Despite being the latest entry in one of the most high-profile franchises in all gaming, 343 Industries’ Halo Infinite has been plagued with controversy nearly since the moment it was announced. The sci-fi shooter got off to a rocky start after a series of delays moved its planned release, originally set to coincide with the launch of the Xbox Series X/S consoles, from November 2020 to late 2021. And although the game received a generally positive reception from gamers and critics upon its eventual release, Halo Infinite’s many missteps have led the game to be dogged by controversy and player complaints.
The latest complaint from players of the 343 Industries shooter centers around a part of the game that’s been a point of contention with players ever since the debut of its first gameplay trailer: Halo Infinite’s graphics. In this instance, the controversy centers around what some players perceive to be a lackluster implementation of the new ray-traced lighting system in Halo Infinite. Though fans of the sci-fi shooter had been looking forward to the arrival of the current-gen feature, this long-awaited addition to Halo Infinite has proven to be underwhelming in the eyes of many players and resurfaced long-standing complaints about the game’s visuals.
Halo Infinite’s Ray Tracing Has Many Players Feeling Unimpressed
Many fans of sci-fi shooters were excited when 343 Industries announced in late 2022 that ray tracing would be coming to the PC version of the game as part of Halo Infinite’s Season 3: Echoes Within. But despite the early hype about the addition of the cutting-edge graphical feature, the end result has left some players unimpressed. One of the biggest complaints about Halo Infinite’s ray tracing features has been the relatively limited scope of its implementation.
As opposed to titles that showcase the technology by applying it to lighting throughout the game world, ray tracing in Halo Infinite is limited to sun shadows while leaving reflections and global illumination unchanged. While there are some definite improvements to the lighting and shadows in outdoor levels thanks to Halo Infinite’s ray tracing update, the changes can be exceedingly difficult to spot in the middle of a fast-paced multiplayer match.
Compared to the use of ray tracing in games like Remedy Entertainment’s Control, which many gamers still regard as a high watermark for the technology nearly five years after its release, the ray-traced sun shadows in Halo Infinite are far more subtle and can be easily missed if players aren’t specifically looking for them. Compounding players’ complaints is the fact that the ray tracing feature is limited to multiplayer modes and incurs a hefty performance hit when enabled, even on powerful PCs.
Graphical Complaints Are a Recurring Theme for Halo Infinite
The disappointment over the underwhelming ray tracing in Halo Infinite isn’t the first time that players have expressed their frustration with what they see as sub-par visuals in the high-profile shooter. Despite arguably being the centerpiece of the Xbox brand, many long-time fans of the franchise that was once known for pushing the limits of console graphics have been dissatisfied with Halo Infinite’s visuals from the moment the first gameplay footage debuted. The first gameplay trailer for the 343 Industries shooter was met with backlash from players upset at what many decried as last-gen graphics, with Halo Infinite memes centered around the game’s underwhelming graphics quickly spreading online.
While the arguably underwhelming ray tracing in Halo Infinite is unlikely to make any players abandon the game, the poorly handled rollout and implementation of the long-awaited feature stands as the just latest in a series of missteps for the once-high-flying franchise. And if the eventual release of ray tracing for Halo Infinite on Xbox Series X goes over as poorly as it did on PC, 343 Industries could face an uphill battle to win back players with the next Halo game.
Halo Infinite is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.