[00:35] the beginning of something truly special. The first of many Bungie developed games that helped establish Halo as arguably the most important franchise in Xbox's lineup. The second chapter in the franchise's long history
[00:49] also began with a return to the original Halo. Combat Evolved anniversary ushered in the 343 Industries era, a period that would eventually culminate with the release of Halo Infinite in 2021. Now the third chapter begins, and
[01:04] perhaps fittingly, it starts with yet another release of the original Halo. This time it comes in the form of Halo Campaign Evolved. Rising from the ashes of 343 Industries, this new project is the work of the newly christened Halo
[01:20] Studios, a name that presumably signals a renewed focus on the franchise and desire to rebuild confidence in its future. Campaign Evolved, aside from a few minor issues, does a fantastic job of
[01:34] capturing the essence of the original game. From its color palette and map design to its visual direction and core mechanics, nearly every element feels authentic yet expanded in regards to that original source material. It's an
[01:48] exceptionally well-crafted experience that demonstrates a clear understanding of what made Halo Combat Evolved so special in the first place. It also marks the first time Halo has appeared on a PlayStation, which is an unexpected
[02:02] twist. The original was, after all, at one point announced for PlayStation 2, but obviously that never came to pass. But now it's here on PlayStation 5, But now it's here on PlayStation 5, opening the doors for a new audience.
[02:16] It's a broad topic then, but for this video, I want to focus primarily on discussing how exactly the campaign has evolved using comparisons with the both how the visuals have changed [music] and how things like level design
[02:31] [music] and how things like level design and pacing have been adjusted. So, let's and pacing have been adjusted. So, let's dive in.
[03:00] overhaul of the original Halo feels a bit tired, but I do think it serves a real purpose. It's a starting point for those now in charge of Halo's future. It allows the studio a chance to study what makes Halo work so well and take it to
[03:15] the finish line. It's also a chance for PlayStation owners that may not have dabbled in the Xbox ecosystem to enjoy the game for the first time. The more significant reason for its existence, though, ties into the anniversary
[03:28] version of Halo released on Xbox 360 and included in the Master Chief Collection. That version of Halo is quite honestly not very good. I honestly believe it to be one of the worst attempts at overhauling a game's classic visual
[03:43] design. With this in mind, at least in my eyes, Halo has never received an my eyes, Halo has never received an actual visual overhaul. Anniversary just doesn't count as it's a step down in nearly every sense. Again, that's my
[03:56] opinion, but I stress this for a reason because Campaign Evolved is a perfect contrast in comparison. The color schemes, shapes, and designs have all been reworked for this new release and resulted something that stands proudly
[04:11] alongside the original Bungie game. It is the remake I've always wanted. And I would consider this a remake, not a remaster, as every aspect of the game has been reworked to varying degrees, resulting in something that feels both
[04:25] resulting in something that feels both faithful yet fresh. This is not just the original Halo Combat Evolved. Again, that's where these comparisons start to come into play, and hopefully you'll understand what I'm talking about. Even
[04:37] before entering the game, you'll feel a difference. In the original Halo, for instance, these loading screens, they were iconic. It's something Bungie did very well and sort of set the tone for what was to come. In the Master Chief
[04:50] Collection, they were replaced with static screens like this, which definitely lose something. For Campaign Evolved, they've returned the original Halo 1 style loading screen, which I think is a nice touch and shows a great
[05:03] attention to detail. After the loading screen, however, you're immediately greeted by dollar store Michael Keaton, a character model that may as well have been generated in an Elder Scrolls character creator. It's not a great
[05:18] first impression. In comparison, Evolved delivers a character which at the very cringe. You can already see a big improvement in terms of the rendering and the art design, right? But right away beyond that, the tone and color
[05:33] really stands out. Those metallic hues of that original halo give way to this overly busy scene which absolutely fails to capture the tone of Bungie's art. Evolve in comparison goes for a much cooler color temperature, which while
[05:48] different still feels appropriate. Crucially, because you cannot toggle need to adhere to the original structure. So, more significant changes to the art are allowed. Step out into the hall, and you'll see what I mean
[06:03] again. This hallway is somewhat dim in the original Halo. It's designed to give you this feeling of a ship under siege, right? But with Anniversary, it's right? But with Anniversary, it's extremely bright, super lit, and overly
[06:17] busy even. It just doesn't feel right. That's not the case in Campaign Evolve, which I actually think takes things to the next level. The emergency lighting system is engaged and it definitely feels like a ship under siege. It's
[06:31] darker. It's moodier and it does feel more closely related to what they were trying to convey in the first place. This opening area immediately demonstrates the power of strong lighting and atmosphere. In Anniversary,
[06:44] every scene feels overly bright and garish, washing out much of the intended mood. Evolved, by contrast, fills the environment with ambient lighting, rich shadows, and carefully placed highlights that create a far more convincing sense
[06:57] of depth. I just love the natural lighting in this scene. The glow of the fire playing off the rightmost troop, the subtle shadows made possible by Lumen, the flashes of light from weapons. It's beautiful. Anniversary
[07:11] stems from a very different era, though, so it's not exactly fair, but yeah, it looks a lot worse. Effects such as fire also benefit from the new presentation. In Evolve, the flames actually emit light, and it naturally interacts with
[07:24] the surroundings, making it feel more grounded. With Anniversary, though, the fire is buried beneath this excessive bloom, resulting in an effect that feels harsh, distracting, and somewhat unappealing. Now, moving towards the
[07:36] bridge, we encounter an area where Evolve truly shines. This section looks fantastic, especially when placed side by side with Anniversary, which once aesthetic that works against the atmosphere established by the original
[07:50] game. After reaching the bridge, though, I noticed the first of many map changes. In Evolved, you can actually see directly into the bridge area from this door. In the original game, that view is blocked by a wall, likely serving as a
[08:03] form of geometry calling. That space has now been reworked with a strategic table occupying the center of the room instead. Now inside, I really like the way Captain Keys is portrayed in Evolve. The lighting here feels subtle yet
[08:17] beautiful, a far cry from the somewhat garish anniversary. This philosophy carries throughout the rest of the mission. Evolve strives to the original game while leveraging modern technology such as ray trace
[08:32] experience. There's also subtle alterations to the geometry like the cafeteria area has a raised section now while this hallway actually slopes downward. And around the corner, they've added this fire effect which looks
[08:46] really great. A bit different from the original, but it works. The key here is that it evokes the spirit of the original without simply copying it. And that's where Anniversary tends to fall short. Its approach seems more focused
[09:01] on adding detail for detail's sake without fully understanding the shapes, colors, and textures, the visual language that made Halo distinctive in the first place. Now, to be fair, Anniversary fares somewhat better in
[09:14] this second mission thanks to the nature of its outdoor environments. Even so, the colors and art direction struggle to capture the feeling of the original. When I think of Halo, I think of that deep blue sky framed by the immense halo
[09:29] ring stretching overhead and disappearing into the horizon. Evolved successfully channels this iconic imagery, producing some genuinely beautiful vistas. Anniversary's altered color grading and the way the foliage is
[09:44] drawn never quite felt right to me. The atmosphere is fundamentally different. It almost looks kind of like an HD version of Twilight Princess in some ways. The original Halo was also famous for this beautiful sunlight filtering
[09:58] through the trees effect. Anniversary with an implementation that feels somewhat artificial. They just sort of make the sun transparent. Evolved, meanwhile, delivers something that
[10:11] behaves more realistically while still capturing the essence of sunlight piercing through the branches. Another thing, then evolved no longer needs to adhere to the original world geometry like we saw in those hallways.
[10:24] So, like the cliffs here in this shot, they're very simple in the original game, right? But it kind of works at 480p. It just breaks down a little bit in high resolution. Now, Anniversary conforms to the same basic layout, but
[10:38] it kind of looks worse, I'd argue. The textures do not tile in a way that looks attractive to my eye. In comparison, Evolve's distant rendering is more beautiful and convincing. And key point, note how the trees are beautifully
[10:52] shadowed at a distance, right? This addresses one of my biggest issues with Halo Infinite's distance rendering as well. Ultimately, what makes Evolve so compelling for me is its ability to preserve that feeling of the original
[11:07] Halo while presenting it through a more realistic and technically advanced lens. It captures the atmosphere, scale, and visual identity that defines classic Halo while simultaneously making the world feel more believable. The result
[11:22] is more attractive and cohesive than what Anniversary achieved. I also love the way the materials work. Like metallic surfaces in particular are excellent in this game. The pistol's finish exhibits a convincing sheen that
[11:37] subtly reflects its surroundings, picking up the green hues of the grass and cool blue tones of the sky. Small details like this add a level of realism and richness that really brings it to life. As we duck inside a 4erunner
[11:51] structure, we see another interesting change. This tunnel leading to the next area has been completely rebuilt. It's now a little shorter, but makes more logical sense structure-wise, and it's a change you'll see throughout
[12:04] the game. Basically, all these connecting tunnels and sometimes even the rooms, many of which made Halo feel somewhat repetitive, have been altered. Is that good or bad? You decide, but it's interesting nonetheless, and does
[12:19] have an impact on the flow of the game. Now, continuing through this tunnel, I love how the original darker tone of this area has been restored in the new version of the game. And once again, the anniversary version of the map is
[12:31] extremely well lit, completely squandering the mood. Evolved solves this and produces something that looks arguably better than any previous beautiful. Back outside, I'm also a big fan of the
[12:45] camera work used for the Warthog in this new version. It's pulled back a little bit here, so you see more of the vehicle and more of the world around you. Also, how about that water washing around the tires here in the evolved version. Looks
[12:58] really great. I think there's plenty more like this throughout, of course, like in the next mission, for instance. The dark purple hues of the original have been restored. It looks more striking, and the level of detail is
[13:11] very impressive. I also love how the graph shaft going up to the Covenant ship now projects actual light out across the map, making the space look really dramatic. The transition from the ground into the Covenant ship, by the
[13:24] prior versions, it would show a cutscene, but now you go directly from the ground up into the ship. It's very cool. And this revamped Covenant interior space is really nice with the style that feels more pleasing and
[13:38] organic, capturing the atmosphere of the original game while leveraging new technology. And later on, this map also features a major revamp. The entire back half, where you rescue Captain Keys, features an entirely new design with
[13:52] less repeating hallways and more carefully designed room areas. Then we have missions like the flood. The swamp area before entering the facility is gorgeous now. The darker hues, the snarling trees, the water reflections
[14:07] and ripples, just gorgeous. And in my eyes, it's the best iteration of this area we've seen to date. Just beautiful to behold. And as we descend down into the interior areas for the big reveal, the excellent use of materials and
[14:21] lighting once again stands out. I could go on and on with these comparisons, but I think the point is clear. Halo Studios has done their homework, and there's clearly a lot of love poured into making this game shine, more than I ever
[14:34] expected. On the surface, it's not hard to look at the decision to re-release this game again through a rather cynical business lens, but I do genuinely believe that the people who developed this game do genuinely care about Halo.
[14:48] It really shows. Of course, as we know now, Unreal Engine 5 takes care of a lot of the rendering features, and the shift to this engine is one of the big changes. They've moved away from their in-house technology. On one hand, it's
[15:01] sad to see that in-house technology be depreciated like this. But on the other, it's clear it wasn't working that well for them. If you look at Halo Infinite, it certainly was no id. I'll say that much. But of course, anyone can make
[15:15] something that looks competent and real. Yet, it takes real skill to pull off the level of quality we see here. Now, some of those engine benefits really help the visual features that really caught my eye. Firstly, a big one, emissives.
[15:30] game? Notice how his screen actually projects light evenly across his face and torso? Yeah, this is just the beginning. Like, look at this light bridge here in the second mission. The entire bridge is now an emissive surface
[15:44] projecting light up under the bottom of the Warthog in a rather dramatic fashion. It adds a lot, I think. And for good measure, here's Anniversary, where good measure, here's Anniversary, where it emits no light at all.
[15:57] Same deal with that grav shaft I mentioned earlier. It actually projects real light out across the world. It looks great. The original versions don't looks great. The original versions don't have this at all.
[16:13] hardware lumen ray tracing on every platform, and I think it's the first big title to ship with mega lights, which allows for an unprecedented number of dynamic lights across the scene. It's really awesome. I was also impressed
[16:27] with the level of detail across various models and characters. The mix of Lumen GI with wellexecuted designs mean that even secondary and tertiary characters even secondary and tertiary characters look excellent even up close. There's
[16:41] also a great use of deformable sand and interactive water and other visual effects that really enhance the action. Plus particles and explosions and everything like that look excellent. The key here is that they've solved most of
[16:56] Infinite. In that game, for instance, indirectly lit scenes were basically tinted blue and looked relatively plain like this. In comparison, Campaign Evolved now features beautifully indirectly lit scenes thanks to hardware
[17:11] lumen. Ambient light fills the space and bounces around picking up the hues of the surroundings rather than just a generic blue sky color. Or what about occlusion shading at all? The area beneath the building is fully lit and
[17:24] looks pretty bad, but it should be shadowed. Campaign Evolved has no such issues with large structures oluding the scenery. It looks great. Interior spaces pretty good in Infinite. Enemies though were often lit incorrectly, appearing as
[17:39] if they were glowing, which was not great. In this new game, things are beautifully integrated and sit naturally within the scene. Now, shadows also take advantage of UE5 to cover both distant and nearby shadows. They remain clean
[17:54] world. Like, focus on this tree here, and you'll notice that it doesn't actually change or shift or anything. It just looks great. Halo Infinite, though, relied on traditional cascaded shadow maps, which were called from view based
[18:08] on distance from the object, and it looked kind of bad. Infinite also relies entirely on screen space effects for things like reflections and some shadows, which means plenty of artifacts. Campaign Evolves hardware RT
[18:21] ensures that's not an issue, allowing many more surfaces, both rough and glossy, to reflect things. It looks great. That's not to say I think Infinite is a badl looking game. I actually do love the art direction, but
[18:35] those flaws always stood out to me and I'm happy to see them solved here. So, yeah, this new one looking great, but what about technical performance? Okay, so we'll have a video covering those details very shortly. I wanted to get
[18:49] this one out close to launch, but I can at least confirm that the PS5 Pro at least confirm that the PS5 Pro version does offer PSSR2, which means image quality is cleaner than any other console version. It really helps reduce
[19:01] the boiling and noise that is unfortunately all too common with Unreal Engine 5. It's good on every platform, however, and we'll put exact numbers on that in our performance tests shortly. For now though, I'd like to shift gears
[19:15] because there's another element of this remake that I was very interested in, and it's the changes to the level designs. I mentioned this earlier, but the original had this over reliance on repetitive hallways and rooms in certain
[19:28] level. This never really ruined my enjoyment of the game. I always argued that Halo has excellent gameplay variety, but poor visual variety, at least in the back half of the game. The designers, however, went in and made a
[19:42] of these are fairly conservative, like that affformentioned hallway, right? But then there's the library. Now, this is a level that was often derided in its day
[19:54] for repetitive design and seamy visuals. And it turns out they completely remade and redesigned it for campaign evolve. This is effectively a brand new level. So, in the original, it begins with you in this open area with the flood sort of
[20:10] rushing the player. You fight through it a bit and then eventually make your way out to the central chamber. Look up and you realize that you're starting out on the ground floor and need to work your way up the tower. That's going to take
[20:22] 20 or 30 minutes or so. In comparison, campaign evolved begins in a completely different looking area with the switch here, but you soon discover that you're actually at the top of the tower. So, the flow of the mission is you working
[20:36] your way deeper down inside the library rather than ascending. Back in the original map, then you basically make your way through three or four different types of rooms. And that's one of the chief complaints,
[20:49] right? They all sort of reuse the same exact geometrical layouts over and over again. You'll very quickly recognize this area with the blue glimmery walls and large structures on one side of the room. There's often going to be a pit
[21:04] here in the middle. Sometimes it's a tunnel to another identical looking room. Sometime there's just powerups down here. There's also these open areas clustered around the central chamber. Many of which have you wait for the
[21:17] monitor to open the door. And then of course there's these large elevator platforms which are just flat and slowly move up through the tower. All throughout this you're just going to be fighting the same few flood over and
[21:29] over again. The entire flow of the combat is shifted dramatically in this level. So for Campaign Evolved, all of this has been reworked. There's shades of the original designs for sure. You'll recognize these same blue walls here and
[21:44] recognize these same blue walls here and certain structures, but each area has a specific layout that gives it its own unique flavor. When you ride the inherit the design that was established in Halo 2 rather than just presenting as
[21:59] these big flat platforms. There's also now mini boss battles like this along with more enemy variety in general. There's also completely original areas like here where you have to hit switches to enable light bridges. And as you work
[22:14] your way down, the level becomes increasingly infected with flood. organic pestules clog the hallways and the atmosphere becomes noticeably thicker. All of this stuff is basically lacking in the original. The key here is
[22:27] that in this remake, the library has a genuine feeling of progression, like a proper level. There's more varied and interesting design throughout. They took the concept of the library and made an entirely new level, and it's a great
[22:41] change of pace. I love it. Now, you could argue that they've changed a fundamental aspect of the original Halo, but the original is still very accessible, so I don't really think that's the case. It's nice to be able to
[22:54] revisit this story beat without that original extremely repetitive level design. Beyond that, however, there are additional bonus missions as well, which each tell their own story, kind of tied into the original Halo's plot. They're
[23:09] though. They are full-fledged, lengthy Halo missions, and they are all very wellmade. There's actually a surprising amount of storytelling within them with multiple cutscenes per stage. In some ways, the areas you explore in these new
[23:23] missions almost hint at what we might see with a future Halo game. In a way, they created all new locations inspired by classic Halo for these missions. They
[23:35] also bring in a bunch of other weapons that were not in Halo 1, though some of them appear in the main campaign as well, like the SMG. And just like the main campaign, you can play all of this in co-op, which is still one of the best
[23:47] ways to enjoy the game. My son and I spent several hours playing through it and had a blast. He shows up throughout this video commandeering Rich's account this video commandeering Rich's account as Grandmaster V2. That brings us to one
[24:00] of the most important aspects of Halo, then, the audio. As an original Xbox game, Halo shipped with support for Dolby Digital 5.1, a very new experience at the time. The positional audio and memorable soundtrack left a strong
[24:14] impact. That sound was remastered with Halo Anniversary, and that one was actually pretty good. But how does Campaign Evolve fair? To figure that out and forth between the two in real time
[24:28] and let you hear the differences. We'll start here on mission two. Listen carefully to the ambient sound around the player during these tests. Although the very first thing you might hear is that the voice acting is different.
[24:45] There's nothing we can do. The others the impact. There's nothing The others the impact. There's nothing we can do. this. Listen for things like discrete sounds such as burning trees and other
[25:00] sounds such as burning trees and other sound effects used in the remake.
[25:23] next to the stream? Listen for the water and the sound around you.
[25:44] bridge. And this time, pay attention to the specific footsteps you hear on this different they are. I think they've done a good job here.
[26:10] test of the pistol? The original sound is iconic, but the remake features a very punchy sound effect for the pistol that feels very satisfying. And it really takes advantage of a subwoofer as well.
[26:45] over to assault in the control room and listen again.
[27:00] pretty cool reverb in this large open space. But if we go into this room here, space. But if we go into this room here, this hallway.
[27:27] about some action? We're going to hop over to the silent cgrapher, and I'm going to swap back and forth. between the two while engaging the enemy. Listen to things like the music mixing, the sound effects, the voices around you.
[27:39] sound effects, the voices around you. There is a pretty big difference.
[28:34] >> Area secure. >> What do you think? The music in the original definitely stands out stronger, but I think it works pretty well here either way. Both sound amazing. Now, let's wander on down to the beach here.
[28:47] And this time, pay attention to the ambient sounds and the sound of the ambient sounds and the sound of the vehicles around you.
[29:30] I also noticed that when shooting the Warthog here, you get this sort of metallic ping effect in the original game that's not there in Campaign game that's not there in Campaign Evolve.
[29:55] things like the engine noise, the suspension, the sound of the tires on the sand. There's a lot of detail and campaign involved here.
[30:30] one actually might sound better. So, Campaign Evolve does this really nice Campaign Evolve does this really nice job at capturing this dark atmospheric swamp. Whereas the original sounds a little less great here.
[31:14] that the new release can support more discrete channels at a higher quality, which is unsurprising for the hardware, of course. But even then, I think both still sound excellent. I'm really amazed at how wonderful Halo sounds even 25
[31:30] years later. Plus, the soundtrack remains properly dynamic, layering in things like drums and altering itself to fit the action, and it supports proper surround sound and feels well mixed. Something you
[31:44] cannot take for granted these days. So, I've gone on for a while here, but briefly mention here before we call it a day. Firstly, chromatic aberration and film grain are forced on. You cannot disable them even on PC. That's a bit of
[31:59] a bummer because these effects are rather strong in this release. Secondly, video playback. All cutscenes are displayed using pre-rendered video, which is already something that I was disappointed with in the preview phase.
[32:13] This has an impact on visual quality of course, but on some platforms such as Xbox Series X, the playback of the video isn't even smooth. There's stutters and hiccups that detract from it. They really need to fix this. Still, despite
[32:28] that, Campaign Evolved feels like a real statement of intent. For the first time in a long time, Halo feels like it's being made by a team that understands what made that original so special, and more importantly, how to modernize it
[32:42] without losing its identity. There's a few rough edges, for sure, but they do not diminish what is otherwise an outstanding reimagining of a classic. It's one thing to rebuild a classic, however, but quite another to create a
[32:56] new classic. and that's what remains to be seen. If Campaign Evolved is any indication, however, there is at least hope. For now, though, Halo Campaign Evolved stands as a fantastic way to experience the original game, and it
[33:10] completely makes up for the subpar anniversary release we received 15 years anniversary release we received 15 years ago.