When Microsoft unveiled last year that Halo: Campaign Evolved would arrive as “a faithful yet updated remake of Halo: Combat Evolved’s campaign,” I scoffed at the claim. It felt impossible for it to be true. The project runs on Unreal Engine 5, only a small portion of the original staff is now at what’s become Halo Studios, and the team took the bold step of changing the controls. I didn’t hold back—my stance was crystal clear. I even pointed to illustrations from the people who created the original game, back when Bungie was still a young studio chasing big dreams. And it wasn’t just my reaction; the showrunners behind the series seemed to share the worry. Talk about being proven right!
Still, I hadn’t actually played it. I watched the first reveal trailer and went through plenty of coverage, yet I remained unconvinced. Then I followed the lead of one of Master Chief’s other founders, Marcus Lehto, who has been paying close attention to what Halo Studios has built from day one—and, honestly, I probably should have trusted his instincts more. Halo: Campaign Evolved turned out to be pure fun. After a short hands-on session ahead of its big showcase during Microsoft’s Sunday event, I tore through the two available levels in only a few hours. After that, I loaded the demo once more—this time on Legendary. Halo is back.
First, let’s address the main worry I’ve seen raised by cautious Halo veterans: Unreal Engine 5. I get it—yes, it can look a bit flashy, and that familiar gloss associated with Lumen and Nanite (the rendering and lighting tools behind UE5’s signature style) has become a common problem as Epic’s tech spreads across the industry. Even so, what Microsoft’s team has pulled off using Epic’s stack is genuinely impressive. The animations feel smooth, the lighting is gentle, and the softly illuminated corridors inside the iconic Halo spaces look incredible. In fact, it may be among the most striking-looking titles I’ve played on the Series X.
What makes it even better is that it matches the way I remember it. Of course, it doesn’t—at least not literally. Even the (fairly) freshly remastered version of Combat Evolved included in The Master Chief Collection can feel dated next to this. But missions like “The Silent Cartographer” and “Assault on the Control Room” (the two we were able to play in the demo) are permanently etched in my head—the beachhead routes and canyon breaks I absorbed during countless evenings from my childhood. So there’s a real sense of déjà vu as I revisit them, even though I’m not sitting in front of a sixth-generation console anymore. I’m playing on ninth-gen hardware.
I don’t think the screenshots or trailers do the game justice; the only real way to understand it is to see it happening in motion.
The audio design also stays true to Bungie’s original work. It even preserves the ridiculous—and genuinely funny—lines the Elites and Grunts deliver whenever you die, the ones that somehow always run just a little too long, like the developers are quietly enjoying the moment. Covenant weapons carry a distinctly spacey character, while UNSC guns feel weighty, and the nonstop plasma and rocket blasts echo through the surroundings in a way that feels naturally supported by the environment—so well, in fact, that you barely notice how excellent it is until you stop and think about it.
Even the AI, which I’m assuming has been rebuilt from the ground up because of the move to a new engine, is at its best in all the delightful weirdness. I honestly laughed out loud at least three times when, after I cleared a room or squared off against two hunters using nothing but my trusted magnum, a Grunt would suddenly materialize out of nowhere, shout something along the lines of “if I go, I’ll take you with me!”, and then completely catch me off guard with a suicide double-plasma leap. I went down, my ragdoll body tossed without ceremony into some shadowy corner, and the checkpoint kicked me back. Isn’t that exactly the kind of chaos you expect from Halo? I also died more than once from firing a rocket too close to my own face (classic), and from taking at least one solid hit from a hunter after I had cleanly dealt with its partner. These are, genuinely, the same kinds of moments I remember from 2001, and 2004, and 2007—well, and really, whenever a Halo game has launched.
At first, I agreed with that take, but after playing the game, I can see Halo Studios’ intent. I think these changes were designed to improve the overall fun. Maybe that doesn’t match the original version perfectly—but you can always return to the first game. If we’re remaking something, and the geometry and layout need a few tweaks because new programmers are working with new
engine, we cannot foresee the same gating and decision-making around finer details like this. There are notable differences in Campaign Evolved versus the original—reload times are quicker, health packs are missing, yet both shields and health now recover, and there’s more to it…
damage—and it delivers a feel that’s closer to playing something along the lines of Reach or Halo 3.
In this installment, you’re able to control a Wraith. That wasn’t available in Halo: CE. Still, its placement, along with the way you can use it to clear a path and push through defensive positions on your way to the Cartographer feels as though it has always been part of the core experience. Swapping out a particular Elite and using his energy sword to remove the rest of his squad feels like something we’ve been offered as an option for years—because it’s the sort of approach the series has trained us to expect. Of course, in the original Halo, you could never pick up that energy sword. Likewise, you can aim down sights with the Needler and assault rifle (which still feels a touch strange), and – just as importantly – you can sprint!
Some traditionalists may hesitate at this, but I honestly welcome it. A lot of these changes are simply better, and they bring the game more in line with what people expect today. I want the option to sprint in my FPS titles; I don’t want to stop and admire the surroundings unless it’s truly necessary! (That said, purists, there are plenty of skulls here, so you can likely guide yourself back toward a more classic Halo feel if you’d like—including a setting to turn sprint off, for the masochists).
Overall, there are a few adjustments I’m not fond of: the voice performances come off as far too upbeat, and while Halo has always had a lighter tone, this feels a bit out of step. There are also presentation changes, such as ground markers that steer you toward where you should go. In my view, these are pretty friendly to the lore, but I can’t help feeling that they reflect today’s developers’ reluctance to let players roam and discover on their own—and that strikes me as excessive. The spaces are broader than before, which can feel odd at times, but I expect that’s because Campaign Evolved is built to handle four-player co-op, whereas the original only supported two.
At least from my first impressions, Halo Studios has managed something remarkable—and genuinely unexpected. It’s captured the soul of Halo while improving it. It has refreshed the first game by pulling in all the strongest pieces from the next six. Microsoft’s stated goal was to “create a modern entry point into the Halo franchise for new players,” and I think Campaign Evolved delivers on that front. But it has also reignited my excitement for a franchise that shaped my outlook when I was a teenager, pushing me to reconsider what I valued about the original trilogy: the way you plan during fights, the quick, on-the-spot judgments that make you feel capable and imposing, and the sheer joy that comes from engaging with a playful sandbox in the most entertaining way possible. I don’t think the spirit of Halo survives in Campaign Evolved as-is; I believe it’s been restored. And I’m very much looking forward to seeing what this studio tackles next.