Halo Infinite: an FPS Sci-Fi game with excellent roots, and a sad set of branches.

 Halo has always been an incredible product and a timeless piece of media, from the first generation Classic Xbox, to the illustrious Xbox One. A sheer staple of Microsoft's flagship games, Master Chief and his Odysseus style adventures bring both gratuitous gunplay and extravagant backdrops, which make for a perfect combination packaged in a neat little bow from the original developers, Bungie.

343 industries have so far had a rocky path after taking the mantle, with Reach being an incredible product and a prequel to an already amazing series; yet somehow missing the mark with every product following.

Halo Infinite was their first dive into the Open world mechanics. and they did a fairly good job. But the lack on continuity to the story or any DLC to continue after a promise of "10 years of infinite" was nothing short of disappointing.

Initial consumer expectations for Halo Infinite were sky-high. Fans envisioned a triumphant return to form, with a compelling Master Chief story, a robust and innovative multiplayer, and perhaps most importantly, a fully featured and content-rich experience from day one; Especially with optimized graphics and next-gen gameplay. The initial gameplay reveal in 2020, however, dampened some of this enthusiasm, leading to a significant delay. This delay, while disappointing, also amplified expectations that 343 Industries would use the extra time to deliver a polished and complete product. Furthermore, the decision to release the multiplayer as free-to-play was seen as a bold, positive move, aiming to bring a wider audience into the Halo fold.

Upon its staggered release in late 2021 (multiplayer first, then campaign), Halo Infinite was met with a divided, yet generally favorable, critical reception for its core gameplay. The multiplayer's fluid movement, satisfying gunplay, and classic arena shooter feel were largely praised as a return to the series' combat identity. The campaign, too, garnered positive remarks for its open-world design, the grapple shot's versatility, and its compelling narrative beats. Reviewers often highlighted the game's strong foundation, suggesting it was the best Halo had been in a decade.

However, consumer expectations quickly clashed with the game's post-launch reality, particularly concerning content and live-service execution. Key features like campaign co-op and the beloved Forge mode were notably absent at launch, arriving much later than anticipated. The free-to-play multiplayer, while mechanically sound, suffered from a slow battle pass progression system, limited cosmetic customization without significant monetary investment, and a perceived lack of new maps and modes compared to its live-service competitors. This led to a dramatic drop in player numbers and widespread community frustration. Players felt the game, despite its strong core, was released in an unfinished state, failing to deliver on the breadth of content expected from a modern AAA live-service title.

In response to this significant feedback, 343 Industries (now Halo Studios) has made considerable efforts to address player concerns. Subsequent seasons and updates have introduced new maps, game modes (including the long-awaited Forge), significant improvements to battle pass progression and customization, and a commitment to faster content delivery, even moving to Unreal Engine 5 for future projects to streamline development. This ongoing support has gradually brought Halo Infinite closer to the experience many initially hoped for, with some fans now asserting it's the "best Halo ever made" in terms of its current state and evolution.

Ultimately, Halo Infinite serves as a potent example of the delicate balance between developer vision, consumer anticipation, and the challenges of live-service game development. While its initial launch fell short of the lofty expectations set by the franchise's legacy and its protracted development, the continuous efforts to evolve and improve the game based on community feedback demonstrate a commitment to bridging that gap. The journey of Halo Infinite highlights that for a live-service game, meeting consumer expectations is not a singular event at launch, but an ongoing process of adaptation, listening, and consistent delivery.

His muse

The world slowly grew black & white around him, the colour and love dissipating in front of his very eyes. The beauty of the world that captured his heart and mind so well, faded to nothing and caused not a spark in his heart.

Where did the colour go?

Where did the beauty go?

Alas, it never left. The growing doubt in his mind was what kept the colour out, everything and anything he saw, nothing more than splotchy sketches upon the grey canvas that was this world.
He searched and searched, throughout himself and the world around, for that bit of colour. Futile it seemed, but he didn't give up, not yet.

Time and time again he was knocked down, unable to find any more footings to get back up.
he let go, welcoming the very defeat he feared. For his world fell to darkness, he tripped, and tripped, and tripped, unable to find the very ground beneath him.

Crazy as it seemed, by all that was impossible, he finally saw it. He found the one thing that carried his life on, the linger of colour that seemed so out of reach. Erratically, the colour came to form, as he gazed upon the miraculous sight. Realising the form, he became confused, it was just a girl, but a beautiful one at that. In awe, his mind pieced it together, slowly spelling it out to him as he gazed in adoration of this colourful splotch, traversing through the grayscale world, as if it didn't belong. Eventually he accepted what it meant, he had to muster every ounce of courage within him, for this was his calling.

Cautiously, he made his way to the colourful splotch in front of him. Rehearsing in his head, were the words he wanted to say to her, but each time he scrapped it, claiming it not good enough for the likes of her. Yet the words eventually climbed out of his throat, almost in a chorus of beauty.

"Stars!", he stammered, choking up on the words.

Thrown off, she looked at him, inquisitive to the most odd situation laid in front of her.
"Ahh?", she was confused, unsure what to say.

"Like stars, your eyes! Your eyes are like stars.", he blurted out, shocked at his own words.

She began to smile slightly, but still confused, she tilted her head, maintaining her watch over him as he tried to collect his thoughts.

He exhaled, ready to speak, he opened his mouth, the words flowing from his tongue like the running of a waterfall.

"Your eyes, are like stars. But your smile is in constant battle to bring out the light of the sun. Either one, you bring nothing but the beauty of above to our eyes."

He was shocked, unaware of the words he was saying, astonished by the very inspiration welling up inside of him. He smiled, a sensation he had not felt in almost forever.

The girl giggled, her beautiful smile calming the very nervous boy.
She slowly walked up to the boy, the sight scaring him. he didn't know how to act.
She took him by the hands, their eyes locking in the most beautiful of gazes.

In her eyes he saw the universe, he saw the planets and the stars and the dust that travelled throughout, he saw colours of which he couldn't imagine in his black and white universe.
Her eyes were the portal to the very thing he yearned for, she was the linger of colour he had yet to find, but for the moment he didn't notice what he couldn't see.
The girl so beautiful, so perfect in his very eyes, he failed to see the broken heart that lay within, the very heart he was destined to repair. But for her, the effort would be none, she was his pen, the world his paper. They would carve their names through everywhere they went, as if the etchings were on a map.

For the smile she gave him, the tingles he received as she clutched his hands, and the warmth he accepted as they embraced, they brought the colour back to his world, the beautiful sound back to his ears, and the beauty back to the world around him.

For he realised his inspiration was within her, his motivation.

She was, his muse.

Directions

Up and down,
Left and right.
No matter how far you drown, 
you cling for the light.
We pray for the day,
when all our troubles end.
Little do we realise that upon that day, 
death is just around the bend.
Life is but a mystery, Full of twists and turns.
But the only things we seem to see, 
are those moments that leave the deepest burns.
Ah but even as a flowers petals must fall, 
we too must need death's call.
But was it worth it?
Was your life fair for the fatal hit?
But alas it's too late to cry.
Much like life, 
we always miss the most crucial points.
Failing to see the signs before us.

The Decadence of the Heart

We sat upon the hillside, the incandescence of the sunset giving an orange hue to the valley of stone that lay before us.
Rock formations were strewn out throughout the valley, so random, but yet so systematic, the ragged edges giving an oxymoronous beauty to the mysterious lands that lie over yonder.

What was there to be offered from these lands yet unexplored? While so beautiful, it was not known what it contained, whether it be anything at all.
But alas the question was unimportant for the time being, my hand interlocked with yours. It did not matter what was to come,
for the connection between you and I would truly make my spirit invincible. It did not matter, the troubles of the world. For the tingling sensation of your
skin upon mine in the embracing touch of our fingers entwined. As i gazed upon you, the beauty of your face, your body, your soul, I realised that nothing
mattered in this world, it was the deep glimmer of your eyes that made me realize, what was a universe without you? For you were mine. you, are mine.

For all the stars in our sky, for the infinite blades of grass in the distant valleys of the world, none of it mattered at all, for my universe, my life,
is in you. The moon to my dark night, illuminating the darkest of places, to give light to that which cannot see.

Is it folly of me to feel this? I wouldn't even care, for the bubbling concoction in my veins drives me to this,
it keeps me holding on to this feeling which i hold so dear. For the everlasting taste of your lips, which never escaped the prison which is my mind.

My heart longs to keep this moment forever, to make it our little infinity. But alas the sands of time are never at a halt, and this moment is sure to
end. But for the remainder of what is our lives, i know i can look back to all the precious moments with which you were by my side, where all that occurred, became obstacles left behind us, where we carried each other and never left the other behind, where our hearts were on a string, the slightest
tension pulling us back together.

And for all of the stones upon the valley before us, they could not even hope to amount to that which i hold in my heart for you.

Escaping the Concrete Jungle 'Society at it's finest'

This world started with forests, forests everywhere! with technological advancement it seems theres a new type of forests taking over, and it's spreading everyday. This jungle isn't any natural jungle, it's society. society is growing, and as it grows, we're spreading over every field, forest and beginning to go for the oceans. The concrete jungle is a plague, one that's eventually going to become so big that it will collapse upon itself, and whatever is left will be ugly. Terrible and ugly.

What will happen when the rest of us are dead, from the collapse of society? however many people survive will be left with nothing, no natural resources. We need to keep natural resources. We need to escape from the concrete jungle.

I personally enjoy hunting, I've never done it before but it's something I would love to do, and will definitely be doing in the future. but will that work when there's no forests or animals to hunt? there is no way in hell I'm doing some virtual reality simulation hunting! I want that rush, that adrenaline of going in for the kill, that moment of power you feel of the judgement of that Animal's life. I'm sure it sounds cruel but it's an awesome feeling, and i'm wanting to become an archer.. what better way than to relive what our ancestor's would have done?

Society's said living is getting more and complicated, but who's fault is that really? Humanity's! it's getting harder and harder because we want money, so we take each other's money. We all know politicians focus on the money, why else would they keep attempting to raise or make new taxes? Because they get the money.

I want to go live in a forest. With a horse, archery equipment, a few tools and maybe a tent. It's simpler that way. The only thing to focus on is keeping alive, hunting and searching for water. no tax, no work, no laws. Just simple, plain living. It actually sounds like quite a pleasant lifestyle. people say we need to learn from history's mistakes, wars, genocide, rape, injustice. but have you ever though of how wrong they could be?

I think history should be learning from us, we should be learning from us. The people of the Dark Ages and the Renaissance were onto something, we lost it. We were too busy trying to better ourselves. we don't realise how good we have it, compared to them having to live day-to-day, not knowing when they would be attacked by an opposing force or some plague. We take it all for granted. And as much as I'm a Tech Junkie, an aspiring programmer, a gamer. I wish things were simpler, back like the middle ages, where fights weren't all politics. you wanted a fight? you fought. it wasn't all taking someone to court because they refuse to pay child support for their child who is 16 years of age.

My faith in humanity is very small, there are only a few people in this world I believe will turn out to be good people, but as the generations progress, the general population is dwindling in IQ's.

people have wanted to and even schemed for a revolution. to take us back to how it all used to be. but it's impossible. We would go mad! Nobody could handle not living with the things we use everyday, we would have to ween ourselves off of them before doing something stupid. because we would fall into anarchy, take sides of who wants to go back and who wants to stay in primitivity. That wouldn't be very good. the first thing the 2 sides would do is arm themselves, thats more death destruction.

Society's got a grip on us, tighter than anyone realises. We can't escape, that concrete jungle is our prison, there's no way out. No matter how many people talk themselves up, no one is getting out, We've got a checkmate on our asses that we can't get out of.

Money is the root of all evil? no.
Money is a creation of Humans, we made money. Evil, Good, honour, Moral, Ethics. They're human words. Clearly that gives you an idea? Money isn't evil. We are.

Skrillex's ingenuity

Skrillex has been either loved or hated all over the world, but he is in fact one of the most Revolutionary music producers in the 21st Century.  Sonny Moore has no longer been classed in the dubstep genre but of a whole new one which hasn't been named. In the 2012 Grammy's they just stated that he made EDM (electronic dance music), and that he couldn't be classed in such a con-formative genre.

Skrillex is also one of the smartest  music producers to date, using lyrics from his own songs to produce the actual backbone of all his recent songs, as well as placing messages and snippets of random things in his songs. Didn't know that did you? Here is a list I compiled myself of the things in His songs, he doesn't do it with all of them, mainly just the ones of his first 2 EP's:

Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites- The jumbled words of the 'Nice Sprite' just sound like jumbled words don't they, like some other language? WRONG!  in fact, the 'jumbled' words are actually given away towards the end of the song. The whole Nice Sprite lyrics is just "I'm just like you, you don't need" played backwards throughout the song. playing through his song normally you will hear at the end; "you don't need to hide my friend, for I'm just like you". thats where he gets the words from.

Equinox (first of the year) - now equinox was a confusing one to decipher as it's actually the lyrics from one of his really old songs Which is actually called Equinox. This song is back when he was just Sonny Moore, fresh out of FFTL (from first to last).

Slats Slats Slats-  the message in this song are just the lyrics from the song "signal" back from when he was Sonny Moore again.

Rock'N'Roll (will take you to the mountain) - I couldn't discern the words in this song, but there is a conversation going on throughout parts of it, and lyrics to one of his old songs, although which song has not been uncovered as of yet.

With you friends- with you friends is hard to understand playing it through normally, but the message is quite clear throughout the song. "I'm alive"



one of the only similar cases like this was a transitioner in a song. Dj- Satomi's 'Castle in the Sky' was a trance hit, making the top 100 in a week, and has stayed there for a long time. he put an transition (snippets in the song from the other song) but making it seem like part of the song, when you listen to any of his songs however, you can hear the similarities in the tune.

 "Language is an arena meant for innovation and not stagnation.  Social media is causing people to be more efficient and judicious with their sentences, words, and even letters. This forces each member of Twitter and Facebook to make a very important distinction in their online voice, and the result of this decision is incredibly influential in the building of one’s online brand and personality and on the English language as a whole.  As language continues to change through social media, we will see different people take different approaches to writing, speaking, and communicating.  This will cause language to become more personal and more subjective: we can see this with every tweet, with every status."  Eric Abrams.


Hypothesis: Social Media is rapidly growing, and so is the English language. Social Media is actually helping the adaptation of our language. it is not really evolving, as Eric Abram says "it is not something that organically breathes, changes, and evolves over time on its own".


The English language is a complicated thing, what with the many different ways of spelling and pronouncing every word, and the small things like there and their. As the Human race evolves, so too will all the languages we use. It is not a bad thing though as many people would like to portray, but rather, its proof of humanity becoming more efficient in the way they speak. all these new abbreviations and such have even come to be incorporated into speaking to one another face to face, "I totally lolled at the funny cat pic, like omg it was so funny!". simple abbreviations like this are making it easier to say a sentence, in much shorter of a time, and is actually being called "effective and more conversationalist" as it allow for much more speech to occur in a minute,then using full words and pronunciation. so too are these words being used in social media everywhere "OMG I totz went to the cenna 2day... smf!!!!!" (smf: so much fun). this is a simple but common Facebook status you would see, the only real place you would be likely to go and see near-perfect grammar, and maybe the occasional "lol" or "gtfo" (rude language) would be forum sites and blogs such as this one you're reading. 


The only difficulty is explaining it. so let's see how I go. Jargon (also know as net-slang) is increasingly becoming part of the English language, with over 3,000 words derived from the internet, are incorporated in dictionaries. Schools are starting to become weary of the effects social media is having on students, as they are seeing more "gr8"s, "u"s and "r"s in student's schoolwork. They should not be scared of this change though, as it inevitable that this will one of the biggest changes ever, written language joining net-slang into it.


There are many video games that have there own set of custom words, and all games differ with their vernacular. World of warcraft have their own set of words, where Call Of Duty has their own words. They also have different meanings in different countries.

This just proves that Language is just evolving, but it's just going back to how we started. Primitive talking, where only a set few of us even grasp a small understanding of what other groups are saying.

English has always been the hardest language to ever learn, and it's getting harder by the day... instead of using this stupid lingo, why not take that extra second to type the full word? it makes you look smarter and everyone can understand it. All it takes is a bit of effort to reach out and speak like a normal human, not some tech junkie. Don't be a 'butthurt Dweller" (basement geek) and use proper english. it could even help you with your career and lifestyle

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 LOL, gtfo noob!

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