Here's why the look of this game to me is super refreshing. The game is being designed around not maximizing graphics quality, but making sure that the actual gameplay and tactical sandbox shooter experience is as fun and as incredible as possible. Too many times because a studio might feel so trapped by gamer expectations for "next-gen" graphics, what often ends up suffering is the quality of the gameplay experience.
When it's time to tell the more non-interactive story in Halo Infinite via it's brand of cutscene, THAT'S the time to pour it on and make those scenes look as incredible as possible. That's when I expect certain character models to be more detailed than the gameplay norm. But when it's officially "go time" the game needs to look like whatever it needs to look like to best service the mission at hand. This is what I love about Halo. It's a game that isn't so overly concerned with being realistic that it forgets it's a game. This is what games like metal gear back in the day did so fucking well. When it was time to tell the story in a cutscene or whatever they were cinematic and as good looking as they could make it. When it was game time you saw snake in a fucking cardboard box all for the sake of the gameplay experience.
People think these screenshots are evidence of 343 not getting it? Wrong. These shots show me just how much they do fucking get it and it's going so far over people's heads that it's almost fun to watch. Every single gameplay/in-game type screenshot in the OP, which is precisely what these are, not cutscenes or bullshots, look fucking impressive when viewed the way they're supposed to be and will be. When you do a max zoom into specific details, surprise! You end up finding some things that don't look so hot! People are busy thinking Halo 5 looks better? Hell no, not even close when we're talking this type of larger, more open level design. It's amazing to me how much people can't see just how much this smashes anything that was in Halo 5. Don't let the impressive looking moments of Halo 5 with far smaller tactical sandbox and explorable space give you the wrong impression. Halo 5 has nothing on this game visually during actual gameplay. It will only become more and more clear as we draw closer to release.
Yes, the below shot is what brutes and enemies MUST look like to service this vision of what 343 has for this more open and freer sandbox combat simulation. They can't look like what they might in Halo Wars 2 cutscenes and still satisfy this vision. A single click on each of these pictures is a more proper representation of how they will look on the screens you will play them on. If you click a second time, you get an overly zoomed representation of the scene, which doesn't do the game any favors. Nobody will be playing the game that way I can assure you all.
It's like people forgot what was said.
Do people want that game or not? Because I can assure you with the utmost confidence that if you get this for graphics, the only place you're touching the kind of battle that you see in the background of this shot is through more cleverly limited smoke and mirrors stuff that's a lot less free. Don't bring up Far Cry because Far Cry sure as shit doesn't play like a Halo campaign or feels the way Halo does in combat.
If you want more than just cleverly scripted Call of Duty like scenes that trick you into feeling like you're involved in and have full tactical control over something like what's going on in the background of the above picture, then you're probably going to want a game that gives you the kind of freedom in the below sandbox with that awesome Halo gameplay. Ultra realistic graphics are badass and all that shit, don't get me wrong, but as beautiful as Gears 5 Hivebusters looks, it doesn't give you THIS. You're not getting the possibilities that are screaming from the mountain tops of these shots. You guys know we can go up there right? Halo games often drop you to the heart of the battle or to that important destination, and then you just work your way further into it.
Besides very limited/rare instances you don't often have many choices in the HOW where it concerns approaching a big moment or situation, or an interesting landmark. You don't just happen upon interesting spaces in Halo games. They literally drop you into the heat of them or they put you on the exact path to them, and then you follow the narrow, linear path to get to it. No, I'm not talking about finding a skull or a damn terminal. I mean like what 343 has described like hearing a strange humming noise somewhere and going off the golden path to find out what the fuck that is before heading to the main story mission. Or seeing a set of sentinels just gathered in an area and choosing to follow them to see where they lead you. In all prior Halo titles you had little choice in that matter. For once we are going to be in a Halo world where there are things worth exploring for, worth finding that not just enhance our appreciation or experience with the world the team built, but also give us unique tactical advantages like finding hidden cave systems that lead you into well guarded fortresses.
You guys really think 343 doesn't know what they're doing or doesn't get what this Halo game needs to be? You guys are ONLY focusing on graphics and ignoring the big picture while simultaneously missing that this game is the most unbelievable looking Halo game ever made while giving the player more freedom and tactical options akin to the best missions in Halo history, such as Truth and Reconciliation in Halo CE.
343 COULD have toned down this ambition and simply made the levels less open, make it a more traditional Halo game, make another Halo 2, another Halo 3, another Halo 4 & 5 and just go crazy with the graphics and significantly up their poly counts on the brutes just to satisfy folks who want to see them look like the more badass picture I posted. 343 is choosing to make a better game. If that's mismanagement, I thank my lucky stars that none of the people in this thread are responsible for managing one of my most anticipated videogames by far.