The Halo Series has some of the most iconic weapons in the FPS genre, and fans haven’t been shy about pointing out that quite a few of those were missing fromHalo Infiniteat launch. If your favorite weapon is the Spartan Laser, the classic pump-action shotgun, or the Covenant Carbine, you may have been left feeling a little empty while perusing the arsenal. But now that Infinite is seemingly backon track with Season 3, it’s finally reintroduced one of the series’ most-loved weapons: the DMR.
Now called the M392 Bandit, this “new” rifle is very similar to the semiautomatic that was first introduced in 2010’sHalo: Reach. The DMR came back inHalo 4andHalo 5: Guardians, and many Spartans were sad to see it missing from Halo Infinite, then overjoyed by its return. The version in Infinite isn’texactlyhow you remember, though, since it’s lacking the long-range scope.
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In past games, the DMR was notable for being able to out-range most other weapons. Sure, asniper could still take you outfrom much further away than you could challenge them, but the DMR still had a precision scope and pinpoint accuracy that outdid most other weapons in those games. In Halo: Reach, the absence of another reliable rifle allowed the DMR to completely dominate the field of battle from a reasonable distance. The rifle that was missing from that game, of course, was the series’ legendary three-round-burst dealing machine, the Battle Rifle.
WhyBungiedecided exclude the Battle Rifle in Reach isn’t entirely clear, but being forced to settle for the DMR instead of the BR was certainly divisive for the fanbase. The BR was easily the most reliable weapon inHalo 2andHalo 3, especially in the game’s competitive multiplayer, but many fans embraced the DMR for its classy, single-shot action, even if reticle bloom made the weapon a bit unpredictable at times.
When343 Industriestook over the Halo series with Halo 4, it opted to include both weapons. I distinctly remember the community getting excited over the prospect of the old wolves who mostly played Halo 2 and Halo 3 getting to pit their BR skills against the young bucks who only really knew Reach’s DMR. Halo 4 was the first (and only) game in the series to include customizable loadouts, so it was up to the player to decide which gun to use. But it quickly became clear which of the two was superior in that game.
The BR has always been known for its four-shot kill. That’s four bursts to be clear, so 12 total bullets. The DMR, on the other hand, has always needed five. Still, for some reason, when Halo 4 launched, 343 made both weapons five-shot killers, and since the DMR had a faster rate-of-fire overall, it wasn’t long before most players opted for it, and the Battle Rifle was left behind. 343 eventually corrected this balance in a patch and made the BR a four-shot machine again, but by then it was largely accepted that the DMR had won Halo 4.
Halo 5: Guardians found a better balance between the two right from the get-go. The BR was more forgiving of its user’s ability to aim, due to the wider cone of shots you got from the burst, while the DMR was more surgically precise, especially at long range. Both versions suffered a bit due to the ADS mechanics of Halo 5, but the balance was there — until 343 needlessly rebalanced the sandbox and the ultimate winner of the game was (drumroll, please…) the magnum. It sadly ended up that Halo 5’s little pistol was more effective than either of the iconic rifles, and Halo 5 ended on a bit of a low note for rifle fans.
After their missteps, it was imperative for 343 to get these rifles right in Halo Infinite, and the developers seemed well-aware of that fact. Any time they were asked if Infinite would have the extremely-popular Battle Royale mode, 343 was known for saying that the only BR they were concerned with was the Battle Rifle.
And they wholly succeeded with it. Halo Infinite’s Battle Rifle is easily the best incarnation of the weapon since the original one in Halo 2. It handles like an absolute dream, and 343 successfully reimplemented the classic scope and four-shot kill players loved about early versions of the gun. Its TTK (Time-To-Kill) feels great — not too fast, and not too slow. It’s punchy, it sounds beefy, and it’s the weapon I want in my hands nearly all the time in multiplayer.
With that little History of Spartan Firearms 101 lesson complete, how does the BR compare with the new Bandit DMR? Now that the prodigal son has returned, is the Battle Rifle poised to be left behind, as it was in Halo 4? Or is this variant of the BR just plain too good to be outdone? The answer, it turns out, is a little of both.
The Bandit still has the five-shot kill of past iterations of the weapon, but it lacks the scope, and therefore the range of its predecessors. It has some reticle bloom, but not nearly as much as the Reach version, so its shots hit reliably at mid-range. It’s minimum TTK is blazing fastifyou have the skill to get a perfect, but the Bandit is also an unforgivable weapon if you don’t have the headshot abilities of John Wick. Most players haven’t yet acquired those skills with the Bandit, but they have been honing their capabilities with the BR for a while now.
When put up against the Battle Rifle directly, the Bandit doestechnicallyhave the faster TTK, so it will likely be picked up over the Battle Rifle by high-level players and pros. But the average Infinite player is likely to struggle with the less-forgiving DMR, especially when they’ve been using the BR for the last year and a half. Since the Battle Rifle is more reliable at close and medium ranges, and more functional at long range due to the scope, it’s currently the better choice for the majority of Spartans.
But after 343 lovingly crafted one of the best variants of the Battle Rifle we’ve ever had, who can really be surprised?
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