Halo Infinite Weapons, Vehicles, and More: Sandbox Speculation

With Halo Infinite releasing this fall, fans of the sci-fi shooter have been ecstatic to get any fresh details on the newest entry in the series. The development team behind Infinite at 343 Industries have provided some insight into the game’s development to satiate that hunger for knowledge.

No deluge of information was more exciting than the Inside Infinite interview with six members of the sandbox team at 343. To put it simply, the interview touched on the weapons we’ll be firing, vehicles we’ll be driving, and equipment we’ll be using, as well as how it will all feel to use.

Halo fans everywhere rejoiced in diving a little deeper into what we can expect when Master Chief finally arrives on Zeta Halo, yet were left wondering: what else can we expect?

While the interview was certainly enlightening, revealing exciting details and dropping hints at new vehicles and weapons, there was plenty of room left over at the end for good old-fashioned speculation.

Whether it be guessing what Brian Berryhill meant when he said there’s a new vehicle that “[sits] nicely between the Warthog and the Scorpion in terms of power level,” or wondering just what types of things the shiny new Grappleshot might be capable of, there is plenty to fantasize about in one’s nightly dreams of Halo Infinite. So climb aboard the speculation Banshee as we ponder just what might be waiting for us later this year.

When one thinks of playing a Halo game, the first weapons that come to mind are your standard UNSC armaments, like the archetypical loadout of an Assault Rifle and Magnum, or maybe a Battle Rifle. Add on to this the slew of familiar power weapons, like the Shotgun or Sniper Rifle, and you’ve got yourself a good understanding of how Spartans are armed in the Halo series. So what new tech are humanity and their Spartans wielding on the strange new setting of Installation 07?

So far, the new kids on the block are the MK50 Sidekick, a fast-firing sidearm filling in for the Magnum; the VK78 Commando, a slow, automatic marksman rifle that bears a resemblance to the DMR from Halo: Reach; and the CQS48 Bulldog, a new UNSC shotgun that fires more rapidly, but with less damage than its older brother.

More than that lies just below the surface, though. For example, in a recent interview with Quinn DelHoyo of 343 Industries that focused on fan Q&A’s, DelHoyo said there is a new, never-before-seen weapon that fills “that powerful Shotgun role.”

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Never-before-seen could mean it’s simply an old weapon we’ve not seen in any official Infinite media yet, like the classic Shotgun from Halos past, or the Forerunner hardlight shotgun, the Scattershot, from the more recent entries. More exciting to think about is what else this weapon could be, however. Could it be a new breed of heavy shotgun that fires armour-piercing slugs made to take on the Banished, Halo Infinite’s new antagonists? Perhaps this new weapon isn’t UNSC at all but is rather a new Covenant shotgun, something we haven’t seen in a Halo entry to date. Plasma shotguns? Sign us up.

What of the big boys, like the Spartan Laser, Sniper Rifle, and various explosive weapons? Lore nerds and bookworms might have their fingers crossed for the M99 Stanchion, a heavy-duty UNSC sniper that functions like the Railgun, delivering massive kinetic rounds that can take down vehicles. Perhaps a new flamethrower is in order, seeing as we haven’t burnt anyone to a crisp since Halo ODST in 2009.

With “damage types” apparently being part of the sandbox, wherein a weapon will inflict certain debuffs based on the element it fires, the Flamethrower is just begging for a comeback. As anyone who’s played a game with status effects before knows, you can’t talk about debuffs without mentioning fire!

So then what of the new alien tech? What will the Banished – Brute defects from the Covenant who have truly embraced their violent nature – bring with them to the battlefield? We know about the Spike Grenade, and how it now does damage when sticking a target; and we’ve seen the new Mangler, which fires solid spikes in a slow, heavy cycle reminiscent of a revolver.

But perhaps our brutal foe will bring with them a new long-range weapon that we’ve never seen from them, like a spike-launching sniper. Or maybe the Banished will be inspired by their leader Atriox, who wields a heavy energy mace. The energy mace could fit nicely between the already deadly Energy Sword and Gravity Hammer and could become perhaps the new secondary weapon when Spartans jump into a game of Grifball.

Our more familiar Covenant combatants have already been seen sporting the fancy Pulse Carbine, which blends elements of the Storm Rifle of new Halo, and the Carbine of old. They may just stroll into the fight wielding something even fancier, however, and knowing the Covenant, everything from a new Plasma Pistol to something entirely exotic and unheard of is possible.

Aliens in the books have been seen wielding everything from swords of fire to the crazy hard light tech of the Forerunner, who we may surely see some new arms and vehicles as well. Cortana’s plan is still in action, after all, and what Forerunner influence we see might very well be in our hands, firing glowing projectiles at the enemy. Enough of what we’ll be holding, however, and more about what we’ll be driving and flying.

The Mastodon from Halo Wars 2, the closest thing Halo has to the APC-style vehicle we’ve seen in other shooters, might be what is bridging that gap mentioned earlier, between the Warthog and Scorpion. The vehicle is armed relatively lightly compared to the Scorpion, but has much more durability than the Warthog. Additionally, it can carry a whole squad of Spartans, making it ideal for the Big Team Battle mode. If humans are gonna bring new wheels to the fight, you know the enemy isn’t just gonna stand idly by.

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The Banished may ride in on the Marauder, which is the grittier cousin of Halo 3’s Prowler. The medium-weight Banished assault vehicle handles like a Chopper or Prowler, but fires similar projectiles to the Revenant from Halo: Reach. The Covenant themselves could run us down with a speedy medium vehicle with the classic Covenant boost tech, or maybe we’ll finally be engaged by some ground-based Forerunner vehicles.

By way of the sky, we can be sure to see our fan-favourite Banshee return, as well as the hopeful return of the Falcon, Hornet, or Wasp. Perhaps Forerunner Phaetons will haunt the skies as well. What we might not be prepared for is a roving Blisterback, the Banished multi-use vehicle that can transition between a moderately-armed aerial assault craft, or land on its six legs and fire heavy missiles with a long reload.

Finally, equipment returns. With grenades already being confirmed as part of the sandbox, we’ll be sure to have our sticky, explosive fun. More than grenades though, equipment a la Halo 3 has returned, being scavenged from the battlefield to be used in various ways during gameplay. While we’ve already seen the Grappleshot, a grappling hook that can be used to pull weapons, hijack vehicles, and pull ourselves around, we have yet to see if it can be used to yank an enemy Spartan towards us, or us towards them.

The new Drop Wall is a reminder of the Bubble Shield, but we’ve also gotten hints at the equipment we haven’t seen before. Like a physics-based piece of equipment that 343’s Elan Gleiber says has “TONS of interactions across our sandbox.” Perhaps some sort of gravity well? Maybe a massive magnetic wave that can pull or push vehicles and enemies, or perhaps give a friend a massive boost to their jump? The equipment has the potential to be the most diverse, game-changing aspect of Halo Infinite’s sandbox.

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Whatever’s in store for us when we touch down on a brand new Halo this fall, we’re pumped to jump into the fight, mow down some Banished, and hop into some new vehicle alongside all of you. Until then, we can only guess, hope, and keep our eyes on Halo Waypoint blog posts.

Halo Infinite is expected to launch in Fall 2021 on Windows, Xbox One, and the Xbox Series X|S consoles.

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