Halo: Campaign Evolved

I will start my review with an analogy for this game. The original Halo Combat Evolved can be compared to a nice cold soft drink that just been poured, whereas this game is that same soft drink if left out for a week at room temperature. I will try to elaborate what this means fully below, although that will give you a broad idea why this review negative already. Campaign Evolved? Let go over the broad changes that have been added to the game, where I will look at most in a positive light, at least for now. As you are likely aware, this game is a reimagining of Halo Combat Evolved, where numerous changes have been made to give it a similar but very different experience. The first change I want to talk about is the inclusion of numerous weapons which were not available. This makes the game more interesting as it gives new avenues and tools to use throughout levels which were not possible before (with a nerfed magnum pistol which is expected). A few enemies from later games are present here as well, and revenants can now be used. Powerups, which activated instantly in the original game, now are activatable, which is not bad but does make the game feel more easier as the decision to pick something up now or save for later is gone because of this. Of course there are all the skulls seen in previous games here, with a lot more interesting new ones that you can try and have some fun with friends with. Most levels have remained the same, with certain sections taken out, or changed slightly. There only a few sections of the game that changed entirely, I will go over this later though as I have a lot of thoughts on these changes. The graphics of the game are one of it's high points, as it looks amazing throughout the game. Clearly a lot of time and effort went into this, which I greatly appreciated. Finally let talk about the elephant in the room, the inclusion of sprint in this game. Personally it does not bother me too much, but it really does not add much to this game, and would rather it not be here. This is mostly due to the game really being designed with encounters where you don't have this ability, so with it makes combat more trivial (the skull to deactivate does exist, but most will keep this on). Let go over the bonus missions. I did not think too much of them, as they felt very derivative, but had fun moments at times. I think it because it not very varied in gameplay (except at the end), as you are mostly just clearing out large rooms of enemies and not much else. I would of loved as well to have more (new) vehicles being present, new weapons, or more unique level designs, as the missions felt similar if not worse to what seen in the campaign and later levels in the series. I will finish by talking about Campaign remix, as this was a mode I did not really have high hopes for but had a lot of fun with in the end. This mode allows you to go through the entire campaign and bonus missions with random enemies and weapons spawns, which is as chaotic as it sounds. I found a few levels to be harder and easier at times with these changes, which made the game more interesting than I thought, given the number and variety of enemies that can spawn. Campaign Devolved: So let go over all the changes I did not like, starting with level design. I won't mention all changes but will use the "Silent Cartographer" level as example of how certain changes have made the game easier and more dull. This can be seen in the second half of the level, where you need to unlock a door. When getting there you will be going on a vechicle, but unlike the original, you can continue to the next section with this vechicle. This makes this section much easier and less interesting, which was not present in the original game as a tree blocked players from being able to do this. Another level, "The Library", is a notable example of Halo Studios taking a level previously and ruining it identity, as everything about this level has been changed. The original level for this was far from being popular, but I always appreciated what it was trying to do, as it was a gauntlet of enemies to the final goal seen at the top. So why do I not like it in this game? Well this is mostly due to it really not feeling like the same level at all. First thing that I noticed was the scale of the level. It been massively reduced and the wide open space seen in the original been completely reduced to narrow corridors. Yes the original did have narrow corridors, but by comparison this level just feels very cramped. There also the fact the elevators go down, when they went up in the original, which seems intentional to annoy the people who played the original game. Finally they added a lot of tedious sections to activate bridges which was not present in the original and felt very out of place having to do this to get to the next section. Other gameplay mechanics I did not like the inclusion of, which are seen in later games is EMPs and Hijacking. It just feels like it serves no purpose, as they are mechanics better suited in the later games in the series. The reason why they worked better was the levels in the game where you could do this to vehicles was more spread out and harder to get them pinned down due to the mobility they have. This is not the case here, as this game has areas which are not very big for vehicles most of the time, meaning there a very limited space they can move around. Along with this fact and rocket launchers being able to lock on as well, vehicle fights have largely become a joke unless on a higher difficulty, and even then I would say it not hard unless on Legendary. Par score and par time challenges in levels are missing in this game. I can largely accept why par time is taken out due to some of the skulls in the game (however they could of just disabled the achievement if certain skulls are used), but par scores not being in the game is a bit baffling as it a fun challenge which is seen in all of the games. Multiplayer has also been taken out completely, which is stated bluntly throughout this game development. The trade off was the bonus missions, which I personally do not think was a good replacement given how underwhelming I found it. Ultimately, this game has nothing in here that truly new. No brand new weapons, vehicles, or enemies for the series. I guess the Brute enemies mechanics were kind of different from other games, but that about it. Also the music in the game is the same music heard from other games. It would of been nice to have had new versions of the tracks played, as it seems to be all the same. The voice acting for Cortana in this game is also very disappointing, as her character feels very off on her delivery of lines and how she is expressing herself in cutscenes. Cutscenes themselves feel less cinematic too, where comparing it to what seen in the original looks far superior to what in this game, with some seen in the bonus missions being very questionable. Just Dust and Echoes: Halo Campaign Evolved is a mediocre interpretation of the original Halo Combat Evolved. It tries to emulate what made it incredible, but falls short in many ways. You can still have a lot of fun though given the inclusion of new weapons, and various other elements to the game, but your mileage with it may vary. The campaign remix mode is a clear standout for me in this game, as it does add something that was not seen in the original game. Overall I can't recommend this game to anyone interested in getting into this series, as the Master Chief Collection is far superior, as not only is it cheaper than this, but you get 6 games with it, as well as multiplayer! Halo Infinite also provides more unique content than what seen here, where multiplayer is also free... Only get this if you have completed everything in Halo MCC and Halo Infinite, and require more Halo, and even then just wait for a sale. I give this a 5/10, it mediocre at best but some fun can be had here.

No wonder they added sprint, I too would want to finish this thing as fast as possible

Did any ever notice how Master Chief Is a gigantic pu--y?>

洪魔还是跟小学时候记忆的一样恶心，不过这一次变多了的还是343强行狗尾续貂的三章和傻逼一样的原味重置。

Voice acting isn't an improvement, but everything else is. Gameplay is smooth, weapons feel light and rewarding, graphics are very well done (especially now that chromatic aberration and film grain can be turned off). The new missions are fun as well and have variety. All the changes that I've seen make the experience new and interesting, and importantly, worth the effort of the remake. If you crave the exact original Halo CE experience this obviously isn't the exact same thing but lucky for you, regular Halo CE still exists and can be played for cheap on Steam.

its a version of halo

Disappointing, and bonus mission were lame

Accessibility 0/10 You have to link your steam account to your microsoft account instead of just signing into your MS account like Halo MCC and Infinite. Sound design 4/10, music is good and voice acting is tolerable. But the gun sounds are muted at best. Visuals 5/10, heavy reliance on AI frames, not optimized at all. Have to play on medium graphics with a 4060, even though the graphical quality is about on par with Halo 5. frame rate options are locked at 30 or 60 frames only. Gun play 7/10 feels a little broken, magnum is nerfed, shotgun only holds 10 rounds, covenant weapons feel more like they are out of Infinite than halo 1. Game is prone to glitches, had to restart the prequel hunter battle 6 times because Johnson despawned and progression couldn't be made without him. It's better than Halo 5 but that's really saying nothing. I wouldn't recommend this game at full price at all. Wait for a sale and even then I wouldn't suggest paying more than $30.