Let's talk the Brute designs in Halo Infinite

[DemonCarnotaur]

So, I really wanted a designated thread for the Brutes, which haven't been significantly featured in a new mainline Halo FPS since Halo 3, minus a limited appearance in Halo Reach.

With Halo Infinite 343 has talked about wanting to reinvent the orginal trilogies art style for a new generation, and step away from the more complex, cluttered, and homogeneous & monstrous designs of 4 and 5. With that in mind, I've been eagerly awaiting seeing what they did with Brutes... but the reveal has really left me bummed, as we ultimately ended up getting some weird Klingon Cave Troll amalgamation.

Engine issues aside, which is a whole other worthwhile discussion, they need to redesign the Brutes IMO.

I dislike the design direction on the Brutes, with its monster like face and teeth, but I will say a little additional skin texture (which I did in photoshop) would go a LONG way IMO:

But honestly, that doesn't address the overall look which I feel isnt hitting the spot with its more anthropomorphic design. I entirely prefer their Halo 2 Anniversary designs, where as the new designs seem like they would exist in Halo 4 and 5.

Take the Halo 2 Anniversary look for their body and face, bring back the fur, and then build new Banished style armor for them.

It's absurd how weird they look in this game, especially since Halo 2A finally NAILED Brutes.

Finally, while not the same direction as the Halo 2A Brutes, this Halo 3 ViDoc also really sets the tone for where I expected the Brutes to be redesigned from:



I'm curious what others think, and what they would like to see change (if anything).

 

[WadeIt0ut]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say there are various different looking brutes when it comes to the fur. You're primarily thinking of this Hyperious guy and the generic brute from the gameplay demo. There will be other brutes with different hair.

 

[spam musubi]

Perhaps the lack of fur is due to not being able to get fur rendering right?

 

[Doukou]

I imagine they were redesign to make them easier to have more facial expressions like the dude at the end.
Hair seems like it got cut with how hairless the normal ones are

 

[Elliott]

Those H2A brutes look so goddamn good.

 

[Femme Man]

These replies LMAO

H2A Brutes are the best of the bunch. Halo 3 Brutes being in second place.

 

[Doukou]

These replies LMAO

H2A Brutes are the best of the bunch. Halo 3 Brutes being in second place.

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Nah Halo wars 2 were better than 3

 

[Zombegoast]

I hate how they're Orcs.

 

[Femme Man]

Nah Halo wars 2 were better than 3

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Never played HW2 but I just checked it out, they look good. I guess my nostalgia bias is speaking.

 

[Deleted member 68874]

Well Atriox the leader of the Banished is one bad mofo and my fave brute design.

I much prefer the hairier brutes to the hairless ones.

 

[Failburger]

The only difference I see is one has facial hair and the other doesn't?

I don't understand. What are you getting so upset about?

 

[theDidact]

Hairless brutes look stupid as hell.

 

[PROh1bited]

I really love the design of the Brutes in H2A, kinda disappointing how they look in Infinite.

 

[KujoJosuke]

they all very kawaii :3

 

[Kalentan]

They looked great in Halo Wars 2.

 

[Chopin the Third]

Those hairy brutes look amazing.

 

[Welfare]

Halo Wars 2 got everything right.

Why could Infinite just be Halo Wars 2 in an FPS?

 

[808s & Villainy]

They really do need hair otherwise they look kind of silly

 

[Deleted member 43070]

Well Atriox the leader of the Banished is one bad mofo and my fave brute design.

I much prefer the hairier brutes to the hairless ones.

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I agree. He's like the perfect Brute design in my opinion. Even Tartarus in Halo 2 was not bad considering the time. Of course not every Brute can look this bad ass. but just give em small bit of hair on their heads and a bit of facial hair and we're good in my opinion. In 3 the default seemed to be a small mohawk on their heads. I'm ok with that.

 

[Mad_Rhetoric]

They look fine.

 

[Uzupedro]

Well Atriox the leader of the Banished is one bad mofo and my fave brute design.

I much prefer the hairier brutes to the hairless ones.

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This is so much cooler and frightening, the Brute who made the speech at the end of the trailer is not remarkable as a villain at all, speaking based only on his design and his (bad) speech of course, he could be a good vilain overall.

 

[Deleted member 68874]

Yeah, the baddy in the trailer looks like a clown compared to Atriox. The warpaint on Atriox is also a nice touch that differentiates him from covenant brutes

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God if Atriox shows and looks like hes made of clay I'll be sad.

I really hope if he shows up in Halo Infinite his intro is something special.

I agree. He's like the perfect Brute design in my opinion. Even Tartarus in Halo 2 was not bad considering the time. Of course not every Brute can look this bad ass. but just give em small bit of hair on their heads and a bit of facial hair and we're good in my opinion. In 3 the default seemed to be a small mohawk on their heads. I'm ok with that.

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Agreed at the very least give brutes the Halo 3 chin hair. These hairless brutes are akin to a hairless wookie for me.

This is so much cooler and frightening, the Brute who made the speech at the end of the trailer is not remarkable as a villain at all, speaking based only on his design and his (bad) speech of course, he could be a good vilain overall.

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God It'd be so awesome if we kill War Chief Escharum a couple hours in and have Cortana and Atriox be the big villains. I do like the idea of an old brute chieftan wanting to be the one to kill Master Chief to cement his legacy, but Atriox is just so much cooler. I'll give Escharum a chance, but his design is not so great.

 

[Hey Please]

I am simply not digging the redesign in general. They look like they were derived from the absolute unit, silverback gorilla whereas the previous iterations were a bit more nebulous. Like your example, H2A's Brutes nailed that powerful brutish alien sensation.

I do, however, appreciate the skin texture work you have put into that model.

 

[TaleSpun]

What are the engine problems?

 

[fracas]

Ayyyy Demon I remember you from the old HaloGAF days

I definitely think they need some more fur. I know not all the games depicted them that way, though that's how I'll always see them. I'd also like em a bit bigger and truly imposing, but if they're going to be a common enemy then I guess I understand.

 

[Ramirez]

The Infinite guy looks really good in the concept art, just didn't translate as well to the game. I think Brutes suck in all of their iterations though.

 

[KORNdog]

All I could think watching that brute monologue was "they really liked thanos I guess"

I mean, honestly I've never liked Brutes in the halo franchise. To go from the covenant to a bunch of gorillas in armour just never seemed particularly interesting to me. But these new ones just look awful.

 

[Iso]

I'm not sure discourse is going to be a whole lot better anywhere right about now - especially in a discussion specifically on brutes.

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You're not wrong. I was just hoping for some solid gameplay/story discussion as it looks like 343 has really improved both aspects coming off of H5.

Anyways, on-topic I think my favorite design of the Brutes is the OG Halo 2 concept art. It's a shame we never got anything that quite matched up. They did try to achieve this design in H2, but it really did not look anywhere near as good in-game.

In a way, I think they're facing a similar issue in Infinite. Escharum looks bad-ass in the concept art, but it did not translate all that well in-game.

 

[Z-Beat]

They looked great in H2A and Halo Wars 2. I much prefer the wild gorilla hair over the human-like hair or straight up hairless ape that has launched 1000 memes

 

[Hey Please]

You're not wrong. I was just hoping for some solid gameplay/story discussion as it looks like 343 has really improved both aspects coming off of H5.

Anyways, on-topic I think my favorite design of the Brutes is the OG Halo 2 concept art. It's a shame we never got anything that quite matched up. They did try to achieve this design in H2, but it really did not look anywhere near as good in-game.

In a way, I think they're facing a similar issue in Infinite. Escharum looks bad-ass in the concept art, but it did not translate all that well in-game.

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The size of that gaping maw in the first image would run chill down my spine if I saw that in-game.

With regards 2nd image of Escharum, I cannot get over the impracticability of those two metallic projections from his breastplate. Unless it is purely ceremonial, it looks like one of those "cool for the sake being cool" design faux pas.

 

[Chivalry]

Boring design all around.

 

[BradC00]

what's there to discuss? they are trash, the unnamed ones and the banished commander dude. just copy and paste the ones from H2A.

 

[Iso]

The size of that gaping maw in the first image would run chill down my spine if I saw that in-game.

With regards 2nd image of Escharum, I cannot get over the impracticability of those two metallic projections from his breastplate. Unless it is purely ceremonial, it looks like one of those "cool for the sake being cool" design faux pas.

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I don't really have an issue with the armor personally, but my comparison was more for the 'species' design.

wait, this is the dude from the trailer? if so:

(i dare this thread to make a brute gorilla edit of that gif)

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It was indeed. He's looking quite a bit more plain than what they went for in the art. Hopefully something like a model touch up isn't too far out of the realm of possibility when there is still ~4 months till launch!

 

[Deleted member 68874]

You're not wrong. I was just hoping for some solid gameplay/story discussion as it looks like 343 has really improved both aspects coming off of H5.

Anyways, on-topic I think my favorite design of the Brutes is the OG Halo 2 concept art. It's a shame we never got anything that quite matched up. They did try to achieve this design in H2, but it really did not look anywhere near as good in-game.

In a way, I think they're facing a similar issue in Infinite. Escharum looks bad-ass in the concept art, but it did not translate all that well in-game.

Click to shrink...

Yep that Halo 2 art is *chef's kiss.

I also really like how the brute is depicted in the Live action ODST trailer.

One thing we don't get with playing as the Chief is just how fucking big the enemies are. Even those scrawny ass bird boys (Jackals) are taller than most people at 6'2 - 6'8.

 

[KamenRiderEra]

To be honest I find Halo aliens pretty boring... The small guys that run away and the brutes/chewbaccas are the worst offenders. The Flood is cool tho!

 

[spam musubi]

I don't really have an issue with the armor personally, but my comparison was more for the 'species' design.


It was indeed. He's looking quite a bit more plain than what they went for in the art. Hopefully something like a model touch up isn't too far out of the realm of possibility when there is still ~4 months till launch!

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Honestly, if it was one or two things that need touching up I'd be optimistic, but almost every single thing we've seen in the trailer needs significant improvements, so I'm not very optimistic.

tbf, brutes are generally a kind of awful design and they never looked as cool as the covenant

 

[nihilence]

Rebooted for actual discussion. Please refrain from spamming memes. One or two was fine, the rest were unnecessary after multiple duplicates. Discourse is encouraged, driveby behavior is not.

Dismissive and Disruptive Behavior Low effort, spamming is disruptive to discussion. The op has put effort into thread creation, and derailing with the same meme does not foster positive or critical discourse.

 

[Deleted member 68874]

So, I really wanted a designated thread for the Brutes, which haven't been significantly featured in a new mainline Halo FPS since Halo 3, minus a limited appearance in Halo Reach.

With Halo Infinite 343 has talked about wanting to reinvent the orginal trilogies art style for a new generation, and step away from the more complex, cluttered, and homogeneous & monstrous designs of 4 and 5. With that in mind, I've been eagerly awaiting seeing what they did with Brutes... but the reveal has really left me bummed, as we ultimately ended up getting some weird Klingon Cave Troll amalgamation.

Engine issues aside, which is a whole other worthwhile discussion, they need to redesign the Brutes IMO.

I dislike the design direction on the Brutes, with its monster like face and teeth, but I will say a little additional skin texture (which I did in photoshop) would go a LONG way IMO:

But honestly, that doesn't address the overall look which I feel isnt hitting the spot with its more anthropomorphic design. I entirely prefer their Halo 2 Anniversary designs, where as the new designs seem like they would exist in Halo 4 and 5.

Take the Halo 2 Anniversary look for their body and face, bring back the fur, and then build new Banished style armor for them.

It's absurd how weird they look in this game, especially since Halo 2A finally NAILED Brutes.

Finally, while not the same direction as the Halo 2A Brutes, this Halo 3 ViDoc also really sets the tone for where I expected the Brutes to be redesigned from:



I'm curious what others think, and what they would like to see change (if anything).

Click to shrink...

Your photoshopped edit is good shit. It's just like the gun detail photoshopped going around. There's these tiny little details that 343i can add that will make the game much prettier. I hope they see all this shit instead of just memes.

Side note I miss the hell out of the blood on the ground.

Round 2:




Thanks Mods.

 

[TheHunter]

Halo Wars 2 and Halo 3 have the best Brute designs.

Halo 2As look weird.

 

[SteviaRelievingYa]

This is the epitome of Brute design, imo. I am not a fan of the hairless Brutes at all. But if they are shaved, at least make them look menacing like in Halo 3. I'm praying that the Halo Infinite Brute faces are a placeholder.

I do like the Brute's speech at the end though. In a time where everyone seems nihilistic and too cool to show any passion I'm glad they dared to put that in. I thought it was actually pretty epic with the music in the background.

 

[DemonCarnotaur]

For reference, this is the last thread: https://www.resetera.com/threads/lets-talk-the-brute-designs-in-halo-infinite.255057/

I believe Nihelence is porting some of the replies from that thread here, but otherwise I'll respond to some of those in a few.

 

[StrappingYoungLance]

I've never even liked Brutes, frankly (though Halo 3 did a good job significantly improving them over Halo 2) but from what little we've seen Infinite's iteration on the race looks like the worst yet.

 

[StudioTan]

I'm curious if there are going to be any changes to the guy from the trailer or if that's the final look. I don't hate it but it's definitely lacking in some texture detail. That might be a deliberate choice but it's a departure from the last 2 games.

 

[Iso]

I've never even liked Brutes, frankly (though Halo 3 did a good job significantly improving them over Halo 2) but from what little we've seen Infinite's iteration on the race looks like the worst yet.

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I've never really liked in-game design for Brutes in any Halo, but in terms of gameplay I think they were really fun enemies in 3 and Reach. In 2 they were alright but were pretty bullet-spongy due to lack of feedback/reaction when shooting them.

In Infinite, it looks like they play like 3 and Reach, and the added armor destructibility and stumbling/reactions they did during combat looked much improved, so I have high hopes for how they feel to fight against.

 

[MillionIII]

Nice job on the textures, there is something off about his teeth too they look like plastic, maybe lack of shadows.

 

[Slayven]

I think the designs are interesting but leaning so hard into tropes is boring. Like play into that, have the social structure kinda of mimic gorillas.

 

[DeoGame]

I loved how the Brutes looked in Halo Wars 2 but was definitely let down by their design in Infinite. They honestly look less like Gorilla-type things and more like Orcs or Thanos as people have mentioned.

That said, my favorite aspect of Brutes has never been how they look (Space Gorillas is kinda silly) but how they feel to fight against and it looks like Infinite has not only kept that, but improved it (look at how one of the brutes stumbles when shot in the leg in the demo). So, personally I'm willing to let the redesign slide but with the Sanghelli and Grunts looking as good as ever, I have no idea what happened with them.

Also, your retexture is much improved. I think 343 was trying to go for a more minimalist look after 4/5 were criticised as overdesigned, but I think they overdid it with the Brutes. Your render is much more aesthetically pleasing.

 

[Karateka]

The main problem is the megablok looking armor. The shaved faces were always weird but at least in halo 3 they turned out okay.

To be honest I find Halo aliens pretty boring... The small guys that run away and the brutes/chewbaccas are the worst offenders. The Flood is cool tho!

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Better than generic soldiers in armor. Id argue only mass effect has better designed "alien" creatures

 

[StrappingYoungLance]

I've never really liked in-game design for Brutes in any Halo, but in terms of gameplay I think they were really fun enemies in 3 and Reach. In 2 they were alright but were pretty bullet-spongy due to lack of feedback/reaction when shooting them.

In Infinite, it looks like they play like 3 and Reach, and the added armor destructibility and stumbling/reactions they did during combat looked much improved, so I have high hopes for how they feel to fight against.

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Oh for sure, they look fine to fight against. And hell, a Brute threw a Grunt! I don't have any real problem with the look of Infinite's gameplay beyond finding it hard to be excited by the tried and true (that grappling hook looks like a great addition though).

 

[CountAntonio]

They definitely look better with a lot of fur. Much more unique and intimidating. Not sure what they were going for in Infinite.