The Halo Infinite beta has some strange and goofy quirks

The first Halo Infinite beta is finally live for Xbox and PC players, and as gamers around the world have flooded into the servers to duke it out with AI bots and help 343 Industries identify bugs, they've discovered several strange and goofy quirks about the game. Unlike performance issues or bugs that cause crashes, these glitches and oddities are fun to engage with and/or are incredibly funny. And because 343 Industries will inevitably patch these quirks before the full release of Halo Infinite, we should enjoy them while they last. Here's a look at all of the fun and funny Halo Infinite glitches and oddities we've found so far.

Bots have predictable pathing

The most common quirk in the Halo Infinite beta has to do with the pathfinding of the AI bots you play against in the multiplayer. Without fail, all four of the enemy bots will always go to the same location on a map at the start of every match in a tightly-knit group. You can use this information to get free Overkills in every game, as two frag grenades and some Sidekick headshots for cleanup will eliminate the entire squad of bots before they know what hit them.

On the map Live Fire, the bots will always go to the left of the player's spawn. On Recharge, all of the bots will immediately jump down to where the Overshield equipment is located. Finally, on Bazaar, the bots will always head towards the left side of the large marketplace area in the middle of the map.

Melee attacks send bodies flying

Another pretty common glitch is that roughly half of your melee attacks will send your opponent flying across the map at terminal velocity if you manage to kill them with one. It seems to happen more often with back smack instant-kills, but I've had it happen plenty of times with frontal beatdowns, too. Spartans are strong, but we never knew they were this powerful.

You can duplicate weapons

Arguably the most fun bug in the technical preview is the ability to duplicate weapons by picking them up at the same time as one of your teammates. This works for any weapon on the map, but it's particularly fun to do with power weapons like the Skewer, S7 Sniper, or SPNKr Rocket Launcher. It's also pretty fun to do with the Bulldog shotgun or the Gravity Hammer, as you and a buddy can go on a close-range rampage with these weapons.

The developers are no doubt going to patch this bug as soon as possible since it would be detrimental to the balance of PvP, but for now, have a good time cloning power weapons and blowing up bots with them!

Intro cinematic shenanigans

https://twitter.com/RedeemerOfNod/status/1421836224197758982?s=20

One of the stranger quirks of the technical preview is that during the intro cinematic for each match, players will drop dead and instantly be replaced by a bot in the cutscene if they're disconnected from the server. This is hilarious, and because of the way the bot instantly replaces them, it makes it seem like the bot snuck up behind them with Active Camo, assassinated them, and stole their place.

Another oddity with these cutscenes is that if a player hasn't fully connected to the server before the intro starts, their Spartan will be visibly dead on the floor as all of the other Spartans are doing their poses. This is super silly, and I can't help but crack up whenever it happens.

Maps are haunted by ghost players

Finally, there's a bug that causes the game to render "ghost" player models on the map, often mid-animation. These models don't move and can't be shot (though sometimes you can observe their shields flaring) and may or may not have collision. It's not clear what's causing this bug to occur, but if we had to guess, it would be that there's some type of server desync going on. Keep an eye out for paranormal Spartans like these next time you queue into a multiplayer match, because they're quite spooky.

Your thoughts

What's your favorite bug, glitch, quirk, or oddity from the Halo Infinite beta so far? How have you been enjoying the multiplayer? Let us know. For more on the Halo Infinite beta, don't miss our list of the Halo Infinite beta known bugs and launch issues, our Halo Infinite equipment guide, and our complete Halo Infinite weapons list. Also, make sure to check out our guide on how to play the Halo Infinite beta for info on how you can participate in the tests yourself in the future. Hopefully, these beta tests help 343 Industries shape Halo Infinite into one of the best Xbox games ever.