Halo Studios, formerly known as 343 Industries, released Halo: Campaign Evolved on July 28. This game is the third remaster of the first Halo game, Halo: Combat Evolved.
Game engines set the foundation for how a game is built, being the toolbox that developers rely on when building a game. Halo Studios’ decision to rebuild the first Halo game entirely on Unreal Engine 5 marks the franchise’s shift towards a new engine. Notably, Unreal Engine is a source-available engine, heavily contrasting the original game’s closed-source Blam! Engine — which was created exclusively for the Halo franchise by Halo’s original developers at Bungie Inc. Since the Blam! Engine’s initial development, it has been updated multiple times, eventually evolving into the Slipspace Engine under Halo Studios, which was created for their 2021 game Halo Infinite. Because the development of previous Halo titles had remained extremely loyal to the Blam! Engine’s code, the switch to Unreal Engine is both an exciting and daunting step for the franchise.
Halo: Campaign Evolved is also the first Halo game in the franchise to be available on PlayStation consoles, with previous installments being Xbox exclusive titles. It is also the first Halo title to allow for fully cross-platform cooperative (co-op) between personal computer, Xbox and Playstation.
The 2001 original had a resolution of 480p and limited textures that appeared stretched on certain sections of in-game terrain. The remake, by contrast, has a 1080p-1880p resolution and stunning visuals. There is striking realism, lovely water physics and breathtaking views of the Halo Ring in the sky, reimagining the original with better aesthetics. There is a certain charm to the low resolution of the original game. However, with the remake, Halo Studios transformed the original game with the new tools of Unreal Engine while maintaining the same charm that initially drew players to Halo: Combat Evolved. This not only modernized Halo: Combat Evolved’s graphics, but it gives players a taste of the kind of visual quality they can expect for the Halo franchise going forth.
Despite this aesthetic overhaul, with the visuals being tremendously upgraded on Unreal Engine 5, the rest of Halo: Campaign Evolved remains true to the original game. The weapons, controls, storyline, cutscenes and maps remain recognizable in feel, despite being on a new engine and completely remade. Not only was the game itself rebuilt, but the characters’ in-game voice lines were re-recorded as well. This decision to replace the original audio received mixed opinions from fans, with some viewing the new recordings as a significant downgrade. However, they do not seem to directly alter the storyline in any significant way — other than the line delivery feeling a bit emotionally flat at times.
Following the initial launch of Halo: Campaign Evolved, players noticed the lack of multiplayer modes. The original game not only released with the campaign, but had five iconic Player Vs. Player (PVP) style multiplayer modes, including Capture the Flag, Slayer, King of the Hill, Oddball and Race. The lack of multiplayer does leave Halo: Campaign Evolved feeling a bit short and incomplete. Not much else is left for players to come back to and engage with after finishing the campaign, which only takes between five to eight hours to complete.
Though, completing the campaign may take a while longer than expected, since the game has a tendency to crash frequently, due to an extensive number of connectivity errors when playing the campaign on co-op. These connectivity issues appear to be widespread.
On July 31, one player went to r/halo to figure out if they were the only one experiencing connectivity issues, creating a post titled “Halo Campaign Evolved Disconnecting Co-op Sessions Multiple Times Mid Mission (Xbox Series X).”
“Has anyone else had troubles with trying to play a co-op game with a friend? We’ve gotten through Pillar fine. Dropped in Halo once. [Truth and Reconciliation] took three attempts. Cartographer took three. Control Room is taking us over four attempts still,” the player wrote, referring to multiple missions where they had experienced server disconnections.
The player additionally noted that the person they were playing with was their roommate, who was on the same type of console and had wired internet connection; thus, there were no differences in platform or network, implying an issue with the game itself.
Despite these connectivity issues being a co-op exclusive issue, they are definitely frustrating for players. The heavy number of these crashes slows player progression and dampens the overall fun of the play experience, forcing players to restart missions after disconnecting over and over.
Given that Halo: Combat Evolved was released in 2001, and there was already a 2011 remaster, Halo: Campaign Evolved’s on-launch issues are disappointing. Halo: Campaign Evolved is not a fresh game in the franchise, so these issues makes it feel all the more unpolished and indicates that it might have been rushed to release.
Moreover, the campaign itself is not without its bugs. At times, the control keybinds continue to be active with the spectator camera after player death. Outside of this, however, the number of bugs appears to be minimal.
While Halo: Campaign Evolved shows promise for the continuation of the Halo franchise on Unreal Engine 5, with awe-inspiring visuals and recognizable gameplay mechanics, the game’s launch is unfortunately ridden with co-op connection issues. Since Halo: Campaign Evolved is setting the tone for future, fully cross-play Halo games, these on-launch connectivity issues are concerning. Though, if Halo Studios can address and fix the co-op issues with the game, their switch to Unreal Engine 5 could prove beneficial for the franchise and future titles.
Juliana Maldonado is an Arts and Entertainment Staff Writer. She can be reached at jrmaldo1@uci.edu.
Edited by Travis Foley.
![Juliana Rosie Maldonado in black glasses, a black jacket,] and crossbody black bag.](https://newuniversity.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/5c0c11ac-56cf-4a34-ad63-1e0ff1460eff-Juliana-Rosie-Maldonado-150x150.jpg)
Juliana Maldonado is a third year Literary Journalism and Game Design & Interactive Media double major. Maldonado is a 3D Environmental Artist with a heavy interest in covering music, film, and just about everything game related, from student made indie games to Triple-A titles.