Halo Infinite Devs Remove Assassinations, Explains Why

Folks lucky enough to get in on the most recent Halo Infinite test run got an early taste of what the highly anticipated sci-fi shooter will offer when it releases. But some attentive individuals may have noticed something missing: Assassinations. And as it turns out, thats intentional.

Granted, we knew that assassinations were leaving back in July when developer 343 Industries revealed that fact in a livestream. But only now are we learning more about WHY theyre leaving.

According to a statement by senior mission designer Tom French, the feature was only removed temporarily, and they will return when made more meaningful.

[Assassinations] are not in for launch. We actually really love assassinations... but what happens at a lot of levels is people just turn them off because there's a gameplay disadvantage to it.

French is likely referring to the pause in action as the assassination animation plays through. While exciting and action packed, the animations essentially remove control from the player while they play through.

While assassinations wont be available when the game launches later this year (in November, if the donuts are to be believed), 343 intends to bring them back at some point. But their return wont be until they really just feel meaningful so that they're always an accessible tool.

This is a perfect example of a long time struggle in the game development world between what feels good and what looks good. Assassinations look good but dont feel to go play with. Another good example of this is the walking controls in GTA5. Theyre a constant complaint for how unresponsive and unintuitive they are, but they animate really well.