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Halo: Campaign Evolved Hands-On Demo – It’s The Halo You Love, But Even Better
Summary
- We went hands-on with Halo: Campaign Evolved’s remake of Assault on the Control Room, Combat Evolved’s memorable fifth – and longest – campaign level.
- Halo: Campaign Evolved Creative Director Max Szlagor joins us to share why the team wanted to showcase this level, and highlights the big changes.
- Halo: Campaign Evolved arrives on July 28 – pre-orders are available now. It will be available for XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, cloud, and included with Game Pass. Play it on both console and PC at no additional cost with XBOX Play Anywhere. Also available on Steam and PlayStation 5.
After a solid five minutes of playing cat-and-mouse with an invisible Covenant Elite, having to quietly duck around corners and constantly watching my back, before finishing him off and then taking his sword as the prize, it became clear that to me that this is still the classic Halo experience I know and love. However, technological leaps and 20+ years of hindsight from both the community and the studio itself have built an experience that sits truly at home in the modern gaming landscape. Here’s what we know.
This week, I was able to spend some time with a new demo from the upcoming Halo: Campaign Evolved – specifically, the game’s version of ‘Assault on the Control Room’ – the memorable fifth level from the original Halo: Combat Evolved’s original campaign, and the longest level in the game by quite a margin. This level became memorable for the spaces and combat opportunities it introduced in the original game. Its snowy, open landscapes are linear in design, but grant players total freedom in how to approach them, with almost every weapon in the game on offer to use throughout its duration.
“This is one of the all-time iconic and beloved missions from Halo: Combat Evolved that really exemplifies the core sandbox experience,” says Max Szlagor, Creative Director on Halo: Campaign Evolved. “The snowy valleys provide a nice contrast to the beach of ‘Silent Cartographer’ and also present the opportunity to pilot a wide range of different vehicles in a large environment.”
It also became somewhat memorable for its sprawling interior sections – winding, repetitive Covenant corridors leading into small rooms full of close-quarters combat and few supplies – something that the Halo Studios team knew it could improve upon, without completely changing the flow of the level.
Needless to say – it looks absolutely fantastic. Everything you see has been recrafted with the utmost care – from the wider environment, to the tiniest details tucked away inside it. The Forerunner spaces that once felt like grey voids are now striking, complex tapestries that reflect not just how far technology has come, but how much detail the Halo universe offers in terms of filling them – not to mention how much consideration has gone into ensuring they feel correct while looking brand-new., That attention to detail applies to every cog in the machine here, from enemy encounters, to combat, and even a more thoughtful, reorganized UI.
The original spirit of the level feels entirely retained, but with several updates and tweaks that make it feel more streamlined than ever before. Szlagor notes that the most iconic moments throughout the level are preserved as they were, like the battle with the Zealot on the first bridge, the introduction of the Scorpion and a subsequent battle on the narrow bridge, and the race against the Elite for the Banshee.
“We ultimately decided to make more targeted improvements to areas of frustration, slow pacing, or navigation confusion based on where players wanted to see adjustments,” Szlagor says. Effectively, the set pieces we remember best remain, but the gaps between them have been tightened, polished, and refined.
For example, there are fewer interior sections than in the original level, and a short voice line offers immediate guidance on how to navigate them that doesn’t feel too intrusive to exploration. They’re not all the same layout, either – these rooms have been trimmed down and configured differently, making each one feel like a fresh combat puzzle to solve.
That environmental direction feels prevalent across the level – in the outside areas, which feel more sprawling and impressive than ever – you’re quietly nudged towards the next checkpoint by way of thawed patches of snow, openings in trees, and an excellent use of lighting that the original Combat Evolved couldn’t have made work in 2001.
Long-time fans will remember that this level is where you’ll find the Scorpion Tank for the first time – alongside a handful of Marines. Here is where we see Halo Studios not just tweaking, but improving – Chief can now equip Marines with different weapons, including the rocket launcher and sniper rifle, and they can all ride on the tank alongside you offering heavy support in mowing down waves of enemies, rather than running alongside it with no defence. It’s a true upgrade – one that makes the fight feel like a newly collaborative effort between Chief and the Marines. Their stacked arsenal also means you can take the weapons from them if you need them later. A much better option than the ultimate last resort – having to use a Plasma Pistol.
You’ll need that variation of weapons, too – because The Covenant feel more intuitive and reactive than ever before, which feels magnificent in practice. Enemy aggression and spawn rate are now altered by difficulty – not only are your foes tougher and smarter, there’s also more of them. Some enemy units like Elites and Hunters will pursue you relentlessly, on foot, on vehicles, and from every conceivable angle, prompting constant vigilance and careful treading, both indoors and outdoors.
That snow-coated battlefield is made even more fun with the ability to hijack and drive Covenant vehicles, a feature originally introduced in Halo 2. Of course, there’s still a Warthog and a Scorpion to plough through enemies with – but when your tank gets blown up – which mine inevitably does – there’s a new array of traversal outside of simply running through the level. Chief can also operate Ghosts, Wraiths, and of course, the flying Banshees from the original. There’s even a conveniently parked Wraith that players can pick up – either as a fresh tank if you’ve destroyed your first one, or an additional tank that your co-op partners can take.
While I played this demo on my own, the prospect of four-player co-op sat at the forefront of my head. These spaces weren’t originally built to accommodate so many players, but they’ve been rebuilt to ensure that no Chief is left behind.
“Every level requires thoughtful consideration of checkpoints for single player and co-op scenarios; navigation markers, co-op catch up points, as well as enemy and weapon placements for different player counts and difficulty levels,” Szlagor adds. “We also evaluated the size of interior spaces and made targeted adjustments based on player flow through spaces while trying to preserve the feel of locations that are intended to be more intimate combat scenarios. Our goal is to provide something unique for each player to do in each canyon.”
The final section of the level – which sees Chief fighting his way up a pyramid to the entrance of the control room, really felt like a true example of where Halo: Campaign Evolved has been rebuilt to shine. Even on normal difficulty, the battle to get to the top of the pyramid – if you choose not to use a Banshee to fly to the top – is punctuated by enemy encounters, and a real struggle for resources and ammo. By the end, my UNSC loadout was completely exhausted, which led to me precariously trying to take down a lone Hunter with two Plasma Pistols and a dream. This for me, is also the spirit of Halo – taking care of business with whatever’s leftover after a huge firefight, and getting to the end no matter what.
It could be considered a bold manoeuvre to make such noticeable changes to such a familiar, beloved Halo level, but my experience fills me with confidence that the redesign is nothing but a good thing – making it look visually striking, implementing ideas that didn’t or couldn’t make it into the original vision, and most importantly, bottling the impact of seeing these spaces for the first time, and delivering it to seasoned and brand-new players alike.
Halo: Campaign Evolved presents the original vision with stunning accuracy, showing that the bones of this 25-year old XBOX titan can still stand tall among its modern peers without the need for significant change – just a few practical, modular tweaks pulled from later Halo games that only make the debut experience even better.
Halo: Campaign Evolved launches globally on July 28, 2026, with early access beginning July 23 for Premium Edition owners. It will be available for XBOX Series X|S, XBOX on PC, cloud, and included with Game Pass. Play it on both console and PC at no additional cost with XBOX Play Anywhere. Also available on Steam and PlayStation 5. The game supports cross-play and cross-progression across XBOX Series X|S, Windows PC, Steam, and PlayStation 5.
Halo: Campaign Evolved – Standard Edition
Xbox Game Studios
Halo: Campaign Evolved – Premium Edition
Xbox Game Studios