Site Poll 88: What alien races will be in Halo Infinite?

[Ranger Intel]

 

 

Hi everyone, Spartan here with Site Poll 88.

 

 

Last week we talked about the likelihood of Blue Team being in Halo Infinite. On the whole, the community thinks we will see Blue Team, but whether they'll be playable or not isn't clear to us. Click here to view the last poll, 87.

 

 

 

 

What alien races will be in Halo Infinite?

 

 

Despite all the talk about Halo Infinite, I am yet to hear discussion about which species will show up. It's almost certain we'll see Sangheili (Elites), but how about the Yanme'e (Drones) or even the Huragok (Engineers)? Cortana broadcasted to pretty much the whole Galaxy, right? We know the Unggoy (Grunts) are siding with her. In this case, where there's no order, all species of Jackal will go to piracy, as they have always done. We shouldn't see them ally themselves with Cortana, but it's not surprising for there to be a few individuals who would join a mercenary group. The Jiralhanae (Brutes) would most likely not be seen, unless some join Cortana. Issue with them is they really are scattered all over the place, so it's unlikely we'll find some major Brute faction, the Banished were the best there'll ever be unless they all unite. Then there are some other minority species, such as the Yonhet and Sharquoi.

 

With Cortana trying to get all buddy-buddy with every race, and many others opposing her, what alien races do you think we'll be seeing in Halo Infinite? A few familiar faces from previous games/media, or even something entirely new? 

 

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts,

Spartan out.      

[RedStarRocket91]

Let's start with my biggest fear: that all we'll get is yet another incredibly barebones splinter faction of the Covenant, and the Prometheans. Elites will just be regular rifle-wielders, with the only variant being a version with a better rifle and more shields, Grunts will be pure fodder, and Hunters will be how they were in Halo 5. At least this means we'd hopefully have another full set of Jackals. The Prometheans would be pretty much as they were in Halo 5 - teleporting bullet sponges with homing weapons which completely kill all mobility and force the player into a dull cover-shooter style.

 

But let's go for something more hopeful. The title is Infinite, after all, which I'm hoping means we're going to get to shoot basically everything in the Halo universe. So to start with, let's list all of the known factions, and then work back from there, in rough order of appearance; the UNSC, the Covenant, the Flood, the Prometheans, the Banished, and the Created. We can also reasonably throw in the Insurgency, even though they haven't appeared in the games. Also, on reflection, I'm coming back and adding this to a spoiler for the sake of thread length!

 

 

So, for the Covenant, honestly? I'm happy for them to just disappear at this point. They were totally beaten for reals as of Halo 3, and again in Halo 5. If they come back again, it's just going to devalue them completely, and it's going to feel like they've been pushed in thanks to laziness, stagnation, or lack of creativity. The Banished can fill the same sort of role, but much better, since in addition to an art style which is at once obviously different to the Covenant, yet much more closer to their 'classic' aesthetic, they don't need to have the restrictions on units which the Covenant have suffered from Halo 4 onwards as they're a full-on successor empire rather than a splinter remnant. I think the only thing they're missing are Jackals, and I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to write them back in.

 

The Banished alone have the potential to be the be the best enemy roster yet in a Halo game. Let's go over the possibilities, shall we?

• Grunts with small arms (Plasma Pistols, Needlers)
• Grunts with heavy weapons (Fuel Rod Guns, Plasma Launchers)
• Suicide Grunts
• Jackals with shields (Plasma Pistols and Needlers)
• Jackals with rifles (Carbines or Needle Rifles)
• Jackal Snipers
• Elites with rifles (Plasma Repeaters, Storm Rifles, dual-wielded Plasma Rifles)
• Elites with specialist weapons (Carbines, Needle Rifles, Concussion Rifles)
• Elites with Fuel Rods
• Elites with Energy Swords
• Elite Special Ops
• Elite Rangers
• Brutes with rifles (Plasma Repeaters, Spikers)
• Brutes with specialist weapons (Carbines, Needle Rifles, Brute Shots)
• Brutes with Fuel Rods
• Brutes with Gravity Hammers
• Brute Stalkers
• Brute Jump Packs
• Skirmishers
• Drones
• Engineers
• Hunters

And there you go: before we even get to the vehicles, there are already over twenty different kinds of enemy to shoot at! Sure, you could argue there are a few similarities between Brutes and Elites, but really, they're different enough to constitute separate enemy types. And as for vehicles: Ghosts, Choppers, Prowlers, Marauders, Locust, Wraiths, Banshees, Phantoms, Spirits, and even Scarabs. Together, that is an absolutely huge selection of enemies to shoot at, making firefights much more interesting.

 

But the Banished would hopefully just be one of several enemy factions. I think it's probably fair to tie together the Created and the Prometheans, but what exactly would the Created's roster be? It couldn't just be all Promethean, not least because theirs is so shallow and repetitive. So what I'd absolutely love to see would be, humans who've actually chosen to side with Cortana. Imagine, for the first time, facing the entire UNSC roster as an enemy. And why stop with just what we've had in the main games so far? Let's add something from the rest of the canon: SPI armour, to add a stealthy unit to their roster. Combined with a few tweaks to Promethean Soldiers to make them a bit less irritating, and you could have a roster which looks something like this:

• Crawlers with small arms (Boltshots, Suppressors)
• Soldiers with small arms (Suppressors, Lightrifles)
• Knights with heavy weapons (Binary Rifles and Incineration Cannons)
• Knights with Scattershots
• Watchers
• Marines with small arms (Assault Rifles, SMGs)
• Marines with Shotguns
• Marines with heavy weapons (Rocket Launchers, Grenade Launchers)
• ODSTs with small arms (Battle Rifles, Suppressed SMGs)
• ODSTs with specialist weapons (Hydras, Railguns)
• ODSTs with heavy weapons (SAWs, Spartan Lasers)
• SPI Soldiers

It's not so impressive a roster as the Banished, but it's still far, far better than the Prometheans alone. And with a few tweaks to the Prometheans (no more homing weapons, drastically reduced teleporting nonsense), it could even be fun to fight. Certainly that's improved once we add vehicles to the mix: Warthogs, Mongeese, Hornets, Mantises, even Pelicans could all help supplement the Promethean roster, since at the moment all they have is the Phaeton.

 

And lastly, of course, there's the Flood. I know a lot of people don't enjoy fighting them, and I understand why, but there's no denying that they do offer something very unique to Halo's enemy sandbox. Especially in Halo 3, where the Flood were at their squishiest, they were focused far more on numbers and wave attacks than the Covenant, and given we're now more than a decade on, I don't see why we can't do better. Contrasting the Promethean style of a small number of specialists, and the Banished's style of a huge amount of flexibility, the Flood could fight with sheer, overwhelming numbers, no longer held back by the limitations of the Xbox 360's hardware. I don't want the Halo 2 style Flood, where you're taking on a room of twenty or so surprisingly tanky abominations two or three at a time: I want a wall of zombie flesh which constantly presses at my attention, swarming me with a dozen enemies at once, where I'm running out of ammunition despite the fact that everything is dying in seven or eight bullets or a single 'headshot' to the infection form.

 

Obviously some variety is nice, and so here's a potential roster:

• Infection Form Swarms
• Carrier Forms
• Human Combat Forms (weak, fast, and VERY numerous)
• Elite Combat Forms (still weak, but with energy shields and some weapons)
• Brute Combat Corms (slower but MUCH tankier and with the most powerful melee swings)
• Stalker Forms
• Ranged Forms
• Tank Forms

And that's it. You don't really need a huge amount of variety with the Flood, since they're so much more focused on numbers than individual variety.

 

 

Anyway, that's my incredibly-long take on what I'd most love to see in Infinite: nothing less than the biggest, baddest, most diverse roster of enemies to date!

[Twinreaper]

I would like to see the introduction of new species into the fray.  For all the vastness of the Universe they created and in which we reside.....you mean to tell me there are no variant species of any of the existing for Elites, Drones or brutes?  I mean c'mon.....give us some variation here.  I would love to see a Reptilian or Amphibious type species make their way into the game.  You can't logically tell me that there are only 10 species of life residing in this Galaxy or Galaxies.  For that matter we havent really seen any real variation on the wildlife.  Enemies dont have to be super advanced or smart to be conscidered a threat.  As I said, an primitive reptilian species, with daggers on their tails, huge claw typre weapons and the ability to natural camo themselves into any environment would make for a pretty fierce threat.  Since Reptiles have thick scales, it provides a pretty nasty defense all on it's own.  Tracking it through thermal would be hit or miss, and it would be lightning quick anyway based on it's physiological design.  I always imagined coming into a cave, and having a group of them hanging upside down from their tails camo'd..... and then you step in, and they drop down.  Swinging away with metal shredding talons and a batallion of other natural and hand made weapons. 

 

Another species they could possibly do is a Avian type, similar to Drones, but more bird like.  I mean after this whole Covenant thing, and even before, there had to be other larger groups of species that banded together to either conquer or defend life in this galaxy.  I would also like to see more Pre-Halo Human structures and technology introduced.  Even if the Forerunners could and had the time to destroy every footprint of man before firing the rings, I dont think it's a realistic possability.  They were too busy being engaged by the Flood and the Human/Syuum alliance to be able to scavange through the Galaxy destroying our stuff.

 

IDk.... I hope to see more at E3 2019 to bring this whole thing into a better focus.  For now, it's fun to think about what could and could not be.

[Drizzy_Dan]

It’s hard to say right now but speculations have it that the Flood could make an appearance in Halo Infinite. Installation 07, where the game takes place, has a huge history involving the Flood, Mendicant Bias, and even the Primordial- an ancient Precursor/Gravemind.

 

I think with a return to older art style, we could also see a return to older enemies. I would say the focus would more likely be on Brutes since we have so many Elite allies now but there are a few factions of Sangheili I can name that 343 can write into the mix.

[I_Make_Big_Boom]

 

 

 

 

Jk, that's a joke, I don't know who thought having those guys was a good idea.

 

Just gimme everything to kill except with a few caveats:

1. Gimme some Halo 3 Brute Chieftans.
2. Gimme some Halo 3 Scarabs.
3. Gimme some GOD DAMN FLOOD.

PSA over. That is all.

 

 

 

[RedStarRocket91]

Just gimme everything to kill except with a few caveats:

• Gimme some Halo 3 Brute Chieftans.
• Gimme some Halo 3 Scarabs.
• Gimme some GOD DAMN FLOOD.

 

Translation: give me Halo 3

[superintendent]

based on the trailer I'm assuming there will be lots of wildlife. (More so than previous Halo games) If the flood comes back it would be interesting if they could infect said wildlife. Hopefully, they don't give barebones factions as mentioned above by RedStarRocket91.