Halo: Campaign Evolved female NPC controversy may have a simple explanation after all

Halo Campaign Evolved players claim that female NPCs are unkillable in the remake, unlike their male counterparts. However, amidst the outrage, there appears to be a very rational explanation.

Last week, the highly anticipated remake of Halo: Combat Evolved arrived for early access buyers and this week for the rest. It’s a very solid remake built from the ground up using Unreal Engine 5. It has improved gameplay, visuals, map adjustments, cut-scenes, and even new prequel missions.

While the very faithful remake might not be everyone’s cup of tea, Halo: Campaign Evolved is a great way to experience an enhanced version of the beloved 2001 classic for both new and returning Halo fans alike.

Female NPCs are invincible in the Halo remake, apparently

This week, various gameplay clips have been making the social media rounds that show female NPCs as unkillable machines. This footage does exist because the gameplay clips show rounds of bullets being blasted into female NPCs, mostly showcased in the opening mission, ‘The Pillar of Autumn’ on the Halcyon-class light cruiser spaceship.

Yet, when male NPCs are being shot, they get killed, as you would expect with all NPCs. Understandably, the various examples of gameplay footage showing how male NPCs can be killed and female NPCs can’t, have raised some questions, but there could be a simple and rational explanation.

Following the clips of the unkillable female NPCs, more players started putting it to the test, and it turns out, female NPCs can be killed, just like the males, as shown in this clip from Pirate Nation.

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What’s going on with the female and male NPCs in the Halo remake?

At this time, while developers Halo Studios haven't addressed this issue publicly, as mentioned by Geeks and Gamers, the two most likely reasons are that it’s a bug or there’s an issue with NPC hit boxes.

I wasn't aware of this apparent bug until last night, but that was after a meaty 12GB patch was installed on my Xbox Series X version of Halo: Campaign Evolved.

However, after the update, I booted up ‘The Pillar of Autumn’ and I was able to kill both female and male NPCs, to the outrage of the Marines. So I can’t comment first-hand if this patch fixed the issue, but it’s a possibility. Sadly, there’s no patch to nerf the insufferable attitude of Lieutenant Williams.

We scored Halo: Campaign Evolved an “Exceptional” 9/10

“If this is the standard going forward, Halo might well and truly be back, and I’m already hungry for a remake of Halo 2 next,” said GAMINGbible’s Sam in his review.

“The main game was exceptional, and the Remix mode adds so much replay value for both single-player and multiplayer playthroughs. It was only the prequel missions that I found to be a tad disappointing, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say they were bad or unenjoyable.

I just wish they were a little bit more. In many ways, I still think it’s a shame that we had to go all the way back to the beginning to get a truly excellent Halo game, but Halo: Campaign Evolved does give me hope for the future of this franchise.”

Halo: Campaign Evolved is out now on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.