Halo: Campaign Evolved's Forerunner art style makes sense than some are willing to admit

Halo: Campaign Evolved seems to be underperforming, which is bad news for anyone hoping for a sequel.

A remake of Halo 2 could still be on the cards, but don’t bet on it coming to the PlayStation 5, considering Asha Sharma is keen to bring back Xbox’s exclusives.

Halo: Campaign Evolved has been given a lot of praise, but it’s also received a lot of flak. The graphics in particular have acted like Marmite, with fans either loving the updated visuals or despising them.

We’re in the former camp. Halo: Campaign Evolved looks gorgeous. When we think back to playing Halo: Combat Evolved for the first time, our rose-tinted glasses let us see stunning vistas, mysterious foreign structures, and copious amounts of alien fluid. This remake feels like that imaginary picture brought to life.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, though, but we’d be remiss not to argue against those saying Halo: Campaign Evolved ruined the iconic Forerunner architecture, especially when you remember who’s pulling the strings on Alpha Halo...

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Alpha Halo is ancient, but that doesn’t mean it should be decrepit

Some Halo players have taken issue with how clean the Forerunner buildings look. They’re a nice, shiny silver with more glowing blue lights than the original game, but the damage is nowhere near as severe as the LED nightmare that was Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. If you want to call that a bad remaster, feel free.

The lack of rust and decay even after thousands of years can make sense, though, when you remember how busy 343 Guilty Spark has been.

Guilty Spark is obviously one of the primary antagonists of the game, though his actions aren’t inherently evil. He’s just following his protocols to keep the galaxy free from The Flood.

Alpha Halo’s steadfast monitor had been in operation on Alpha Halo for over 100,000 years, and in that time his programming slowly turned to full-on mania.

Xbox Game Studios

He becomes obsessed with the Halo ring, even going so far as to say “this Ring is mine” during your final encounter with him in Halo 3.

In that time, it’d make sense for him to develop some robotic form of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder for its maintenance. He and his Sentinels keep the ring world operational in case it ever needs to be fired, but his cult-like obsession would probably urge him to keep it looking fresh and presentable too.

That’s not to say he’s been flying around Alpha Halo with a mop and broom for thousands of years, but he’s obviously passionate about keeping his world in good condition.

Whether Halo Studios actually considered this whilst giving Halo: Campaign Evolved its squeaky-clean aesthetic is the million-dollar question, but we’re choosing to believe it did.

A lot of the criticism for Halo: Campaign Evolved is fair. Some fixes for bugs are still sorely needed, the prequel missions left a lot to be desired, and the lack of an online multiplayer component is rather strange.

However, at its core, we’ll stand by our opinion that it’s a great remake, and obviously, if Halo 2 gets a similar form of treatment, Halo Studios can apply what they learned here for a better product.

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