fans. It’s also hinted that “glorious plans afoot” for the summer are in the works, but it’s unclear if this means anything other than more teaser content.
Since 2017, when the real-time strategy game Halo Wars 2 was released for PC and Xbox One, the Halo series has been largely inactive. Halo 5: Guardians, the most recent big FPS title, was released in 2015. Even if some critics were dissatisfied with the campaign, it received mainly positive feedback. In reality, Halo Infinite is intended to pay homage to the first game in a number of ways, including reintroducing the Flood.
