Halo Infinite’s brand-new Grappleshot is ‘both terrifying and liberating,’ says 343 devs

Not to be outdone by Link’s Hookshot from the The Legend of Zelda series, Master Chief is getting a similar apparatus in the upcoming Halo Infinite game which will allow him to rapidly move towards an enemy or location, reel in faraway items, solve puzzles and even traverse terrain previously inaccessible in the Halo series with the brand-new Grappleshot item.

In the latest Halo Infinite update from the official Waypoint blog, 343 Industries developers Justin Dinges (Campaign Art Lead), Troy Mashburn (Gameplay Director) and John Mulkey (World Design Lead) provided plenty of details about the game’s ongoing development, including information on what is sure to be one of players’ favorite pieces of equipment: Halo Infinite‘s brand-new Grappleshot.

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“Having a tool like the Grappleshot definitely challenged us to rethink the way we build our environments because it’s such a versatile and fun mechanic that allows players to get nearly anywhere that they can reach,” Justin Dinges explained. “The good news is that not only is the gameplay that much more fun because of it, but we can also expect players to get to some really awesome locations and vantage points that will further show off the beauty of the world we have created. For me, the Grappleshot is an exciting example of a new gameplay feature that provides great wins for both players and devs alike.”

Troy Mashburn added to Dinges’ thoughts on the challenges the Grappleshot presented in terms of how much more of the Halo environment is opened up to players.

“One of our core goals is to provide players with more sandbox opportunities so they can be creative in their approach to problem solving,” Mashburn said. “Equipment like the Grappleshot is a great example creating new and exciting possibilities. Walls, cliffs, and small gaps don’t stop Chief any longer which gave us the opportunity to rethink how encounters are built.”

Despite this design hurdle, which was admittedly both “frightening and liberating at the same time,” Mashburn and the team were able to break out of their usual design mentality and use Halo Infinite‘s brand-new Grappleshot item as a means of expanding their creative horizons.

“This caused some challenges early on because designers couldn’t just place the final objective at the far end of a base assuming players will have to fight their way through,” Mashburn continued. “With the Grappleshot, players can go wherever they want whenever they want. From a development standpoint, this was both terrifying and completely liberating at the same time… [the] Grappleshot helped the team break out of the single path design mindset and evolve into something much more exciting. It’s become so second nature that when I play other games, I find that I miss the grapple.”

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The Grappleshot won’t just be useful for exploratory purposes, however. Players will be able to use it as a weapon, retrieval device and a puzzle solving mechanism.

“The Grappleshot is super fun in the traversal options it provides,” John Mulkey revealed, “but it also allows for pulling weapons to you, pulling an explosive Fusion Coil to you that you can then throw to take out a Shade Turret, or grapple to…and launch yourself into an enemy to land a powerful melee attack. Beyond the undeniable fun of the Grappleshot, you can carry around another three pieces of equipment with their own unique roles and utility that you can quickly swap between at any time. The combinatoric play you can create in this way opens an astounding number of play options and I cannot wait to see the YouTube videos people share showing off moves we never even imagined when developing them.”

Are you looking forward to using the Grappleshot in Halo Infinite? Or is the item too nonsensical for a supersoldier such as Master Chief to be wielding? Sound off in the comments.