The reviews are in, and Halo: Campaign Evolved has scored significantly lower than the original game that kickstarted the entire Halo franchise. Halo: Combat Evolved changed the course of the FPS genre forever, but Halo: Campaign Evolved hasn’t been able to make the same kind of splash. Even though critics have had plenty of positive things to say about the remake, the new version of Halo‘s debut entry is a big reminder that the franchise has been so influential simply because it was at the right pace at the right time.
I need to be clear and say that the Halo: Campaign Evolved reviews are far from bad. At the time of writing this article, the official MetaCritic score is 81. That’s still a score worth celebrating, but it still is a long way from Combat Evolved‘s stellar 97 MetaCritic average. Despite this remake being a visual powerhouse, the 16-point disparity highlights how much the industry has changed and how much more impressive Combat Evolved was when it originally launched.
Halo: Combat Evolved Redefined the First-Person Shooter, but Campaign Evolved Doesn’t Move the Needle In the Same Way
Before the first Halo game came along, first-person shooters were nowhere close to what they are known as today. Staple features like controls and enemy AI were in their infancy, but Halo: Combat Evolved changed everything. Playing Halo: Combat Evolved for the first time felt like stepping into the future. Now, nearly every great FPS game that has come out since then has Xbox’s flagship title to thank for revolutionizing the genre’s gameplay mechanics.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
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Halo: Combat Evolved was one of the first major games to demonstrate how much the 21st century would change how games are experienced. As the franchise continued to grow and evolve throughout the 2000s, Halo gave rise to massive marketing campaigns, inspired online series like Red vs. Blue, and Master Chief became one of the most recognizable video game characters in pop culture. Halo‘s heyday was a major turning point for the entire industry, and Combat Evolved‘s influential mechanics were what kickstarted such a strong run.
Halo: Combat Evolved Key Features That Helped Shape Future First-Person Shooters
- DUAL-ANALOG CONTROLS for aiming and shooting
- REGENERATIVE SHIELDS made it a more accessible game that allowed risk.
- SMOOTH TRANSITIONS BETWEEN GUNFIGHTS, adding gameplay depth.
- LARGE, OPEN MAP DESIGNS balanced out the more standard corridor-style levels, like Pillar of Autumn.
- LIFELIKE ENEMY AI that made encounters with the Covenant more immersive.
- TWO EQUIPPED WEAPONS added an extra layer of strategy.
These controls may not sound like anything special now, but Bungie’s approach to mechanics completely changed how gamers viewed first-person shooters. It raised the bar in more ways than one and set expectations for any future game that wanted to be part of the genre. The Halo franchise may not be what it once was, but its debut changed the course of gaming and solidified the Xbox as a console worth paying attention to. Combat Evolved is still one of the best Halo games around, and while the Campaign Evolved remake brings it to a new audience, the importance of the original game’s mechanics can’t be felt the same way.
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Image via Halo Studios -
Image via Halo Studios -
Image via Halo Studios
Campaign Evolved on PS5 (and even Xbox Series X/S) probably marks the first time that a lot of gamers will be playing the game that started it all. After 25 years of first-person shooters, Campaign Evolved is likely to just feel like any other game in the genre. The magic isn’t the same, and that’s a big reason why the original game and the remake have vastly different review scores.
Halo: Campaign Evolved Is a Reminder That Not Every Game Benefits From a Remake
The topic of video game remakes can ignite debate, mostly because a lot of longtime fans see them as unnecessary. That isn’t always the case, though. Projects like the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake and Star Fox on the Switch 2 can introduce a classic title to a new generation of gamers. It also makes sense that Xbox would want to bring the first Halo game back into the spotlight on the eve of the console’s 25th anniversary. However, this remake may not be as necessary as some others that have been released in recent years.
A quote from GamesRadar’s review really stuck out to me, saying, “insignificant changes and superfluous bonus missions make me wonder why anyone other than PS5 players should care.” The reason Halo Studios even created this remake in the first place was to practice making a new Halo game in Unreal Engine 5, so it’s at least interesting to see what the future of the franchise might look like. The majority of the reviews are either positive or mixed, and even a lot of the good ones mention that it doesn’t feel like a game-changing remake.
The Reason Other Recent Remakes Have Fared Better Than Halo: Campaign Evolved
One of the main reasons is because they improved upon games that simply felt more outdated than Combat Evolved. Granted, there are plenty of tweaks and improvements that make Campaign Evolved feel more modern, like sprinting, but the reviews are making it sound like it isn’t any kind of significant overhaul. The main difference is in the graphics, but that’s a given when it’s remade in Unreal Engine 5. Even after 25 years, the original Combat Evolved still feels like a really strong FPS.
Playing Halo: Combat Evolved for the first time felt like stepping into the future.
For example, the Assassin’s Creed Black Flag remake that just came out gave the game a major combat overhaul and expanded exploration. The new missions have been divisive, but the original and remake’s MetaCritic reviews are just a few points apart, with the former being an 88 average, and the latter having a score of 84. Even though Black Flag came out 12 years after Combat Evolved, Ubisoft’s remake does more to try and improve the gameplay. Combat Evolved doesn’t necessarily need that kind of improvement.
I’m eager to check out Campaign Evolved, but as someone who has years of fond memories of playing Combat Evolved on the OG Xbox, I’m also not surprised that a lot of reviews have mentioned that this remake doesn’t really feel like it’s pushing the envelope in any major way. Halo: Combat Evolved launched in an era that was in need of a genre-defining newcomer, and that’s incredibly hard to replicate.
- Released
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July 28, 2026
- Developer(s)
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Halo Studios
- Publisher(s)
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Microsoft Studios
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
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Yes – all platforms
