Halo Infinitehas finally come out! Well, the multiplayer beta has, at least,though the campaign is close.This free-to-play side of the game was released right in the middle of November,and people have been ravenously playing it since.
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That said,Halo Infinite’s controls take a bit of getting used to, and there are quite a few settings most players might want to change before even hopping into a game,whether it’s on a controlleror on keyboard and mouse, as these little changes can make a pretty big impact on gameplay.
Updated on February 20th, 2022 by Hodey Johns:Halo: Infinite might not have the player counts that it had at launch, but those who still play could not be more thrilled to be multiplayer gaming with their friends (and enemies) again. Many players give up too early because the competition at the top levels is so high. But that’s a mistake. Often, the professionals aren’t those with the quickest hands, they’ve also got some savvy minds. In a game where every frame counts and the difference between life and death is fractions of a fraction of a second, ideal settings crown winners. More video and audio settings have been added to this list.
12Low Anti-Aliasing: Video Settings
Can decreasing a graphical setting actually improve the experience? It sure can! Anti-aliasing is generally a good thing in games because it smoothes out textures and figures, making them more blurry as they get more distant to simulate accurate visual representation.
But whatHalo: Infinitefanatics need isn’t worse vision, they need better vision. The game will look a little less realistic and more jagged as a result, sure, since Master Chief can now see perfectly at any range. But that’s howplayers who put together unbelievable killstreaksget an advantage.
11Low Shadow Quality: Video Settings
There are two major reasons to run the game with the minimum possible shadow quality. The first is rather simple; the game’s shadows are very good, even with them nearly shut off. They aren’t as good as the ultra settings, certainly, but only a very perceptive player can tell the difference.
Also, according to most community members andprofessional analysis, the single largest video settings contributor to framerate drop is tied to increasing shadow quality. Shading might makethe comic bookbetter, but it makes the multiplayer worse.
10Field Of View At 100 Or Higher: Video Settings
This is a must-change in just about every multiplayer game, and especially every multiplayer shooting. The Field of View is the player’s literal line-of-sight and how “wide” and “tall” their fictional character’s eyes can see. The higher the number gets, the more players can see in both their horizontal and vertical peripherals.
That said, it does sort of have this fish-eye lens effect past a certain level, so the standard recommendation is to crank it to around 100 or about as high as it seems comfortable.
9Compressed Mode: Audio Settings
With apologies to all of the audio fidelity purists out there, the compressed audio mode leads to winning more games. The dynamic mode boasts that “Loud sounds are loud, and quiet sounds are quiet.” But the issue here is that pro players need to hear those quiet sounds.
Footsteps, picking up weapons, swinging a melee weapon, all of these are nearly undetectable with dynamic sound. With compressed audio, these quieter sounds become easier to pick up on, leading to better response times. Also, don’t forget that whileplayers are wishing loading screens had maps, there is no radar in ranked more, so this becomes all the more important.
8Environmental Effects To 0: Audio Settings
Don’t let anybody say thatHalo Infinitedoesn’t have an active audio environment. On any given map, players can hear birds chirping, engines running, gears grinding, or water flowing. It’s a wonderful experience for those who don’t have to listen for the footsteps of their opponents.
But shutting these environmental effects completely off, players know that anything they hear is produced by another player. In single-player,there are some mods that improve the game, but for multiplayer, it’s less about immersion and more about hunting.
7Screen Shake & Blur Both Off: Accessibility Settings
Once again, these are both settings that many experienced gamers make sure and look to turn off in just about every single title they play.
And, these are of course the Screen Shake and Blur options. Motion Blur, while it looks good for those watching from afar, is nothing more than a nuisance to the player themselves. And, Screen Shake is good for cinematic moments in a campaign, but it ruins visibility in a multiplayer setting. So, going into the Accessibility options (or the bottom of Video options) inInfiniteand sliding both of these to zero percent willhave an almost immediate effect on gameplay, as seen with Dr. Disrespect.
6Speed Lines Off: Accessibility Settings
Next up is another option within the Accessibility tab of the Options menu, as there are quite a few useful options in here. Stuff like Exposure or Sharpening is highly dependant on the player, but the Speed Lines effect thatHalo Infiniteuses is pretty much disliked by just about everyone who has played the game thus far.
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It’s not that the effect looks bad or anything, but rather because the speed lines have a bit of animation to them and are at the edges of the screen, it accidentally tricks players into thinking that they’re getting shot at. This doesn’t happen to every player, obviously, so if the Speed Lines don’t trip the player up, they don’t need to change it.
5Reticle Outline Opacity & Thickness Maxed Out: Accessibility Settings
Halois a relatively unique franchise in that just about every gun has some unique crosshair or visual information it presents to the player while wielded. Usually, games let players customize the crosshair themselves, and some special guns might have their own special crosshair when used, such as a grenade launcher or mounted turret.
While there are pros and cons toHalo’scrosshair systems, turning up the Reticle Outline Opacity and Thickness in the Accessibility options is just a net gain all around. It’s very rare that a player will prefer to play without a crosshair, so having it as visually apparent as possible will absolutely help out.
4UI Verticle & Horizontal Display Margin Adjusted Slightly: UI Settings
This might just be more of an individual issue, but the HUD/UI inHalo Infiniteis a great UI design, but not the best User Experience design. Equipment, Grenades, and Weapons all have names, but they only pop up for a second in the bottom right and aren’t immediately readable, rather than constantly having the name up with a hard drop-shadow. This means, more often than not, that players have tomemorize all the iconography for the different equipment,grenades, and so on.
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And, on top of that, it’s so far tucked in the corner! It’s hard to focus on everything that’s happening in a Big Team Battle normally, but when players have to look at the far edges of their screen for their radar or to see if they actually switched grenades (as grenades are so incredibly strong right now), it can be a problem. Thankfully, players can use the Horizontal and Vertical Display Margin settings in the UI tab to bring all those UI elements a bit closer to the player’s line of sight.
3Weapon Offsets Comfortably On-Screen: Accessibility Settings
The next option to change on here is about as hyper-specific as it gets, and it’s the Weapon Offsets. No, not the Crosshair Offset like one would expect, but rather this option changes where the gun in the player’s view sits, whether it’s closer to the left, right, if it’s higher up on the screen, or even closer to the player’s chest.
Now, this might not seem like it would make a difference, but people get used to very minute things in shooters, and some guns inHalotake up a lot of camera space. Giving players the ability to have their guns sit right where they want them is just a nice quality-of-life option.
