Halo: Campaign Evolved Hands-on Preview
Ahh, Master Chief, you really are a big part of my gaming history. From the first time I looked into the sky to see the Halo structure curving through my view, I was with you on your journey. I was there for every single one of your adventures, fighting the Covenant, Flood and Prometheans in the process. I saw Cortana die, I saw her become a baddie, then I saw her replaced. I blew up enormous space stations, made unlikely alliances and saw the foundations of civilisation. I read the books, saw the shows and even played the ARG. Halo is, undeniably, a part of who I am as a gamer. So it almost feels poetic that in this time of Xbox change, a time where leadership, priorities and goals seem to be shifting, that they would go back to the start of Master Chief’s adventure, a restart if you will and perhaps a shift towards something more in line with their fans’ expectations.
Halo Campaign Evolved is, of course, the big Halo remaster that we saw at Summer Games Fest. At the time of the trailer, I worried that the shift to Unreal, the new modern mechanics and the years of space since it first launch would perhaps change the feel of the game, alter what the original game was. Well, thanks to Xbox Australia, I have now played two of the remade levels and can tell you that things are looking pretty solid so far.
The two levels I got to dip into were The Silent Cartographer and Assault on Control Room, two early-ish missions that have long stood out as some of the best in the game. It was a wise move to give the press access to these levels. The Silent Cartographer is well known for its beach-side setting and group assault on a Covenant-held facility, while Assault on Control Room showcases the mountainous and snowy areas of the Halo with panache. These two missions really showcase the graphical update that this remake offers, highlighting just how far graphics have come in 25 years.
But graphics only tell part of the story. What matters most for Halo is that it feels like Halo. This is where I had the most concerns coming in. Thankfully, most of those concerns have been addressed, though one in particular still remains. As for the feel of the game, I immediately felt like the game was slow. I just couldn’t put my finger on why, but after playing around with some controller settings and remembering that I had just played through Doom Eternal, it wasn’t long before I got back into the groove of things. I even loaded up The Master Chief Collection to compare, and yes, the speed was pretty much the same; it was just me that had been altered.
The early Halo games always had a different feel to other FPS titles, and it took me a little while to get back into the groove, but once I did, I was happily taking down Grunts, Jackals, and Elites with glee. My knowledge of the maps helped me through both missions, and old tactics for taking down Hunters or Wraith Tanks still work. It is going to be a blast to see younger gamers take on this game for the first time. I remember my first encounter with a Hunter, and it was daunting to say the least. I only hope franchise newbies get that same experience with this remake.
My concerns with the gameplay revolve around two things. The power-ups and the run button, both of which are new additions to the original Halo formula. Power-ups work much like they did in later games, so as a result didn’t feel so out of place. I suspect purists will not like them, but hopefully, there is an option to turn them off for those who want an experience closer to the original. The run button, however, is very weird. In the original Halo, you were always running; there was an extra button. Here, it adds a weird layer to movement that doesn’t quite seem to fit. That could be just the crusty old Halo player in me, and new players won’t even notice it, but for me, it feels out of place. Also, the running animation is absolutely odd and doesn’t suit the “big-as-a-tank” feeling that the Master Chief exudes for the rest of the game.
There are a host of other little gameplay additions that weren’t in the original game. Things like down-the-sight aiming and hijacking enemy vehicles, but these felt more natural as they had all appeared in later Halo titles and had become part of the series as a whole. I firmly believe that going the full-remaster route means that developers should try to improve on the original and not just make a prettier version of it. The key takeaway here is that the most important part of Halo, the gunplay, still felt like Halo and that made me smile.
With three new prequel missions, a host of new skulls, new collectibles that go into the game’s backstory and the ability to play all the missions in a random, remixed state, this is more than a simple update. As I said, I have my concerns with a couple of the changes to the gameplay, but those could be alleviated after some more time with the game. Otherwise, I am much more positive about this remake than I was before going in. I am once again ready to jump on board with Sgt Johnson, Cortana and most of all, The Master Chief to take on the Covenant and Flood when the game releases on July 28th for PC, Xbox and, weirdly enough, PS5.
