Jaime Griesemer, level designer on the original Halo: Combat Evolvedhave criticized the upcoming Halo: Campaign Evolved for some of the design decisions in the remake. Early gameplay of Halo: Campaign Evolved has left Griesemer frustrated enough to voice his opinion about the remake's choices, specifically around some of the work he did on the original nearly 25 years ago.
It feels as if Halo: Campaign Evolved stuck between a rock and a hard place. Modernizing a game that was originally released almost 25 years ago is pretty much a necessity in a remake of this scale, which can lead to some decisions that players find unpopular. It was already confirmed Halo: Campaign Evolved adds sprinting, a feature that has always been controversial in this franchise. It's a delicate balance for Halo Studios.
Halo: Combat Evolved Level Designer Criticizes Upcoming Remake
In the wake of Halo: Campaign Evolveds reveal, level designer on the original game, Jaime Griesemer, shared his thoughts in a thread on X. He took particular issue with one area of The Silent Cartographer, noting that “you shouldn't to be able to pick up the warthog to steamroll the hunters,” and claimed that he “deliberately placed rocks in the road so you had to fight them on foot.” When asked about his frustration, Griesemer said, “Because I did it right and they're breaking it for no reason.”
In the original, players could perform some trickery to get the warthog into pursuit of the hunter, but it required a lot of work, which Griesemer says he “literally spent the better part of a day making it frustrating and difficult but not impossible.” In the remake, players can simply drive up to the hunters and easily hit them with the rear turret.
The extensive thread had lots of thoughts on Halo: Combat Evolved remake, very few of them positive. Griesemer picked up the score Halos wider struggle to find its place in modern gaming, suggesting that the 'nmust be left fallow for a generation. Then total reboot.” Med Halo: Campaign Evolved and its PlayStation debut appears to represent a renewed commitment to the franchise from Microsoft, it feels unlikely Halo going anywhere anytime soon.
It has already been confirmed Halo: Campaign Evolved will make some changes to the level design, particularly areas where Halo Studios feels there is significant room for improvement (The Library). But the scale of these changes throughout the wider campaign remains to be seen, and likewise it is difficult to predict whether or not they will be well received.
- Released
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2026
- Developer
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Halo Studios
- Publisher
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Microsoft Studios
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op
