At the risk of getting too personal, I cannot overstate how much Halo means to me Halo was one of the first adult games I played. Playing through Hello 2 The campaign was a great bonding experience for me and my older cousin. I have the series logo tattooed on my body. And my wife even mentioned it Halo during her wedding vows.
i love Halo. Even if I don't like the gameplay, the story, or how certain characters are portrayed, I still love it Halo. Wort, wort, wort and everything.
But like any stubborn Halo fan will tell you it's been a rocky few years, and while we can find a glimmer of hope even in the darkest tunnels of old Mombasa, we've learned not to get too excited when a new project is announced. This means that I have already fallen hook, line and sinker for the newly announced Halo: Campaign Evolvedand all because of just one change.
I didn't want a Halo Remake, but now you have my attention
i still think Halo: Combat Evolved today it holds. It may be almost 25 years old, but I firmly believe that almost anyone can jump on the bandwagon Halo: Combat Evolved and have fun doing it. Yes, its visuals are “old”, but I think the controls are still intuitive, the shooting mechanics are still satisfying, and the campaign still tells a compelling sci-fi story.
If you had asked me a few months ago if I thought we needed Halo: Combat Evolved a remake – especially one that merely remakes the campaign part of the 2001 classic – I'd say a definite no. But now that Halo: Campaign Evolved has been announced, I can't help but feel excited.
Here's a quick rundown of what Halo: Campaign Evolved changes and adds to the original 2001 game:
- The entire campaign has been redone from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5
- 4K picture
- Updated animations
- Remastered soundtrack
- Re-recorded voice lines
- Three all-new prequel missions featuring Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson
- Nine weapons from the future Halo records that were not available in the original
- Can now hijack vehicles
- You can now pilot Wraiths
- Online co-op for 4 players with crossplay and cross-progression
- Sprint ability
- Ability to target sights
Of course, another major departure from franchise tradition is that Halo: Campaign Evolved will also be available on PlayStation 5.
The Unreal Engine 5 makeover is obviously the biggest draw Halo: Campaign Evolvedand his prequel missions sound incredibly interesting. But what intrigued me is how Halo: Campaign Evolved parts of the original from 2001 are coming, which even die-hard fans have a hard time defending. More specifically, it's the comment Halo Studios made about the 'Library' mission that has me (cautiously) optimistic about this remake.
I love how Halo: Campaign Evolved changes the original
The library is going through some changes and I couldn't be happier
Accompany Halo: Campaign EvolvedXbox Wire's Danielle Partis published a feature on the Halo World Championship breaking down the remake's new additions, which included some commentary from some of the core developers working on the game. One comment that particularly caught my eye comes from Halo: Campaign EvolvedThe company's creative director, Max Szlagor, had this to say:
“In the library specifically, which contains several Flood encounters, we wanted to rethink the pacing and improve the environmental narrative. In Guilty Spark, we've added new lines to guide the player through the level, and there's new dialogue that gives better insight into the narrative as it unfolds.”
For those unfamiliar, the Library is one of the most divisive levels Halo: Combat Evolved. Essentially, it sees players follow 343 Guilty Sparks through a labyrinthine network of metal corridors while battling seemingly endless waves of The Flood. The mission takes too long, it's too difficult on Heroic and Legendary due to the rocketing Flood, and it stalls the entire campaign when it should be picking up speed towards its climactic finale.
With that in mind, Szlagor's comment might not sound all that significant at first, as it suggests that the team is adding some new voice lines for Guilty Spark during the controversial mission. But this one comment completely changed my perspective on the need for a Halo remake.
The library isn't an inherently terrible mission. Its atmosphere is tense and engaging, and fighting The Flood can be fun. The main problem is that it takes too long. And the main reason for its excruciating length is that Guilty Spark has a habit of wandering off on its own and leaving Halo the veterans shake their heads in confusion as to where to go. Something as simple as adding new voice lines to help guide players could be all the Library needs to finally flourish.
Halo Studios seems to walk a very fine line well
When you're remaking a mission as divisive as The Library, it would be all too easy for a developer to look at it and decide to drastically change key elements of the mission for the sake of modernization, and in the process, likely lose some core parts of the original's identity.
Halo Studios doesn't do that. It doesn't change the layout of the Library or the enemies we'll face there. It's simply the addition of new lines of dialogue to help guide newcomers and Halo vets alike. As Szlagor says in an interview with Partis for Xbox Wire, “We're not changing the stories, it's about fine-tuning and adding context to this moment and other levels like that, so players can stay on track.” This little addition seems like an ideal example of modernization Halocampaign without losing any of its core essence.
Of course, this is just one of the Halo: Combat Evolved10 missions. But if this minor tweak is any indication of how Halo Studios is approaching the entire campaign, then I'm personally very optimistic about the final product. And there's one final comment in the Xbox Wire interview that really seals the deal for me. Halo: Campaign EvolvedSays executive producer Damon Conn: “We're not trying to rewrite the Halo legacy – we're trying to immerse you in it like never before…This is Halo for everyone.”
It's an almost impossible task Halo: Campaign Evolved balance the expectations of fans and those of modern shooter viewers who are new to the franchise. But at least these comments show that Halo Studios seems to be on the right track.
