Halo Infinite‘s single-player campaign is now available and has been well-received. With 343 Industries having spent a longer-than-typical development cycle on Halo Infinite, never mind the harsh criticism of Halo 4 and Halo 5, it’s no surprise that the team is taking the opportunity to celebrate the occasion. In one example, Halo Infinite narrative designer Aaron Linde provided some insight into the design of voicework for “Grunt launches,” wherein Grunts are launched through the air while holding live grenades.
Grunt launches are a rare phenomenon in Halo Infinite, and even when they do happen some players may not realize what’s going on. That’s part of Halo Infinite‘s strength, as its sandbox gameplay offers up unique gameplay encounters that make a playthrough feel special and unique. Regardless, a Grunt launch is just that. Brutes will throw a Grunt at Master Chief, with the Grunt pulling out two grenades so that they explode on arrival.
Linde explains that the writers at 343 wrote to intentionally “exploit” situations like this to deliver an “innately funny” and fun moment. Using the Grunt throws as an example, he says the team wrote the dialogue for the Grunt knowing that the distance the Grunt would be thrown would change dramatically based on how far it was thrown. As such, the audio had to be funny whether the Grunt exploded quickly or flew through the air for a longer amount of time.
As an example, Linde shares a video clip of what he’s talking about. It shows a Grunt being thrown through the air, with the player hearing it say “Wait wait wait wait, no no no,” and a short screen before it explodes. Basically, if it exploded earlier or later, the audio would still be funny. Linde says that he’s very happy that things have worked like they planned, as he’s able to see how players are reacting with Halo Infinite now in players’ hands.
Linde’s Twitter feed is full of clips from Halo Infinite showcasing the little bits of dialogue 343 wrote for Halo Infinite. Grunts, in particular, are a clear favorite of Linde’s. They’re ruthlessly hilarious in Halo Infinite. For example, one Grunt shouts, “Oh no, I didn’t mean to turn these on!” as they charge as Master Chief with grenades in their hands.
It just goes to show how much thought is put into virtually every aspect of game development. Halo Infinite players can likely find dozens of similar examples while playing through the campaign, each intended to make the sandbox experience more fun in small but meaningful ways.
Halo Infinite is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
