Just in time to creep us into the eerie season, 343 Industries has launched a brand-new Halloween update, brimmed with nightmare fuel for Forge! Halloween bring some scary goodness and some warm autumn vibes that players will now explore with the new Forge Feature.
The Halo Twitter account graced its followers having a full Halloween fest by suggesting that gamers should “trick or treat yourself” with the new content. The post promoted a bunch of community-made maps that ranged from terrifying to nostalgically pleasant, with some throwbacks to Halo: Reach to please all the long-time fans. And believe me when I say this: getting to feel like an armored MJOLNIR in a pile of crisp leaves on some early Reach morning is very satisfying.
The community creators are already partying in light of the new update. ArturBloodshot aka “The Architect” said, “Thank you so much for featuring both RA KUE’E STATION and THE ABYSS! From @FDelApocalipsis Forge team, with love!” Unusual Hiccup added their own praise with excitement: “Glad our map Beachhead got spotlighted! Hope you folks enjoyed.”
DeskSide and other usual offenders started to come rolling in, just as the usual mixture of requests and complaints were being shouted out to the stars. One player pointed out a pumpkin helmet featured in the promotional image, asking, “How much for the pumpkin helmet? And if you all can do this please add the snowman helmet too. Please.” There were others who were thinking bigger: “Please give Halo Infinite proper modding tools so we can make custom campaigns.”
Those infected with the Halloween spirit are mostly supportive! “A packed Halo Halloween? Say less 🎃” was the tweet of one excited player, while another commented simply, “That sounds great.” The aptly named account then chimed in with the ever-so-classic, “wort wort wort.”
Suddenly, here comes the guy who always pokes the exclusivity topic: “Master Chief Collection for PS5?” this user asked. And an interesting civil discussion ensued as to whether console exclusives “are dumb and should be a thing of the past.” An explosion of interjections from the forums suggested tie-ins with Dead by Daylight and Fortnite, because apparently, everything should crossover these days.
Some players lamented the fact that some of their favorite maps weren’t included. “Sad that Farthest Outpost didn’t make it in but glad to see Beachhead did!” wrote FadedGray. “Gonna need to check out Visegrad some of these others this week.” That’s the thing with community spotlights; somebody’s always gonna feel left out.
This certainly came in time, given that it is now half a month before Halloween and the time players seek seasonal content. An infection of sorts between spooky and nostalgic maps; this update has a little bit for everyone: things to scare or warm your fuzzy Halo memories.
One of the best things about the Forge updates is that they really put a spotlight on the insane level of creativity in the Halo community. Angst is creating full-blown terror experiences using the Halo Infinite creation tools, and that is just crazy to think about. The tools have certainly evolved far more since the early days of Forge back in Halo 3.
The Halloween update will continue 343’s approach for frequent content drops for Halo Infinite that has been so important in garnering player support during two major seasonal updates. While the game had a rough start, the constant stream of Forge content, along with the introduction of community features have gradually formed some goodwill between it and the core player base.
And let’s really get into it – seasonal events hit differently in Halo. Something about pairing sci-fi military shooters with holiday themes just works. Perhaps it’s the sheer dissonance of serious Spartan ops running around getting pumpkins carved on their armor, or maybe the entire player base going berserk for everything pumpkin-themed come October.
The update is now live, so if you need some spookiness to go along with your Halo Halloween, you know where to go. But don’t come at me if one of those terrifying Forge modes sends a jump scare your way. Happy gaming! I would say watch out for those Halloween grenades, but I suppose extra explosions are a festive treat too. Xbox players are sure to enjoy this seasonal content.
