Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Developer: Halo Studios
Release: July 28, 2026

As part of our trip to Halo Studios back in May for our recently announced Halo: Campaign Evolved cover story, I had the chance to sit down and play through all three of the new missions included in the remake package. These missions take place prior to the famous narrative of Halo: Combat Evolved, giving us more insight into Master Chief pre-Cortana, as well as his relationship to Sgt. Johnson. These hands-on impressions are just a part of our in-depth cover story that chronicles the creation of the original Halo: Combat Evolved, as well as the upcoming 25th-anniversary remake, Halo: Campaign Evolved. 

To read the full story, which spans 22 pages in our print edition, subscribe to Game Informer by heading here.

The story of Master Chief and Cortana in Halo: Combat Evolved is widely known by this point. And though Halo: Reach gave us glimpses into the days leading up to the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, the games have stopped short of giving us many interactions with Chief ahead of his debut title. Halo: Campaign Evolved not only delivers a remake of the full original story of Combat Evolved, playable with up to four players, but also a trio of bonus missions set in 2551, around a year before Combat Evolved’s story begins.

While Halo Studios could have easily rested on its laurels by simply delivering a remake of the original content, the team wanted to see how it could further flesh out the universe in the events leading up to that story. This decision includes bringing in weapons, enemy types, and other elements that wouldn’t debut until subsequent Halo games.

These inclusions make the universe feel more alive, as though these elements were always present, rather than conveniently popping up in the in-universe timeline just as the developers added them to gameplay. The three missions star two of the most popular characters in Halo: Master Chief and Sgt. Johnson. The latter has appeared in several games, but the Halo: Campaign Evolved bonus missions look to further explore and establish his relationship with Chief.

“It’s a big universe with a lot of great characters, a lot of great stories to tell, and things that happen in this time period,” creative director Max Szlagor says. “These missions are before the events of the main campaign, but specifically, Chief and Johnson, they’ve had a relationship for some time, and so it’s really interesting to dig into what that’s like, or the relationship between the ODSTs and the Spartans. [...] When you first see Johnson in the original campaign, you’re like, ‘Okay, who is this character?’ So, just having that context, I think, really enhances the overall feel of the experience.”

Despite these missions taking place chronologically before the events of the original game, Halo Studios recommends that players who are either new to Halo or whose skills may be a little rusty start with the original campaign, as the bonus missions jump pretty quickly to the difficult end of the spectrum. Despite this, the story plays out like a fun prequel, giving us more insight into Master Chief before he partners with Cortana. Immediately, I see a slightly chattier Chief than I’m used to, with him even making small jokes that you would typically hear between friends with Johnson.

Senior franchise story lead Jeff Easterling oversaw the creation of the narrative, while longtime Halo novelist Troy Denning worked closely with the team of writers as a contributor. “A couple of Troy’s most popular [novels] were dealing with the early dynamics of the relationship of Sgt. Johnson and The Chief,” Easterling says. “We always felt like, Sgt. Johnson, we want to spend more time with him, and in the original [Combat Evolved], I think people forget that Sgt. Johnson actually doesn’t play a huge role. It really is only in Halo 2 and 3 where he becomes the Johnson that we know in our minds, and we try to ‘retro’ that into CE, but we’ve done some interesting things with Campaign Evolved and these three missions being paramount to elevating Johnson into the Johnson that we remember. Troy was an easy pick to be involved with that.”

“We knew that we wanted them to get some mapping coordinates trying to find a map for the Covenant homeworld, and after that, we sat down and started talking about the three parts of the story, how we would structure it, and just tossing out ideas,” Denning says. “I obviously had a blast writing Johnson and The Chief together [in Halo: Silent Storm], so it was fun to be able to do that again.”

The trio of missions begins with Boarding Action. Chief and Johnson smuggle themselves aboard The Triumph of Tolerance to retrieve nav data that would allow them to strike back at the Covenant following the glassing of a planet. The first room is full of Grunts and Jackals, as well as one Elite, but it’s nothing I can’t handle while in control of the powerful Spartan. After the coast is clear, Chief opens a hatch in the ship they came in on to let Johnson out.

As Johnson works to open the first door, Chief asks, “Any way to speed this up?” Johnson replies, “Until we can find a way to cram an AI into that suit of yours, this is the best we’ve got.” References to events still to come give nods, both subtle and overt, to the broader universe.

“It’s fun because the writers and the creators on the game can deep-seed some lore that a newer player may not know anything about, or they may be discovering some of these things for the first time,” executive producer Damon Conn says. “We made sure to put in a lot of nods to lore around The Chief and Johnson and what they have gone through, and things that have happened in books and other media to make sure that we’re anchoring some things in there that, if you’re a real Halo lover, you’re gonna have something to look forward to in these, because you’re gonna discover some nice little notes as we tell as new story.”

I played through the entire three-mission arc, but I don’t want to spoil too much of what unfolds. However, as I work my way through these missions, I love seeing these various elements from games outside of Combat Evolved crop up. I’m excited that one of my favorite weapons from later in the franchise, the battle rifle, is a mainstay in these missions, and I could find powerful arms like the fuel rod cannon and energy sword regularly, but I continually gravitated towards the needle rifle as my go-to. And, since this is built on Halo: Combat Evolved, you know I put the notoriously powerful pistol to good use.

One of my favorite sequences came in the first mission when Chief stumbles upon a sparring room, which serves as a sandbox arena for one of the best encounters. Since it’s a training room for the Covenant, dozens of different weapons are scattered throughout the area, giving you access to a large arsenal. The thrill of swapping between favorite weapons as more and more enemies poured in was nearly unrivaled during my hands-on time. And when I finished that room, I exited to a fully stocked armory, making me feel like a kid in a candy shop.

You’ll need to use the wide range of weapons to make it through. Facing off against Elites, Grunts, Jackals, and Hunters is expected, but shortly after that training room encounter, the story takes a turn. As Chief and Johnson enter a room, a cutscene shows their fight interrupted by an unlikely voice: a Prophet. And not only that, but the Prophet Harmony introduces a new enemy type into the mix, The Brute. These ape-like creatures, who originally debuted in Halo 2, are now a mainstay for the rest of the bonus missions, and their aggression fundamentally changes the flow of how the combat encounters play out.

The second of the three missions sees Chief and Johnson exiting the claustrophobic hallways and tailor-made battle arenas in favor of an outdoor biome. The third mission brings the conflict to a head with the most challenging stretch of combat, including a moving platform sequence where you must survive the ride as enemies fire on your position from all angles.

The three missions culminate in yet another surprise: a space battle. I won’t talk about what’s happening in the story at this point, but you must accomplish your mission while piloting a Covenant Seraph. After hours of boots-on-the-ground combat, putting an exclamation point on this bonus content with a distinct gameplay style inspired by Halo: Reach was a fun way to shake things up.

I’ll be the first to admit I approached these new missions with a sense of apprehension; after all, how do you expand upon the story of a game like Halo: Combat Evolved without feeling like apocryphal fan fiction? But by being smart with the chosen time period, how it tells the story, and how it incorporates elements from the wider Halo universe, Halo Studios delivers an incredibly fun, bite-sized prequel to Halo: Combat Evolved that stands capably alongside the original content.

Halo: Campaign Evolved arrives on July 28 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. To read the full cover story, be sure to subscribe to Game Informer. If you already subscribe, you can read the 25th anniversary retrospective of Halo: Combat Evolved here, and the in-depth look ahead at Halo: Campaign Evolved here.

Cosmic horror shooter Luna Abyss launched on May 21 to a generally positive reception, but the team behind it has been laid off. The news comes from developer Kwalee Labs’ CEO.

In a LinkedIn post, CEO Hollie Emery announced that, as of Monday, June 16, the entire team was made redundant. Emery does not give an exact reason as to why, but states the decision was “completely outside of our control." The small team of nine employees is now looking for work.

“We're enamoured by the love and support it received both by our industry and critically by journalists and media. Whilst we faced many challenges along the way, it has been the highlight of our careers - and we are incredibly proud that [Luna Abyss] has finally seen the light of day (thank you to everyone who believed in us!),” writes Emery.

Luna Abyss is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC and sees players controlling a prisoner forced to explore a derelict megastructure beneath the surface of a moon called Luna. As you uncover the moon’s mysteries, you’ll gun down cosmic horrors in first-person shooter combat with bullet hell flourishes and an emphasis on traversal and mobility. 

The game currently has an 81 critics' score on Metacritic. Game Informer editor-in-chief Matt Miller endorsed the game in a recent impressions piece, writing, "While it shares much in common with the recently released Saros, including cosmic horror elements and bullet hell dodging of multi-hued attacks, Luna Abyss has a lot to recommend a playthrough all on its own."

One of the major headlines coming off the reveal of Halo: Campaign Evolved was that, for the first time ever, Master Chief and the Halo franchise are coming to PlayStation. While that was enough to garner attention for the 25th-anniversary project, when I was at Halo Studios in May for our current issue's cover story, we got on the topic of what PlayStation fans can expect when Halo: Campaign Evolved finally arrives on Sony's platform in July.

“Halo has traditionally been a one-console franchise all the way back to its origins,” game director Greg Hermann told us in October. “We’ve seen in the past few years with Master Chief Collection or Infinite that we’ve expanded onto PC, and then really started to understand what it meant for us to do cross-platform development, and then what crossplay meant in some of these circumstances. Moving onto PlayStation was just a natural evolution of that. We were building on a lot of foundation work that Unreal Engine provides for us, but it really wasn’t too foreign to us to add another platform and make sure we budgeted across development timelines, ensuring that everybody gets a premium experience for their device.”

With that mentality, loyal PlayStation players will finally have the chance to experience the foundational shooter through this remake, complete with crossplay and cross-progression, in case they want to play the remake's four-player co-op with some of their friends over on the Xbox side of the fence. However, it may feel like sacrilege to suggest that a PlayStation console might be the best place to play a Halo game, but after going over the PS5 Pro enhancements, it sure sounds like PS5 Pro will be the best place to play Halo: Campaign Evolved. The PS5 Pro edition of Halo: Campaign Evolved uses PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, SSD optimization, faster loading, 3D audio, and DualSense-exclusive features, leading me to believe that even Microsoft's Xbox Series X will have a hard time keeping up with the experience on PS5 Pro.

When I ask Halo Studios, they decline to directly say that PlayStation 5 Pro is the best place to play Halo: Campaign Evolved, but it seems relatively clear. However, with the most recent Xbox Showcase, the platform holder is poised to roll back its recent stance on bringing some of its franchises to other platforms, beginning with Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution. As Xbox's flagship franchise since its inception, it would be unsurprising to see future Halo games join those titles, but that remains to be seen. For now, Halo: Campaign Evolved is set to arrive on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on July 28. 

To learn more about Halo: Campaign Evolved, subscribers can check out our cover story. To learn more about Microsoft's current strategy, read our conversation with Xbox chief creative officer and former head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty here. 

Today we revealed our latest Game Informer cover story, an exclusive deep-dive look ahead at the upcoming release of Halo: Campaign Evolved, alongside a look back at the profound impact of Halo: Combat Evolved, featuring interviews with the original creators who helped shape that milestone project 25 years ago.

As a thank you to fans of the magazine and Halo more broadly, we’re making our new cover art available for download (in multiple sizes and formats) for free, without logo, wording, or other embellishment. 

We also had the chance to speak with lead concept artist Sam Wood, who created this beautiful piece to grace our cover, and learn about his inspirations, process, and some secret insights into the colors and positioning of everything you see on the cover. 

We hope you enjoy!

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GI: What were your goals/vision behind this art piece?

Wood: To properly introduce Halo: Campaign Evolved, we wanted to create a cover image as bold and colorful as the game itself. We knew we wanted a piece that celebrated the 25-year history of the iconic franchise, while also introduce the franchise to new audiences. So the piece needed something of the legendary about it as well.

Was there a specific style you were shooting for?
Our Studio Art Director, Chris Matthews, proposed a classic sci-fi movie poster composition; a “hero pyramid” with the Master Chief dominating the center and a large ensemble of heroes and enemies around him.

With that brief, I couldn’t avoid walking in the footsteps of the late Drew Struzan, who used masterful compositions, accurate portrait drawing, and translucent airbrushed colors to create truly iconic movie poster art. Also inspired by Struzan, I used deliberate color grouping to organize the image into warmer and cooler zones, which makes the complex composition easier to take in.

Any particular inspiration behind this approach?

Unlike a lot of concept art and illustration, this is an image that doesn’t show one specific character, scene, or moment, but is rather a collage of faces and figures, with supporting details and thematic elements surrounding them. Thus, it feels timeless and a bit nostalgic. The characters hang in an undefined space, lending them a larger-than-life presence. The fact that the visual relationships are symbolic rather than literal invites us to ponder how we feel about them and how they relate to one another across the entire Halo saga.

What is your general process start to finish for a piece of art like this?

Following my usual approach, I started out with several rounds of black-and-white thumbnails and sketches to get the composition locked in. These were accompanied by color and value studies. The next step was to go into Unreal Engine to light and pose each character individually. While not a technique I always use, digital renders are invaluable for achieving accurate character likenesses on a tight timeline. I composited these renders into a single Photoshop document and then got to work painting, lighting, and adding visual effects to bring the final image together.

Any insights or context to share about what is depicted in the image?

This image revolves around the Master Chief, flanked by the two companions – Cortana and 343 Guilty Spark – who accompanied him through most of his adventure on the first Halo Ring. Clustered around these three are a selection of friends and foes, most of whom will be familiar to longtime players – though one or two might be new faces. Each half of the image is dominated by a color symbolizing one of the threats faced in the game: the browns, yellows, and oranges of the encroaching Flood and the alien purples, blues, and teals of the Covenant. Only Master Chief’s iconic green armor defiantly breaks free from this scheme.

Anything else you'd like to share about this image?

It was a real privilege to get to work on this piece. Sometimes I felt like the mantle of responsibility was resting heavily on my shoulders, but mostly I was just having a blast trying to figure out how to make it all work. If it conveys even just a fraction of how colorful, ambitious, fun, and legendary of how Halo: Campaign Evolved, then I’ll call it a success. 

If you'd like to read our complete coverage of Halo's 25th anniversary, learn exclusive details on Campaign Evolved, and receive this art and issue to lay out on your coffee table, visit our subscription page

To call Halo: Combat Evolved an important milestone in gaming's history would be to vastly understate its influence. The seminal console first-person shooter revolutionized the genre, effectively changing the course of gaming history. This year, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that all-important first adventure starring Master Chief, Halo Studios is delivering a remake of that title, Halo: Campaign Evolved. We're thrilled to reveal the iconic imagery of Chief, Cortana, and other key figures in the first Halo adventure graces the cover of the next issue of Game Informer.

Back in May we flew out to Redmond, Washington, home of Halo Studios, to spend a full day with the team creating this impressive remake. We played through the entirety of the three new prequel bonus missions and sat down with those behind Halo: Campaign Evolved for hours to dig into the team's philosophy with this remake. Not only that, but we also spent several hours with some of the most important figures behind the original Halo games to learn how Bungie delivered an unlikely classic amidst a season of massive change for the studio. In total, our celebration of Halo: Combat Evolved and in-depth cover feature on Halo: Campaign Evolved spans a massive 22 pages, one of the biggest cover sections in Game Informer history.

And just get a look at this gorgeous art. In an extremely rare move, this art, created by concept artist Sam Wood, will be downloadable in high resolution for the device of your choosing, without the Game Informer logo. You can access the high-resolution art and read an interview with Wood on the creation of the art here.

 

But despite how much space we're dedicating to Halo in this issue, there's still so much more packed into this issue. Within the pages of this issue, we have dedicated features looking at Rayman Legends Retold, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, and Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. We also spoke with Warren Spector about his amazing career and the developers behind Saros. We also have a feature on comedy in video games by Emmy-nominated writer Mike Drucker, as well as a look at the history of controversial games that stirred up moral panics by former Game Informer editor and Marvel's Midnight Suns and Civilization VI writer Ben Reeves. That's in addition to our standard suite of previews, which includes games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Stranger Than Heaven, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, Marvel's Wolverine, God of War Laufey, Control Resonant, and more! 

Subscribers can read the digital edition right now! Physical versions will begin arriving in the mail in mid-to-late June, and you can expect to find the magazine in bookstores and newsstands around the same timeframe. Be sure to subscribe today to receive 10 Game Informer magazines a year (physical and digital) and get the Halo: Campaign Evolved magazine as your first issue!