At the risk of being too personal off the bat, I cannot overstate how much Halo means to me. Halo was one of the first ‘adult’ games I played. Playing through the Halo 2 campaign was a major bonding experience for me and my older cousin. I have the series’ logo tattooed on my body. And my wife even mentioned Halo during her wedding vows.
I love Halo. Even when I don’t love the gameplay, or the story, or how certain characters are portrayed, I still love Halo. Wort, Wort, Worts and all.
But as any die-hard Halo fan will tell you, it’s been a rocky couple of years, and though we can find a glimmer of hope in even the darkest Old Mombasa tunnels, we’ve learned not to get too excited when a new project gets announced. That said, I’ve already fallen hook, line, and sinker for the newly announced Halo: Campaign Evolved, and it’s 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 holds up today. It may be almost 25 years old now, but I strongly believe almost anyone can hop into Halo: Combat Evolved and have a good time with it. Yes, its visuals are ‘dated’, but I think the controls still feel intuitive, the shooting mechanics still feel satisfying, and the campaign still tells an engaging Sci-Fi story.
If you had asked me a few months ago if I thought we needed a Halo: Combat Evolved remake – especially one that only remakes the campaign portion of the 2001 classic – I would have replied with a definitive “no.” But now that Halo: Campaign Evolved has been announced, I can’t help but feel excited.
Here’s a brief breakdown of what Halo: Campaign Evolved is changing and adding to the original 2001 game:
- The entire campaign is being remade from the ground-up in Unreal Engine 5
- 4K visuals
- Updated animations
- Remastered soundtrack
- Re-recorded voice lines
- Three all-new prequel missions featuring the Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson
- Nine weapons from future Halo entries that weren’t available in the original
- Can now hijack vehicles
- Can now pilot the Wraith
- 4-player online co-op with crossplay and cross-progression
- Ability to sprint
- Ability to aim down 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 of Halo: Campaign Evolved, and its prequel missions sound incredibly intriguing. But what’s caught my eye is how Halo: Campaign Evolved is approaching the parts of the 2001 original that even die-hard fans have a difficult time defending. More specifically, it’s a comment that Halo Studios has made regarding the mission ‘The Library’ that has me (cautiously) optimistic about this remake.
I Love How Halo: Campaign Evolved Is Changing The Original
The Library Is Getting Some Changes, And I Couldn’t Be Happier
To accompany Halo: Campaign Evolved‘s announcement at the Halo World Championship, Xbox Wire’s Danielle Partis posted a feature breaking down the remake’s new additions, which included a few comments from some of the lead developers working on the game. One comment I found particularly interesting came from Halo: Campaign Evolved‘s Creative Director, Max Szlagor, who said this:
“In The Library specifically, which features several Flood encounters, we wanted to reevaluate the pacing and enhance the environmental storytelling. We’ve added new lines to Guilty Spark, which guide players through the level, and there’s new dialogue that gives more insight into the narrative as it plays out.”
For those unfamiliar, The Library is one of the most divisive levels in Halo: Combat Evolved. It essentially sees players following 343 Guilty Spark through a labyrinthine network of metallic corridors while fighting off seemingly endless waves of The Flood. The mission goes on for way too long, it’s far too difficult on Heroic and Legendary thanks to rocket-happy Flood, and it grinds the entire campaign to a halt when it should be picking up speed towards its climactic finale.
With that in mind, Szlagor’s comment may not sound all that significant at first, with it suggesting that the team is just adding some new voice lines for Guilty Spark during the controversial mission. But this one comment has completely changed my perspective on the need for a Halo remake.
The Library is not an inherently awful mission. Its atmosphere is tense and engaging, and The Flood can be fun to fight. The core issue is that it goes on too long. And the main reason behind its excruciating length is that Guilty Spark has a habit of wandering off on his own, leaving even Halo veterans shaking their heads in confusion at where they’re meant to go. Something as simple as adding in new voice lines that help guide players could be all The Library needs to finally thrive.
Halo Studios Seems To Be Walking a Very Thin Line Well
When remaking a mission as divisive as The Library, it’d 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, some core parts of the original’s identity are likely to be lost.
Halo Studios isn’t doing that. It isn’t changing the layout of The Library or the enemies we’ll face there. It’s simply adding new lines of dialogue to help guide newcomers and Halo vets alike. As Szlagor puts it in Partis’ Xbox Wire interview, “We’re not changing the stories, it’s about refining and adding context to this moment, and other levels like it, so players can stay on track.” This small addition seems to be the ideal example of modernizing Halo‘s campaign without losing any of its core essence.
Of course, this is just one of Halo: Combat Evolved‘s 10 missions. But if this slight tweak is indicative 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 Xbox Wire’s interview that really seals the deal for me. Halo: Campaign Evolved‘s Executive Producer Damon Conn says, “We’re not trying to rewrite Halo’s legacy – we’re trying to immerse you in it like never before…This is Halo for everyone.”
It’s a near-impossible task for Halo: Campaign Evolved to balance both fan expectations and the expectations of modern shooter audiences who are new to the franchise. But these comments at least show that Halo Studios seems to be on the right track.
