List of everything new in Halo: Campaign Evolved — missions, weapons, and more

The future of Halo will revisit its roots with Halo: Combat Evolved, revealed at the 2025 Halo World Championship. Built with the stunning visuals of Unreal Engine 5, this isn’t just a touch-up – it’s a complete remake with significant changes from both the original game and the 2011 remaster included in The Master Chief Collection. I’ve put together a comprehensive list of all the new features announced so far, and I’ll continue to update it as more details become available.

Aiming

Now, you can aim down sights with any ranged weapon, not just those with scopes. This feature was first added in Halo 5: Guardians and continues in Halo Infinite.

Cinematics

The game now features updated graphics and completely reworked cutscenes. These cutscenes include new camera perspectives and fresh voice acting from the original cast.

Co-op

Halo: Campaign Evolved now lets up to four players team up online, a big improvement over previous versions which only allowed two. To make this work, a few adjustments were necessary, like adding a fourth seat to the Warthog and modifying some of the enemy battles. Plus, the game fully supports cross-play and cross-progression, meaning players on Xbox, PC, and PlayStation can play together seamlessly and carry their progress between platforms.

Enemies

Enemies have been improved with behaviors seen in later Halo games, and issues from the original game have been fixed. For example, Hunters are now much harder to defeat, as they can no longer be instantly killed by a single pistol shot to the back. Additionally, the Flood are receiving reinforcements in the form of Pure Forms, a more powerful enemy type originally appearing in Halo 3.

Hijacking

Being able to steal enemy vehicles – and having enemies try to steal yours – was a major addition to the Halo series when Halo 2 came out. This feature has now been included in the original Campaign, changing how some levels play. Also, like in Halo 2, you can now drive Covenant Wraith tanks.

Missions

We’re carefully recreating the original campaign, making a few minor adjustments to improve the flow, like in The Library level. Plus, we’ve added three brand-new missions! This smaller campaign follows Master Chief and Johnson in a story that takes place before the main game’s events.

Sprint

Sprinting, which first appeared as a special ability in Halo: Reach, is now available in the original Halo: Combat Evolved. Players who prefer a more deliberate pace can turn this feature off in the game settings.

Weapons

Halo: Campaign Evolved significantly increases the number of weapons players can use, adding nine that weren’t available in the original game or the 2011 updated version. While some, like the Energy Sword, appeared previously, players couldn’t actually wield them until Halo 2. Others, such as the Needle Rifle, were first introduced in later Halo games. Here’s a list of the new weapons revealed so far:

Battle Rifle
Energy Sword
Fuel Rod Cannon
Needle Rifle
Sentinel Beam

An ambitious retelling for new and existing players

I was worried about the new Halo game at first, but after trying it out and speaking with the team behind it, I’m really optimistic about the changes they’ve made. It feels like they’re going to make a huge difference.

Halo: Campaign Evolved is planned to release in 2026 on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (through Steam and the Xbox app), and PlayStation 5. It will also be available immediately through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

2025-10-24 23:40