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Halo Combat Evolved, the start of the legendary FPS franchise, may have already been remastered (albeit in 2011), but now it's time for a full-blown remake. Enter, Halo: Campaign Evolved. It's the original story you know and love but with fancy graphics, "refined controls", and three bonus prologue missions—it's not just a retread.
Xbox hasn't presented a clear plan for Halo beyond this remake (though we know a brand-new game is coming), so it'll have to do for now. I've compiled everything you need to know about this remake, so you'll be ready to take the fight to the Covenant once again.
When is the Halo: Campaign Evolved release date?
The Halo: Campaign Evolved release date is Tuesday, July 28, 2026, which was confirmed during a new trailer for the game at the latest Xbox Games Showcase. However, you can also pre-order the Premium or Collector’s Edition to get five days of early access beginning Thursday, July 23, 2026.
It will, of course, release on PC and Xbox Series X|S consoles, but it'll also be available on PS5. This makes it the first Halo game to ever be released on PlayStation—weird times.
What's changed in Halo: Campaign Evolved?
Halo: Campaign Evolved is a full remake of the original game, but what does that mean exactly? Here's everything that we know of so far that makes it different from the original and its 2011 anniversary remaster:
It's really pretty
It's a remake, so it comes with all the usual bells and whistles, like revamped visuals powered by Unreal Engine 5 and silky smooth frame rate. Well, that's the idea, but it is Unreal Engine 5. The soundtrack, sound design, and even voice performances have been remastered, too.
Nevertheless, it sticks to the original game's art style—no generic sci-fi like Halo 4 and 5—but you won't be able to seamlessly switch between the original graphics and the new ones like Combat Evolved Anniversary.
Operation Meteorite
It adds three brand-new missions featuring the Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson, set a year before the main story. According to the developers, it features "new environments, gameplay, characters and enemies."
For better and for worse, it's modernised
Like more recent Halo games, you will be able to sprint and aim. It's not to everyone's tastes, and certainly the polar opposite of the original Combat Evolved, but most players have come to expect such luxuries these days.
Better co-op
You can experience the full campaign (and Operation Meteorite) in two-player splitscreen like the original, but also four-player online co-op for even more chaos. Plus, there's crossplay and shared progression, so no hurdles.
No PvP multiplayer
Hinted at by the name, Campaign Evolved only features the story mode. Combat Evolved's genre-defining PvP multiplayer modes aren't included, which is a bit of a bummer. Still, Xbox and PC players can enjoy that in The Master Chief Collection, I suppose.
There are few gaming memories more beloved for me than playing Halo co-op on my brother's tiny portable TV. It was my first intro to Bungie's shooters, and the 3,000 hours I've sunk into Destiny since stand as testament to how strong that first impression was. I'd ultimately prefer a new Halo game, but it feels like the series has lost its way. Perhaps going back to basics will remind us what made it so special in the first place.
Halo: Campaign Evolved trailers
The Halo 1 remaster was first revealed with a trailer and gameplay demo of perhaps the most iconic mission in the game, The Silent Cartographer, back in October 2025. Apart from reticence towards it being in Unreal Engine 5 and an oddly specific dislike of the assault rifle having 32 bullets, I'd say it went down pretty well. I mean, it's Halo: Combat Evolved again.
Seven months later, at the Xbox Games Showcase 2026, we were treated to a cinematic story trailer, which will feel very familiar to fans of the series. The Master Chief crash-lands on the ringworld and fights off Covenant aliens with the help of his AI companion Cortana.
The Operation Meteorite trailer we got is much more interesting, showcasing brand-new content arriving in the remake. As I mentioned earlier, it's a short prologue to the events of the main story, where we see Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson fight through some lush environments and Covenant ships. It's new, but it also looks very classic, and hopefully seamlessly slots into place.
