Halo Heads To PlayStation 5 With Another Halo: Combat Evolved Remake (polygon.com) 18
Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries) has announced Halo: Campaign Evolved, a full Unreal Engine 5 remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved campaign, coming in 2026 for Xbox Series X, Windows PC, and -- shockingly -- PlayStation 5. "It's really a new era -- Halo is on PlayStation going forward," Halo Studios community director Brian Jarrard said on a livestream today. Polygon reports: Halo: Campaign Evolved is a from-the-ground-up remake of the first Halo game's campaign. It's being built in Unreal Engine 5 -- unlike previous Halo games, which have been developed with proprietary software. It aims to modernize the game without changing it on a fundamental level. [...]
As signaled by the name, Campaign Evolved will not feature PvP multiplayer, as its focus is on the campaign (Combat Evolved had splitscreen competitive multiplayer modes). However, you'll still be able to play Halo: Campaign Evolved with your buddies. It'll support splitscreen two-player local co-op as well as four-player online. Most notably, it'll support full crossplay and cross-progression.
Gameplay is being changed in ways that are more aligned with later entries in the series. Master Chief will be able to pick up and use enemy weapons that he couldn't use until later Halo games, like the iconic Energy Sword. He'll be able to pilot the Covenant Wraith tank in the original game for the first time, and can hijack vehicles (or get hijacked). Campaign Evolved is also implementing a sprint button, altering the way players can move about the battlefield. You can watch a reveal video for the game on YouTube.
As signaled by the name, Campaign Evolved will not feature PvP multiplayer, as its focus is on the campaign (Combat Evolved had splitscreen competitive multiplayer modes). However, you'll still be able to play Halo: Campaign Evolved with your buddies. It'll support splitscreen two-player local co-op as well as four-player online. Most notably, it'll support full crossplay and cross-progression.
Gameplay is being changed in ways that are more aligned with later entries in the series. Master Chief will be able to pick up and use enemy weapons that he couldn't use until later Halo games, like the iconic Energy Sword. He'll be able to pilot the Covenant Wraith tank in the original game for the first time, and can hijack vehicles (or get hijacked). Campaign Evolved is also implementing a sprint button, altering the way players can move about the battlefield. You can watch a reveal video for the game on YouTube.
But will enough people care? (Score:1)
Halo made a big splash in gaming when it was one of the only FPSes on consoles. It seemed to do everything right for controller-based gaming as opposed to poorly adapted mouse/keyboard PC games. It had no equal at the time. Fast forward to today when the last few entries haven't been relevant and are just one of the many FPS games on consoles. Even with simultaneous launches on PC, it hasn't helped the franchise. A lot of young gamers haven't played a Halo at all and don't have nostalgia for it. A lot of pe
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Will the shotgun remain un-nerfed in the remake?
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I tried to check the sales for the Gears of War remake and while there was a story of less than expected PS5 sales what was interesting was a stat of "1 million players" because they include Game Pass subscribers.
So really Microsoft is kinda on the TV model where it's not outright sales but subscriber acquisition and retention. "Did it makes its budget back?" And that's not entirely the thing that matters.
In that sense remakes make the most sense. Cheaper than a new game, just get more content out there.
Disney rerlease every 5 years tactic (Score:2)
There's a new crop of 11 to 15 year olds every 6 years who have not had the chance to play these games.
Disney used to do this with their 'classic' movies and re-release them every 5 or so years for a new crop of kids to watch.
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I remember well when the original Halo was released and the hype around it. I grew up on Wolf3D, Doom, Doom II, Quake II and Quake III. I completed Halo in under a week when it was first released and was just left thinking: WTF was that? Waste of money. Each to their own, eh?
Before anyone says why no original content (Score:2)
We've seen what these mega studios shit out when they try and be original. Be thankful they are simply trying to recreate something that is known to be good. Mega game developers are like my niece, when she draws a picture for you it's completely unrecognisable, but she's not too bad using a colouring in book.
Yes that's the state of the industry. Thank god for indie studios.
*spoilers* (Score:2)
Spoilers ahead for people who haven't played the final games in the series.
From my perspective, the way they wrapped up the plot means that the story is essentially going to be a reboot either way. The original storyline involved relationships between several key characters and factions, including and especially Cortana, the Covenant, the Flood, and earth's government. And those plot lines are now all finished. Covenant gone. Cortana gone. The mysteries about the rings and such, solved. There is of co
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It took him like five games to get there but they did.
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Just to spoil it for everyone
No only for the people who can't read the first two words of a post.
Re: *spoilers* (Score:1)
Re: *spoilers* (Score:1)
Butâ¦. Halo Infinite did suck
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Unless it's going to be a completely different gam (Score:1)
Big open and extremely dull level design. It only seemed super cool back then if you were a console gamer because it was the first modern first person shooter you got your hands on and the first one you could play online for a lot of people.
But it's basically the Street fighter 1 of console FPSes. An interesting curiosity but nothing you would ever want to go back to.
Included for free with Halo MasterChiefCollection (Score:2)
MacOS and Linux version ? (Score:1)
Unreal Engine V works also on MacOS and Linux. Both are comparable to PS5 market size, and cheap to do.
Remakes and Revisions bah (Score:2)
Perhaps I'm salty because Bethesda just let the world down with announcement of a Fallout 4 rerelease (which is just going to fuck up all the mods and implement a little more eye candy, and fix almost no bugs, if history is any indication) but I'm pretty tired of rehashes of old games. Halo CE also has the problem that a significant percentage of the game is just fucking boring, namely the part where you're going through a maze of twisty passages, all alike. They're not likely to change that part substantia