Halo: Campaign Evolved launches to decent critic reviews but low interest from fans

After years of waiting, anticipation and tons of promises, Halo Infinite would ultimately prove to be somewhat of a disappointment upon its arrival in 2021; with the latest entry in the series feeling incomplete. Going back to the drawing board, 343 Industries would then transform itself into Halo Studios – announcing a campaign remake of Halo: Combat Evolved. Officially launching last week, the game has been met with a somewhat mixed reception.

Launching to a Metacritic score of 80, Halo: Campaign Evolved is one of the lowest-rated entries in the series, falling far below Bungie’s offerings and even failing to match the highs of Infinite (which managed a Metacritic score of 87). That said, general sentiment appears to place it as one of the better ways to experience the original Halo in today’s age.

Players on the other hand have been far more critical, currently sitting at a 5.7 on Metacritic; a ‘Mixed’ reception on Steam; an overall score of 3.9 out of 5 on PlayStation and 3 out of 5 stars on Xbox.

Some of the criticism towards the remake include its newly recorded dialogue (some of which in players’ ears sounds inferior to the original); the mechanical changes (such as the removal of health kits) and the alterations made to enemy AI, making this feel less like a 1:1 recreation of the original classic.

As is the case with all Xbox titles, we have not gotten any sales data for Campaign Evolved. According to industry analyst Mat Piscatella however, the day of Halo: Campaign Evolved's launch saw 8% of total active Xbox players checking out the game; 2% of Steam players and just 1% of active PS5 players. Of course, active players are constantly fluctuating and so these metrics can’t be taken as the absolute truth – especially since this only accounts for those in the US.

Still, it appears as though Halo: Campaign Evolved has not resonated too much with players – old and new alike. It will be interesting to see whether this affects Microsoft's decision to remake the entire trilogy.

KitGuru says: What do you think of Halo: Campaign Evolved? Is it an evolution over the original? What’s the most important part of a faithful remake? Let us know down below.

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