Halo Infinite Comparison From the 2nd Tech Preview Shows Very Impressive Visuals

The second Halo Infinite tech preview has kicked off this weekend, and a new comparison shows impressive visuals and performance.

[Jin_Sakai]

The Halo Infinite tech test looks amazing and gameplay is sublime.

https://www.resetera.com/th...

John Linneman “Digital Foundry”

“It’s kind of insane how much better it looks compared to the original footage.”

https://twitter.com/dark1x/...

[russo121]

John Linneman “Digital Foundry - “It’s kind of insane how much better it looks compared to the original footage.”

He should take some time to educate his partner, Alex Battaglia, how to properly evaluate game graphics, we all remember the damage control and excuses done by the pretending "graphics analyst" about mountains and lightning - https://www.youtube.com/wat... Or he just needs to pay a visit to an ophthalmologist.

[Gazondaily]

Since you appear to be the expert, why dont you teach Alex how to evaluate visuals and tell us what was wrong with his analysis.

[Bladesfist]

Everything he said about lighting with dynamic time of day is true though, you can't just let a render farm bake lightmaps into the map for a few hours if the lights can move. Dynamic time of day has always been an issue for lighting quality and will be until games can be fully ray traced and have lighting with the same amount of bounces as current baked lightmaps are created with.

[darthv72]

I have to say, even on an old VCR XBO it looks pretty damn impressive. but that 30fps though... I will be playing at 60 on both a One X and SS.

[CaptainHenry916]

It still doesn't look Next-Gen to me. Is it because of the Xbox One? It should look better than this imo

[IanTH]

I kind of agree. There are good things to be sure: the textures do look good, model detail looks clean, etc. But the jump from One to Series X isn't particularly massive. It seems like resolution and framerate are the main things separating these consoles, with the base XBO missing out on a few things like SSR in some instances, softer shadows, etc.

Improvements over the initial showing, certainly, but I don't find the differences mind boggling. Though, to be fair, this is also the purely multiplayer portion, and MP modes tend to choose smooth action over eye candy. It's no real suprise XSX can hit 120fps given the overall similarity to the XBO version. I'll be more interested to see what happens with the campaign, as I expect the focus to lean at least a bit more towards eye candy.

[Jin_Sakai]

Did you play the latest tech test? It both looks amazing and plays great. And most importantly it was tons of fun.

[SyntheticForm]

I've been wanting Halo to get gritty for some time now but it's become clear that the developers have other visions for Halo.

It's been colorful and upbeat for so long now. I'd like to see 343 do for Halo what Santa Monica did for God of War if that makes any sense.

My vision would look totally next gen, but it may not be feasible.

[OptimusDK]

120 FPS goes a long way. There is no cinematic 30 FPS jargon here

[DigitalDaniel]

It's a cross-gen title. It was never meant to be next-gen.
But you'll have these slick graphics/physics in 120 fps on console.

I played both flight tests and what I expected was an okay game that was fun for a while.
Instead I had the most fun fps experience I've had in many, many years. It just "feels" right in basically every way. My most wanted fps game this year was Battlefield 2042. Considering we haven't seen any proper gameplay yet and no beta, I got the feeling it's not in a great shape. So I think Halo Infinite unexpectedly just got bumped up to the top of my list for fps games.

[rakentaja]

The game just looks GOOD, nothing groundbreaking or special, but plays 10/10, which is much more important. I had a blast in beta and I never play Halo, like seriously.

[Hofstaderman]

Moores law of diminishing returns. The last big jump in graphics was the Ps2 to ps3 era.

[pensamientosmerodean]

The thing is... you can play with that level of graphics in 120fps, that is pretty next gen to me.

[RaidenBlack]

Gotta agree ... they have been able to improve the texture quality to a really good level on PC.
Nice Occlusion and tessellation.

https://twitter.com/Trail_t...
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[slowgamer]

Well those pictures look better than in that video but places could look more "lived in". Also could have picked more interesting places other than kabul and military installation, you know, wouldn't hurt to have bit more colour.

[RaidenBlack]

Game's pretty colorful ... don't know what you're on about?

https://uploads.disquscdn.c...

[Charlieboy333]

John Linneman “Digital Foundry: “It’s kind of insane how much better it looks compared to the original footage.”

All this tells me is that it must have looked insanely shit in the original footage for this to be such an improvement.

[spwittbold]

It does look gorgeous, trees in back look awful though - really need work.

[babadivad]

My faith in this studio has diminished so much I'm actually surprised the game has improved this much.

[Orchard]

The game really is looking night and day compared to what they showed last year. Textures and lighting especially look a LOT more detailed.

[CaptainHenry916]

Even the PC version doesn't look next-gen. It looks solid, but not Next-Gen.

[-Hermit-]

It looks, it looks, it looks, you people have become so obsessed with how games look that you have forgotten the most important part, the gameplay. There is a reason why games like Phasmophobia, Fall Guys, and Among Us were such hits last year, it's because people found them fun. Valheim is yet another game that has targetted fun gameplay over visuals and it's booming right now.

CS:GO was released in 2012, and it's still the most played game on Steam today, even though it's nearly 10 years old.

People love to say "muh graphics" but they aren't the thing that keep players playing, they never were. Gameplay always has and always will keep players playing.

[Lightning77]

The game is on X1 you answered your own question earlier as to why it Doesn't look true next gen.

GT7 does look next gen because it's on PS4.

[CaptainHenry916]

But Spider-Man Miles Morales looks next gen, and it's on PS4. I think it comes down to the developer. Horizon Forbidden West is on PS4, and that also looks next gen. It's up to the developer, and 343 isn't that developer. Microsoft should hire bungie to help for the next Halo game the same way they hired Crystal Dynamics for Perfect Dark

[Bladesfist]

To be fair, it runs at over 100 fps on my rig which is a bit older than the next gen consoles, this game is definitely targeting competitive shooter performance like Rainbow 6, Counter Strike or Overwatch over visuals which is fine IMO. It feels much better to play a competitive shooter at high framerates.

[generic-user-name]

@Hermit

Well this is an article specifically talking about its visuals, not it's gameplay.

[Bruh]

Besides Ratchet and Clank and Demon Souls, no game this generation has looked "next-gen" because both Microsoft and Sony refuse to leave their older consoles behind when it comes to game development

[iplay1up2]

Pretty sure the campaign will look much more detailed. This still looks good, and 120fps is fantastic.

[chiefJohn117]

Them textures tho

[thesoftware730]

It looks excellent, thatbis why I'm so confused about what some haters are saying about the game.

Anyway, was playing yesterday and not only do it look excellent, it plays fantastic! I had not one complaint after the test flight.

[Darkborn]

It might look solid for Xbox, but the haters are hating because Xbox fans are saying it's the best looking game ever. This looks like a ps4 2014ish game.

[thesoftware730]

I disagree, and I actually played it and its so clean, sharp, buttery smooth with great texture work. Halo has never been the top graphics since Halo 2 imo, but boy does Infinite look good.

As Conan the barbarian once said:
Not on your knife...no no, that's not right...not on your life.

[JackBNimble]

All the haters are sonyfanbois, there should be no confusion here.
They're just but hurt about the competition, only sony can make good games in their simple minds.

[Darkborn]

Look at history and your statement is mostly right. I'm not trying to be a fanboy. I'm just seeing Twitter blow up with people saying it's gonna raise the bar on visuals and shooters. No, this isn't 2014 and killzone shadowfall looked better or just as good on a more than 6x weaker machine.

[Paytaa]

It wouldn't be N4G if there weren't people insecure about video games based on platform of choice lol

Been here for close to 10 years and it hasn't changed one bit. No one even knows what N4G is.

[Pancit_Canton]

I failed to see "The Very Impressive Graphics". This game looks very dated for a "AAA" game. It's very overrated imo.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

You're not looking then. Halo 5 doesn't look anywhere near as good as this game and that was a nice looking game when it launched.

[TheDoomedGuy]

Halo 5 was not a nice looking game at all. The graphics were subpar. It did have some nice vfx

[Gamer4Life1579]

The texture work, cleanliness of visuals and smoothness of motion can only be appreciated if you actually experienced it for yourself. I played it over the weekend on a Series X and a CX LG oled. IMO, it looks and feels fantastic. Did you get a chance to play it?

[Pancit_Canton]

Played it on PC with Ultra settings. Destiny 2 & APEX Legend looks way better.

[Jin_Sakai]

“Played it on PC with Ultra settings. Destiny 2 & APEX Legend looks way better.“

You trash talk Xbox and Halo constantly but you chose to play the Halo Infinite tech test? Interesting.

[Pancit_Canton]

@Jin

I'm a gamer. I played all kinds of games. Also, I want to experience the game myself, if want to criticized and form an opinion

[chiefJohn117]

Lmao dude said apex legends look way better 😂 so stuff you just gotta laugh at. Can't take these people seriously

[dbcoops]

I think "dated" is definitely a good description, no matter how much work they do or how much power they have available this game seems to be stuck in the past aesthetically.

[CaptainHenry916]

Facts

[gamer7804]

This is also multiplayer competition stuff not the campaign

[masterfox]

yep very true.

[autobotdan]

Do you ever post anything positive about anything xbox?

[masterfox]

@autobotdan
Yes I do, several times I praised the OG Xbox in how good it was in its time, a real game console competitor I had one back in the day and it was freaking awesome, remember playing for the first time Ninja Gaiden, Splinter Cell, First Halo, but for some reason lots of you tend to ignore all that, the issue here is that lots of you imo fail to see how good the MS was with its original Xbox and you think the Xbox Series consoles are the same, back then OG Xbox had real awesome exclusive and variety, today is none or just average looking games, if you didn't realize MS xbox series hasn't receive a single true next gen game and is almost a year, and you still are fine with that?, yikes!, sorry but this is not about trolling like lots of you want to see it , this is about common sense imo. Sorry.

[gamer9]

A long way of saying "no i haven't posted anything positive since OG Xbox"

[Sonyslave3]

I wonder is Nx gamer going to do a video on this halo beta he been on hush hush mode since last year reveal.

[ecchiless]

sure, cause there was a ton of material from the last months....

[jonivtec]

Version pc?

[TheDoomedGuy]

As I suspected most if the game looks bland. At least in MP. Sure it's crisp, clean and smooth but the overall look of the maps, density of foliage or other materials is quite lacking.

It does look good for a last gen game but not even good when compared to the great looking games of last gen

Can't speak for the campaign though..

[sin7279]

Impresivne visuals ?lol!

[iplay1up2]

Super hyped! This is going to be epic! Pretty steady 120fps on SX! I hope there campaign is good. Honestly I didn't care much for Halo 5's, but am hoping Microsoft knocks it out of the park with Infinite!

I am still looking forward to Horizon 5 a bit more than Infinite. I am going to have a lot to play this fall. Hell if I end up finding a PS5, I might not sleep for months, because of all the great games.

[DFresh]

Xbox Series X (performance mode) is the best way to play.
Those high frame rates make a huge difference in multiplayer.

[Petebloodyonion]

Not a big fan of Halo but it seem to look more and more solid.
Sucks that the game will suffer from the Pygmalion effect and basically get trashed no matter what 343 achieve.

[yeahokwhatever]

every game gets trashed, where have you been the past 15 years?

[DragoonUS]

Looks Amazing for xbox360. Way to go MS .

[XBManiac]

Xbox One X is a beast.

[FlavorLav01]

Still outperforming the series S too, outside of load speeds 😆. It’s the better console, they phased out for no good reason.

[ActualWhiteMan]

Gameplay was boring to me… I seemed to enjoy the first test better. Not a fan of the second map they introduced. Game feels boring and slow to me. This coming from a die hard halo fan since the original launched

[ActualWhiteMan]

I actually respect the balance of agrees and disagrees. I am not hating, the game just simply hasn't evolved enough for me.

[AuraAbjure]

If 343 Industries would please provide an option to turn off the "goomba stomp" auditory feedback associated with each kill & assist, it would be greatly appreciated. I started a thread about it.

https://www.halowaypoint.co...

[Viljong]

Doesnt look anything special, look like average old generic multiplayer fps. Ofc its halo so guns and gunplay is pretty good. But looks? If singleplayer dont have better visuals its dissapointing. Ps5 and even ps4 exclusives look better.

[Aussieguy]

I would really love to see a video to compare the first announced graphics side by side to this one. Back then I was a ps5 owner so didn't care, now I'm a xbox series x owner.

[FanboysKiller]

XBOX ssj3

[Good-Smurf]

I'm don't want to be a mood killer but some of you guys are easily impressed.

[Magog]

Imagine being impressed by this when Rift Apart exists 😭😂😭

[rakentaja]

The scale is not even comparable. Rift Apart will be forgotten in a week with its 70 price tag ... 8-hour campaign, no multiplayer or coop. Infinite is free as part of the Game Pass and will be played months and months after the release. Go play alone and use the magnifying glass.

[LoveSpuds]

Hmmm, Rift Apart cropped up in this conversation and I am pretty sure it launched more than a week ago 🙄

[TheDoomedGuy]

Pretty sure nobody talked about halo months after halo 5s release.

And if they did it usually wasn't anything positive.

[TheDoomedGuy]

These games have nothing to do with each other. But you forgot to mention demons souls remake.

[-Hermit-]

Imagine being a loser in his 40's fanboying on N4G instead of actually playing these so called great games you constantly talk about.

[darkrider]

The one x versions shows what many have told. Both X versions are the best. But this graphics aren't setting any kind of standard on fps games...

[TheDoomedGuy]

Which is why the one x....performing better than the series s should be allowed to play next gen titles.

[iplay1up2]

Microsoft is bringing some Series games to all Xbox One consoles, via XCloud. One is Flight Simulator. I guess the XCloud makes up for the Xbox Ones lack of power, to run the game smoothly. There are several Switch games that use that kind of tech. Control, and Hitman 3. In Japan they also use the cloud to run Assassins Creed Odyssey and RE7.

[Binarycode]

It looks decent and it runs well and obviously gameplay is most important.

If it looks great then plays crap, then that would be a problem.

[LoveSpuds]

Have to say, I always thought the visuals in the Halo games were pretty average from a technical standpoint and it was the art style that stood out more.

[46player]

Ha, X1X still pretty good for MS exclusives.

[Spenok]

Very little difference between One X and Series X. How unfortunate.