For most Halo fans, Bungie and 343 Industries’ iconic FPS video games are a fun, exciting way to enjoy the story of Masterchief, or to time with friends over split-screen couch co-op. For some, however, Halo is more than just an ODST drop into a Covenant warzone, or a nostalgic return to Blood Gulch. It’s optic gaming for the MLG (Major League Gaming) pro circuit, a chance to duke it out for publicity, bragging rights, and prize money.
Competitive gaming is not a new revelation. Halo alone has hosted MLG as far back as 2004, with Halo: Combat Evolved, the oldest Halo game in the series. What’s fascinating about Halo’s approach to MLG is how it radically alters the rules of the game. It’s not solely a matter of better players, larger crowds, and stricter rules. For Halo, MLG fundamentally affects how to play the game.
One of the factors that sets Halo apart from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare or other popular shooter games on the market is its flashy visual style: Energy swords, plasma rifles, gravity hammers, and Covenant vehicles remind players that it’s one of the most popular sci-fi games around, even in 2021. Strangely, none of these iconic weapons are available in MLG modes. Instead, pro matches in Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4 center around precision weapons like the Battle Rifle, or Halo Reach’s slow and steady counterpart, the DMR. This substitution of color and variety in favor of accuracy is indicative of the MLG demographic.
Halo: MLG Reduces Variety, Forcing Players To Use Core Weapons
Besides focusing on a player’s good aim, reducing the availability of different weapons keeps Halo players on even footing. Sniper Rifles and Rocket Launchers are still on maps, but their respawn time is lengthened, and they feel more like a temporary power-up than an alternative weapon. However, even the beloved Needler, the Halo series’ most reliable weapon, is absent from MLG. This is where the concept that excluding weapons gives matches more legitimacy becomes debatable.
Another consistent change to Halo’s MLG modes is the removal of the motion tracker. The motion tracker plays a role in identifying enemy’s positioning, group strength, and movement. Its absence in MLG, however, is not as mystifying: Knowing where the enemy is provides game-changing intel. It eliminates the fear of detection, and expedites encounters where players aren’t just waiting for each other to make the first move.
The goal of MLG in Halo has always been to provide a fair competitive atmosphere for the community’s most skilled players. The mode’s intent was to strip Halo down to its core components, reducing encounters where one player has a huge advantage over another. Halo Infinite is changing multiplayer in dramatic ways, adding still more variety and nuance to the experience. While these new features may add wholly new possibilities and creative tweaks to the Halo formula, it wouldn’t be surprising if 343 Industries removed them from MLG modes for the sake of fair competition.