Much criticism was levied at Halo Infinite’s new Halo 3 Refueled playlist for featuring the Sidekick in the starting loadout when it launched on Nov. 14. But 343 Industries’ response to those criticisms has been just as quick: The Sidekick is out and the Battle Rifle is in.
In a backend update released with the weekly reset on Nov. 21, the Halo 3 Refueled playlist got three significant improvements: symmetrical power equipment spawns on Banished Narrows, performance improvements for Sylvanus, as well as starting loadouts in all modes now featuring the Battle Rifle and Assault Rifle. The final point has been one of the most heavily requested changes since day one, to the point where the Sidekick’s inclusion in the starting loadout had reignited community-wide debates around the weapon’s place in the sandbox.
The demand for the Battle Rifle makes a lot of sense. While Halo 3’s casual playlists, for the most part, featured Assault Rifle and Magnum starts, the Battle Rifle was the game’s most iconic weapon by a wide margin. Nostalgic visions of Halo 3 multiplayer tend to include Battle Rifle starts as standard, so a lack of Battle Rifle starts in Infinite’s Refueled throwback playlist didn’t sit well with those seeking a trip down memory lane.
To make matters worse, some of the player base believe the Sidekick pistol, in its current state, is actively harming the game modes that it’s a starting weapon in due to components like bloom and its time-to-kill. Soon after the Halo 3 Refueled playlist went live, a Reddit thread caught traction discussing whether or not it was time to make a change to Infinite’s starting loadouts in casual playlists. It’s unlikely today’s update was in direct response to this particular outcry, but it makes it clear that 343 Industries has heard the feedback to some degree.
The other bullet points in today’s update are just as welcome, even if they are more minor. As someone who has been a victim of Sylvanus’ technical issues, the optimization efforts are a welcome sight. It was a rare occurrence but the Forge map didn’t always load correctly, leading to entire hallways and windows that were visually blocked off by improperly rendered Forge pieces. It will be a relief to no longer fear falling victim to this particular issue every time the map begins to load.
The Halo 3 Refueled playlist is available in Halo Infinite for one more week. After the promotional event ends on Nov. 28, some of the classic maps it features will be made available in Infinite’s other unranked playlists.
