Halo co-creator and former Bungie developer Marcus Lehto played an instrumental role in developing the franchise’s look and feel. And he’s not impressed by what Halo Studios did to the original game’s iconic ring world in the recently released remake, Halo: Campaign Evolved, calling it “ugly” in a series of critical social media posts.
Last month, Xbox released Halo: Campaign Evolved on PS5, Xbox, and PC. This Unreal Engine 5-powered remake of the original sci-fi shooter looks damn impressive in some parts, but is also a bit too realistic for its own good, and makes some drastic changes to the look of Halo. One of the most controversial tweaks involves the game’s famous ring, Halo itself, which looks very different in the remake. Fans didn’t like this at all, and it turns out Lehto, who was the art director on the first three Halo games, agrees that Halo Studios didn’t nail the ring in the remake.
On August 12, Lehto posted on Twitter about how the ring looks in the new remake compared to the old, original design seen in 2001’s Halo: Combat Evolved. And according to him, the new design is too “shiny” and looks like it was recently created, and not like it’s been sitting in space throughout “hundreds of millennia of conflict.”
While Forerunner tech was metal (not stone) it was also ancient, vast, alive, and a tomb to the horrors that lurked within. It had seen hundreds of millennia of conflict. Yet the game shows it as shiny metal that looks like it was built a few years ago. pic.twitter.com/omp8Pwp76p
— Marcus Lehto (@game_fabricator) August 13, 2026
“The main menu ring is the most offensive thing we see every time we boot up the game,” said Lehto in a follow-up tweet. “It should feel massive, dark, mysterious, sinister, but also full of wonder. This new ring looks like a shiny new toy – out of scale, no mystery, damn ugly.”
In a follow-up reply, Lehto echoed the complaints of many fans (and myself) about the newly redesigned Halo ring seen in the remake, saying that its “biggest issue” involves its lack of scale.
“It lacks all the micro detail that should give it the epic scale it deserves,” said Lehto. “Lastly, it needs to feel like an ancient tomb.”
On the flip side, Lehto had more positive things to say about Halo: Campaign Evolved’s enemy designs, agreeing with a fan’s reply that Halo Studios nailed the look of Flood and Covenant forces in the remake. “Totally agree. Covenant and Flood aesthetics felt wonderful throughout,” posted Lehto.
I’ll admit that every time I’ve booted up Halo: Campaign Evolved to play it again since the review, I cringe just a bit at how bad that ring looks on the main menu. While I think the remake does a solid job when it comes to enemy and weapon designs, I hope the ring and environment art in Halo 2‘s remake (which seems to be happening) are tweaked to feel a bit more classic and mysterious.