Halo: Campaign Evolved Preview: A Modern Great Journey

Halo: Campaign Evolved aims to capture the same lightning in a bottle Bungie did nearly 24 years ago, but is this the way to do it?

As a Halo fan I’ll hold my hands up and say I haven’t been thrilled with the direction the series has been heading as of late, and when I heard Halo Studios was going back to Halo: Combat Evolved for a remake I was cautiously optimistic.

After going hands-on with the game I was pleasantly surprised but there’s something about it that’s just not sitting right with me

Halo: Campaign Evolved is indeed a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved but with “modern” improvements. My hands-on demo covered around half of The Silent Cartographer and began aboard a Pelican landing on the beach. A pre-rendered cutscene played of Master Chief valiantly stood at the rear of the ship, observing the battlefield before finally jumping into some gameplay

Armed with an Assault Rifle and the fan-favourite Magnum sidearm I went to work as I pushed back Covenant forces, in a near 1:1 recreation of a mission I’ve played a thousand times.

It was actually quite eerie how similar it felt to the OG Silent Cartographer, as Halo: Campaign Evolved was reportedly built from the ground-up in Unreal Engine 5.

Halo: Campaign Evolved

“You Look Nice…”

Now to address the elephant in the room. Yes, sprinting has been added, in addition to weapon zooming from Halo: Infinite. That’s it though, there was no sliding, clambering or armour abilities like the grappling hook to speak of, just sprinting and zooming. I know that’ll still be a deal-breaker for some Halo fans out there but in all honesty they’re not as obtuse as you’d think. I hardly used sprint as normal walking speed felt fast enough and as for zooming I just instinctively zoomed with weapons that’d benefit from them, like the Magnum.

Visually I think the game is stunning. A golden beach, mossy cliff faces and even some wildlife made up the island’s eco-system and looking out at the horizon at the other side of the Halo ring is still as magical today as it was back then. However while The Silent Cartographer's island is an iconic vista from the Halo series I was more impressed with the Forerunner structures.

Unlike Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary the design philosophy of the Forerunner buildings has been honoured. Exteriors are minimalistic, shiny and foreboding. Their smooth, metallic textures helped make the Halo ring feel unnatural, as it should be because the entire world is artificial. In the Anniversary edition of Halo: Combat Evolved Forerunner architecture felt a bit too grandiose. They had patterns and LEDs slapped all over them making what was supposed to be equal parts claustrophobic as it was atmospheric look like a sci-fi mess.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is more in-line with Bungie’s original vision as the interiors of The Silent Cartographer are cold, dark and almost clinical.

I think visually the game is looking great, and so far it’s struck a good balance between the realism of Unreal Engine 5 and the more cartoony elements of the OG game, such as the Covenant designs.

Halo: Campaign Evolved

“Were You Not Blinded By Its Majesty?”

However while Halo: Campaign Evolved looks the part I think it’s lacking soul. While the pre-rendered cutscenes are very cinematic and look excellent, comparable to those found in Halo 2: Anniversary, I think something’s lost by not having them in-engine.

As an example during The Silent Cartographer a gold elite seals a door Master Chief needs to get through to finish his mission, prompting a quick trip to the other side of the island to unlock it. In Halo: Combat Evolved a real-time cutscene plays of the door opening and the elite running through looking confused but ready for a fight. In Halo: Campaign Evolved a pre-rendered cutscene plays of the door opening to a dark room, before the elite ignites its energy sword, expelling the darkness and snarling as things revert back to gameplay.

It’s very cinematic, I'll give it that, but is it really better? Halo: Campaign Evolved’s presentation is on point but a game can’t just look nice, it needs depth and substance. It’s what made Halo: Combat Evolved such a banger as while modern games can run circles around it in graphical terms very few first-person shooters have succeeded in terms of game feel. Whether it was grenade hopping to areas you shouldn’t or taking a Warthog out to sea, players could find their own way to play the game but when I tried these same tricks in my demo the grenade hardly moved me, and an invisible wall slammed me to a halt only a few feet into the water.

I’m going to give it the benefit of doubt for now as what I played is an in-progress build though I am concerned the full game won’t feel much different. There should be a soul in this machine and I haven’t found it just yet.

Halo: Campaign Evolved

“Halo, It's Finished"... "No, I Think We’re Just Getting Started”

On paper Halo: Campaign Evolved is ticking all the boxes if you want to play an updated version of Bungie’s first Halo game. It’s also bringing the series to PlayStation gamers for the very first time which is definitely one for the history books.

The full release promises more weapons, vehicles and even some brand-new prequel story missions and I would have liked to see some of that in the demo I played as it might have quelled some of my concerns about the game.

Personally, I’m torn between wanting a faithful remake of Halo: Combat Evolved and what Halo Studios would consider the best version of Halo: Combat Evolved, and for now I can’t tell which one I played. Halo: Campaign Evolved feels like it plays the same notes as Bungie’s first Halo game but not the same music, but I need to hear the full song before I judge it too harshly.

Halo Studios has had a rough time ever since it took over the Halo series, and I think the biggest mistake was trying to continue Bungie’s story with all of the new ideas the development team had for the series. I thought Halo 4 was pretty good, with the Prometheans and The Didact being interesting additions to the lore but perhaps they would have been better received if the series had been rebooted after Halo 3/Halo: Reach.

Halo: Campaign Evolved feels like a golden opportunity for Halo Studios to start fresh and give us its own take on the Halo series, and I hope it seizes that opportunity with the full game.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is coming next year for Xbox Series X/S, PC and PlayStation 5, and I can’t wait to see what fans both new and old have to say about it.