I performed a small slice of Halo: Marketing campaign Developed forward of its official reveal, and might affirm that this upcoming remake of the primary sport’s legendary single participant providing is totally lovely.
Diving into the beginning of the fan-favorite ‘The Silent Cartographer’ mission, it’s clear why the builders selected this part of the marketing campaign to indicate off their imaginative and prescient. It’s a stage that again in 2001 appeared extremely forward of its time, with a semi-open atmosphere that inspired exploration and defied the extra linear designs of different first-person shooter (FPS) games of the period.
Absolutely unreal
Built in Unreal Engine 5, Halo: Campaign Evolved is very much positioned to recapture the same sense of magic and wonder when it launches in 2026.
Running at a crisp 4K decision, this new model of that well-known seaside touchdown is dripping in cutting-edge visible tech, be that the close to photorealistic textures or impressively life-like lighting results. It’s all introduced along with a remastered soundtrack and tastefully re-recorded voice strains that appear so near the unique clips that it’s troublesome to inform that something has modified except you examine them aspect by aspect.
That is very a lot Halo: Fight Developed as you keep in mind it, although I did spot a couple of attention-grabbing adjustments right here and there that trace at slightly extra happening behind the scenes. Firstly, the seaside atmosphere positively appears lots nearer to its remastered incarnation in 2014’s Halo: The Grasp Chief Assortment, with fairly a little bit of added grass and foliage that wasn’t initially there. A minor, however attention-grabbing choice.
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Though I didn’t clock it at first, the controls have additionally been considerably altered to be extra in keeping with fashionable expectations.
The precise set off continues to be used to fireside as you’d anticipate, although you now have to carry the left set off to zoom in your weapon. Grenades are a lot much less fiddly than earlier than, certain to the left bumper, and also you now now not must scramble for the B button each time you wish to use your melee – that’s now certain to urgent down the best thumbstick.
Do the identical to the left thumbstick and also you’ll enter a dash, one thing fully absent from the unique sport. All of it feels utterly pure and will go an extended solution to making it extra approachable than earlier than, and if you happen to’re not such a fan of it, Halo Studios has confirmed that you just’ll be capable of flip it off.
Combat evolved
The developers have also said that there will be some more comprehensive changes in the full game.
Visual differences aside, the segment of ‘The Silent Cartographer’ that I sampled played out nearly identically to its original incarnation, though other parts will receive more substantial tweaks. The infamous library, for example, will be significantly less maze-like with design alterations to improve the pacing of encounters and additional dialog for 343 Guilty Spark, your AI companion, to presumably guide you so that you don’t get lost.
New weapons are coming in from across the series, too, including the Energy Sword, Battle Rifle, and Needle Rifle, which should give even the most seasoned Halo veteran a few more combat possibilities. I didn’t spot any in my play time, so I’m interested to see just how well they fit in each level they appear. If that wasn’t enough, you’ll be able to pilot more vehicles, or crank up the challenge with the Skulls modifiers that return from the Master Chief Collection.
There are three tantalizing new prequel missions to boot, set before the events of the original story and bringing in brand new enemies and characters. The developers say that this remake is powered by the 2001 game’s code, with Unreal Engine 5 acting something like a layer for its visuals (an approach that also underpinned the recent The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered), so I’m curious to see what sort of issues they’ll be capable of prepare dinner up whereas nonetheless utilizing elements of that unique tech.
I simply want that a few of these thrilling additions had been current in my demo, as die-hard sequence followers will certainly be questioning whether or not these new arrivals improve or detract from the general expertise. With the sport set to launch in 2026 for Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 5, and PC, it’s nonetheless early days, so I’ll be ready with baited breath for additional information. Not less than the visuals have been nailed down rapidly.
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