Video Game Progression Systems

I just started playing Halo Infinite with my buddy. We had been playing Call of Duty since Modern Warfare came out two years ago. We played that for about 1.5 years and then switched to COD Vanguard (skipped Cold War). We like Call of Duty a lot, as well as Halo. For our generation, Halo 3 and COD Modern Warfare 2 were the peak of our gaming lives. For the demographic male aged 25-30, these are the two most common titles to the superlative: “Game you have put the most hours into.”

My buddy and I play once a week, sometimes twice. We’re currently trying to decide between continuing with COD or switching to Halo full time. When you play this infrequently (and yes, unfortunately this is considered infrequent) you need to focus your time on one game, to maximize your skill. You don’t want to jump on the sticks and get your ass kicked all the time; you want to get decent at the game. So I’ve been contrasting these two games and their progression systems. Halo Infinite, at the time of this post, has one of the most rudimentary progression systems I’ve seen in the last 10 years of gaming. It’s honestly pathetic. There’s one form of XP, the XP unlocks barely anything, and you earn said XP slow as molasses. There is an option for a “battle pass,” but this basically just adds another minimal item unlock upon completion of every level. COD, on the other hand, has a progression system for your overall level, each gun, each sight reticle, each operator, different camo sets for different game modes, etc. The progression system in COD is so complicated that you spend more time determining what you have unlocked and planning your next series of tasks then actually playing the game.

What I’ve realized is: this is by design. Much like many modern web platforms/games, COD has honed in on the human dopamine system through trial and error. COD has had so many iterations as a franchise that they are starting to figure out what is addictive, not fun. Much like Facebook and mobile games, Call of Duty is scratching the itch of repetition. It’s a routine. And I’m not trying to say this is immoral or unethical. It’s natural. This is what humans crave and they are just matching their game to what the data suggests. The problem is this: I spent 1.5 years worth of weekly sessions trying to unlock Damascus camo in COD Modern Warfare. Why? Because it was the cheese at the end of the maze. And I had a good time, grinding away. But what do I have to show for it? A stupid cosmetic on my guns in a game that nobody outside of a select few in my life give two shits about. Not to mention, every introvert, sweaty gamer had this cosmetic three weeks after the game came out two years ago, because they play 12 hours a day.

So why do I say I had a “good time” grinding for this pointless achievement? It’s because of the moments. The crazy, funny, lucky moments where I screamed into my headset. Or my buddy’s moments, that he yelled about. Or the cooperative moments, where our minds linked in a key situation and we achieved a victory through communication. And this folks, is why I’m switching back to Halo. Halo doesn’t do grinding. When you play Halo, the only achievement is winning, tactics and teamwork. And these priorities leave you with more moments. There’s no reason to optimize your progression and detract from the most important aspects of gaming when there is no progression to speak of.

I’m sure Halo will add more content as the game matures and create a more complex progression system. They will do this because it makes them more money (people pay to progress faster in these games, if you didn’t already know). But I just want to be on the record now to say: I hope they don’t. I hope the progression stays shitty, just like it was back in 2007.