It’s finally official: Halo is coming to PlayStation, joining Gears of War and Forza to symbolize Microsoft’s Big 3 finally making the jump to rival platforms. However, it isn’t Halo Infinite or the Master Chief Collection that are launching but rather Halo: Campaign Evolved, a remake of the very first game in the series, which launches in 2026. The former-343 Industries, now-Halo Studios, is going back to where it all began, seemingly starting afresh and introducing a new generation – and console audience – to the legend of Master Chief.
While there’s a lot of talk about ensuring that the “original feel” of the title has “evolved to suit modern players,” and not modernizing “for the sake of modernization,” per Halo Studios, what’s new with the remake? How does it differ from the original Combat Evolved? Is there any new content for long-time fans to sink their teeth into? Check out ten of the biggest differences, starting with…
Four Player Campaign Co-op
Co-op returns for the campaign, and you can sit down to play it in split-screen via couch co-op (unless Halo Studios pulls another Infinite at the last minute). However, unlike the original, it’s also playable with up to three other players via online co-op. It wouldn’t be a feature in the series until Halo 3, so prepare for a whole lot more chaos this time around. Will you be controlling another version of Chief or rolling around as a Marine? That hasn’t been confirmed just yet, but we’re still excited.
Unfortunately, those seeking to play split-screen couch co-op on PC will be disappointed – it’s a console-only feature.
Rebuilding Levels and Encounters
As anyone who played the original will tell you, its campaign levels aren’t specially built for four players. For Campaign Evolved, the development team is “carefully” rebuilding “almost every level and every encounter with more fidelity,” per creative director Max Szlagor. “As we’re building the technology for this game, we’ve had to do it piece by piece, which included reevaluating all of the individual elements as we’re revisiting them in the original game.”
That includes thinking about “how all of the original encounters and spaces can scale to accommodate that many players.” Side-by-side images of The Silent Cartographer certainly give that impression, but once again, the idea is to ensure that it all still feels exactly like the Halo that fans know and love.
Improved Wayfinding
One feature that should provide some relief to fans of the original – and help reduce frustrations for new players – is the improved pathfinding. Those who played The Library level in the campaign will doubtless remember how easy it was to get lost. Campaign Evolved is changing that with new voice lines for Guilty Spark, which also serve to offer more narrative “insight.” Halo Studios is reevaluating the “pacing” of the level while diversifying the encounters and improving the environmental storytelling aspects.
Sprinting
Gameplay-wise, there’s talk of improved precision when aiming and more refined controls, but one of the biggest changes is sprinting. That’s right – the Chief can now high-tail into (or away) from battle with increased speed. It’s funny considering how it started as an armor ability to equip in Halo: Reach before becoming the default in Halo 4. Of course, for those who prefer the more methodical experience of Combat Evolved, just as they remember it, you can turn it off.
“New” Weapons
“New” is a misnomer in this sense since technically, the Needle Rifle, Beam Sword, and Battle Rifle aren’t brand-new weapons. The Needle Rifle appeared only in Halo: Reach, with a variant (the Blood of Suban Carbine) appearing in Halo 5: Guardians. The Energy Sword was introduced in Combat Evolved, but became usable from Halo 2 onwards. The Battle Rifle also made its debut in the second game to become a staple ever since (and arguably the most balanced weapon in the franchise). Campaign Evolved tosses all three of these in alongside the default weaponry, thus raising the total number to nine for more variety than the original.
Piloting the Wraith
It’s also slightly increasing the number of vehicles. The first Halo featured four – the UNSC’s Scorpion tank and Warthog, and the Covenant’s Ghost and Banshee. The latter did field a tank known as the Wraith, but players couldn’t pilot it. Well, now you won’t have to ponder over what could have been while attempting to flip it, since the Wraith is now a pilotable vehicle.
On a side note: Halo Studios is also making a slight change to the Warthog. Instead of accommodating three players – the driver, passenger and turret operator – there’s now a small space on the bumper for a fourth, thus ensuring that no one is left behind (unless you intentionally leave them, of course).
Hijacking Enemy Vehicles
Not only that, but you can now hijack vehicles from enemies, a feature that wouldn’t be available until Halo 2. This essentially allows for hopping onto a vehicle’s side (sometimes from the front, avoiding a head-on collision) and promptly ripping the driver away to commandeer it. Yet another staple of the franchise as we know it, and it’s finally coming to the original campaign.
3 New “Prequel” Missions
Outside of the campaign, Halo: Campaign Evolved will feature three brand new missions. These are part of a “prequel” arc starring Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson. While details are sparse, you can expect new character interactions, mechanics, characters, environments, and even enemies (who will also have new behavior). How will they transition to the original story? How long will they be? Are there any new insights to potentially glean? All this and more have yet to be detailed.
“Dozens” of Skulls
Skulls are another element that would be introduced in Halo 2 with Combat Evolved Anniversary retroactively adding them in (but only if you played with the enhanced visuals). Halo: Campaign Evolved includes them for the express purpose of changing the campaign in different, challenging ways, including randomized weapons. But that’s not all – the remake offers the largest number of Skulls in the franchise, numbering in the dozens. Such is the challenge that they bring to the game that Halo Studios doesn’t believe completing a LASO run – which is playing the campaign on Legendary with all skulls enabled – is possible. But it should be fun to see hardcore fans try.
Cross-Play and Cross-Progression
Online multiplayer wasn’t really a thing for Halo: Combat Evolved, never mind cross-platform play or cross-progression. Campaign Evolved will feature both. Not only can Xbox and PC players finally team up to tackle the first game’s campaign, but they can do so with PS5 players. Another interesting tidbit is community director Brian Jarrard stating that Halo would be on PlayStation going forward, so this is only really the start for the franchise.
No Competitive Multiplayer
Halo Studios didn’t say anything about competitive multiplayer – as if the name, Campaign Evolved, wasn’t a dead giveaway (and a somewhat awkward element, given that it was announced at Halo WCS). Unless, once again, it’s planning a sneaky reveal for the same sometime down the road. Is it possible that one of those other Halo projects in development is a free-to-play multiplayer title that links up to the remake in some way? Sure, but for all intents and purposes, the remake doesn’t offer it.
