QS stands for “Quickshot”, a series of short form review/preview/opinion articles.
If you’d asked someone twenty years ago if they’d ever be able to play a Halo game on their PlayStation, that person probably would have laughed in your face. And yet, as of a few months ago, here we are.
Halo: Campaign Evolved is a full remake of the original Halo experience, recreated for the modern era. So, logically, it’s just as good of a product as the original Xbox release was, right? Maybe even better?
Well, it’s complicated.
I won’t try to be coy here, and I’ll address the elephant in the room straight-up. The use of the word ‘campaign‘ in the title of this game is a very important distinction, because this game is only the campaign of the original Halo. The multiplayer mode that defined the future of multiplayer shooter video games for the rest of time? It’s not here. You can play the entire campaign with friends (up to four, and it’s even drop-in-drop-out, which is awesome)…but it’s hard not to feel like the package on offer here is a bit half-baked without Halo‘s famous competitive multiplayer modes included.
Granted, to make up for this, the game is a bit cheaper than your typical next-gen gaming experience. Also, three brand-new full-length levels are included as a sort of bonus mini-campaign, which adds to the value of this experience. There is also a remix mode which lets you re-play levels but with a ton of randomized changes, like different weapons, different enemies, and other silly little modifiers. There are also unlockable lore terminals scattered around the levels that flesh out a bit more backstory and such, many of which tie into Halo 2.
So while I think the missing multiplayer mode is not something to be ignored, it’s not like there isn’t still a pretty hefty package here.
It’s also worth nothing that this is, indeed, a remake, and not a remaster. Those words tend to get thrown around a lot a bit interchangeably, but there is a difference. A remaster is when you take an older game and make it look prettier and run better, but it’s fundamentally the same experience. A remake is when you, well, re-make a game from the ground up. It’ll usually be very similar to how it was originally, but alongside usually looking significantly better (more than a simple remaster), it will also usually play a bit differently, as well as include noticeable differences, changes, and additions.
Halo: Campaign Evolved is no exception here.
For starters, the entire game has been re-dubbed and re-written, with a majority of the actors reprising their roles. A lot of the new script serves to better align this game with the games that followed, in the ways that the original creator’s wouldn’t have known about back when they made the first Halo. For example, Cortana is a bit more expressive, just like she is in Halo 2 and onward. The new dialogue also helps flesh out the story, lore, and worldbuilding in a way that feels a bit more engaging than the original script, with multiple cutscenes being made longer and more dynamic to account for additional storytelling beats.
Some levels have also had design changes too. One less hallway here, a brand-new enemy ambush over there, a few more vehicles placed here, an ammo box moved from over there…you get the gist. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s enough that the changes can be felt. Combined with the graphical overhaul, a few new weapons, a revamped power-up system, and a few new movement options (like a sprint button), the missions really do feel pretty new even if, on a literal level, they aren’t changed too much.
And yet…that’s both a good and bad thing, and I can’t really hold it against this remake too much, when the burden really lies with the original game.
Halo‘s campaign was legendary when it first came out, but it genuinely doesn’t hold up that much. There are only ten missions, three of them are repeats of earlier missions but played backwards and one of them is a repetitive slog. That leaves six missions that are at least ‘good‘, and honestly only about three or so of those six are ‘exceptional‘. It’s a campaign that doesn’t suck by any means, but it really struggles to rise much higher than being ‘decent enough‘. Those levels that are good are really good, but they are fleeting when taken as a whole start-to-finish journey.
It’s for that reason that I do struggle to recommend this game to people that don’t have nostalgia for the original. In my honest opinion, Halo‘s campaign is the weakest out of the main entries in the series, and certainly nowhere near as good as Halo 2‘s is. There’s fun to be had here, and I imagine it’s loads more exciting if you’re playing through the campaign with buddies by your side. For the single-player experience (which is what I had), it was a bit hard to push through by the final two or so levels.
Hey, at least that final Warthog run through the exploding ship is still excellent, and guaranteed to induce goosebumps. And that section actually got revamped a ton in this remake, making it simultaneously less annoying and also more exciting! Cool!
Also, I’d like to shout-out how great the three new bonus missions are. They take place in environments that are completely different from any found in the main story’s campaign, which really helps to curb my complaints about the campaign’s lackluster design. You fight across giant bridges, inside of a huge amphitheater, on a moving train, and there’s even a section where you pilot a ship out in space (it really reminded me of the original Battlefront 2). Plus, the bonus missions are filled with new weapons and even a new enemy type, and they also have a bit of a story focus I wasn’t expecting, which kept me hooked.
And as a really nerdy aside, the bonus missions end with a tease for Halo 2, and it includes a five-second snippet of the villain’s leitmotif from Halo 2, a motif I’ve been obsessed with ever since I heard it all those years ago. That part really appealed to me, specifically!
To reiterate, this is not a bad game. It’s very well made, and it’s more fun than not fun. It has its blemishes (mostly on the shoulders of the original game being remade here), but there’s a lot to love in the experience as well. If you’ve never played a Halo game in your life and have only passing interest in the franchise, maybe it’s not for you. If you’re a shooter fan who cares about the campaign and missions more than anything else, it’s a 50/50 toss-up.
However, if you’re itching to relive the glory days of Halo, I’d say this is still worth a pick-up!
7.5/10
The Contrarian Corner 