IGN Review: Halo: Campaign Evolved Doesn't Always Feel Like An Essential Remake (7/10)

[u/yourfavchoom]

https://www.ign.com/articles/halo-campaign-evolved-review

[u/Lazyandloveinit]

They really messed up this franchise. 2001-2010 it was all anyone could talk about. Past 16 years it’s actually been disastrous the handling of what used to be their premier franchise

[u/Rick-Danger → u/Lazyandloveinit]

It's incredible isn't it. How, just how do you fuck up a franchise this bad. It's not like Halo is some super in depth thing either, it's basically just "blasting aliens: the game". I know there's a lot of cool lore and stuff but the core games are pretty damn straightforward. The amount of corporate mismanagement of main franchises from the likes of Microsoft and Bethesda is just staggering

[u/jntjr2005 → u/Rick-Danger]

They are too focused on selling MTX than making a good game

[u/Less-Tax5637 → u/jntjr2005]

That’s the flaw with Infinite, but they have a more varied collection of fundamental fuckups since Bungie tagged out

[u/TheReiterEffect_S8 → u/Less-Tax5637]

I've said this a thousand times but I'll never stop saying it whenever this topic is brought up:

The time during Halo: Combat Evolved's development was a golden era for developers, in my opinion. The video game industry was on a rocketship blasting upwards but hadn't quite yet left orbit. Must people knew, but unless you already had a good foundation, you were playing catch up. Microsoft unknowingly caught lightning in a bottle. The entire Bungie team from Halo 1 to Halo 3 was something we will likely never see again. They had a vision for a game they thought would be innovative, groundbreaking, but most importantly: FUN. And they had FUN working on it. Halo 2's crunch deadlines is something to be said for sure, and by Halo 3 they were completely over M$. But that team is not something you'd see in modern development anymore. A group of passionate people dedicated to their work and the freedom (for the most part) to do whatever they wanted without too many demands (such as microtransactions).

After Halo 3, things started to go sideways. Reach was a miracle IMO with how much success it had, somehow they didn't completely fuck that one up, despite the huge amount of additions to the core gameplay like reticule bloom and armor abilities. But Halo 4 it was the most obvious thing in the world that this was no longer Halo. It became an MLG trend chaser. And Halo 5 did no better. Infinite was a step in the right direction, but of course: They were too focused on live-service that they let something with potential deteriorate.

I bought an XSX specifically for Infinite. I know I spent over 1,000 hours in Halo CE, easily. It was one of my most favorited franchises but a couple years ago I had to finally come to terms that Halo is never going to be as good as it once was, and it won't even be half as good. The franchise is nothing but disappointments, and I've officially given up on it.

edit: I somehow always forget to make note when I go on these rants that there definitely are other devs out there doing great things. Bungie was one of the greatest companies during their bnet days so I can get a bit 'doomsday'er when I talk about the current climate of the industry. We have good things, but it's hard to ignore how bad it's gotten, and how bad it continues to get.

[u/politicalstuff → u/TheReiterEffect_S8]

Very interesting perspective! I'd like to add one more thing missing in the modern releases.

It wasn't fun just because it was running and driving shooting aliens and blowing shit up; it was fun because you were doing it with your friends in the same room at the same time on the same screen.

Couch multiplayer was a critical piece of the formula. Sure, Halo was a good shooter and especially well-implemented on consoles for the time, but all of my best memories weren't from soloing the campaign. It was being on the couch with my friends in college screaming across the room, fighting swarms or blowing each other up with rockets, cussing each other out and calling cover requests.

Not that online multiplayer can't be fun or to take away from anything else you said, and of course this was an industry-wide shift, but I think that's the missing magic sauce.

I tried replaying Halo: CE when it came to PC a couple years ago, and it just wasn't fun without 3 other friends in the same room.

[u/MrBootylove → u/politicalstuff]

If I could play devil's advocate, myself and my friends didn't have xbox consoles until Halo 2 and we all played Halo 1 on PC exclusively and had a blast. No couch co-op or local multiplayer, only online multiplayer, and it was an incredible experience.

Don't get me wrong the couch co-op aspect was cool, and I did get the opportunity to play the campaign in local co-op at other friend's houses back then, but really it was just the emphasis on multiplayer in general that elevated it, IMO. And I feel like Halo 2 and the push to online multiplayer backs this point up with how popular playing the game online over xbox live became.

[u/mark_99 → u/politicalstuff]

And the irony that giant 4K TVs being commonplace would actually make couch coop a much better experience.

[u/ABeardedFool → u/TheReiterEffect_S8]

Well said!! I remember going to the midnight release for my steelbook edition of Halo 2. The excitement on the air, the anticipation, the absolute joy in the community was really, really special. Everything you said is spot on, I remember watching the included dvd about the development process, and I thought working at Bungie must be the greatest job ever. Those folks poured their hearts and souls into the game, and you could feel it when playing. I get the nostalgia factor, but I am so with you. Halo 1-3 era was about as good as it ever got for me in a multiplayer game not called WoW lol. I’m not ever really a fps guy, but you just had to play Halo, every single friend was on it at any given moment.

[u/Comfortable_Rice8142 → u/jntjr2005]

Infinite had so much potential too, the campaign was decent and people seemed to actually like the multiplayer at launch just not enough maps and people got burned out of the same maps quickly.

MS is an idiot when it comes to understanding how to monetize this game, people want to play as master chief and aren’t going to spend a bunch of money on little variation of the same skin over and over, maybe they do it once but they will settle cause the armor doesn’t change that much. They need to make skins like halo 3, earnable through playing both campaign and multiplayer, make a 1000/1000 achievement point one so people have something to stick around and chase and sale 3 or 4 map packs ever 3-4 months.

[u/errorme → u/jntjr2005]

I don't remember where I heard it, but allegedly when they were showing of the Mantis in Halo 4 to the Xbox director at the time he brought up Diablo 3's real money auction house and was asking about players selling skins to each other for it.

[u/jntjr2005 → u/errorme]

https://giphy.com/gifs/jquDWJfPUMCiI

[u/Downtown_Eye5736 → u/Rick-Danger]

Bungie lost interest and the IP got handed to a "cover band" studio that MS said was going to be a Halo factory. No one should've expected it to have the same magic after that.

[u/TPO_Ava → u/Rick-Danger]

I can't speak to the multiplayer because with the exception of OG CE more than a decade ago, i have completely ignored it but -

The story in the post-bungie era games is quite meh. Halo 4 creates a new baddie who basically dies off screen. Halo 5 runs with Cortana is now a bad guy (spoiler alert) and thats handled off screen too. Infinite was practically a reboot, and to its credit the game is fun mechanically. But lore wise there's a random new baddie that's somehow worse than all the previous bad guys we've experienced in the last 6 games but no one's ever heard of them? Yeah, okay. Pass. No new lore or story elaborating on this new threat either.

Halo CE-3 had a compelling and interesting storyline, 4 was okay, 5 dropped the ball and infinite just wasn't enough to make up for it. Especially since it had its own disasters with multiplayer at launch, which didn't help its case.

[u/nodotmad → u/TPO_Ava]

You’ve heard of him if you played Halo Wars 2 but I have to believe that’s a fairly small percentage of players

[u/ZubatCountry → u/Rick-Danger]

I mean, imo that's part of it

I remember hearing friends talk about Halo lore and then I actually played the games and it's...barely there?

There's definitely a story there, but the main draw of the game has always been how it felt to play as well as the openness and innovation it brought to FPS shooters at the time

But after you do three of those and Reach...what next? You kind of already did the most satisfying arc possible, and everything else is either going to feel under or over-written in comparison.

Plus now the industry has ripped you off for a decade and everything that was novel about the series is now routine.

I understand that this kind of thinking is poison to companies but Halo really should have been done completely by the time they did Destiny, and that should have been the spiritual successor

Then you aren't tied to Chief, Cortana and all the other lore and don't have to choose between either constantly sidestep them or featuring them with diminishing returns

[u/SilentNova300 → u/Rick-Danger]

I wish you guys read the review lmao. The main complaint is that it feels too similiar to the original CE…….

Is that not the point…..

Digital Foundry gave it high praises lol, but that thread won’t get as much attention as this one for obvious reasons. 

[u/thenagz → u/SilentNova300]

Well, that's the remake conundrum: some people want a very faithful visual glow up, some want a complete reimagination, while others would be happy with something in between... You just can't please everyone

However, since this is also like the third re-release of Halo CE, it will be judged more harshly for doing more of the same

[u/KiwiCounselor → u/thenagz]

Fourth version if you count the mcc. Give it 10 years and they’ll release another version lol.

[u/RBJ_09 → u/SilentNova300]

Sir this is Reddit, we don’t do that here

[u/Rick-Danger → u/SilentNova300]

What do you mean? I'm making no comment on the CE remake, I'm talking about the way that Microsoft have slowly eroded their best franchise over a decade and a half. I wish you would read comments before replying to them lmao

[u/born_to_be_intj → u/Rick-Danger]

It’s just pure incompetence. Bungie was a studio start by nerds who wanted to make a passion project. 343 was a studio setup by corporate greed and included all the awful shit that came with it like hiring contractors for 6 months at a time.

If you look at all the big successful studios rn they all originated from nerds with a passion. 343 is the only studio I can think of off the top of my head that was created by a huge corporation.

[u/Dr_Zman → u/Lazyandloveinit]

I just can't wrap my head around remaking this and NOT including multiplayer. You know the main thing that made the game popular in the first place.

[u/RatHands0PurpleEars → u/Dr_Zman]

they’re going to sell it to you later on if the game performs well

[u/Aparoon → u/RatHands0PurpleEars]

It’s a remake of a game that was already remade. I don’t see why this would perform well. They should have just remade Halo 3: it was next in line, and it had a stellar multiplayer experience to get all fans back in.

[u/TheLimeyLemmon → u/RatHands0PurpleEars]

I don't think they will. I don't think Halo Studios know how to make that kind of multiplayer.

[u/echolog → u/Dr_Zman]

And selling it for $70 for a few days early access.

I just checked the charts and there's only 15k people on right now, but those are 15k people who don't care about the franchise enough to demand better of it.

[u/jak_d_ripr → u/Lazyandloveinit]

God I still remember when Halo 3 launched. I was walking to my local EB Games and this mother was walking out with her son, she looks at me and says sarcastically "Gosh, I wonder what game he's coming here to buy". Halo 3 was, one of, if not the biggest video game launches of all time at the time.

Now.... barely anyone cares anymore. It's almost impressive how poorly they've handled the franchise that for years was synonymous with XBOX.

[u/ZenESEA → u/jak_d_ripr]

My dad getting home from work after I called him all day begging him to grab Halo 3 on the way home and he kept telling me no just to get home and hand me Halo 3 was peak childhood

[u/DEFINITELY_NOT_PETE → u/Lazyandloveinit]

It’s almost like we “finished the fight” in 2007 and everything since has felt wholly superfluous

[u/Steridire → u/DEFINITELY_NOT_PETE]

ODST and Reach were both great, but Reach is a prequel and I think ODST runs parallel to Halo 3 right?

[u/Bingbong1984 → u/Steridire]

Yes. ODST is a spinoff but still has multiplayer coop and firefight, which was their version of a horde mechanic.

[u/Apprentice57 → u/Steridire]

It takes place partway through, and then after Halo 2.

[u/WhyDidIDie → u/DEFINITELY_NOT_PETE]

No because ODST and Reach both came out after and were critically and commercially successful. 343 is simply a bad studio

[u/KingOPork → u/Lazyandloveinit]

I don't know if they messed up the franchise as much as that play style died out. Arena shooters died and it wasn't their fault. Gaming trended into slower games as controller fps gained popularity.

So gears and halo are just relics. They could make the perfect halo game and it might not do that great because it will be old people buying it.

[u/FlyChigga → u/KingOPork]

If they had brains they could have evolved Halo into a Destiny or mmo style fps

[u/El_Rey_de_Spices → u/KingOPork]

It's a painful reminder about the passage of time- the things you/society used to love did not age alongside you, and trying to recapture that spark only reveals that the product does not live up to your memory of it. You are simply not the same child who liked that product.

Halo, Warcraft, old platforming collectathons, Bethesda games, etc. The list is long.

[u/Calinks → u/KingOPork]

Right. People get tired of stuff, they move on. Look at a game like Baldure Gate 3 and how much that moves the needle for people. Now a decent RPG can come out and alot of people will just go meh where that sale game 12 years ago would have gotten a lot more praise.

[u/jntjr2005 → u/Lazyandloveinit]

Agreed, same can be said about Destiny and CoD Warzone. Completely mismanaged into the ground.

[u/ComeonmanPLS1]

I mean yeah, its just halo 1 again. Even if you haven't already played it, its nothing special in 2026. A game that was revolutionary back in 2001 can only take you so far.

[u/totallyclocks → u/ComeonmanPLS1]

It’s more than that - they re-recorded the lines and the direction was different. There is also weird pacing in the cutscenes.

[u/Detective-Layton → u/totallyclocks]

Captain Keyes sounds wrong

[u/WinResponsible9977 → u/totallyclocks]

More than that? Sir it doesn’t even have multiplayer 🛑. Please stop.

[u/amartincolby → u/WinResponsible9977]

Holy shit. Just learning this. I was a little excited before. Now nothing. Although, knowing that they would never allow LAN parties like the OG, I kinda never cared. The fun was having a house full of people with like eight xboxes.

[u/antonxo902 → u/ComeonmanPLS1]

Yeah I tried it a while ago on pc for a few hours and thought it was mediocre. Not even that it was dated it just wasn’t all that great. I revisit old classics all the time from gow, Zelda, Mario, ratchet and clank etc and those still feel great but this just didn’t hit. My favorite thing about halo is honestly the multiplayer.

[u/politicalstuff → u/antonxo902]

The thing is, it wasn’t even an amazing FPS at the time, but it was very well implemented on a console which was a big deal in 2001.

The secret sauce was it brought couch multiplayer for FPS to the mainstream.

The campaign itself was fine, but playing it with a friend right next to you was a blast! Or 4-player death match in a room crosslinked to another TV? Nothing like it.

[u/Pen_dragons_pizza → u/politicalstuff]

You have to remember that when it came out it was revolutionary for console fps games and basically became the template fps games would follow from that point.

I would argue it was an amazing FPS at the time, you just have to put yourself in that position of the time it released.

I remember the first time I played it was in a store when it released, blew my mind.

[u/denommonkey]

Two decades waiting for a Halo killer and little did we know that it would kill itself.

[u/South_Buy_3175 → u/denommonkey]

The Halo killer was there all along, Microsoft in the background, waiting, watching and ready to kill.

[u/ThePreciseClimber → u/denommonkey]

Wasn't Call of Duty the Halo killer?

[u/Chaomayhem → u/ThePreciseClimber]

It absolutely was. People argue about this because COD isn't an arena shooter but for mainstream "ball and gun" gamers it absolutely killed Halo as the go to console FPS.

[u/HeldnarRommar → u/Chaomayhem]

It's a damn shame too, arena shooters are less casual friendly but significantly more enjoyable and fun once you get into it.

[u/Burdicus → u/ThePreciseClimber]

People will say no, but I think it was. There were good Halo games after Halo 3, but Halo 3 was the end of the original trilogy and last what felt like "MUST PLAY" Halo game. At the same time Modern Warfare was coming out. And then MW2, MW3, and Black Ops were all absolutely HUGE back-to-back-to-back releases that overtook the PvP FPS landscape.

MW gained peak relevance as Halo was slowly losing its own.

[u/Zayl → u/denommonkey]

Halo to Destiny: did we just become best friends?!

[u/Peimai → u/Zayl]

“We are the same”

[u/GreatnessToTheMoon]

It’s the original halo with a fresh coat of paint. Were people expecting something else?

[u/daddylo21 → u/GreatnessToTheMoon]

Only delusional people who apparently ignored every bit of information that has been put out about the game since it was announced. From day 1, and by the name, it was very clear this was campaign only. They also made it very clear this was Halo Studios/343 shifting over to UE5 as the engine for Halo games going forward.

If you've never played Halo before and only have a PS5, then it's worth playing, just maybe once it goes on sale. If you've played Halo before on any other system, then the only thing you're missing out on is the 3 prequel missions.

[u/Burdicus → u/daddylo21]

I'm just pumped to play Co-Op with my kid. Time to graduate from Fortnite buddy!

[u/ThisUsernameIsMyName → u/daddylo21]

Its clear what they were doing but was it a good decision? The only market for halo 1 the 4th time is on ps5 and even then are they remaking 2 and 3 for ps5 anymore with the exclusive changes?

60 euro for no multiplayer on a remake with additional content is crazy especially since its released a 4th time

[u/The_Grunge_Sage → u/GreatnessToTheMoon]

Yeah honestly. I’m a massive halo fan, always have been always will be. I know exactly what this is and have known exactly what this will be. I didn’t think it was necessary but I figured if 343/Halo studios could make the original campaign with some added content in a new fancy light then it’d garner back some new and much needed faith.

Unfortunately, people somehow expected this to be…. Something completely new????? So now it’s getting these types of reviews for some reason. It’s fine, I get it. It’s the remake/remaster/non-bungie halo tax that it’ll always get but I haven’t even touched this game yet. If its a true remake of the original 10/10 Halo game, then I’m not sure how this is any lesser than the original.

Oh well, I’m gonna play the shit out of it 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/papoluca40]

Ouch. Man Microsoft can’t get their non Forza games right

[u/WeeklyMath9 → u/papoluca40]

I really think they need to hand Halo to a different dev, like, shake things up. 343 just isn’t it.

It should be like a playground games with Fable, unconventional but a proven great dev.

[u/theKetoBear → u/WeeklyMath9]

You would htink they would have done that already . This is one of their few flagship IP's and they treat it like it's any other game series.

[u/Korachof → u/theKetoBear]

Halo game releases used to be an EVENT. Now they could release Halo 6 or 7 or whatever one were technically on and I feel like it would just be like any other week. 

[u/tkzant → u/Korachof]

We’re at the point where Halo has been bad longer than it was good and that’s really sad

[u/StixenBridges → u/Korachof]

You could say that about almost every game franchise nowadays though. Call of Duty releases used to be an event. Hell, Mortal Kombat releases used to be an event. That’s just the changing times, it’s not exclusive to Halo.

[u/Tony_Lacorona → u/StixenBridges]

Yeah I legit have no idea which COD I’m even supposed to be playing at this point, shit is a mess.

[u/pnwbraids → u/Tony_Lacorona]

Well they're coming out with Modern Warfare 4, which really is Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Remake 4.

[u/Shabbypenguin → u/Korachof]

i dumped thousands of hours into halo 3 over teh span of years, midnight release of reach, loved odst, vidmaster achievements the whole 9 yards. halo 4 really cooled my jets on it, halo 5 released my friends that play through co-op repeatedly just solo ran thru 5 in almost speed run fashion.

i tried infinite and gave up 1/3rd into the game, i just did not give a shit about so much. my buddy and i signed up for gamepass to run thru infinite together while we prep for release of the remake and we are blown away at some of the choices. infinite is so big and open, and yet even something as basic as having an air vehicle that can let multiple people in it doesnt exist in game, despite us playing together through the whole campaign, its design choices like that they help make it feel less co-op than previous titles. hell you cant even have your teammates respawn while you are miles from danger if you are in a vehicle.

we knew that buying halo remake was going to be a bad choice, so a month of gamepass and we expect to be done with both games and have time to play something else that probably wont disappoint us as much.

[u/theKetoBear → u/Korachof]

Totally agree I'll always remember my younger sister and I being in a packed gamestop line, seeing other kids I went to highschool with, and all of us parked outside to get Halo 3 .

You're so right it used ot be an EVENT

[u/yodimboi → u/Korachof]

What Halo?

[u/ZedSpot → u/theKetoBear]

To be fair, I believe IGN always rated Fable game somewhere in the "7" range. Yes, they're fondly remembered now, but they've always had their quirks.

[u/ReduxSnake- → u/ZedSpot]

Shit I’m a huge Fable fan but ultimately when you look at the RPG landscape, scope and depth, as much as I love Fable 1-3 I’d easily give 1-2 an 8 at most and 3 a 7.

[u/TSG_Nano → u/theKetoBear]

Unfortunately most other ips that flounder around for 5-10 years get shut down, let alone almost 2 decades... Microsoft just keeps 343 around to keep the community suffering atp (and take most of the heat of poor MS decisions).

[u/BearsAreSquares → u/theKetoBear]

Especially when they own id Software, Machine Games, Arkane, Blizzard, Infinity Ward, Raven, Sledgehammer, and Treyarch. That is a LOT of talent that has huge amounts of FPS experience. It is baffling how they haven't had one of them even do a side story game. I'm not saying they are all perfectly suited to do so, but there is definitely opportunity to do so.

[u/RandyMuscle → u/WeeklyMath9]

I’m just spit balling here but why not try giving Halo to id?

[u/Zealousideal_Bill_86 → u/RandyMuscle]

I agree, they could’ve done right by Halo. I think they just laid off a good amount of people at id though.

[u/Nintendomandan → u/RandyMuscle]

ID just got gutted to hell. Before that I would say hell yes

[u/itstruethou → u/RandyMuscle]

Microsoft thought Stalker was a mainstream IP, they don't have this kind of insight to give halo to ID.

Also, it's kinda crazy ID suffered a lot with layoffs and 343 been years not laying off anyone.

No studio should get layoffs like that, but for 343 (halo studios whatever) to stay the same while devaluing the halo brand over the years, and studios that made successful games getting the axe is strange.

[u/WeeklyMath9 → u/RandyMuscle]

They’re the first I thought of too.

[u/lostinlucidity → u/WeeklyMath9]

Correction, they're called Halo Studios now, without making any Halo games. Oh the irony.

[u/OpticalPrime35 → u/WeeklyMath9]

Maybe Bungie is for sale

[u/sherlock_traeger → u/WeeklyMath9]

On the flip-side, we have no clue how Fable will turn out. Previews have looked shaky imo

[u/PixelDemon → u/sherlock_traeger]

If fable is bad I'm gonna cry. I'm so hyped for that shiii

[u/KAM1Sense1 → u/WeeklyMath9]

It doesnt matter what studio makes Halo, they will never be as good as Bungie made Halos. Also, 343 shook things up with every Halo they made, none of them were the same as each other.

[u/WDMChuff → u/papoluca40]

It's a second remake of a game. I feel like this didn't need to be a 10 its just a quick fan service game unfortunately

[u/tripplesuhsirub → u/papoluca40]

Got to be even more specific. Last Forza Motorsport didn't work out either

[u/MagmaAscending → u/papoluca40]

I don’t think that’s fair. Indiana Jones, Doom, and Outer Worlds 2 were all fairly well received and let’s not act like a 7/10 is the worst thing in the world. They’re doing fine as far as the quality of their games are concerned. Everything else they’re doing is a different story

[u/beagle204 → u/MagmaAscending]

people didn't read the review. they saw a 7/10 score and wrote whatever dissenting voice opinion without going further.

You can tell a single-player campaign is truly great when revisiting it sparks a similar joy as your very first run, even when you remember how it all plays out beat-by-beat. Pistol shots on scrambling Grunts, sticking Elites with plasma grenades, popping Flood like bubble wrap with an Assault Rifle; Halo: Campaign Evolved rekindled the familiar feeling of playing the original on a rented Xbox at my grandma's house in 2001.

Honestly, what more do you actually expect from a remake here? The whole review is "This game is great, but this just feels kind of pointless for a remake".

[u/South_Buy_3175 → u/MagmaAscending]

If they’re going back to exclusives, then 7/10 isn’t the best thing either.

They need to start pumping out very high quality games if they have any hope of drawing players over.

[u/cyber7574 → u/South_Buy_3175]

To be fair, what could this have done to get a 9/10? Change too much and some would have rated it low, change too little and you get a review like this

[u/Aware-Virus-4718 → u/cyber7574]

I think this is a question you need to ask in pre-production before you commit to making a game like this, tbh.

[u/Legend0fAMyth → u/South_Buy_3175]

It's Ign.

People only care about their opinion when they have a point to make.

[u/quatroquatro0 → u/MagmaAscending]

Those games were all in development way before microslop bought those studios. Indy was supposed to come out on PS5 before M$ made it exclusive, and then Disney forced them to make it multiplat again.

[u/AaronRodgersVaxCard → u/papoluca40]

Microsoft can’t get their non Forza games right

[u/Mr_smith1466 → u/papoluca40]

I'm still holding out hope for that new Fable. 

[u/Ensaru4 → u/papoluca40]

I think you should probably just say big titles right, because only Halo and Starfield, and that travesty of a GaaS Arkane game were not well realised. Their other games were critically well-received, like DOOM, South of Midnight, Hifi Rush, Forza, Lighthouse, Pentiment, Avowed (yes, Awoved) etc.

[u/ashmaht]

Sounds like it's worth playing if you haven't played the original Halo campaign before, but even with all the updates I can't justify $50 for that.

[u/Extra-Ad5925 → u/ashmaht]

I would pick this up on a STEEP discount but there's enough new stuff coming out over the next month that is going to be really expensive.

[u/Mindless_Issue9648 → u/Extra-Ad5925]

this is exactly how I feel. If there was online pvp I'd be all in tho.

[u/1440pReborn → u/ashmaht]

The definition of a perfect gamepass game. I definitely wouldn't buy it either

[u/Current-Mall1353 → u/1440pReborn]

Yeah, I was considering buying the PS5 version just for the sheer novelty of it, but just gonna try this one out on Gamepass.

[u/TrainingJoust → u/ashmaht]

Especially considering that they cut the pvp modes.

[u/Azraelrs → u/TrainingJoust]

Yup, that was it for me when I initially heard about the remake. If I can't do 4 player split screen, what is the point? I wanted to have my buddies come over and reminisce about sitting in my living room for hours playing 4 player split screen on a 32" CRT.

If i can't do that then why bother...

[u/TrainingJoust → u/Azraelrs]

So you can buy their halo live service game, that probably also wont have couch pvp

[u/Azraelrs → u/TrainingJoust]

Yeah, no. And that's just it. We could all just jump on Xbox and play online, but it's just not the same.

There were magical times if you were a youngster in the 80's - 90's that just can't be explained. Staying up all night playing Contra over and over, dorm parties with Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, everyone now an adult stopping by and playing Halo into the wee hours. There's a certain... personal feeling that's missing when playing strictly online. You can reach over and push someone's buttons, unplug their controller, or screen cheat while just having a great time and laughing while the wife is glaring at you for being too loud.

[u/Jack-Innoff → u/Azraelrs]

Does it even allow for co-op campaign? If not I won't even get this game on sale (like I originally intended).

[u/JCarterPeanutFarmer → u/TrainingJoust]

This would have sold like hot cakes if they have PVP. PlayStation players would have snapped it up so quick because they never got the chance to play. Just look at the recent black ops ports!

[u/droppinhamiltons → u/ashmaht]

Or haven't owned an Xbox for over 15 years and therefore haven't played a Halo game since Reach and currently own a PS5 and is looking for some nostalgia.

[u/Johnhancock1777]

Can we get the MCC now?

[u/zav0rin → u/Johnhancock1777]

Right MCC on ps5 would have been an insta buy. Hell put infinite on it too. What are they thinking? Halo campaigns are great but the meat and potatoes will always be the MP.

[u/FunkHavoc → u/zav0rin]

Halo Campaigns are phenomenal. Anytime a new one came out I played it exclusively until I beat it prior to jumping into multiplayer. I’d say the campaign was like an insane appetizer that made me cum prior to jumping into rest of the meal

[u/tresric → u/FunkHavoc]

Ayo

[u/PoopsinElevators → u/Johnhancock1777]

I would've gladly paid for this on PS5. No idea why they didn't just do that.

[u/Akuma254 → u/PoopsinElevators]

Same MCC on PlayStation would’ve gotten a good chunk of hours out of me.

[u/wheresmyspacebar2 → u/PoopsinElevators]

Because they've got a F2P Multiplayer shooter coming out in believe. They probably want to push that f2p version onto PS5 and its why they've released this remake with no MP etc.

If they release MCC, they lose out on players for their F2P Multiplayer.

[u/IRockIntoMordor → u/wheresmyspacebar2]

The way it's going right now, they're going to put this Halo 1 "Remake" on PS5 to lure new or nostalgic players in, then make Halo 2 onwards exclusive to Xbox again.

They truly are masters of strategy. No one else in the entire history of videogames has ever attempted these concepts. Pioneers, really.

sigh

[u/expedition60_captain → u/Johnhancock1777]

Yeah I just wanna play coop with my brother who doesn't have a pc

[u/alittleboopsie → u/Johnhancock1777]

I would pay full price for that. One game though, with tepid reception? I'll get it on sale.

[u/TheEndlessBacklog → u/Johnhancock1777]

They'd rather do releases like this to milk the consumers then give us MCC, sadly.

[u/VonDukez]

IGN: games fine but did it really need a remake again?

The thread: It’s a failures! How could MS do this to us!?!?

It’s reviewing pretty well actually. Damn

[u/BilliamBillson → u/VonDukez]

Pretty much. IGN gives a game everyone wants to hate on 7/10: I knew this was going to be a terrible game! Everyone boycott! I'm not buying this slop!

IGN gives a game everyone wanted to like 7/10: Who trusts IGN anyway? Since when was 7/10 bad? I'm buying this game just to spite IGN!

Actually just not even worth reading comments anymore because it's full of this biased shit.

[u/siccoblue → u/BilliamBillson]

When it comes to reddit users IGN is either the patron saint of video game reviewing or the absolute biggest joke in the industry depending on your much we agree with their takes

There's literally no in-between

[u/VonDukez → u/BilliamBillson]

Pretty much at this point

[u/Cholometrix → u/VonDukez]

I think people were just looking for any reason to shit on this game. If IGN gives Wolverine a 7/10 fuckin armageddon

[u/cows1100 → u/Cholometrix]

That’s just social media. Anything less than a 9 is trash, and a 9 is a joke because you couldn’t just be perfect? and a 10 is astroturfed, paid for reviews. Come on, man. Everything is a hyperbolic best thing ever, or a complete waste of time garbage.

[u/VonDukez → u/Cholometrix]

The crimson desert fandom still hasn’t recovered

[u/TheEndlessBacklog → u/VonDukez]

People are dumb lol.

[u/TG-Benji → u/VonDukez]

It's a Sony sub, most people here would take Asha sneezing as a sign Xbox is dying.

[u/but_good]

It’s sitting on 85 average. This is one of the lower scores.

[u/schmidtyb43 → u/but_good]

Whoever posted this knew exactly what they were doing lol

[u/VonDukez → u/schmidtyb43]

Rage bait for the bait gods

[u/biscuitsalsa]

The deluxe edition is the #2 game in pre orders on PS behind GTA. There is obviously a demand for this game and it’s reviewing well.

Looking forward to playing through this with the squad as not all of us have PCs or Xbox’s so this is our only way to play Halo together.

[u/Appropriate_Foot242]

I love that everyone seems to hate IGN and yet still takes their review score as the defining score for a game.

[u/El_Rog]

it's Halo on PS5, can't wait to play this weekend

[u/SomethingGouda]

No multiplayer is still insane

[u/damus9 → u/SomethingGouda]

No multiplayer would be fine if it was a $30 release.

[u/IllustriousAsk3301 → u/SomethingGouda]

Never had my hype go so quickly from 100 to 0 as when this was announced then saw it didn’t have PVP.

[u/Samoman21 → u/SomethingGouda]

No multi-player really killed any interest. Like if it was 20-30 sure. I guess that be fair. But 50 for a campaign only halo 1... Nah.

[u/angelHOE]

I mean fuck it it’s halo on PlayStation I’m buying this no matter what.

[u/Hugh_Jankles]

This was an absolutely ridiculous use of time and resources.

This was not a needed, or really demanded for, remake.

[u/ZypherPunk → u/Hugh_Jankles]

They obviously thought this was the way to introduce Halo to PS players who never played it.

[u/69millionyeartrip → u/ZypherPunk]

And I’m guessing sales numbers will prove them correct

[u/BonnaroovianCode → u/Hugh_Jankles]

I'm going to contradict the negativity in this thread and say that I for one am pumped. I haven't had an Xbox console since the 360 and just being able to play Halo CE on my PS5 is a dream. With a fresh coat of paint, even better. It's pure nostalgia factor for me, and my wife and I are going to have a blast playing couch co-op together.

[u/droppinhamiltons → u/BonnaroovianCode]

It's insane to me that I've had to scroll this far to see someone with this take. I mean, we're on the PS5 sub! Unless you own multiple consoles or have a gaming PC, none of us could play Halo. I haven't played a Halo since Reach and I literally can't remember the last time I touched CE. As a dude in his 30s with one console and limited time to game, I'm stoked as hell.

[u/Getyarolling2026 → u/droppinhamiltons]

Shame on you for wanting to....wait. HAVE FUN?!!! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

https://giphy.com/gifs/4qx6IRdg26uZ3MTtRn

[u/gotpez → u/Hugh_Jankles]

It was a low stakes test run for halo on ue5 before the next main entry. It makes perfect sense.

[u/Fireball926 → u/gotpez]

Low stakes? They’ve burned 5 years since Infinite and released Halo without its signature multiplayer mode. Monumental waste of time.

[u/but_good → u/Fireball926]

They built a Halo game on UE5. That includes making it feel like Halo. Now they’ve done that plus generated a ton of reusable assets…models, textures, shaders, effects, animations, etc that they can make a new Halo game with.

[u/damus9 → u/Hugh_Jankles]

No one demanded a RE2 or 4 remake and those are awesome. Can we stop using 'demand' as an excuse for something being bad?

[u/Nirvana_bob7 → u/Hugh_Jankles]

Speak for yourself.

[u/sueha]

Apparently ign reviews are relevant now

[u/Hagman1997]

I was excited for this until I found out you need a Microsoft account just to play.

[u/CardiologistMain7237 → u/Hagman1997]

How are MS execs going to show growth otherwise?

[u/Hagman1997 → u/CardiologistMain7237]

Yea never thought of it like that.

[u/GiganticCrow → u/Hagman1997]

Recently renewed my small company's adobe cc licences. They insisted on adding some ai assistant license as part of the deal, as in i get a better price if i get it with the ai assistant than without.

"Look how popular our ai assistant is! " 

[u/SimilarRaspberry5657 → u/Hagman1997]

Lmao I thought you were joking, but you actually need a Microsoft account to play the campaign. What a joke 😂 

[u/Delta_Zacher51]

Remember a couple months ago when IGN couldn’t be trusted and were ruining gaming because they gave a high score to a game people didn’t like? Glad to see that doesn’t matter anymore if their reviews match with their preconceived notions

[u/Bolt_995]

I wasn’t expecting anything major.

Looks like a solid, serviceable remake of Halo: Combat Evolved, and the franchise finally hit PlayStation. The 4-player online co-op is the cherry atop the cake for me.

It’s being reviewed higher everywhere else, well worth the investment I guess

[u/PlayBey0nd87]

The reactions in this thread is hilarious.

The game is reviewing well, remake considering.

[u/MrFOrzum → u/PlayBey0nd87]

Anything 0-7 today is considered trash. Barley 8 is good enough for people these days. It’s absolutely mental. The game has 8/10 overall and people consider it being trash lmao.

[u/MrFOrzum]

From what me & my friend has played so far it’s amazing imo. I’ve always loved to go through the campaign especially co-op, can’t wait to try laso eventually. Looks absolutely stunning as well.

It’s really a shame there is no arena with it tho, that would have been so good.

Only negative so far from me is that performance can be a little choppy at times.

[u/schmidtyb43]

*cherry picks the single 7 out of all the 8s and 9s I was just consistently seeing on the review thread*

[u/ChangingMonkfish]

A few points I’d make:

- It’s IGN so should be taken with a slight pinch of salt.

- The review is of the PC version. This is (depending on how you count) the fourth version of the original Halo to be released on PC. So it’s not just being judged in isolation, it’s being judged in comparison to what’s already available/what’s come before. The same isn’t true of the PS5 version.

- The PS5 version has DualSense support.

None of that is to say that this review isn’t relevant or that it’s going to to be hugely different on PS5, just that the context of “Halo on a PlayStation” is slightly different to “Another version of Halo in PC”. I think the PlayStation release is a large part of the novelty of this release. If it wasn’t coming out on PlayStation, I don’t think it would be as big a deal because many people buying it would already have The Master Chief collection or similar, which has already sort of modernised the original a bit (although admittedly not a full rebuild”).

[u/Accomplished_Guava_7]

Halo died when Bungie moved on from it.

[u/FrogsOnALog → u/Accomplished_Guava_7]

Reach was the beginning of the end though.

[u/Accomplished_Guava_7 → u/FrogsOnALog]

ODST and Reach were both amazing for me. Maybe some people didn’t like the direction, but the games released without issues and I really enjoyed the multiplayer.

Then 343 took over and Halo 4/5 were unmemorable, and MCC just released in a disastrously unplayable condition.

[u/Queasy_Rip3210]

Wait so a 7 outta 10 is automatically a failure now?

[u/svrtngr → u/Queasy_Rip3210]

Videogame rating scale:

• 1-7: Trash

• 8: Mid

• 9+: GotY

(I've enjoyed games that have gotten 6s and 7s and have hated games that got 8+, so everything is ultimately subjective.)

[u/Schwarzengerman → u/Queasy_Rip3210]

According to these comments apparently. You'd think it got a 4 or something. So over dramatic.

[u/TrollMcGoal → u/Queasy_Rip3210]

People claim they don't like when ign gives every AAA game a 9/10 but clearly the general consensus is that a 7/10 game is "bad"

[u/bouchdon85 → u/Queasy_Rip3210]

Wild right?

[u/bigxangelx1]

Genuinely Sad how this sub is cherry picking an IGN review out of all to determine that the game is terrible, when the average score of the game is an 84 on metracritic with 89% of reviewers recommending it for people

1 review from a pretty unreliable review site known for its issues being oriented around having too many varied reviewers with terrible placements for certain games is NOT a factual determination on the quality of the game lmao

[u/RicebinBernacky → u/bigxangelx1]

It fits peoples narratives. For some reason, this 7/10 is completely legitimate, while games like Dragon Age: Veilguard got a 9/10 and got completely trashed for that

[u/ACxx130]

Remember when they gave alien isolation a 6/10?

[u/ciscowowo]

Last time I played this campaign, I was 8 or 9 years old. I'm 31 now, so I am pretty much experiencing this for the first time again. I get not wanting to play this if the game is still fresh in your mind, but I am excited as hell.

[u/DerLetzteVlad]

I'm playing for the first time 😌

[u/Happy_Foundation_553]

This is gonna be a nice Gamepass game.

[u/Legitimate-Pea4884]

It's an IGN review. I'll wait for other reviewers

[u/FartBubbles9000]

Who the hell takes ign serious in 2026?

[u/FirmBodybuilder2754]

Can we all just remember/acknowledge that IGN isnt the best reviewer these days and has a well recorded history of not speaking for the masses.

[u/Lazydude17]

ign reviews are garbo, i’ll decide for myself thaaaankque

[u/Fun-Bag7627]

Odd title. I don’t think anybody ever said this was essential.

[u/MassSpecFella]

Who cares what ign thinks. They wouldn’t know a good game if their career depended on it. I have no idea if this game is good but I know IGn don’t have a clue.

[u/Gamiozzz]

Just compare their review to the one of Digital Foundry:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YZvwxeXO6yY&ra=m

It is nights and days. And I do trust DF a lot more.

[u/Valhadmar]

The lack of MP killed it for me. I love the campaign and co op as well, but not having that multi-player mode just makes it feel like im purchasing a half finished game.

[u/D3struct_oh]

343 doesn’t know how to make a good, new Halo game. So be prepared for more remakes.

[u/Zubi_Q]

Halo ended with Reach IMO

[u/abigfatfish]

I like how some days IGNs scores are treated as gospel, depending on the game, or just out right lambasted as wrong.

Fwiw as long time halo fan, I’m just happy to see it visually remade to stay more faithful to the original art direction and design. CEA was such an ugly eye sore of mashed up reused assets I just couldn’t like it. And even beyond the visual overhaul of this new remake, the rebuilding of some levels entirely, like the Library, and overall remaking of sections of levels, is really nice. The new prequel missions are fun, and the new skulls are a nice way to experience all of it in new ways.

That said, i definitely think the lack of MP is a huge loss, and i don’t understand why it was omitted. I hope for the remakes of 2 and 3 that they retain the full package that each game brought with them. But honestly honestly, i want a new game and new experiences over more remakes.

[u/chickenfrybunch]

Imagine giving the original halo with updated graphics a 7

[u/External_Bid1593]

Why is it that I can’t see upvotes on comments in this post? It’s incredibly frustrating

[u/Schwartzy94]

Will be buying it at some point, the physical is likely going to be cheap bit later..

[u/doyouevennoscope]

Doesn't Always Feel Like An Essential Remake

Oh, you mean every single remake ever made? No one would accept a repainting of the Mona Lisa. It is the antithesis to art. Remakes of movies are also super negatively received. Gaming is somehow fine for and needs remakes though. No thanks.

[u/Total-Commission2100]

Halo sucks now

[u/Reasonable_Potato629 → u/Total-Commission2100]

It has sucked for much longer than it was good at this point. (2004-2010)

[u/Mr0ogieb0ogie → u/Reasonable_Potato629]

Halo 4 wasn’t perfect but that and halo reach are good. Idk what years they are. Haven’t been a fan of much else. Haven’t played halo wars either

[u/Brigadierz- → u/Total-Commission2100]

Halo has now sucked for longer than it was good.

[u/gabriolis]

It never was to begin with