Tim is the CEO and co-founder of Publisher Collective, Project N, and Network N Media, and as such was also PCGamesN’s very first Editor.
Published:
Verdict
A faithful and comprehensive remake that brings a stone-cold classic into the modern world. But that is all.
A grenade here, an assault rifle there, a rueful smile as a grunt pirouettes across the eyeline. Halo still has it. When a remake is as faithful and as careful as Campaign Evolved, it’s hard to dislike. There is, was, and forever will be a great FPS game at the heart of Halo. But… I’m not sure you should bother playing or buying it. That’s coming from someone who adores these games.
Let’s talk about the good. This is a superb-looking game. It doesn’t just look like Halo. It’s an absurdly faithful reimagining of a 25-year-old game. It is shiny in all the right ways; it boasts gorgeous reflections, stunning models, bright, if slightly static, lighting, and crispy responsiveness. The best thing I can say about it is that it looks like how you remember Halo – after your mind and nostalgia fill in the blanks.
It is an extremely authentic remake, too, following exactly the same story level path. Master Chief and a group of weirdly enthusiastic (and mostly Australian) marines crash-land on an interstellar ring. All hell breaks loose, in a very entertaining way.
All the mechanics, movement, weapon feel, running speed, and vehicle handling have been transferred across to new technology flawlessly. The Magnum is a beast. The Warthog is a joy on four wheels. Enemy AI is still surprising decades later; able and willing to flank. Halo’s original subtitle: Combat Evolved, is appropriate. This is a game about fighting with guns. Nothing comes between you and the feel of carving through a platoon of enemies, as your shields and ammo gradually deplete.
Where changes have been made, they’ve been made with care. A smattering of weapons and mechanics from the later games have been added; an SMG here, the ability to jump and hijack enemy vehicles there – some weapons now have a small zoom for lining up shots. I think they were necessary. Halo 1 is a slight and tight game. The occasional novelty of pinching an SMG from your teammates or lining up a headshot with the Assault Rifle feels like a natural and welcome extension, not addition.
This is Halo. And Halo is fundamentally good.
But also: this is Halo, and Halo is old.
Playing through Campaign Evolved, I started to fidget. Why wasn’t I enjoying it as much as I hoped? Why was I feeling so frustrated? Every death would be an exercise in irritation. Every encounter with a pair of Hunters would produce a sigh.
I’ve played Halo so many times, on so many devices. This time around I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Why am I playing this again?” I don’t think it would be possible to do a better job remastering this campaign, but I don’t think it has aged well.
Firstly: in the early stages of the game, there just isn’t enough variety in the encounters you face. My memories of Halo tend to settle around the wide open outdoor areas, where improvisation and the wildcard of vehicles lead to spectacular chaos. But Halo isn’t really that game. The vast majority of time, this is a corridor shooter. Bigger corridors, great shooting. But a lot of corridors.
You can see that play out in some of the bonus missions that are packaged alongside the main campaign. Even the addition of some enemies from later games can’t disguise that maybe we’ve wrung everything we can from the original Halo design.
Secondly: there is just some degraded game design. Hunters: the big, armoured, hulking beasts that show up in pairs, just aren’t that fun to fight. Not on their own, not in groups with other enemies, and certainly not in groups of four or more. The escalation in difficulty, too, is an issue. On Normal difficulty, this game is just on the side of too easy. Heroic, as a solo player, is outright frustrating.
And lastly: there is magic missing if you can’t play this on a sofa or next to your friend, side by side. Logically, I can understand and forgive the technical limitations that led to the omission of split-screen co-op on PC. But emotionally: I would love to sit with my friends and family, on a big screen, enjoying this together. Less forgivable is the complete lack of competitive multiplayer. Paying full price for a fundamentally smaller and less social experience feels awry.
I have played this game a lot. Across two generations, in fact. The first go, at university, with friends, over a long weekend. The second, at home, with my daughter, sat on a sofa, as she could barely hold the controller. These are great memories. Memories I cherish. But maybe it’s the memories and associations I have with it that carry more meaning than the game itself. Maybe it’s time to move on.