It’s been 25 years since Master Chief first landed on the original Xbox in Halo: Combat Evolved. Back then, we had no idea how big this franchise would become, but Halo quickly turned into one of the most important shooters ever made. A lot of games tried to chase that same sci-fi magic in the years that followed, and while some came close, very few ever managed to capture that true Halo feeling. That also makes Halo: Campaign Evolved a pretty dangerous remake. We all know the franchise hasn’t had the easiest years lately, but the original trilogy remains one of the strongest runs in gaming. Remaking the game that started it all comes with a lot of pressure. Stay too close to the original and people will wonder why this remake exists; change too much, and you risk losing the thing that made Halo so special in the first place. Halo Studios decided to go all in and rebuilt the campaign from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5. That sounds exciting, but also a little terrifying if you grew up with the original. Is Master Chief finally back where he belongs, or should some legends stay untouched? Let’s go back to where it all began.
The Covenant ships have always been faster
Right from the start, you’ll see that Halo: Campaign Evolved is a very faithful remake, following the exact same story as the original game. If you haven’t played it before, and I’m guessing that will be the case for a lot of PlayStation 5 gamers, the story still remains strong and starts with a bang. You’re on board of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, a ship carrying Marines, the iconic Spartan ‘Master Chief’ and the powerful AI Cortana, who should be protected at all costs. Chasing the Pillar of Autumn are the Covenant, alien scum who hunt down all remaining humans, bringing the human race to the verge of extinction. As Master Chief, you’re tasked to save a couple of Marines, take Cortana with you, and crash-land on a nearby Halo structure while the Covenant destroy the mighty Pillar of Autumn.
The opening hour is still extremely over the top, but that’s just how Halo plays. It’s a sci-fi shooter where iconic and even emotional cutscenes go hand in hand with stupid one-liners and countless ways of taking down hordes of enemies. From a gameplay perspective, it’s pretty clear to see that this is a more classic game. No skill trees, no needlessly big open world or branching story arcs. Just Master Chief, Cortana, alien scum, and dozens of guns. It’s an experience that might feel a bit arcade-like by today’s standards, but I still appreciate this no-bullshit approach a lot. Halo is about having fun, so I’m glad Halo Studios didn’t mess with the foundations too much. Sure, some missions were given some extra rooms or different layouts, but let’s be honest, those were needed 25 years ago too. Halo Studios clearly understands what made this game so iconic and left those moments to shine as bright as possible while smoothing out the rougher segments of the original. The end result is a game that’s entertaining from start to finish.
New look, same violence
That being said, the most noticeable change is, of course, the use of Unreal Engine 5. In many ways, this feels like a test case for the franchise to see if Halo has a future in this engine, and judging from what I played, I would say it certainly has. In its best moments, Campaign Evolved comes surprisingly close to realism, especially when the light hits the surface just right. The enemies, the guns, the environments- none of them ever looked this good before, but they still look like Halo. That’s important, because making something prettier is easy. Making it prettier without losing the original feeling is a lot harder. For the fans, it might be worth noting that this doesn’t feel like Halo Studios simply slapped a shiny Unreal Engine layer on top of an old game. The remake clearly uses a lot of familiar Halo DNA and more modern assets to bring this world back to life, while Unreal Engine 5 handles the visual spectacle. The result looks familiar, but way more gorgeous than anything that came before. It still has those massive alien structures, colorful Covenant troops, and clean sci-fi corridors, only now there’s a lot more detail, depth, and atmosphere in every corner.
It’s not perfect yet though. It’s still Unreal Engine, so some hiccups are expected. Especially in the darker parts, you’ll notice the film grain and some scenes can look a little too noisy for their own good. A couple of cutscenes also suffered from frame rate drops or small buffering issues during my playthrough. Most of my problems were with those cutscenes. For the most part, they look impressive, but sometimes they appear a bit abruptly, and their performance is all over the place compared to the actual gameplay. Is it game-breaking? Certainly not. The campaign itself still plays very well, and during most combat encounters, the new look only makes Halo more impressive. But it is worth pointing out, since the new engine is one of the main selling points of this remake. Halo: Campaign Evolved looks fantastic, but you can still see a few rough edges behind all that shiny armour.
No traditional multiplayer?
When Combat Evolved was first released, its multiplayer really took the world by storm and became the blueprint for what a good console multiplayer shooter could be. In this remake, there are no traditional multiplayer modes or maps available, which might sound like a weird decision at first. But as the name Campaign Evolved already gives away, this remake wants to focus on the campaign itself, and you don’t have to play it solo if you don’t want to. For the first time, you can play the entire campaign with up to four players in online co-op. Even though this isn’t the return of traditional Halo multiplayer, those co-op sessions really are one of the game’s biggest selling points. One of my fondest Halo memories is clearing the entire campaign with my best friend on Legendary mode. The fact that we can now replay the game where it all started in a much smoother co-op experience almost feels like a dream come true. Like in the other Halo games, co-op works as smoothly as you would expect, and it adds a lot of replay value to the campaign.
That replayability is where this remake really shines. Sure, I could deduct points for not having proper multiplayer options, but why would I do that when the game is clearly marketed as a remake of the original campaign? Instead, I like to focus on what’s actually here, and while co-op already adds a lot of value, Halo Studios also added a lot of Skulls to keep things fresh. One of those Skulls enables you to play the game in third-person, while others can limit your HUD or change the way you experience the campaign, giving you more options to play this game the way you want. Finding those Skulls isn’t always easy either, and the team really tried to give veteran players a run for their money. I really loved that. Collecting and discovering all of those game-altering Skulls is a great addition for sure. If you’re used to the more modern Halo games, this remake also introduces sprinting and aiming down sights, which weren’t available in the original. Don’t worry though; you can change almost everything in the settings to create the kind of Halo experience you want.
We are going to blow the hell out of those dumb bugs
Besides the remade campaign, Halo Studios also added three brand-new missions in the form of Operation: METEORITE. These take place before the events of Combat Evolved and focus on Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson during a separate UNSC operation. I won’t go too deep into the story here, since this is the only truly new campaign content in the remake, but it’s safe to say that these missions feel like a nice little bonus for fans who already know the original game inside out. What I liked most is the dynamic between Chief and Johnson. It almost feels like an over-the-top bromance at times, with Johnson being Johnson and Chief suddenly throwing out a couple more one-liners than I’m used to. Is that completely in line with the silent killing machine I remember from the original game? Maybe not always, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. The missions have that action-movie energy where two legendary soldiers just keep walking into impossible situations and somehow make it out alive.
The best part for me were the space fights. Halo always had iconic vehicles, but taking the fight outside and giving the remake a couple of big sci-fi moments like this really helps Operation: METEORITE feel different from the rest of the campaign. It doesn’t replace the classic missions, and it doesn’t need to. It’s just a fun extra chapter that gives Johnson more time to shine, adds some new spectacle and gives returning players something they haven’t played a dozen times before. If you’re here only for a perfectly preserved version of Combat Evolved, these new missions might feel like a small detour. For me, they were a welcome one. They don’t break the timeline, they don’t try to rewrite the original and they understand that sometimes Halo just needs Chief, Johnson, a ridiculous amount of enemies, and a good excuse to blow things up.
Conclusion:
Halo: Campaign Evolved does exactly what I hoped it would do. It brings back the original campaign without messing with the foundations too much, while making the classic moments look and play better than ever. Some cutscenes are a bit rough, and the lack of traditional multiplayer will hurt for some fans, but as a campaign remake, this really delivers. The co-op, Skulls, and new Operation: METEORITE missions give returning players a good reason to come back, while newcomers finally get a modern way to experience where Halo started.