The crown jewel of Microsoft Xbox games is officially going to cross enemy lines in 2026. Halo: Campaign Evolved will release next year on PlayStation 5. The news on the remake has been so excessively anticipated that it could barely even pass as actual news by the time the Gameplay Demo video dropped. The trailer looks impressive with re-worked lighting, stunning graphics, and sharp textures. The Warthog has a metallic shine to it, the plasma rifle fire glows, and Master Chief’s visor glints. But, according to Halo fans on Reddit, these are actually all bad things. Most significantly, there is a large boulder missing on the beach in ‘The Silent Cartographer’ mission.
Let’s dig deeper into all the things that are seemingly wrong with a game that hasn’t even been released yet.
Gameplay Demo Video Causes Reddit Meltdown
Despite fans asking Halo Studios, formerly 343 Industries, formerly Bungie, for a proper remake for years, now that it is finally here, they hate it. Halo Campaign Evolved does not have an official release date as of the time of writing; all that we know for certain is that it will release sometime in 2026. So how can a game that is not even out yet already receive an avalanche of criticism, negativity, and bad takes?
The recently revealed Gameplay demo video on the official Halo YouTube channel may be the culprit here. With roughly 1.3 million views and nearly twenty thousand comments, and god knows how many shares and likes (or dislikes) on social media, this short Gameplay demo has certainly managed to catapult this old-school franchise back on the gaming news cycle. But what exactly about this 13-minute-long video set Halo’s subreddit ablaze?
Sky Too Blue, Fire Too Bright, Fans Too Loud
Halo’s subreddit’s admin must have noticed a spike in activity in the last two weeks as fans of the franchise went into a frenzy posting, commenting, and lamenting. One of my personal favorites is the missing rock on the beach during the ‘Silent Cartographer‘ mission. Apparently, there is an entire discussion among fans about the importance of this boulder. One of the fun things to do on Halo is to do things that the game designers did not plan on. Once you’ve replayed the solo missions multiple times to the point that you could walk them blindfolded of course. As one Redditor puts it, “Getting the warthog where it shouldn’t be is the unofficial meta game of Halo.” This rock, evidently, was pivotal to doing shenanigans with the warthog vehicle. Without it, it’s just a dull old beach full of evil aliens trying to kill you with their high-tech blasters.
That Station Isn’t Going To Save Itself
Halo’s in-game architecture was also heavily scrutinized as the prominent Forerunner structure on the beach was considered too “sleek” and “shiny”. The Redditor of this post went so far as to insist, “I feel this needs to be brought close to the top as far as feedback.” Hard-core fans appreciate the brutalist and stony aesthetic of Forerunner buildings that have been sitting there for eons. As buildings that have been standing there since before the invention of time, it is expected that they should look a little more run-down.
Another big discussion is centered around the Master Chief’s ability to run. Purists of the original games insist on the fact that they couldn’t sprint during those games and that the remake should honor that decades-old tradition. A Redditor lays out both sides of the argument by explaining how he doesn’t like the change, and the pro-sprint team just wants people to stop complaining about every small detail.
The debate on this subreddit got heated as pro-runners and anti-runners explained their entrenched positions. “Yeah, well, purist isn’t an insult. I’m not obligated to enjoy something that is different from the thing I previously enjoyed. Also, just a misunderstanding of ‘purism’. I don’t hate new things because they are new; I hate them because they aren’t faithful, because they don’t respect the source material.” Apparently, sprinting, or should I say the absence of it, was a big part of the original Halo’s appeal.
Nostalgia Meets Impossible Standards
For a game such as Halo, that has been around for two decades, its biggest competition isn’t other fantasy/sci-fi first-person shooters. Halo’s true enemy is memory, or should I say nostalgia. There is a lot of idealization in how players talk about their favorite childhood video games, be it Halo or any other iconic era-defining game. Gamers aren’t looking for remakes, remasters, or sequels. What they are truly after is a time machine.
From what I could see from the 13-minute-long demo video, Halo Campaign Evolved doesn’t look bad. But it does look different. Bringing the Halo franchise over to the Unreal Engine 5 was a bold decision by Halo Studios. There’s no doubt about it. The game will inevitably look and feel different on a modern console. Especially with modern graphics and new core movement mechanics, such as running. It is, possibly, this newness and difference that may cause problems for some of the old-school players.
By no means am I trying to suggest that the original Halo wasn’t a milestone game that changed solo, multiplayer, and online gaming forever. But this level of nitpicking is hurting the franchise more than fans realize. Whether the colours are “too bright” or there is a missing rock on a beach, or the architecture isn’t “brutalist” enough (actual quote). Can we never be happy? To revive Halo, to let it rise from its ashes, players need to ease up on the negativity. Will PlayStation players want to join a toxic community of evangelical Halo purists? That’s doubtful, at best. Furthermore, it should go without saying that without sales, fans, purists or not, will have to wait even longer for the forever-anticipated Halo 7.
The Great Journey Begins
Has all this HALO Sub-Reddit drama got you wound up enough you need to see the video yourself? Or maybe you just want to watch it all again because it’s Halo: Campaign Evolved. Either way check out the gameplay trailer below.
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