[i][b]The following review is based on a bias/objective formation of Halo: Campaign Evolved at early access launch and soon official release. Disclaimer: the game hasn’t officially released yet, so the following may be subjective to change or updated via patch notes, blogs, or other subjective opinions.[/b][/i] [u]The year is 2001… two months after a tragedy in U.S. history, a game was released with the launch of the original Xbox. This game changed the FPS genre and gaming forever. [b]Halo: Combat Evolved[/b]. It’s a new game developed by a new company under Microsoft. Halo: Com at Evolved garnered strong positive reviews and praises for its narrative, fun gameplay, and an immersive world to explore like no other game.[/u] [b]25 years later.[/b] Halo: Campaign Evolved gets announced at Halo World Championship in 2025 unveiling a new remake that is [b]faithful[/b] yet modernized to the foundation of the original. A new game from the ground up. Prior to Campaign Evolved’s release, 14 years early Microsoft crunched a young Saber Interactive to make Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary to hit the 10-year deadline. It proved to be only a [b]remaster[/b] not a full [b]remake[/b]. Under the guidance and leadership change at Halo Studios, Halo: Campaign Evolved takes the liberty of modernizing & revamping the original game’s structure to be more modernized and a love letter to the franchise. New graphics. New gameplay based on the Blam! Engine (Halo Reach). New sound. New twists and turns. I got the privilege to play it early access on July 23, 2026 and as of right now I have poured [i]40 hours[/i]. I’ve played it solo, with my brother, and finally 4 player co-op with my friends. Here are my thoughts: [b]First of all…[/b] let me say Happy 25 years of Halo! It’s so amazing to be alive and to celebrate one of the greatest FPS games ever to be made in video game history. Halo is one of those games that you always come back and never forget your roots. Despite what the pessimistic, cynical Internet has to say, Halo has [i]always[/i] been an epic, sci-fi piece of art. Taking people like my friends and myself across the galaxy. Through Halo CE to Infinite, it’s been 20 years of kicking alien -blam!- and saving the day. But also feeling the shoes of the Master Chief. When I first saw Halo CE as a remake, I admit: [b]I was skeptic at first[/b]. Why would we need a Halo CE remake? To celebrate the franchise or to elongate development of the next mainline in the franchise? Both of those questions would never be answered, but at the 2025 reveal I found myself eager and more accepting of this remake. Just like Resident Evil 4 Remake in its announcement, I was hyped. I couldn’t wait to imagine what the game would look like. How it would feel, how it would sound, how it would resonate me. I have good news. [b][u]It delivered perfectly.[/u][/b]. It captured that original Halo feel I felt twenty years ago. It never got boring or tedious. It was fresh and exciting. A revisit to the past but in an authentic way. I really love the Unreal Engine 5 graphics. How the Northwest Pacific geography looks on the Ring, to the Snow White blanket of ice and frost on Assault on the Control Room. The dialogue was still cheesy and iconic. I especially loved Chief’s armor design. His Mjolnir Mark V armor is peak. Literal peak. Just like Halo: Infinite I admired his armor in that game as here. It just fits like a glove. Everybody else looks amazing. The Covenant look recognizable and the Flood… well… 👀 Anyway, let me summarize this: - Amazing gameplay that is fun and challenging - Good stability and optimization (on my XBOX Series X) - Iconic soundtrack that never leaves my brain - Fun replayability - More ways to expand your experience via accessibility and other features such as 42 skulls total, HUD changes, armor customization, etc. - A blast from the past! - Awesome level design (I’m so, so, so, so glad Halo Studios redesigned the Library. It doesn’t suck anymore) - The cutscenes are glorious! They remind me of Blur Studios! - The three new Prequel missions (written by famous Halo novel author Troy Denning) bring a fun, fresh adventure with Chief & Johnson in OPERATION: METEORITE - Cool endings! - Best of all: an affordable price of $50 standard and $70 for the Premium Edition While I had my fun, I have some criticisms/feedbacks that aren’t heavily negative: - Some graphical hiccups/pop ins - Co-op may glitch when you die and see a black screen (hope this gets fixed) - Enemy AI is absurdly hard on Legendary (this may be a lingering problem from Halo Reach) - Marine AI is lackluster and needs rework - No difficulty log when selecting levels (I.e., says this level has been beaten on X difficulty in the menu) Overall, that’s all I got! I’d [b]heavily recommend[/b] this game if you love Halo or just getting back into it! It’s absolutely peak, as a lifelong Halo fan I can vouch and say that it was worth the wait and releases tomorrow at July 28, 2026 for everyone (including GamePass users). Bravo Halo Studios!