After years of waiting, watching for information, combing through Reddit and Twitter just to find even a morsel of knowledge on the game, Halo Infinite was shown at the Xbox Games Showcase on July 23, 2020. Although there were numerous positives and negatives to what we saw, it was nice to finally have a look at what 343 has been working on over the last several years. Let’s jump in!
0:07
The landing page of the Halo Infinite demo looks awesome. There are birds moving about on the grass, and the effects in the ring are intriguing as well. The music playing during this screen is a reinvention of the original Halo theme, and it sounds darker than we might expect while still remaining familiar.
0:17
The gameplay demo takes place on May 28, 2560. If we go back 167 days from this date, the day of loss is December 13, 2559, which is only two months after the events of Halo: Shadows of Reach. Since we know Cortana is still a major threat at that time, it is unlikely that the entire Created force has been completely thwarted in merely two months, so they likely play a role in Infinite, although we do not yet know how.
0:43
The demo opens with the Chief and the Pilot taking fire from Banished AA Turrets on the Halo ring. Their Pelican takes several shots and crashlands on the ring, briefly knocking out the Pilot. Chief, of course, seems mostly unfazed.
0:59
The Pilot has not been having a good day. After coming back to consciousness, he expresses his dissatisfaction at the Chief’s continued dedication to the mission, even in the face of danger. He’s frustrated, angry, and just wants to go home.
1:29
“There won’t be a home if we don’t stop the Banished.” While the Pilot wants to be done with the fighting and leave, the Master Chief recognizes the dangerous reality of the Banished controlling a Halo ring. They have to be stopped, nothing short of that is acceptable.
2:00
In one of the more touching moments between Chief and the Pilot, the Chief insists that they can look for Condors together once he finishes his mission. He seems to care about the safety of this Pilot, even though they are deep in enemy territory. It is interesting that Condors are mentioned, since they have only appeared in Halo: Nightfall and Halo Wars 2 until now.
2:12
In a seamless transition from cutscene to gameplay, we finally get to see what it will be like to play as the Master Chief in Halo Infinite. From this first look at the HUD, we can see several features. For one, the mission title is Gun Battery, as seen on the left. There are also three AA guns to neutralize, as referenced in the cutscene.
The radar is 31 m in radius, as opposed to the historically 25-m radars in several previous Halo titles. The central ping, representing the player, is blue instead of yellow, although it is unconfirmed if the color would be yellow for nearby allies. On the top, we can see a Halo 3-esque shield bar which at first glance does not appear to display the user’s health.
On the bottom right, we can see that there are two slots next to the weapon information. While the left slot is empty, the right slot has a new icon which looks vaguely like a grappling hook. It has a number next to it, likely indicating the number of charges available, and it seems to be activated by pressing the RB button (later gameplay suggests this button prompt is a bug, and it is actually LB that activates the grappling hook).
In the weapon readout, which is now located on the bottom right instead of the top right, we can see that the weapon outline has been maintained from the previous installments, but instead of a visual depiction of the magazine, we have a simple number representing the number of rounds left in the magazine, in this case 36. Beneath that number is the reserve ammunition, which is also represented by a number, as it was in previous games. Finally, the secondary weapon schematic is displayed above the current weapon.
The weapon that Master Chief is using is the MA40 Assault Rifle. Unlike the MA37 from Halo: Reach, this weapon has a 36-round magazine, making it closer to the Halo 5: Guardians Assault Rifle in functionality.
2:19
After looking up at the ring’s arching silhouette and the Forerunner pillars supporting the broken landscape, the player’s focus returns to the ground. The wildlife running around in front of the Chief, coupled by the sounds of birds chirping around the player, gives the impression that this ring is a living environment with more than just enemy combatants.
2:25
The player immediately comes under fire from several Grunts. Although hard to tell in this screenshot, the Grunt he attacks is a Grunt Assault wearing blue armor, as seen in the Mega Construx sets. The other two Grunts are Grunt Conscripts, wearing orange armor with one having some gray on his backpack. All three are armed with Plasma Pistols.
Also, interestingly enough, the shield bar seems to be covering a second, smaller bar representing the player’s health. Additionally, hitmarkers in a similar style to Halo 5: Guardians can be seen in the corners around the reticle. Finally, this weapon, and most of the others in the demo, feature reticle bloom, although it is unknown if the bloom is significant enough to drastically affect precision weapon accuracy.
2:37
A Banished Phantom then flies overhead. The design of this vehicle seems very similar to how it looked in Halo Wars 2, which had a unique interpretation of the dropship. Also, notice how the sun is high in the sky at this point. It will be important to note the sun’s location later in the demo.
2:47
Here, we can see the player Sprint towards a Warthog. We now know that Sprinting is confirmed for Campaign, although its presence in Multiplayer is still unknown. Interestingly, this Warthog does not look like the Warthog shown in the Mega Construx set. This Warthog is missing the roll bars, and it has a square turret rather than a hexagonal one.
3:02
Thanks to u/SilverPit, we now know that Halo Infinite will likely feature Fast Travel, allowing the player to quickly move from one point of interest to another without having to walk, sprint, or drive the whole way. This suggests that the Campaign will be very open and large, especially moreso than previous games.
3:02 (cont.)
This feature is very exciting, as it confirms that the levels in Halo Infinite are vast and open for exploration in ways never before seen in a Halo game. The tacmap shown here has a wide array of objectives and markers, although most disappear almost immediately. I’ll show these icons in greater detail in the next few screenshots. The map also shows the player’s current location and the current mission objectives: the three AA guns that Chief is supposed to take out.
In the upper left part of this screen, we can see that there is also an Upgrades page and a Database page. Although we have not heard anything about the Database, the Upgrades page is apparently a place where the player can select an upgrade, like the grappling hook we saw earlier, to use in their playthrough. Apparently, these upgrades will be found through exploration, encouraging players to look carefully for these items.
On the bottom of this screen, we can see some of the map controls. Most are fairly typical, such as pressing B to close the screen or using LT and RT to zoom in and out. The player can also set a waypoint using the A button and snap to their location by clicking the Right Stick. Interestingly, the Y button allows the player to view missions, which makes sense since the Campaign is still technically linear, and the X button allows the player to start a mission. Perhaps this map functions as the mission select as well as a way to find objectives in the world. There may even be side missions that can be completed alongside the linear Campaign.
3:02 (cont.)
Although it is a bit difficult to see, most of the icons in this screenshot are labeled. In the top left, underneath the Tacmap selection, the icon’s label is Marine Rescue K, implying that there may be side objectives to rescue Marines from the Banished.
On the right, above the Database selection, the icon is labeled as Conservatory, which sounds like an important location on the Halo ring.
The topmost blue icon is labeled Echo Base, and the other blue icon is labeled Golf Base. It looks like some friendly forces may have survived the Banished onslaught for some time.
The red icon in the middle right of the screenshot is labeled Green Spire, which could be an important Banished location. This icon seems to have loaded later than the others, which is why it appears smaller than the other icons.
The larger red icon in the middle of the screenshot is called The Tower, and it has a padlock symbol. Perhaps it is an unlockable region? It’s hard to say at this time.
Finally, the red icon at the bottom of the screenshot with the targeting reticle is labeled Okro Vagaduun, which sounds like the name of some Banished leader that we might get to take down as a side objective.
Ultimately, these icons are numerous and varied, implying that the large, open segments of the Campaign are going to be filled with interesting things to see and do.
3:03
When the player hovers over the Gun Battery mission icon, in yellow, this information appears. There are four symbols associated with the mission, although little is known about them at this time. The first symbol could be some form of XP, but since we don’t know for sure, I will avoid speculating further. The second symbol is the Normal difficulty symbol. It has been confirmed that difficulty is selected from the Main Menu, just as it was in previous games, so this difficulty symbol is likely just a reminder of the selected difficulty. The third symbol appears to represent some sort of collectibles, as does the fourth symbol. However, it is difficult to know whether they represent Upgrades and Database collectibles or something else we haven’t seen yet.
The mission objectives are then listed below these symbols, tasking the Chief with destroying the three AA guns in order to leave the island. From the map, we can tell that the ring has been significantly segmented in this region, likely from the destruction we saw in the Discover Hope trailer, thereby creating a bunch of islands supported by hexagonal columns.
3:05
When the player hovers over one of the AA guns, this pop-up appears. These symbols are the same as the first two symbols that appeared for the mission pop-up, and the value of the first symbol is also identical. Interestingly, the text here says, “Use the weapon to hack into the console and destroy them.” Why might this text refer to “the weapon”? Personally, I think the weapon is the AI in the chip we saw in Discover Hope. Remember how Chief’s VISR system displayed “Weapon Containment System Inserted” when he inserted that chip? Now, it’s purely speculation, but I think it’s possible that “the weapon” is the new Cortana model. Chief might reunite with this model at some point between Discover Hope and this demo, which takes place around halfway through the Campaign. Even if I am wrong about the identity of “the weapon,” it’s clearly something they’re trying to keep secret for now.
3:23
Although it is a bit hard to tell in this screenshot, directional markers for getting shot are represented by small red dashes in the direction of the attacker, as can be seen near the rear right wheel of the Warthog. Additionally, the Grunt can be heard speaking English as the player drives by.
3:29
The Grunt just in front of the Warthog just entered his suicide mode, confirming the return of this Grunt behavior. Additionally, the Jackals in the distance have two notches on their shields, returning to the original design from Combat Evolved through ODST.
3:29 (cont.)
Boom! The Grunt detonates in a brilliant display of blue blood and plasma, striking the Warthog directly. Despite this destructive act, the player’s shields are barely touched, and the Warthog seems mostly unscathed...mostly.
3:30
At this point, we see a Grunt Conscript on the left using a Needler, confirming this weapon’s appearance in Halo Infinite’s sandbox.
3:31
Here, we can clearly see that the red X indicating a kill has also returned from Halo 5: Guardians.
3:32
There’s surprisingly a lot of information in the span of only a few seconds. The details here are small but rather interesting. On the right, we can now see that the previously empty spot next to the grappling hook has been filled by two Frag Grenades, throwable using the Left Trigger. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, the visible wheel on the Warthog is completely missing its tire! The suicide Grunt from earlier blew it completely off the Warthog, but it was still drivable. This level of destructibility has not yet been seen in a Halo game, so it will be exciting to see how it affects the drivability of the Warthog.
3:35
After destroying a Grunt Assault, the player switches to a new weapon, the MK50 Sidekick. Interestingly, this gun is not called a Magnum, which means this new weapon is either a replacement for the Magnum or a new addition to the sandbox. It is currently unknown whether it is actually a replacement or not, but the weapon itself has not been seen before. Although this screenshot does not show a full magazine, the magazine size is twelve rounds.
3:37
This Grunt is using an armor set that has not been seen before, although it bears similarities to the Halo: Reach Grunt Ultra armor. It is possible that this Grunt is also an Ultra. At this point, we also hear the Elite on the left speaking English, so this behavior has also returned from the previous game.
3:40
Not only is this Elite wearing an armor set that is heavily inspired by the classic Elite armor, he performs a roll to close the distance between him and the Chief quickly, which is an interesting new behavior.
3:42
Right after the Master Chief kills the Elite, the Elite drops his weapon, a Pulse Carbine. This weapon is new for Infinite, and interestingly, it has a detailed description underneath, describing the weapon as an Assault Rifle that fires plasma rounds in a burst fashion. Although uncertain, this description might imply that weapon variants exist in the game.
3:44
Earlier, we saw a blue Fusion Coil detonate next to a Grunt. Interestingly, this cloud of blue plasma is still present and likely indicates a field that damages things over time.
3:45
Here we have another new weapon: the VK78 Commando. According to the description, this weapon is a type of automatic tactical rifle that fires kinetic rounds. The tactical rifle descriptor seems to indicate that this weapon can do precision damage.
3:46
The Assault Rifle is no longer referred to simply as “Assault Rifle” but as “MA40 AR.” The inclusion of the model number when referring to the weapons seems to be a new addition in Halo Infinite.
3:47
The VK78 Commando has a 20-round magazine, and, interestingly, it has a magazine located in front of the trigger, which has not been seen on many UNSC rifles.
3:48
As in Halo 5: Guardians, the hitmarker for a critical hit is depicted in red. However, unlike Halo 5: Guardians, this red hitmarker does not seem to appear for precision hits with weapons like the MA40 AR. It seems that, unless the weapon is a precision weapon, headshots and other critical hits do not deliver increased damage to their targets.
3:49
Here, the player zooms in with the Commando. Unlike Halo 5: Guardians, which favored the more ADS-like Smart Scope, Halo Infinite seems to be a return to the more classic scoping appearance. Additionally, descope occurs upon damage, as it did in Halo 5: Guardians. Finally, this moment is the only time in the entire demo where the player zooms in with a weapon, implying that the ability to zoom in with all weapons has been removed in favor of the emphasis on shooting from the hip in Halo games prior to Halo 5.
3:58
After looking at the Banished elevator up ahead and watching a flock of birds fly above, a drop pod suddenly comes crashing down following a red laser. Inside is a rather aggressive Banished Brute. He has no weapons besides his Brutish strength, but he is eager to use it. As he shouts at the Chief in English, the player throws a Plasma Grenade at the Brute, sticking him and blowing him up before turning to the second weaponless Brute that dropped shortly afterward. Meanwhile, the drop pod quickly begins burning more ferociously and eventually explodes.
4:03
As the second Brute (Craig) charges toward the player in a full sprint, the player shoots the Brute several times in the knee, causing him to stumble, something that is a new behavior in Halo.
4:04
The player then start’s shooting at the Brute’s head, breaking off his mask. In Infinite, it seems as though the player can damage individual pieces of armor on the Brutes, making them interesting to attack in various ways. There is also a prompt for reloading when the weapon in use is low on ammo in the magazine.
4:07
After meleeing the Brute, the player turns toward a nearby weapons cache with a Drop Wall item and picks it up.
4:08
The player also walks over these two Spike Grenades, which have finally returned from Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST. In addition, the fusion coil beside them is yellow, unlike the earlier blue fusion coil. Finally, although it was present on other weapons and items, it is clear from this screenshot that sandbox items on the ground will have a faint outline around them to make it easier to distinguish them from the environment.
4:08 (cont.)
As the player approaches the Fusion Coil, this prompt appears, giving players the option to pick up the item. Previously, Fusion Coils were simply on-map explosives that players only really used to deal additional damage to enemies near them. The ability to pick up and use a Fusion Coil is significant. Additionally, when the player picked up the Drop Wall item, the grapple hook icon disappeared and was replaced by a new icon for the Drop Wall.
4:11
As the Brute in the background throws a Spike Grenade at the player, the player tosses out the Drop Wall. It looks similar to the Drop Shield equipment item from Halo 3, but it is larger and allows the player to fire through it from behind. Interestingly, after throwing out the Drop Wall, the icon in the bottom right has returned to the Grapple Hook, implying that the Drop Wall functions almost identically to Halo 3 equipment as a map pickup. The button prompt for the Grapple Hook has now changed to the LB button, where it will stay for the rest of the demo.
Additionally, the grenades have changed from Plasma Grenades to Spike Grenades, so it is still possible to switch between the different types.
4:16
Although it is hard to tell from this screenshot, the Chief slides at this point in the demo. This ability, introduced in Halo 5, has returned alongside Sprint.
4:18
The grapple hook in action! The player fires the hook, latching on to the Brute and pulling Chief closer to him. The first function of this grapple hook is to pull the player closer to enemies they latch onto. The Brute himself has a jump pack as well, which we see right after the player sticks him with a Spike Grenade.
4:23
The weapon dropped by the Brute is called a Ravager. From this extended description, the weapon is a launcher that fires plasma rounds in a burst mode.
4:23 (cont.)
The Ravager is clearly a Brute weapon, with a large bayonet on the end and bright reds in numerous places. According to 343, the bayonet will have a subtle boost to the melee damage done by this weapon, making it possible to kill an enemy Spartan in one strike if their shields are below 50%. It is a battery-powered weapon, like most plasma weapons. In another vein, from this screenshot, we can see that the grapple hook has a cooldown and seems to act more like an armor ability as far as Campaign is concerned.
4:32
The animation for pressing this button is very quick and only consists of the Chief briefly putting down his weapon. This change is significant since button animations were previously much longer in Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians.
4:41
This open vista with the broken, damaged ring in the background is accented by a new rendition of the main Halo theme song. 343 has stated that nearly everything in sight is accessible and part of the open play-space in Campaign, which is quite the impressive increase in level size from previous titles.
5:00
On the Banished Phantom that flies overhead, we can see the Halo 5: Guardians Plasma Turret model, which may indicate that this turret model has made a return in Infinite.
5:01
The Jackal model is much closer to the original design from Halo: CE through Halo: Reach. Additionally, the small yellow indicator in the middle of the reticle seems to indicate that something is within reach of the grapple hook.
5:04
The Ravager fires large red explosive projectiles in a three-round burst. Additionally, the weapon does not vent on its own and must be manually vented in a similar way to the Plasma Repeater from Halo: Reach.
5:05
Although hard to see as it occurs in the background, the Brute here is actually throwing the suicide Grunt into the air.
5:07
Incoming! The Brute has quite an arm! This poor little Grunt is understandably complaining about being thrown, but the player quickly dispatches him anyway.
5:07 (cont.)
Although it can be seen earlier in the demo, this screenshot clearly shows how the backpack on the Grunts can be destroyed as in Halo 5: Guardians.
5:10
The third and final Spartan Ability to carry over from Halo 5: Guardians is Clamber, as shown here when the player climbs up onto a Banished box.
5:15
The Pulse Carbine that the Elite was using earlier in the demo is shown in full detail here. The weapon looks like an Elite design, as opposed to the Ravager. It is unclear if it can do precision damage, but given that it is an assault rifle type weapon, it likely does not.
5:19
Here, we can see that the Brute has thrown another suicide Grunt, albeit with less success. Additionally, the Pulse Carbine seems to have a five-round burst, as opposed to the Ravager’s three-round burst.
5:31
The Jackals are using the original design from the Bungie games, but they still seem to speak English like they did in Halo 5: Guardians.
5:36
After dispatching several Grunts, Jackals, and Brutes, the player picks up another new weapon, one that we had seen in the Mega Construx sets: the Mangler (not the Mauler). This weapon has an 8-round magazine and is also clearly a Brute weapon.
5:39
Just prior to this screenshot, a yellow glow passed across the environment, likely triggered by the player pressing some button. It seems there is a VISR-like feature where useful equipment is highlighted. For example, there are several Fusion Coils highlighted through the rock wall directly in front of the Chief.
5:42
The second use of the grappling hook is to pull the Chief toward a location in the environment, such as a ledge that is too far away to jump to.
5:47
The Fusion Coils are still highlighted here, even through the Grunt up ahead. Again, there are blue and yellow variants, and it seems that the blue ones leave a persistent area-of-effect that damages combatants in the field.
5:49
The Mangler fires large single precision rounds, much like a heavy Brute revolver.
5:52
The third and final use of the grappling hook is to grab Fusion Coils from a distance and pull them to the player!
5:52 (cont.)
Thanks to u/Cabra117 on Reddit, we have discovered a small new item among the fusion coils here. It’s hard to tell exactly what it is, but it seems to be something like an ammo dispenser. It was highlighted in yellow, like the Fusion Coils were a few seconds earlier, so it’s clearly something that the player can interact with.
5:54
Yes, in Halo Infinite, you can throw Fusion Coils. Also, the Shade Turret shown here is similar to the Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach design, but with energy shields covering the occupant. Finally, the radar does not seem to show any difference in elevation throughout the demo, so it seems like a return to the original radar design from Halo: CE to Halo 3.
6:00
The Brute in purple armor in the back is surrounded by what appears to be an Energy Shield, implying that some of the Brutes are shielded in addition to the pieces of their armor we’ve seen so far.
6:08
There are tons of bright and colorful explosions here. The larger yellow Fusion Coil that the player just destroyed created a bright yellow object near the top middle of this screenshot. This object detonates shortly afterward, indicating that the large yellow Fusion Coils may spawn a delayed explosion. There is clearly some variety in the Fusion Coil mechanics. On a side note, the reticle for the Shade Turret is the same as the Ghost reticle, which is consistent with its appearance as recently as Halo 5: Guardians.
6:13
Amidst the destruction caused by destroying the Fusion Coils with the Shade Turret, the player moves to pick up the CQS48 Bulldog. According to the description underneath, this weapon is a shotgun that fires kinetic spread rounds.
6:14
The CQS48 Bulldog has a 10-round magazine, and it’s pump mechanism rotates the drum underneath it. There have been some concerns about this weapon replacing the UNSC Shotgun from previous games based on an IGN article, but at this time, no official source has stated whether this weapon is a replacement for the older Shotgun or simply an additional item in the sandbox. This new shotgun does seem to have more range and less punch than the old Shotgun, so it is possible that both will be featured in Infinite.
6:21
Although it is a bit difficult to tell from this image, the Brute is also using the CQS48 Bulldog shotgun, which may indicate that the Banished can take advantage of the UNSC weapons as well. It also serves as a throwback to Halo 2, when Brutes would use the Shotgun against the player.
6:26
When the player shoots this Brute in the back, the Brute responds by reaching for the place where he was shot. It seems that enemies will react in different ways depending on where they are attacked.
6:27
Although it appeared earlier in the demo, when the player’s shields recharge, these large yellow hexagons appear along the edges of the screen. Additionally, the Brutes’ helmet can be seen lying on the ground after having been shot off the Brutes.
6:36
Remember how the sun at the start of the demo was much higher in the sky? Now, it is all but covered by the Halo ring. Halo Infinite will feature a full day/night cycle, according to 343, and we saw some of that in this demo.
6:37
When Chief walks over the Plasma Pistol one last time, it brings up the detailed description for the weapon. As one might expect, it is a pistol that fires plasma with a charge functionality.
6:57
After entering the Banished AA turret and pressing a button to take it down, alarms sound and the doors close. A Brute, clearly one of the Banished leaders, begins talking and comes into view on the holographic display. He begins to talk about how he and his army of Banished defeated and have hunted down the humans at the ring over the last few months.
7:16
As the Brute continues to monologue, several views of Chief and the Pilot play, clearly painting a desolate picture of the events preceding Halo Infinite. In this screenshot, we can see a large number of points around the Pelican, each saying Infinity. Some of the points have the UNSC logo, others have the ONI logo, and a few even have the ODST logo. The points also have various ranks from Halo: Reach, likely indicating that these points are IFF tags for individual soldiers around the Pelican.
7:21
Despite the great number of IFF tags around the Pelican, all of them read “Deceased.” These soldiers have most likely been vanquished by the Banished and are probably now floating around in space.
7:26
As we get a visual of the Chief and the Pilot discussing the broken Halo ring, the Brute boasts that “the ring is already under our control; soon, the Auditorium as well.” The Auditorium is something new to Halo, but it sounds like it’s either a location on the ring or some Forerunner location elsewhere in the galaxy.
7:31
As we return to a view of this Brute, he claims, “The Harbinger and the Banished share the same goal. We fight together to honor the will of Atriox!” Again, we do not yet know who or what the Harbinger is/are, but it seems extremely likely that we will fight them alongside the Banished in Halo Infinite.
8:04
The Brute fades out of the hologram and we get a close up of this Banished leader. He sounds very excited to fight the Master Chief and urges him to “fight hard” so that he can have a challenging opponent.
8:42
The Halo Infinite logo comes up at the end of the demo with several piano notes reminiscent of themes from Halo 3. The release date still has yet to be announced, but it is still slated for Holiday 2020.
Summary
Whew, we got a lot of information from the Campaign demo, as one might expect. While there are quite a few images in this section, let’s see if we can summarize it all in only a few bullet points. Since this section is so long, I’ve further dissected the summary into various subsections.
Context
The demo takes place on a damaged section of the Halo ring on May 28, 2560, which is 167 days after the UNSC defeat near the Halo ring.
While the Chief has a focus on the mission and saving humanity, the Pilot just wants to go home and is tired of having to risk his life with the Chief.
The demo itself is a single shot, transitioning smoothly from cutscenes to gameplay.
At the end of the demo, a Banished leader Brute gives a monologue in which he explains that he has utterly demolished most of the human presence on the ring.
The Banished are looking to take over the Auditorium as well as the Halo ring, and they are working with someone or something known as the Harbinger. The meaning behind these terms is currently unknown.
The Brute leader has a personal desire to have a legendary fight with the Chief.
Multiple IFF tags around the Pelican at some point in the Campaign are associated with the UNSC Infinity. All the soldiers, including some from ONI and some ODSTs, are marked as deceased.
Campaign Details
As indicated by the presence of a Tacmap, this Campaign is significantly more open than previous games.
The explorable space for each mission is gigantic, and the vistas in the game are fully accessible parts of the play-space.
The player can Fast Travel to different locations using the Tacmap, although this feature was not shown in the demo.
There are numerous side objectives and markers on the Tacmap, although few are explored in the demo.
The demo mission has two categories of collectibles, which likely pertain to the Upgrades and Database tabs accessible from the map screen.
Upgrades are supposedly items found over the course of the Campaign that will allow the player to interact with the environment in new and interesting ways. The grappling hook is one such example of an Upgrade.
The game’s story will still be linear, but the areas for each mission are very large.
The ring will feature a day/night cycle, and the time of day changes throughout the trailer.
HUD and Base Mechanics
The radar is now 31 meters in radius, does not show vertical height differences, and shows the player as a blue ping rather than a yellow one.
The weapon, grenade, and equipment information is located in the bottom right corner of the HUD.
In Campaign, the Chief is equipped with a grappling hook with a cooldown. The grappling hook can pull the Chief toward enemies, pull the Chief toward parts of the environment, or pull items like Fusion Coils toward the Chief.
The player can Sprint, Slide, and Clamber, but all other Halo 5: Guardians abilities are absent from the game.
Damage indicators appear as small red lines
Hitmarkers as seen in Halo 5: Guardians are returning, with red indicating critical hits.
Zooming in was only done on a weapon with a scope, and it was a holographic sight, not Halo 5: Guardians’ Smart Scope.
Descoping occurs when the player is damaged while zoomed in.
Pressing a button does not seem to play a long animation unless it leads into a cutscene.
Weapons
The MA40 AR is similar in design to the Halo: Reach Assault Rifle, but it has 36 rounds in the magazine rather than 32.
The pistol shown in the demo is the MK50 Sidekick, rather than one of the M6 Magnums from the previous games. It has a 12-round magazine, but it is unknown whether the weapon has a scope.
Frag Grenades, Plasma Grenades, and Spike Grenades all appeared in the demo with an apparent limit of 2 for each grenade type.
The Plasma Pistol and Needler have returned.
A new UNSC tactical rifle called the VK78 Commando appears to be a fully-automatic precision rifle with a 20-round magazine. This weapon does have a 3.0x magnification scope, but zooming in functions the same way as it did in Halo games prior to Halo 5: Guardians, where a holographic sight appears.
The Ravager is a new battery-operated Brute launcher weapon that burst-fires explosive plasma rounds. The weapon must be manually vented after several shots.
The Pulse Carbine is a burst-fire rifle that fires plasma rounds. Unlike the Ravager, this weapon cools down automatically, but it can also be vented manually.
The Mangler is a single-fire pistol with an 8-round magazine that acts similarly to a revolver, firing powerful rounds at a slow pace.
The CQS48 Bulldog is a shotgun with a 10-round magazine. It appears to be longer range than the original shotgun but does less damage.
Although it only appears sometimes, all weapons appear to have an extended description underneath the pick-up prompt. This description is in the form “WEAPON TYPE | PROJECTILE TYPE | FIRING MODE.”
Equipment and Items
Players can now pick up and throw Fusion Coils at enemies.
Fusion Coils come in at least three varieties with different behaviors, distinguished by their color and size.
Equipment items such as the Drop Wall can be found on the map and offer the player a single-use ability.
The Drop Wall deploys a large shield wall that temporarily blocks incoming fire while allowing players to shoot through the back of the shield.
There appears to be an ammo dispenser among some of the Fusion Coils toward the end of the demo.
Enemies
The demo shows Grunt Conscripts, Grunt Assaults, and another type of Grunt with armor we haven’t seen before, likely a Grunt Ultra.
The Grunts used Plasma Grenades, Needlers, and Plasma Pistols in the demo.
The Jackals have returned to a model closer to the Bungie-era Jackals.
Jackal shields have returned to using two notches, as they did from Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo 3: ODST.
Jackals used Needlers and Plasma Pistols in this demo.
The Elites have returned to the anatomy and armor used in the original trilogy, particularly Halo 2: Anniversary.
The Elites used the new Pulse Carbine weapon.
The Brutes come in several varieties. While one variant had energy shields, most relied on armor that can be broken off piece by piece.
Several Brutes arrived in drop pods that exploded shortly after landing.
Some of the Brutes had no weapons and simply charged at the player to melee them.
Other Brutes were using the CQS48 Bulldog shotgun, which is a UNSC weapon.
The remaining Brutes used the Ravager, the Mangler, the Pulse Carbine, and Spike Grenades.
All enemies spoke English, as they did in Halo 5: Guardians.
Enemies react to the specific location they were shot. For example, a Brute will stumble if shot in the leg enough.
When Grunts enter suicide mode, nearby Brutes can throw them into the air at an enemy.
Vehicles
Although not shown, Condors are mentioned by the Pilot, implying their presence in the game.
The Warthog is returning, although its appearance is different from the Mega Construx set based on its design: the roll bars have been removed, and the turret shield has been reverted to the square design from Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians.
The Shade Turret is returning with additional occupant coverage offered by rechargeable energy shields that can be brought down with enough damage.
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