Halo: Campaign Evolved – The Final Preview

It took me a while to figure out exactly what makes Halo: Campaign Evolved feel… off. It sounds right – the Covenant enemies yell familiar phrases alongside the Halo's iconic gunfire. It plays great. The two levels I played during my demo are fun and appropriately challenging on higher difficulties. But the look? After getting through The Silent Cartographer, I decided that as it stands, the Halo: Campaign Evolved visual style isn't my favorite. Outdoor environments are gorgous, but it took me some hands-on time to figure out what made the rest of the game look a tad odd. It won't stop me from playing this remake – especially since we're getting three new prequel chapters – but I can't help but hope developer Halo Studios continues refining the details of the new style before this remake's July 28 launch.

My hands-on look at Halo: Campaign Evolved included The Silent Cartographer (which IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey got to play last Fall) plus the mission that follows, Assault on the Control Room. Skulls were available in the preview build, as were all difficulties. I played on Heroic and Legendary on Xbox Series X.

I had a hard time explaining just what was bothering me about the look of Campaign Evolved until I noticed something unusually helpful: small waypoints that flag when a weapon is on the ground. That addition seems necessary as fallen corpses and the weapons they held almost blend together in Forerunner structures, especially if the light is low indoors. This many sound like a strange criticism to have, but from the missions I played, this game is too dang shiny. Metallic armor, metallic weapons, metallic floors… they may have color variations, but they lose their visual luster when all together. A crow would go mad with all the reflective surfaces.

In Assault on the Control Room, where Master Chief is often in Forerunner structures, this was especially evident. It didn't appear as a place in decay or lacking power; just poorly lit. That compounded when charging a plasma pistol. The bright green beam flares the screen a bit, and rather than looking awesomely alien when holding it at full charge, it was distracting. I found that to be the case outside in the dark, snowy chasms before the control room as well, though the outdoor areas look fantastic otherwise. If you compare the new style to the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary edition, it is clear that these areas have less lighting, but not to the point where it plays as though you're nearly in the dark.

I did adjust the lighting settings with the recommendations of on-screen prompts before playing and used the in-game flashlight in dark areas. I have a nice big LG OLED too, so I don't believe my setup is the problem. Dragging the contrast setting down a few notches and swapping from the default performance mode to quality mode helped. That being said, performance mode does play significantly better in the build I had, so I spent a few minutes trying to find a better balance for the odd lighting.

I’m writing about what seems like a rather minor grievance at length because if this doesn't get tweaked much, those of us who prefer our Halo runs on the higher difficulties are in for an annoying time, visually speaking, in some of the more challenging spots. Sometimes a few fully charged plasma pistol shots are the difference between making it to the next checkpoint. The contrast and brightness tweaks don't change the brightness bursts that come from plasma weapons or other explosions. This isn't to say that these bright flashes don't look good in certain settings either; the balance just seems off. I simply expect more from one of Xbox's premiere first-party series. If you're shaking your head reading this, I'll say I didn't notice this was a problem in trailers and gameplay online, only when I got my hands on a controller and leaned in to play on solo Legendary. Maybe you'll feel similarly.

This all being said, it's Halo. And specifically, a chance for fans to relive the campaign that made us all fans in the first place as it nears its 25th anniversary – and also the first (and possibly last, based on the new Xbox leadership team’s refocus on exclusive) for PlayStation owners to get their hands on Halo. Sure, there have been some audio tweaks (Hunters sound different and the Assault Rifle has been noticeably punched up), and I'm sure there are more changes to find with the final release, but the core of the game is still fantastic.

The campaign remix mode was available in the demo and is a fun addition. The Adaptation, Armistice, and Reload Skulls are always on in the mode. These make it so other enemies appear in places they wouldn't normally, enemies won't attack each other, and "pre-placed weapons" are randomized. You can add on visual modifiers (like the above Skull that allows you to play in third-person) and any number of discovered Skulls on top of the three required to play. Press the right thumbstick to let the game choose Skulls for your next run out of whatever you've unlocked. Campaign Evolved has a total of 42 Skulls, so I imagine we'll get to see some neat and challenging runs.

If Halo Studios can get this lighting weirdness shifted this is all going to be once again a blast to play. And if not? Well, it's still one of the best Halo games…minus the multiplayer, anyway.

Miranda Sanchez is the executive editor of guides at IGN and a member of Unlocked. She plays new Halo games on solo Legendary for her first run before running a co-op campaign with friends. You can sometimes find her on Bluesky and Instagram.