‘Halo’ Trilogy Designer Slams ‘Campaign Evolved’ Remake For Completely Missing Point Of Xbox Original: “The Dance Remix Of A Classic Song That Skips The Intro And Bridge And Just Thumps The Chorus”
Like many fans, original Halo: Combat Evolved designer Jamie Griesemer is completely unimpressed with Xbox’s recently announced Campaign Evolved, particularly as the remake ignores many of Bungie’s original design choices in favor of ‘modernizing’ Master Chief’s debut sortie.
Announced on October 24th to kick off the 2025 Halo World Championships, Halo: Campaign Evolved will see current franchise stewards Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries, as changed in October 2024) tackling “a ground-up remake of Halo: Combat Evolved‘s genre-defining campaign”, which in addition to “high-definition visuals, improved controls, and refined level design” also features “new missions, expanded gameplay, two-player split-screen on consoles, online and networked co-op for up to four players on console and PC, and seamless cross-platform play with shared progression.”
Set to drop sometime in 2026 for the Xbox Series X|S and PC platforms, perhaps most surprising about the remake’s existence is the fact that it will also release for the PlayStation 5, in doing so marking the first time the Microsoft-exclusive franchise has ever released on a non-Xbox console.
Speaking to the remake’s direction during an interview with Xbox’s Danielle Partis, Campaign Evolved creative director Max Szlagor explained, “We learned from Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary that there was still an appetite for things like better wayfinding, navigation, and diversity in enemy encounters.”
“In The Library specifically [the infamous level in which Master Chief descends deeper into the ring’s information archives via a repeating series of sterile hallways], which features several Flood encounters, we wanted to reevaluate the pacing and enhance the environmental storytelling. We’ve added new lines to Guilty Spark, which guide players through the level, and there’s new dialogue that gives more insight into the narrative as it plays out.”
“We’re not changing the stories, it’s about refining and adding context to this moment, and other levels like it, so players can stay on track.”
Continuing, Szlagor beamed, “Our player-first approach has informed so many decisions for the better.”
“When we introduce new features or make creative choices, we’re constantly checking in with players through our user research studies and our Halo Insider program. Their feedback helps us stay grounded in what feels authentic to Halo.
“We’re so excited about bringing Halo to those who may not have had chance to play it in the past. At its heart, Halo is about connection, we’re thrilled to meet a new generation of players on their platforms of choice to fall in love with Halo the same way we did.
“We’re not trying to rewrite Halo’s legacy – we’re trying to immerse you in it like never before. This is Halo for everyone.”
Yet despite Halo Studios’ reassurances that the remake stays true to the original game’s identity, the aforementioned Griesemer would vehemently disagree.
Retweeting footage of Campaign Evolved‘s first gameplay demo, as set on the game’s debut level The Silent Cartographer, the former Bungie dev first took issue with Halo Studios’ take on Master Chief’s first encounter with the Covenant’s hulking, armored troopers.
“You aren’t supposed to be able to take the Warthog up to steamroll the Hunters,” he explained. “I intentionally placed rocks in the way so you had to fight them on foot. When you can just smash the crates out of the way it wrecks the encounters. But the worst part? They put trees in the landing area of the WooHoo Jump. Lame.”
Tagging franchise co-creator Marcus Lehto, who provided the art direction on the mainline Halo trilogy and the creative director Reach, Griesemer made reference to the name of the level’s original test environment naming and exclaimed, “What have they done to beloved B30?!”
(For those unaware of the ‘WooHoo Jump’, as explained by Griesemer, “There’s a large ramp w a set of Jackals carefully placed at the landing point. When you go airborne your gunner says “Woohoo!”]
“On further analysis I’m sure it’s because the vehicles take damage and so you’re just as likely to destroy the hog as get it over the rocks. If anything that makes it -worse- because -none- of the vehicle tricks are going to work anymore.”
Next taking aim at Halo Studios’ addition of a sprint mechanic, Griesemer laughed, “Sprinting into the shaft vignette so fast that Marty O’Donnell’s music transition doesn’t work properly is the perfect ending. Who is this for?”
Met with agreement from The Washington Post video game critic Gene Park, who recalled how his own demo sessions felt “so short – because they were just drivable. Those rocks were part of the rhythms of the adventure, forcing us to walk and explore and be intimidated by the slow moving hulking Hunters”, the original dev team member compared Campaign Evolved to “The dance remix of a classic song that skips the intro and the bridge and just thumps the chorus over and over.”
Griesemer also took aim at the remake’s addition of a numeric ammo counter to the Needler, a redundant move considering how this information was already conveyed by the weapon’s loaded rounds being physically displayed on and removed from its in-game model.
Replying to Forbes entertainment writer Paul Tassi’s own call out of this design fumble, the designer laughed, “By far the most comically unnecessary embellishment in the whole announcement. I’m not sure it isn’t intentional satire.”
However, like any good critic seeking to be intellectually honest, Griesemer also made sure to offer constructive feedback as Halo Studios’ efforts.
Asked by a fan, “Is there anything you DO like about this announcement?”, he noted, “They kept the music and the AI the same, it looks like. I’m glad I can play it on a Sony system.”
In terms of ‘modernizing’ the game’s quality of life, when pressed as to “what features/mechanics would you have backported from the sequels if you had a Time Machine?”, Griesemer asserted, “Dual wielding. Vehicle boarding. Melee weapons. Halo 3 is the peak in my opinion. Maybe the grappling hook? It’s like a long range melee.”
As noted above, Halo: Campaign Evolved is currently on track to make landfall on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and PlayStation 5 platforms sometime in 2026.
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