Halo Infinite had its first technical preview last weekend, and the testing period ended today at 1:00 PM Japan time / 10:00 AM Pacific Standard Time I spent most of my preview play time from late Thursday night through last night taking down bots of progressively increasing difficulty

On the PC, it's a great experience, with plenty of graphics and control options The game itself was surprisingly smooth on my rig, even though the build was a few months old; playing Halo Infinite was a lot of fun, even with the teething problems, and I can't wait to see more

I spent more time in three days than I care to admit, but the time flew by as I got to try out new guns, abilities, and maps; the multiplayer in Halo Infinite is going to be a real treat, and when it launches later this year, my new go-to It might even become my new go-to when it launches later this year

It was very unstable at launch People could not access the Halo Waypoint site to get a Steam key, and Xbox users were faced with "update required" messages when installing preview builds No one expected things to go without a hitch, but developer 343 Industries continued working well into the evening (or night on the East Coast) until people were finally able to get into the game

For the PC version, 343i's community director warned players that even high-end PCs would see a long loading screen on first launch My rig, which is probably high-mid grade and by no means a slouch, sat in front of a black loading screen for over 10 minutes Maybe it was because I was so excited, but it seemed much longer

343i also warned that there was a dedicated server error when trying to start a match, but the company said a few more tries and everything should be fine I "played" "Halo Infinite" for almost an hour and joined one match, but it was already half over The game was not free from errors on the dedicated server, and when I managed to connect to the match, the game crashed into the main menu As midnight approached, I decided to call it a day and try again on Friday

Friday morning I almost ran down the stairs of my office and booted up my gaming PC But when I finally loaded up "Halo Infinite," I successfully connected to a full match on the first try

It was great

The fluid movement, beautiful gun models, and great sound design all came together to create a killer match and first impression As I played more and more, I got better and better, scoring stunning headshot kills with the battle rifle (which really improved) and pistol, and while the MA40 assault rifle is still a reliable workhorse, the new VR47 Commando AR packs a punch with headshot potential It has

Halo Infinite also offers many customization options, and the Tech Preview gave us a glimpse of some of them How the Spartan is presented is key to the Halo Infinite multiplayer experience Helmets, shoulder pads, colors, and more will be customized to you (and what you earn or buy) Gun and vehicle skins will also return

New to Halo Infinite is the grapple shot This is a grappling hook that unlocks incredible gameplay opportunities, such as quickly repositioning for sniping, which if you've played Overwatch or Apex Legends, is like playing as a widowmaker or pathfinder, The cooldown is much shorter You can also pull items Unfortunately, upon death, you lose your power-up and have to find it again However, I think there is plenty of potential for highly skilled players

In the preview, four human players played against four bots The computer-powered Spartan matchups are a first for "Halo" and allow players to improve their skills without the pressure of a real game The preview began with the second difficulty, called Marine, but we were able to play against the next difficulty, ODST, and the most difficult, Spartan

Bots mimic common player tactics, jumping, slanting, and crouching to shift their aim They were also precise in throwing grenades, and I died more from grenades than bullets Overall, the bots helped players get a feel for what Halo Infinite has to offer Future previews may feature full 4vs4 matches, but the bots helped keep things low-key while 343i tested the infrastructure in this two-month-old build

Even at this first technical preview, there is a lot to like about Halo Infinite The game has several accessibility features, including the ability to change the highlight color around friends, fireteam mates, and enemies; Halo Infinite does away with the traditional red vs blue paradigm and instead emphasizes player choice and customization It is great to see people with colorblindness issues being able to adjust to their own preferences, since the game is now "red vs blue

Halo Infinite's multiplayer will be free-to-play and will use a battle pass system 343 Industries emphasizes that they respect their players and do not rely on FOMO to keep them playing 343i has stated that they do not want "Infinite" to be a constant play 343i does not want "Infinite" to be so boring that you have to play it all the time This is something I can agree with, but once the game is released, we will know if this will (or will continue to) be true

There are still a few months to go before "Halo Infinite" launches, and 343i will be hosting a few more previews to make sure the game is up to snuff before we can get our hands on it The campaign is $60, but I hope 343i has a strong anti-cheat ready for the inevitable cheaters that flock to free-to-play games, a problem that other games like "Apex Legends," "Call of Duty: Warzone" and "Destiny 2" have also dealt with It's a problem that has been dealt with in other games such as "Apex Legends", "Call of Duty: Warzone" and "Destiny 2" It could easily ruin the experience for many

As a long-time "Halo" fan, I am really looking forward to "Infinite" I can't wait to play multiplayer with my friends, but since "Halo 5" never made it to PC, I hope 343i brings people up to speed for the campaign Either way, I hope 343 will let us in on any future flights (preview or beta) they do for Infinite