Like any video game that spans a whole series, it’s to be expected that with each new game comes new features to broaden the scope, refine combat, and add to the excitement. The Halo series is not unusual in this way, with every title from Halo 2 up through Halo 5: Guardians adding new gameplay to the established formula, like armor abilities, ground pounds, and loadouts. Yet dual-wielding was removed after only two games.
Halo 2 and Halo 3 leaned heavily on the Battle Rifle for most of its ranged combat encounters. Its precision and high damage especially changed the formula for Major League Gaming. Halo 2’s introduction of dual-wielding weapons also provided new, creative ways to combine and enhance firepower at mid or close range, or just double up on the amount of ammo available. When Halo Reach came out in 2010, many players were disappointed that the feature had been completely abandoned, but Bungie had actually been leaning towards the decision ever since Halo 3.
“There’s this thing we didn’t really identify in Halo 2,” Bungie’s Software Design Engineer, Adrian Perez, explained in Halo Infinite’s multiplayer seasons are cross-platform, Halo 2 and Halo 3 were originally released as Xbox exclusives. As such, gameplay was designed with a controller in mind: By default, the right trigger fired the weapon, and the left was for throwing grenades. When dual-wielding, however, the two triggers on the controller corresponded to the respective left and right weapons in the player’s hands. Trying to use a grenade or perform a melee attack while dual-wielding would awkwardly drop the weapon in the left hand, requiring a second button press to trigger the grenade or melee action.
Dual-Wielding Distracted From the Game's Core Mechanics
In an FPS game where every second counts, this added step was understandably frustrating. Yet despite the quirk, Halo 3 still remains the most popular Halo multiplayer. This wasn’t the reason dual-wielding was scrapped; there were stronger arguments: “The assault rifle works really well with the golden three things of Halo which are weapons, grenades, and melee,” remarked Multiplayer Designer Lars Bakken in the ViDoc. With dual-wielding preventing two thirds of this core formula, it makes sense that pro gaming circuits rejected it outright, de-spawning dual-wieldable weapons like the plasma rifle or plasma pistol across all MLG maps.
Bungie completely removed dual-wielding for Halo Reach, and 343 Industries continues to agree with their decision - Halo Infinite won't have dual-wielding or playable Elites. The strategy of dual-wielding contrasting weapon types will continue to be missed, as will its accompanying bright, flashing colors. To make the most balanced Halo experience possible, though, Bungie and 343 Industries were probably right to remove it.
Source: Bungie