Alright, so I finally got around to playing Halo Infinite, and man, was I rusty! I’ve been a console gamer my whole life, so switching to keyboard and mouse for an FPS felt like learning to walk again. I figured I’d jot down my experience and the key bindings I ended up using, in case anyone else is making the same leap.
Getting Started – Ouch, My Fingers!
First things first, I hopped into the tutorial. Good thing, too, because even moving around felt weird. I’m so used to analog sticks! I spent a good ten minutes just running around, bumping into walls, and generally looking like a total noob.
Default Controls – A Good Starting Point
The default controls in Halo Infinite aren’t terrible, actually. Here’s how it looks:
- W, A, S, D: Your basic movement. W is forward, S is backward, A is left, and D is right. This part felt familiar, at least, from other PC games I’ve dabbled in.
- Spacebar: Jump. Pretty standard. Took a bit to get used to hitting it with my thumb instead of my index finger like on a controller, though.
- Left Shift: Sprint. My pinky got a serious workout!
- Left Ctrl: Crouch. Again, pinky power! I kept accidentally hitting Caps Lock at first, which was… not helpful.
- Mouse Movement: Aiming. This was the biggest adjustment. So much more sensitive than a joystick! I felt like I was all over the place.
- Left Mouse Button: Shoot. Click, click, boom! (Or, more often, click, click, miss wildly).
- Right Mouse Button: Zoom/Aim Down Sights (ADS). Felt pretty natural, actually.
- Mouse Wheel: scroll it up and down, I can change my primary and secondary weapons.
- Middle Mouse Button: I tried many times to make sure press it down I can mark the point on my screen.
- E: Use equipment. This one took some getting used to. My fingers wanted to go for a different button.
- Q:Grenade. This felt really awkward at first. I kept fumbling it.
- R: Reload. No problem there, pretty standard.
- G: Drop weapon. Not the letter I would use, but after adjusting myself. I keep using it without any problems.
- F: Melee. I kept punching the air when I meant to shoot. Good times.
- Tab: Open the scoreboard, so I can know how badly I was playing with the other players.
Tweaks I Made (And Why)
After a few rounds of getting my butt kicked, I decided to make some changes:
- Grenade to Mouse Button 4: I have a mouse with extra buttons on the side, so I mapped grenade to one of those. Much easier to access in a panic.
- Melee to Mouse Button 5: Same reason as above. Keeps my fingers from getting tangled.
- Crouch to C: I found myself crouching accidentally a lot with Ctrl, so I moved it to C. Less accidental crouching, more tactical sliding.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Even with the tweaks, it took a lot of practice. I spent a bunch of time in the Academy mode, just running drills and getting used to the feel of aiming with a mouse. I also played a ton of Bot Bootcamp matches to get my reflexes up to speed without getting completely demolished by real players.
Still Learning!
I’m definitely not a keyboard and mouse pro yet, but I’m getting there. It’s still a challenge, but it’s also been surprisingly fun to learn a new way to play. My aim is still shaky, and I still have moments where I feel like I have ten thumbs, but I’m slowly but surely improving. If you’re thinking of making the switch, my advice is to be patient, don’t be afraid to experiment with the controls, and practice, practice, practice!
