Halo Infinite’s special samurai-themed Armor Core, Yoroi, received a swarm of backlash when it launched during the Fracture: Tenrai event. With another five months to go before the next season of Halo Infinite Multiplayer, its Armor Core may have just been leaked, showing off a brutish, industrialized Spartan.
Since Halo 3, Spartan customization has been a major component of the franchise’s multiplayer experience. After struggling to find an art style that sat well with most fans, 343 Industries has seemingly nailed the look of Spartans in Halo Infinite. Through events called Fractures, 343 Industries can introduce more outlandish and noncanon armor sets, first seen in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and then in Halo Infinite with the Yoroi Armor Core in Fracture: Tenrai. The event’s launch didn’t go quite to plan, with fans complaining about the limited customization and progression options, though 343 Industries has since implemented changes for the event’s future appearances.
Halo Infinite’s next Armor Core may be called Iron Eagle with a design that is heavily dieselpunk-inspired. This information comes from reputable Halo Infinite leaker and dataminer, HaloNoticiasMX over on Twitter, who in two tweets reveals the full Iron Eagle body and the helmets players can look forward to obtaining. For those who may be unfamiliar with the term dieselpunk, it describes a style that uses attributes of the diesel-based technology from the early-middle 20th Century with more modern representations of technology like robots and vehicles. The Iron Eagle Armor Core, then, is not very flashy, looking like every component was hand-welded and is being held together by bolts, tubes, and diesel.
While the helmets currently don’t have any names, they help provide a better idea of what the Iron Eagle Armor Core is aiming for. As many in the comments are pointing out, the first helmet shown here is very reminiscent of Fallout’s Power Armor (also of dieselpunk inspiration) with its super slender visor and lower breathing appartuses. Similarly, the next helmet conjures images of the Rocketeer with its two distinct eye slots and the finn-like middle piece that extends up through the middle. The final two helmets strongly tap into World War inspirations of dieselpunk, the first looking like a MJOLNIR version of a WWI infantry helmet, while the other evokes images of a welder’s guard.
Coming off of the Yoroi Armor Core, the Iron Eagle presents an exciting and quite distinct aesthetic from that samurai-themed armor. Like how Fracture: Tenrai suggests what samurai would look like if they were Spartans, whatever this Fracture is ultimately called, asks a similar question, of what would Spartans look like if the technology was a bit more crude. Seeing that 343 Industries brought a litany of other historically-themed armor sets to Halo: The Master Chief Collection, it only makes sense that the studio would start venturing into more fictious inspirations like dieselpunk. As long as these items are earnable, 343 Industries may have a winner on its hands.
Halo Infinite is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
