Halo Infinite Multiplayer Was Supposed To Be An Overwatch Clone
Halo Infinite's multiplayer was a huge deal upon launch. The first-person shooter's multiplayer component was probably going to be a treat anyway, but the reveal that it'd be free-to-play stunned a lot of long-term fans of the franchise.
When the Halo beta surprise launched out of the blue, it was yet another injection of excitement for Spartans everywhere. But, it could have been completely different, and rather than looking backwards in its own franchise for inspiration, it almost looked further afield to other games in the industry.
Was Halo Infinite's Multiplayer Almost A Hero Shooter?
As it turns out, Halo Infinite almost used the genre that was popularised by Overwatch to influence its free-to-play multiplayer.
A post on Reddit claims that the multiplayer mode was supposed to be "an Overwatch clone" that was "forced to switch to current MP style in last two years of dev". It has then been validated by a reply from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier.
"This was actually cut from my article late last year - yes, 343 spent a while prototyping a hero-based system," he said in his reply. "I don't remember exactly when they switched to the current version [...] but I can confirm that they were working on various hero-based prototypes. In fact, I think there were both PVP and PVE prototypes built."
We Could Have Had Halo Battlefront
Click to enlargeThe one thing that leaps to mind when considering a hero system alongside the Halo framework that we know and love, is that the Halo Infinite multiplayer could have looked an awful lot like the classic Star Wars: Battlefront games.
It may have been a huge risk, though, as Halo's multiplayer is universally beloved for a reason, and to divert from it would likely be met with some big backlash - but it's hard not to be wistful over what could have been. A Halo clone of Overwatch sounds like a lot of fun, but perhaps it's best that Halo stuck to its guns. Otherwise, Twitter would be a nightmare.
