With the second Halo Infinite beta kicking off this weekend, we got to see a showcasing of more of the multiplayer gameplay and progress over the previous build. Fans (including me) are no doubt relishing the opportunity to finally play a new Halo game. But it’s important to keep expectations in check as we near the launch of this almighty, long-awaited sequel.
In my initial technical performance preview while playing on a CyberpowerPC gaming PC, I noted a number of problems with the game. But I cautioned that it was indeed just the first beta. At the same time, it was a beta for a game that’s been in development for darn near six whole years and was also delayed just months before its previous release window last year.
I certainly expected a more polished experience than what I got and felt it necessary to follow up on how things have changed in the latest build. Fortunately, I have more positive things to say about this beta although Halo Infinite is still far from ready for its big launch, at least on the PC platform.
To be honest, stutters were the foremost issue with the original beta for Halo Infinite, with poor optimization standing out as the other clear problem. I can report that those issues aren’t as prominent this time around, though they are still present. The game is playable in the current build but it isn’t in a state that could be considered ready for launch.
Moderate to small stutters disrupt gameplay, and the powerful gaming PC I mentioned earlier, the Gamer Infinity 8000, was what I used to test the game. It barely managed 60 fps in 1440p with medium settings. To put that into perspective, Apex Legends runs at a smooth 60 fps in 4K with high settings on the same system, while Call of Duty: Warzone manages 60 fps in 4K on high settings. I also determined that the majority of the issues were tied to the GPU and found that the game still only utilizes 70% of GPU resources on the rig’s card for whatever reason.
Fortunately, I can report a significantly improved experience in other areas. I never suffered from any matchmaking disconnects during our two hour play session, and only experienced one crash that was possibly tied to a separate bug. The game loaded and closed very smoothly as opposed to the previous build and the menus were much more smooth and stable.
One thing I found particularly frustrating about the previous build was that many of the user settings reset after each match. That was not the case anymore and it even remembered system graphics settings from the previous beta, which saved me a lot of time.
The menus do still suffer from some minor visual bugs and render certain icons and 3D models improperly. These don’t affect overall functionality, and seems like something that will be ready to go for launch. I also spent time testing the unlockable and customization options and found everything worked properly.
I’m only going to cross my fingers leading up to the game’s launch.
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