Introduction

There will never be a better FPS game in my mind than Halo: Combat Evolved. Originally released in 2001 on the Xbox, Halo: Combat Evolved did exactly what its title suggested: it evolved the way we see first-person shooters. Developed by Bungie, Halo changed the gaming world in countless ways, and even in 2026, its design philosophy can be felt across the FPS genre. So it surprised me to learn that despite already receiving a remaster, Halo would get the full remake treatment — and that’s exactly where we are today with Halo: Campaign Evolved. Developed by the newly rebranded Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries), Halo: Campaign Evolved doesn’t position itself as a new entry in the franchise but rather a fresh start that honors the heart of the original game fans loved worldwide. Here’s the million-dollar question: is Halo: Campaign Evolved a true rebirth of a legendary game? We’re about to find out together in our Halo: Campaign Evolved review for PS5!

Gameplay

I thought carefully about how to approach talking about Halo for those who’ve played it and those who haven’t. I’ll try not to bore veterans with what they already know, but it is worth establishing that Halo: Campaign Evolved has changed the original formula in several meaningful gameplay ways.

Players assume the role of Master Chief, an armored supersoldier who happens to be humanity’s last real hope against an alien threat known as The Covenant. While in cryosleep aboard the Pillar of Autumn, the Chief is awakened after a Covenant attack forces an emergency crash landing on a mysterious ring-shaped world called simply, Halo. Master Chief alongside his AI companion Cortana must now save the surviving crew of the Autumn and find a way to stop the Covenant threat from reaching humanity.

Like its predecessor, Halo: Campaign Evolved doesn’t front-load the story and instead lets you absorb what’s happening through dialogue and cutscenes as you play. What you need to worry about is killing aliens and surviving an intergalactic threat. Fortunately, Master Chief has plenty of tools to do exactly that.

As an FPS, Halo: Campaign Evolved is still among the best. Sharp, precise gunplay with a wide variety of weapons — machine guns, rifles, alien weapons, and more. Every gun feels useful in its own right and no single weapon is definitively weaker than the rest. Even the humble plasma pistol, in capable hands, can charge down an enemy’s shields in one shot before switching to rapid fire to finish the job. New to Campaign Evolved are several weapons that weren’t available to the player in the original, including the energy sword (enemies had it, but you couldn’t use it before) and the machine gun later introduced in Halo 2.

Vehicles have also received meaningful handling upgrades, feeling more like actual cars in a racing game than before. They still handle with just a hint of looseness (we don’t condone drinking while driving), but it works. The ability to hijack enemy vehicles from modern Halo titles is also present here, and I’m fully on board with that addition. There’s even a new ship to pilot in space across the new missions, which I’ll get to momentarily.

Halo: Campaign Evolved includes three brand new campaign missions never seen in any version of Halo before. Set a year before the Halo incident and featuring Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson, I won’t spoil the details but I will say I genuinely enjoyed them. They feel intentional and integrated rather than thrown in as an afterthought.

My two gripes with the gameplay are worth addressing. The first: no multiplayer. Halo Studios was clear that Campaign Evolved would be focused purely on the campaign experience, so there’s no PVP here, which will frustrate many fans. The second involves co-op. While it supports up to four players and split-screen, every participant is required to have an Xbox account. I understand that this is still technically an Xbox franchise, now finally available outside that ecosystem, but requiring an Xbox account on a PS5 is genuinely absurd. I spent at least 20 minutes setting up an account for my dad so we could play together. Annoying doesn’t quite cover it.

Graphics

Halo: Campaign Evolved truly does not look like a game from 25 years ago. The visuals have been fully revitalized, with new designs, overhauled cutscenes, and updated maps that breathe fresh life into familiar environments. Halo Studios deserves real credit for preserving the visual identity of Combat Evolved while enhancing what genuinely needed to be enhanced. Character designs are slightly updated, maps have been subtly reworked, and entirely new content has been added throughout. I was genuinely nervous when I heard this was the direction they were taking, but having played through Campaign Evolved, I can confidently say it was the right call. Having played the original so many times, experiencing it with this level of visual polish felt almost like playing a new game.

Sound

One thing that will never be surpassed in gaming is the iconic Halo score. Hearing that opening theme still sends chills down my spine. For the most part, Halo: Campaign Evolved hasn’t altered the OST significantly, and that was absolutely the right call. The voice acting is a slightly different story, but let me explain — we have two returning voices and two newcomers, and in the end, it works beautifully.

Steve Downes returns as Master Chief and Jen Taylor returns as Cortana, which made me genuinely smile. These two have voiced these iconic characters from day one, and I still believe they’re the only people truly capable of inhabiting them. Sergeant Johnson, previously voiced by David Scully, is now voiced by Keston John, and Captain Keyes, previously voiced by Pete Stacker, is now played by Keith Silverstein. Both characters are pillars of the original experience, and I’m pleased to report that neither new voice misses a beat. Some fans will inevitably push back, but as a fan myself, I think both are excellent additions to the Halo voice legacy.

Story

The story of Halo: Campaign Evolved remains largely faithful to the original, with the narrative staying almost identical to what fans already know and love. The changes that do exist are minor, mostly tied to the additional story content handled by Troy Denning (who has written many of the excellent Halo novels). Nothing here will send fans into a rage or fundamentally alter the experience. I appreciate the restraint Halo Studios showed in leaving the core story intact, and for the handful of changes and additions, I’d argue they make the overall narrative better rather than worse.

Overall Impression

Halo: Campaign Evolved accomplishes two things that matter most for any Halo game: it’s still a joy to play, solo or with friends, and it feels and looks unmistakably like Halo. There are moments where I hesitate to call this a pure remake, because so much has been subtly altered and upgraded, but those changes are exactly what a nearly 25-year-old game needed when being brought to a modern audience. Campaign Evolved got the facelift it needed, even if many of us didn’t know we wanted one. Yes, the lack of multiplayer is frustrating, and the Xbox account requirement for co-op is genuinely unnecessary. But come on. It’s Halo.

Conclusion

Halo: Campaign Evolved proves that remaking a beloved game can be done right when approached with love and genuine passion for the source material. Despite not being helmed by the original Bungie team, Halo Studios handled this with capable and clearly caring hands. Is it a perfect remake? There are moments where it comes close, but a few odd design decisions keep it from fully crossing that line. Still, if you’re a Halo fan who has always wanted to experience it outside of Xbox (even if this isn’t the original), Campaign Evolved is absolutely for you. And even for those who have played Halo a hundred times over, this is worth experiencing fresh. Personally, I’m already hoping for remakes of Halo 2 and Halo 3. Those could be something truly special.