Halo Coming To PS5 Isn't Even The Best Part About The Combat Evolved Remake

There are various ways that PlayStation 5 is destroying Xbox this generation, not that Xbox has really needed help from anyone in that department. It's not exactly an opinion to say that the Xbox brand isn't what it used to be, and one of the results of that decline has been Xbox beginning to share its former exclusives with PlayStation and Switch. In 2026, the franchise that is basically Xbox's Mario is also joining other franchises that will soon no longer be Xbox console exclusives. 

"Halo: Combat Evolved" remains one of the best games in the "Halo" franchise, so just having it come to PS5 at all would have been exciting news. But "Halo: Campaign Evolved," as it's going to be called, is actually a full remake from the ground up. This marks the first time "Combat Evolved" is being truly remade, with all previous re-releases just being ports or remasters. Of course, this isn't just good news for PS5 owners, as "Campaign Evolved" is also coming to Xbox Series consoles and PC. 

While a "Halo" game coming to a PlayStation console is what's getting a lion's share of the attention, that's not remotely the coolest thing about "Campaign Evolved." In fact, it's going to have a fair amount of brand new content not seen in the original or any of its re-releases — including three all-new bonus missions. 

As revealed on October 24, "Halo: Campaign Evolved" is going to be a much more elaborate release than anyone previously thought. Halo Studios — the new name for developer 343 Industries, who took over the franchise after Bungie left it behind in 2007 — is really going all out for the remake, which will conveniently coincide with the 25th anniversary of the release of "Combat Evolved." The biggest news, especially for longtime "Halo" fans who know the original inside and out, is that there are going to be three entirely new bonus missions added to the campaign. 

According to the developer, great care is being made to ensure that the missions fit in with the original story, and will focus primarily on expanding the relationship between Master Chief and Avery Johnson. As studio design director Max Szlagor told The Verge, "It was really important that we preserved the original story as it is, so these missions are meant to be a prequel setup for the main chorus. These new missions are going to offer some new opportunities for character interactions between Chief and Johnson." 

New spoken dialogue is being recorded not only for those missions, but for the entire game as well, with the main voice cast from the original returning.

New missions or additional dialogue isn't all that's being added to or changed for "Campaign Evolved" either. A sprint feature has been added, which will help to make the game feel more like a modern FPS in terms of gameplay speed. Aiming is also being tweaked so that the game doesn't feel like playing an FPS from 25 years ago. Speaking of aiming, nine weapons from across the "Halo" franchise — but weren't in "Combat Evolved" — are also being added, including the fan favorite plasma sword. 

Another beloved addition from the sequels that is being retroactively added to "Campaign Evolved" is the ability to hijack enemy vehicles, like the Wraith, during the campaign. We'd bet that there will also be new Easter eggs as well, as the series has always been known for that, but we'll have to wait until next year when the game is finally released to find out. Halo Studios has only confirmed that it'll come out sometime in 2026, but the assumption is that they are aiming for the fall so that it is as close to the actual anniversary of "Combat Evolved" — November 15 — as possible.