Halo Campaign Evolved Review

0:00 I finished the Halo campaign evolved campaign, which if you don't know, this is the third Halo Combat Evolved version. There's Halo CE, the original, the OG that started everything. And then there was Halo Anniversary, which was fundamentally a remaster that gave the ability to flip between old and new graphics. That was the big thing. It was just a visual overhaul that didn't change any of like the gameplay elements directly or anything like that. And then campaign evolved is the complete overhaul with the new engine as well as like they redid some of the voice lines and then they added bonus missions. I have not done the bonus missions yet that I'm saving for something separate because right now I want to review just the campaign that has been remade. I

0:48 played this with our Shopify rebellion professional Halo Squad World Champions baby. So, we co-oped it, played through on Legendary. It took right around 5 hours. It was fun to be able to play fourplayer co-op. I think that was nice and I had a lot of fun playing with them. Obviously, playing games together is always extremely fun, like pretty much regardless of what the game is. So, I I did enjoy that, but we had I think 11 crashes. So, all the reports that you've probably seen about the day one launch issues and like all the bugs and issues, holy [ __ ] that doesn't even begin to cover the half of it. I couldn't believe the amount of disconnecting and crashing we were experiencing. Without that, we'd

1:34 probably finish it in like four and a half, maybe even less. That is a problem that is truly diabolical. I won't harp on it for too long, but that's pretty inexcusable, especially for something that desperately needs a home run like Halo. And I said from the very beginning, I didn't love the concept of once again revisiting an old Halo game just as a reminder like, hey, you remember when Halo was like the [ __ ] juggernaut? We all love Halo CE, right? Well, we're remaking it. We're doing another one. Like, this is number three. That's not super exciting to me. Like I love Halo CE. You I'm sure you know, but I've already replayed it recently on the

2:19 gaming channel on Legendary and it's still Slaps and Slaps doesn't even really encompass it. It doesn't do it justice. This [ __ ] will actually drain the piss from your balls, put hair on your chest. It is still timeless. Like, it is a classic and it is still a lot of fun to play. So, having another rem remake, well, the MCC wasn't a remake, it was a remaster, but still having another Halo CE, another rodeo here just didn't get me pumped. I wasn't lactating at the notion. I would have much rather after, how long has it been since Infinite? Five years, six years maybe. I would have rather them just worked towards a new big Halo game because this is Halo CE without the multiplayer and Halo C's multiplayer was also

3:06 incredible. So like you're releasing a neutered version of a product from [ __ ] 2001. Like I get that it's mainly a tech demo like a tech test for the new engine they're using Unreal now instead of what they had been using like with Slip Space. So, I get like this is a big deal, but after playing through it now, I just don't feel it justifies its existence. Like, it doesn't feel like it serves a purpose beyond just showcasing, hey, we can make Halo CE on Unreal. Yeehaw. So, anyway, let's let's dive into the the meatballs. The game is how you remember it, like with the the missions that you're going through. The levels stay the same, but they have a new coat of paint. And I think the visuals do look good. I do

3:51 think in a couple of places they kind of lose the artistic vision for some of the levels. In particular, Library. Library is a completely different level. That one is nothing like how you remember it because Library is infamous. It looks like they wanted to have a a new take on it. I don't even like their new take. The level was still a snoozer, unfortunately. And I do think they lose a lot of the visual identity when it comes to things like that in certain uh scenes and parts of levels, but it's not the biggest deal in the world because I do think visually the game looks great and I think the game sounds great as well. I don't love all of the changes they made to the lines throughout the game, but for the most part, it stays very much intact with the same DNA as it always had. Most of the lines are still

4:38 identical, but there are some tweaks that they made and some new additions they slid in there that nothing that changes things in any huge capacity, but they they are something that you'll notice if you're familiar with the OG. And I think they're fine for the most part, just kind of underwhelming really. That nothing super special when it comes to that. Overall, still good. That being said, they did make some character changes. You'll immediately notice how different Cortana looks, for example. And for me, I much prefer the old Cortana design. I don't think there was a reason to redesign Cortana here. To me, that doesn't make sense. That just that doesn't hit for me. If you've never played Halo, this is your first exposure to the the IP, you probably won't care

5:26 all that much. But if you're familiar with the franchise, it just feels like a why did you do that kind of decision. And there's a couple of choices like that that I don't think the new designs work super well for. They didn't hit for me. And then the biggest thing is the gameplay because that's really what I believe this was supposed to be a showcase for making Halo gameplay with Unreal Engine now. And I think they do hit the same gameplay that you're expecting from Halo. And that's really it. I don't think it does anything really grand or like something like gamechanging with the Halo formula thanks to the power of the Unreal Engine. And I don't know if that's what it was going for. It just delivers the gameplay that you're expecting for Halo CE. So to me, the

6:13 natural question is, well, why bother making this whole remake, the campaign evolved, just to have this big unveiling of the power of Unreal Engine and this optimistic future for Halo thanks to the Unreal Engine with just the same gameplay that we've been used to with 343. like you added sprint and they added like hijacking which wasn't present in Halo 1, but like these aren't like new things to Halo or anything and it was possible before Unreal and like the gunplay feel and everything is still very much the same gunplay feel as we've been used to with Halo. So like really

7:00 what was the point? Like I just don't see why they wouldn't have just done a new Halo game instead of just once again redoing an old one. It just to me doesn't make sense because you're not even like flexing the power of the Unreal Engine here. The only thing I could see maybe being like a a showcase for the power is the amount of enemies on screen. There is a noticeable increase in the amount of enemies that you'll find on screen during the encounters. Like that's very obvious, but that's like the only thing I can point to really. Like all the physics still seem pretty similar, especially when it comes to the driving. Like all of it feels like really like the same, which I think is the vibe they were going for, which again is the question, why do it? And like not only did you do

7:47 it, you you delivered less than the original had because there's no multiplayer here. Like I just don't see it. Now, maybe the bonus missions totally changed my mind, but spoiler alert, I saw some of the bonus missions when the Shopify guys were playing them when I had to go do something else and I had to bow out for a little bit. The bonus missions look really shitty. But I'm going to reserve my judgment on those till I experience them myself. But they looked like a slog. It looks like just the same [ __ ] over and over and over and over again and that's it. But anyway, overall, I don't think it's like bad because it's still Halo CE. It's just you're playing it again with a different coat of paint, even though you've probably already played it again with a different coat of paint with Halo Anniversary Edition that came out over a

8:33 decade ago. So now you have three Halo versions, all for different coats of paint. Like, yes, there are some gameplay tweaks in here and some quality of life changes. I don't think they're all that meaningful. Yeah, hijacking is cool. sprint I'm very indifferent on. Maybe you're a big sprint enthusiast, but for me it's eh it's whatever. And then like there's some UI tweaks that I don't think add anything to it. Like there's little indicators for every weapon on the ground. So to me that feels kind of useless. Like who gives a [ __ ] Why are you cluttering the screen to let me know that there's a plasma pistol over there and next to a plasma pistol with a plasma rifle right there. So now I have three squares on my screen floating around to let me know that they're there.

9:19 Like I just I am not sold on this being a great idea that they have diverted all of these resources towards and the fact that there's no multiplayer here is just a big time headscratcher for me. But all of this is just coming from the perspective of someone who has who knows how many hours in Halo. So maybe if you've never touched it, you'll really [ __ ] with it. Maybe you'll absolutely love it. Like I know this is on PlayStation now, so all the PlayStation gamers having access to this, maybe this is really hidden for them. But I think if you've already played Halo CE or you've played Halo CE Anniversary, I feel like if you get into this one, you'll probably just walk away feeling like, h, all right. And I think that'll

10:06 be kind of the extent of it. But anyway, that's really about it. Tip.