Sometimes, to look forward, you need to examine your roots. Following 2021’s Halo Infinite, Halo Studios (previously 343 Industries) is doing just that with Halo: Campaign Evolved, a full modern remake of one of the most beloved and influential games of the 21st century. Halo: Campaign Evolved takes the original Master Chief adventure and fully remakes it in Unreal Engine 5. Cinematics have been completely redone, voice acting re-recorded with the original principal cast, and the combat is snappier than ever before.
For the first time ever, Halo is also coming to PlayStation, complete with crossplay and cross-progression. Additionally, two-player splitscreen co-op remains intact, while four players can attack the story missions together – another first for this trailblazing title.
On top of the remade original story, players can expect three new missions, which center on Master Chief and fan-favorite Sgt. Johnson prior to the events of the original Halo story. “It was really key for us to maintain the original story as it is, to not insert sort of a new story in there,” creative director Max Szlagor says. “[These new missions] actually take place in a fairly short timeline in a way that the lore works. So, finding a good place in the lore to tell this story with Chief and Johnson, it’s going to have new story, new gameplay, weapons, enemies, environments. Also, a lot of cool, new stuff there.”
I didn’t get to see the new missions, but I played through the iconic Silent Cartographer mission, where Master Chief must find an ancient Forerunner installation that holds the key to unlocking the map of the Halo. It’s perhaps the greatest Halo campaign level of all time, and a sight to behold in Unreal Engine 5. The stage begins with a silent shot over water. Just as three Pelican dropships come into the shot, the Halo theme kicks in, giving me goosebumps; that well-executed needle drop continues as the scene progresses into the ensuing gunfight. It’s an effective tease of what to expect from the rest of my gameplay session. And for those difficulty-loving players, Halo: Campaign Evolved will have the most game-modifying Skulls of any game in franchise history.
In 2001, Halo: Combat Evolved showcased that you can have excellent shooter experiences on consoles and helped establish the then-nascent Xbox brand as a major player in the industry. But things have changed. Xbox is no longer the new kid on the block, and Halo: Combat Evolved is no longer the revolutionary game that set the industry ablaze in 2001. The team recognized that and did to the campaign what the name invokes: evolve.
The studio, which got its start through the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary remaster in 2011, is intimately familiar with the first entry in the series and was cautious about changing too much. “As we’re rebuilding the campaign, we’re making sure that we stay true to the tone, the atmosphere, and the emotional impact of the original that made the game so iconic and so special,” executive producer Damon Conn says. “There’s an opportunity to modernize where it makes sense, but we’re not modernizing for modernization’s sake. Everything we do, we think about the impact on Halo and make sure that it fits.”
This is most evident in the visuals, as the water glistens and flows in a realistic manner, but everything from the textures and lighting to the character models and enemy AI is improved. The gameplay also features the right modernizations, as the left trigger allows you to aim down the sights of any weapon, plus you can sprint with a click of the stick. Finally, Halo Studios brought other improvements from subsequent games, like eight weapons not present in the original Halo, and the ability to pick up dropped Energy Swords, hijack vehicles, and drive Wraith tanks. To account for the new four-player co-op play, a fourth seat was added on the Warthog, so a full crew can cruise together.
Though I didn’t get to see it in action, Halo Studios also teases that once you get to the part of the story where The Flood arrives, the horror atmosphere is hammered home in ways never experienced in the franchise, leveraging the upgraded tech. I saw some environmental teases to that effect in a video shown by the developers, and I can’t wait to learn more.
From my limited time playing on Xbox Series X, the campaign is accomplishing the task of bringing forward a modern version of the title responsible for putting Xbox on the map. However, it is worth noting that this is exactly what the title says: the campaign. The competitive multiplayer suite, for which the Halo franchise is arguably most known, is not a part of this package.
Last week, rumors circulated about the franchise’s use of AI in development after insider Rebs Gaming posted on YouTube, citing sources who told him the studio was using the tools in a variety of ways. Though Rebs Gaming did not have specifics about the use of the AI in development, rumors intensified when the series’ art director, Glenn Israel, left Halo Studios after 17 years, saying that he would share more on his decision when it was safe to do so, alluding to wanting to preserve his health, dignity, ethics, and values.
“I want to be very clear: I know that article hit,” Conn starts. “Humans, people are creative. People make games. AI can improve workflows, it can do things for the game, but I want to be very specific and clear that the people are the ones who are creating the game, and if there’s an opportunity to improve a workflow or something along those lines, we’ll look at it. Again, it should be additive to the creation of a game. I think that’s the best way to look at that.”
Halo: Combat Evolved was a formative game for me when I first played it in high school, and it, along with Rare’s GoldenEye 007, molded my love for first-person shooters. I don’t know how impactful Halo’s original campaign from 25 years ago can realistically be in the modern gaming landscape, but for those, like me, who have replayed it several times, or those on PlayStation who have never played it, Halo: Campaign Evolved is an enticing proposition.
Halo: Campaign Evolved comes to Xbox and PC