Here's Why Halo Infinite Ditched The Old Shotgun

One of the more controversial elements of Halo Infinite is its new rapid-firing Bulldog shotgun, which replaces the standard shotgun we've seen in the series since the very beginning. 343 Industries has detailed the new weapon, as well as its reasoning for making such a big change, and what it really comes down to is giving players a viable option to fit their playstyle.

Speaking in an interview on Halo Waypoint, lead sandbox designer Quinn DelHoyo said that, particularly for multiplayer in past Halo games, players just didn't choose the shotgun very often. The team wanted to give close-quarters specialists a good option, and it began developing the Bulldog with that in mind. The weapon's individual shots aren't as powerful as the old shotgun, but it fires and reloads much more quickly to make up for that.

"The Bulldog is a versatile weapon that provides the player with the role of a shotgun and up-close playstyle more frequently in multiplayer than previous Halo titles as it is lower on the lethality scale of weapons and thus more prevalent," lead weapons designer David Price added.

That means the day of finding a shotgun and immediately slaughtering a squad of Grunts and Elites in Halo is probably over. However, it also means you'll get to think up all-new strategies for taking on the aliens you encounter. We still suggest using the good dual-wielding plasma pistol and conventional ammo weapon combination. It's perfect for stripping down shields before delivering the killing shot--or at least that was the case in previous Halo games.

For other close-quarters attacks, players have typically relied on the energy sword and gravity hammer. Of course, these are pretty rare, and that will likely be the case with Halo Infinite, as well. If it isn't, that will make for some pretty ridiculous multiplayer matches.

Halo Infinite is due to release in Fall 2021, and its launch content is already feature-complete, with the team focused on bug fixes and polish now. The controls on both the Xbox and PC versions will be fully remappable.