Why now is the perfect time for a Halo: Combat Evolved remake
Oct. 21, 2024Opinion | What? Master Chief is evolving!
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Halo is entering a new chapter. Now, for anyone who’s stuck with the Halo games over a significant period of time over their 23-year history, those words could be a cause for concern, depending on whether you appreciated343 Industries' first take on the franchise in Halo 4, the muddled Halo: Guardians, or the (far better) open-worldHalo: Infinite.
Either way, 343 Industries is now rebranding asHalo Studios, moving development of future games to Unreal 5 (instead of 343’s Slipspace Engine), and looking to turn over a new leaf. That makes it the perfect time for a remake of the game that kicked off the entire franchise – Halo: Combat Evolved.
Remaster chief
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Since June, there have been rumors thatMicrosoft is considering a remaster of the first Halo game, with eyes to launch it beyond Xbox consoles – which seems possible given the company’s increasingly open-minded attitude towards platform exclusivity. It might be odd to play Halo on a souped-upPS5 Pro, with no high-spec Xbox console upgrade seemingly planned, but it would certainly open up Master Chief’s story to new audiences.
I don’t think fans need a split-up trilogy of games, in the vein ofFinal Fantasy 7 Remake– to me, an exhausting amount of content – and there’s little danger of that, given Halo: CE’s campaign can be beaten in 10 or so hours. But I’d love to see a modern take on the game that expands the world, reworks its graphics, and improves level design in some of the game’s hard-to-navigate pain points (cough, the Library, cough). Some revising of enemy, weapon and vehicle locations, along with terrain and environmental design, could also do a lot to keep the game feeling fresh for audiences old and new.
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More than anything, I’d love for Halo Studios' developers to reconnect with what made the original so good, going back over the blueprint that launched such a wildly successful franchise. While Halo: Infinite was a great return to form, the Halo games spent years in the wilderness – when it came to their single-player campaigns, at least – and this new chapter for the franchise needs to cleave close to what Halo does best. What better way to do that than going back to where it all began?
The first level of Halo: CE gave me chills the first time I played it, as I navigated a tense, claustrophobic battle on a boarded spaceship and crash-landed onto an expansive world. Halo’s franchise has had a similar journey, starting small and focused before sprawling into the platform-defining behemoth that it is today. However, as in Halo’s large sandboxes and ancient megastructures, it’s good to know where you’re going before you rush off in a new direction.
Pass the time until Master Chief’s return with thesegames like Halo.
Henry St Leger is a freelance technology and entertainment reporter with bylines for The Times, GamesRadar, IGN, Edge, and Nintendo Life. He’s a former staffer at our sister site TechRadar, where he worked as the News & Features Editor, and he writes regularly about streaming, games, D&D, and a host of home technologies including smart speakers and TVs. He lives in London with his Nintendo Switch (OLED) and spouse (not OLED).
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