Halo: Campaign Evolved

For reference, I have been a Halo fan since the start, and I'm kind of a Halo lore nerd, but I'm not one of those people who has made hating 343/Halo Studios/Microsoft a significant part of their fan personality. So, take that as you will. My top level, tldr thesis statement would have to be: firmly mid, really hard to recommend when the Master Chief Collection is right there. There are some things I think are cool or interesting, but those things don't outweigh the things that irked me. But, you do have to take into account that I have a lot of time in the original games, and because of all that experience and time, it's impossible for me to separate the two. Truthfully, I think a lot of my issues won't be noticed by the casual player, and that's totally okay. Who is this game for? I think it's for either the people who have never played Halo CE before, or were very casual about it. I think those people would genuinely enjoy the experience. I still think that if you have access to the MCC, that would be your best option. But if you don't for some reason, like a PS5 player with no PC/Steam access, I think that's really the only people who benefit from this "remaster" experience. Please keep in mind that everything I have said, and am saying below, is entirely subjective. YMMV. The Good: - Sure, it looks good. Personally I don't need ultra shiny graphics and hyper realistic water, but overall I can't say it looks bad. - Some interesting lore updates, folding in some concepts that were introduced later in the series in a way that, IMO, makes sense. Can't say too much without spoilers, though. - Some changes to some maps that I thought were neat. Visually I appreciate the updates to the warthog run on The Maw. I also appreciate the visual updates to The Library, and the sense of increasing infestation regarding the Flood levels. - Bringing in some modern gaming features and some weapons from other Halo games was generally appreciated. The Bad: - Questionable voice direction given to the voice actors. Tone seemed off for the situation at hand during some moments. I know the voice actors are capable, so I don't know what happened here. - Dialog also got very repetitive in some moments, punishing sense of exploration. Trying to explore Truth And Reconciliation? Too bad, Cortana needs to remind you every 2 minutes that you're looking for Keyes, using the same canned line each time. - Overall lack of "spirit of exploration" that was present in original CE and Bungie-era Halo games. If you see a rock that's a little out of the way that looks like you can grenade jump onto it, no you can't. There's a death wall there. - The combat AI felt stupid at times? Multiple instances of banshees flying into walls and getting stuck there. - The marine AI also is a little stupid, they struggle to get into vehicles sometimes. - Marines don't drive vehicles anymore. At least not in my game. This was disappointing. Part of the original CE's charm for me was Marines doing their own thing rather than everyone waiting on you all the time for everything, particularly on levels like Assault on the Control Room. It made the game feel a little more alive. - Some weird physics stuff happens once in a while. A few times, my vehicle would just get launched backwards or sideways, with no obvious cause. - Weird little moments that felt like a lack of polish. On their own I could easily write them off, but on top of everything else it just kept poking at me. Things like supplies floating a foot off the ground, Marines holding SMGs with their hands placed incorrectly (one hand too far forward and floating, like they were holding an Assault Rifle), etc. The Meh: - I know there's been some complaints about the cutscenes. Personally I don't have as much of an issue with them. I like a lot of the body language in those scenes. I will agree that the faces fall into uncanny territory sometimes, though. - Vehicle handling has also come up a few times and I do think it is distinctly different from original CE or really any other Halo game to date, but you can get used to it. - Vehicle hijacking is restricted on some levels. That's all I can think of right now. Once again, overall, while I'm glad I played it for a couple of interesting lore stuff, I can't really recommend it. Just go grab the MCC if you haven't already. Original CE is still a pretty good game. Plus you'll get a bunch more Halo.