The latest Halo Infinite dev diary is all about weird vehicle sound effects

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That is a very large tractor

Developer 343 Industries enlisted the help of some unlikely machines while recording the raw audio for vehicle sound effects in Halo Infinite, as the studio's latest developer diary shows.

Vehicles are the star of the first episode of 343's new Making Halo Infinite series, which will seemingly offer behind-the-scenes looks at the game's bones in the months to come. The first episode is all about things that go vroom, but Halo Infinite's vehicles use sounds taken from plenty more than mere cars. 

By strapping microphones to anything with a steering wheel, 343 captured the sounds of everything from roll cage box cars to old-school muscle cars. Beyond that, we've got some weirder machinery, like a tractor which was apparently built in 1918, and which I initially thought was some sort of combine harvester. 

We've also got a helicopter, a fighter jet, and, actually, I'm still not over that tractor thing. What the hell is 343 going to use those sounds for? I'm genuinely curious. I get that not every audio sample will make it into the game, but what could possibly require the timbre of a 20th century tractor? Then again, this is the game that used the snarfing of a pug named Gyoza to help build its alien sounds, so I guess all bets are off. 

While we wait for the next installment in Making Halo Infinite, check out 343's deep-dive on Halo as a whole - its journey with the franchise, its goals for Halo Infinite, and what comes next. Failing that, you can always check out the most recent batch of concept art. 

Halo Infinite will be free on Xbox Series X if you buy it on Xbox One.  

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.