343 Industries released a new video today that details the in-universe development of Halo Infinite’s Grappleshot ability. The video is presented as though it comes from the UNSC archives, and it chronicles an unnamed civilian engineer’s work on Project Magnes: development of a “prototype for rapid mass manipulation of heavy objects.”
The live-action video uses a mix of cinematic footage and web-cam-style video logs to show the engineer’s repeated trials and living conditions while working in her lab. The video spends a surprising amount of time humanizing this scientist as she struggles with multiple failed trials; it shows her growing her own food, exercising, and even video chatting with her daughter. The audio from one of these conversations plays over her first successful trial at the very end of the video.
This isn’t the first time 343 Industries has used powerful, in-universe media to market their titles; Hunt the Truth, an audio drama, released weekly episodes leading up to the release of Halo 5: Guardians and offered fans a compelling narrative that unfortunately didn’t tie into the game’s story at all.
In Halo Infinite, the Grappleshot allows Spartans to pull themselves rapidly toward heavy objects or pick up lighter ones from a distance. Players got the chance to use the Grappleshot for the first time during Halo Infinite’s combat flights, and it was received positively by the community for its wide range of creative applications.
Gamers won’t have to wait much longer to experience the Grappleshot fully, as Halo Infinite releases on December 8th, 2021 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via both the Microsoft Store and Steam.
