Halo Infinite loses its beloved Pelican hijack glitch, angering fans

By: Michael Korgs | 05.05.2022, 18:25

343 Industries has removed a fan favorite glitch in Halo Infinite, which finally let players freely drive the giant Pelican transports around the map. Fans are furious .

Shortly after the game’s release in late 2013, fans found that they could take over the Pelican , which is normally driven by a main story NPC, and make their own gadgets with it. This glitch required no mods, and seemed more like an abandoned feature accidentally left in the game.

When players call in a vehicle at one of the game’s many forward operating bases, and the Pelican comes to drop it off, players can hoist themselves onto the Pelican’s roof, and hold the vehicle button to get inside. The Pelican will remain empty if they stop playing and start again. With the exception of the turret, the Pelican can be driven all across the map as a normal flying vehicle.

But as of Halo Infinite‘s most recent update, the glitch is gone. And a Reddit post this week that specifically calls out the removal of this glitch has over 10,000 upvotes and 700 comments at the time of this writing.

“They patched it,” wrote Reddit user u/Sim0x24. The campaign has ended the Pelican’s use as a pilot for whatever reason. Driving vehicles like the Pelican or the Phantom was my childhood dream since Halo CE, and except Reach and Halo 4, you’ll never pilot it. 343, I’m not even mad, just … why?”

Frustrated commenters in the body of the post echoed their sentiment. And while there are some legitimate reasons 343 may have solved this issue — perhaps it’s an intended feature for a new content update, the glitch is tied to a far more serious bug, or it was an accident — it does hurt to see this go.

Lifelong Halo fans (myself included) have had a weird obsession with the Pelican since early on in the series. I personally remember scouring magazines ahead of Halo 3‘s release, hoping an interview would mention the ability to pilot one. And with Halo Infinite‘s massive open world, this was the game where players who’ve waited years could finally live their true Pelican pilot life. But not anymore.

Hopefully the Pelican will return to Halo Infinite‘s campaign someday, maybe with a functional turret and the ability to acquire it without glitching. Fans are sad today that the beloved and accidental toy was taken from them.