Halo Infinite players weren’t expecting much in the way of new content when they logged into the game today. The next event—a sequel to Fractures: Tenrai—is still a week away and the team at 343 Industries hadn’t announced anything set to go live on July 11.
That’s why it came as a surprise when players discovered that a new featured playlist, Squad Battle, went live today and brought with it forge remakes of some of Halo 3’s most beloved Big Team Battle maps. Big Team Battle, Halo’s traditionally eight-vs-eight mode, has been a franchise staple for decades and Halo 3’s popular incarnation of it is no doubt one that Infinite wants to celebrate with this unexpected trip down memory lane.
The Squad Battle playlist plays host to three Halo 3 map remakes in total: Last Resort, Valhalla, and Rat’s Nest. “If you find Big Team Battle too chaotic at 12v12 but 4v4 is just not enough, then let us introduce you to the new Squad Battle playlist,” community manager snickerdoodle said in the announcement blog. “Resembling the BTB of old, Squad Battle pits 8v8 in a mix of Slayer and Objective modes on community made maps that lend themselves well to both infantry and vehicular combat. If you’ve played past titles, Halo 3 in particular, then this should be a walk down memory lane.”
As snickerdoodle mentioned, Halo Infinite’s version of BTB increased the size of the teams to 12-vs-12—up from the eight-vs-eight lobbies that existed in every Halo game prior. This change, along with others made to the mode in Infinite, received a lukewarm reception at launch. A lot of the excitement around this new playlist most likely stems from a desire for a more classical BTB experience in the title.
343 has been levying the power of Infinite’s Forge tool for multiple seasons now. It’s added in a plethora of both community and developer-made Forge maps to satisfy the constant craving for content when new official map additions take a while to see a release. Most recently, a remake of the popular Halo 5: Guardians map Plaza hit both matchmaking and the HCS map pool a few weeks into season four.
Players looking for a nostalgic Halo experience in Halo Infinite can find Squad Battle available now in matchmaking in the featured playlist section. The game list currently features a variety of modes such as Capture The Flag, King of the Hill, and Slayer across Last Resort, Rat’s Nest, and Valhalla. The Last Resort and Valhalla remakes were also given new monikers by the community members who remade them, now going under Kusini Bay and Vallaheim respectively.
