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Players getting into the Halo Infinite beta test this weekend will only have a few limited windows to enter matchmaking with other players–but the good news is the game’s new Training Mode, part of the overarching Academy experience, will be available to play at any time over the whole weekend. Here’s a bit more detail on what the mode involves and how it works.
Training Mode is one of the Halo Infinite Academy’s three game modes, the others being Weapon Drills, which is also available in the beta test, and Tutorial, which offers players more of a narrative introduction to Halo’s world. Training Mode looks to be the standout of the three, offering a full sandbox for players to experiment with loadouts against bot enemies, able to change whatever settings they want on the fly.
In the September game update on Halo Waypoint, the Academy team described what Training Mode is, and how it’s set to become a vital part of the Halo Experience.
“Training Mode started as 1v1 Bot experience for players to warm up with more items from the Halo sandbox on our maps. It grew from there to provide a larger literal sandbox where players can experiment with their loadouts and a variety of Bot/player options,” developer David Ellis said. “Do you want to practice your sniper shots on Behemoth with unlimited ammo, zero risk of dying, and then swap to the Shock Rifle and add Bot teammates without reloading the map, playing in matchmaking or delving into Custom Games? You can do that with Training Mode.”
While the customization options for Training Mode will be quite extensive at launch, the Academy team indicated that even more options may be added at a later stage, especially as they start to understand how players are engaging with the game.
“We’ve discussed ways we could give players more control over the difficulty of the Bots they fight against in Training Mode than we’re currently offering for launch,” said Sara Stern. “We’d love for players to be able to toggle off certain behaviors (such as grenade throwing) they didn’t necessarily want to deal with, or to combine the aspects of different difficulty levels to create a Bot experience that better fits their needs than our predefined difficulty levels.”
The developers also indicated that multiplayer could be integrated with Training Mode in the future. Training Mode will be playable in its current form in both upcoming beta tests for Halo Infinite. For more information on the playtests, or to find out how to sign yourself up for them, check out our guide here.
