A Halo Infinite developer has clarified that just because Master Chief has a grappling hook doesn’t mean he’s suddenly going to start swinging through the air, Spider-Man style.
It was only a few days ago that we got our first look at Halo Infinite’s gameplay. There were a lot of things to discover, including a brand new weapon and a new forcefield projector that provides Master Chief with on-demand cover, but perhaps the most interesting thing revealed during the gameplay trailer was that Master Chief now has a grappling hook.
This got some Halo fans concerned that 343 Industries would start making the series more like Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man, but in a recent interview with Gamespot, head designer Jerry Hook said that’s not going to happen.
“I want to make sure our fans understand this–Master Chief is not Spider-Man. That is not at all what the Grappleshot does,” Hook said before explaining just what the new grappling hook would be capable of.
“If you look in the lore, Grappleshot had a very specific purpose for the UNSC. For helping Marines and Spartans be able to do ship-to-ship combat. Chief and the Spartans have modified that to ensure it can be used within not only the Ring but terrestrial environments in general.”
It absolutely makes sense to have a grappling hook in space–if you don’t have a jet pack or some other way to exert force in a particular direction, then you could find yourself drifting out into cold vacuum. A grappling hook is a lot easier to carry around than an entire propulsion system.
In the gameplay demo, we see the grappling hook–called the “grappleshot” in a recent 343 Industries blog post–used to grab enemies in order to pull Master Chief toward them and perform melee attacks. However, it can also be used to grab items or to get a better vantage point on an enemy position.
Halo Infinite will arrive with the Xbox Series X launch later this year. And if you were concerned that it didn’t look quite as amazing as a next-gen console should, note that Halo Infinite will also get a free ray tracing update sometime next year that should kick the graphics up a few notches.
Source: Gamespot, 343 Industries
