Halo: Campaign Evolved remake is a reminder of what Xbox used to be

It’s impossible to talk about a new Xbox game without also talking about the state of Xbox. Microsoft’s gaming division is in freefall: Recent headlines are dominated by extensive layoffs, decimated studios, and confusing strategies, most of which stem from years of bad decisions and expensive acquisitions. But it wasn’t always that way. Through its first two generations of existence, Xbox held its own against its more established rivals Nintendo and Sony, and a big reason for that was Halo. Bungie’s shooter coupled a grand sci-fi story with nearly pitch-perfect action and single-handedly created a reason to buy an Xbox. Now, the game has gotten a full remake, reimagining the same core experience for modern audiences. In a testament to the original design, Halo remains a thrilling game more than two decades after it debuted. But the remake is also a reminder of just how far Xbox has strayed from its initial promise.

Called Halo: Campaign Evolved, the remake is exactly what it sounds like: a modern overhaul of the original game’s story campaign. That means you still take on the role of supersoldier Master Chief as he leads human forces in a war against an alien alliance known as the Covenant, before eventually being pulled into a much bigger conflict with the fate of the galaxy on the line. Halo’s story was never the most original, pulling from obvious influences, most notably Aliens, but it’s well crafted, with dramatic twists and turns that give you an incentive to push through its many battles. The game is especially great at switching tones throughout. Initially Halo puts you on the front lines of a large-scale war on an alien world before later shifting to something that approaches horror, with cramped shootouts against unsettling monsters. Campaign Evolved makes the story a touch more cinematic with expanded cutscenes that flesh out the backstory and characters, but which are still relatively short and concise.

The most notable difference in the remake is its upgraded visuals. Campaign Evolved was built using Unreal Engine 5, and it looks, well, like a first-person shooter from 2026. Everything is much more detailed and the levels are grander in scope. When you’re out on the Halo’s surface, it really feels like you’re in the midst of a huge battle, with explosions all around you and the wreckage of downed vehicles and ships dotting the landscape. That extra level of detail really enhances the game midway through when you encounter the Flood, a race of parasitic aliens that turn corpses into zombies. Now those close-quarters battles are much scarier, as the aliens explode in gruesome ways, the walls are covered with oozing growths, and you see the flash of gunfire lighting up dark spaces and the horrors lurking within. You can quibble with some of the artistic decisions — I personally miss the more brutalist alien architecture of the original — but overall the game looks great.

There are changes to the gameplay as well. Some are relatively small, like the new ability to hijack enemy vehicles or the larger arsenal of weapons at your disposal. The biggest change, though, is something that seems small: the addition of a sprint button. Early Halo games didn’t let Master Chief sprint, and the addition to Campaign Evolved makes the action feel much faster and more fluid. It’s especially useful if, like me, you spend a lot of time running away from the bigger enemies. Campaign Evolved also introduces a trio of new missions while making some changes to existing ones. Unfortunately, I don’t have the kind of encyclopedic Halo knowledge to pinpoint exactly what has changed, but I will say this: Much like the remakes of Shadow of the Colossus and Resident Evil 4, Campaign Evolved plays the romanticized version of Halo from my memory, which is exactly what you want from a project like this. The changes enhance something that was already great and smooth over (most of) the rough spots. And while I played through all of it solo, the game also supports co-op for up to four players.

While the remake is excellent, it’s unfortunately launching at a very awkward time, just a few weeks after new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma kicked off a “reset” that will eventually see more than 3,000 people laid off over the next year and iconic studios like Doom developer id Software dramatically scaled down. In many ways, Halo as a franchise is illustrative of Xbox’s fall from grace. Since Microsoft assumed full responsibility for the series through its internal Halo Studios (formerly known as 343 Industries), the gap between new releases has become larger and larger, while at the same time the company has tried to broaden Halo through mostly ill-fated ventures like a streaming TV series and a live-service push. Campaign Evolved itself represents some of this disorder. Not only is it the first new Halo game since 2021, it’s also coming to the PS5 in addition to Xbox and PC as part of Microsoft’s consistently confusing console exclusivity strategy.

So as much as I’ve enjoyed fighting off the hordes of the Flood once again, I can’t help but see Campaign Evolved within the larger context of Xbox. The original Halo felt daring, proving that action and narrative could be complementary strengths, and it went on to influence a generation of first-person shooters. In the years since, the franchise’s prominence has steadily diminished, to the point that now Microsoft is trying to reinvigorate it by going back to the beginning instead of doing something actually new. Five years after Halo Infinite, instead of the next entry in the franchise, Xbox has opted for the safe choice with a remake. And Campaign Evolved comes at a time when the future of the Xbox lineup looks increasingly murky given the dramatic studio cuts.

Campaign Evolved does a remarkable job of re-creating the experience of playing Halo for the first time. But that’s not enough to make Halo — or Xbox, for that matter — feel as essential as it once was.

_{Halo: Campaign Evolved launches on the Xbox, PS5, and PC on July 28th, with early access on July 23rd for those who preordered.}