Halo: Campaign Evolved, out now for those who paid for “early access,” is a flawed remake of the original Halo. While I love how it plays, some of the game’s visual changes left me cold. Halo: Campaign Evolved‘s water, however, is amazing, and I can’t stop taking screenshots of it while playing around. It’s some of the best-looking water I’ve seen in this console generation.
After writing my review for Halo: Campaign Evolved last week, I was flipping through my screenshots when I realized that I had taken a lot of them while playing through the game’s famous Silent Cartographer mission. Like, a lot of screenshots. And specifically, most of these screenshots were taken by the beach and focused on the remake’s gorgeous ocean water. But screenshots alone don’t do the water in the remake justice, so here’s a short video I recorded on my PS5 Pro:
The way the water’s surface undulates and ripples looks so lifelike and refreshing. I want to dive into this water in real life, cool down, and splash around in it. I also appreciate how the water in Campaign Evolved really moves up and down. Walking along this in-game coast feels like walking through the ocean at the beach, something I loved doing as a kid in Florida. Driving around in this water, which I do in the video above at around 30 seconds or so in, you can see the water react to each turn and spin of the Warthog. Small waves form and then trail off in different directions for a few seconds. And all of this has wonderful audio attached, which helps sell the illusion that you are stomping around a beach.
Now, let’s be clear: I don’t think this water is better than what exists in the original Halo and its version of this same mission. Here’s what that looked like:
I actually think that the water in the original Halo does a better job of creating an alien-feeling world. The vibes are more mysterious and give the mission a different, less tropical feel, which I think works really well for selling the idea that you are exploring a strange, otherworldly place. The island in the original game feels like a Pacific Northwest forest crammed onto an odd little island. It’s weird and works.
The water in Halo: Campaign Evolved, on the other hand, looks like what you’d see in an ad for a hotel by the beach. It doesn’t quite evoke that same feeling of being somewhere alien, but it does look damn pretty and makes me thirsty each time I hang out near it. It’s a great example of how, just because something is more “realistic,” that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the better option.
Still, I can’t deny that the water in Campaign Evolved is gorgeous and looks so refreshing, especially as I try to survive yet another miserable week of summer. How I wish I could hop through my TV and swim around the tropical, clear waters of the remake.