We Played Halo: Campaign Evolved - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast: "We Played Halo: Campaign Evolved"

Date: October 24, 2025
Hosts: Tim Gettys & Snowbike Mike (Mike Howard)

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Main Theme & Purpose

In this episode, Tim and Mike recount their exclusive hands-on experience with Halo: Campaign Evolved—the full remake of Halo: Combat Evolved’s campaign, rebuilt by the newly rebranded Halo Studios in Unreal Engine 5. The episode is rich with first impressions, technical and design analysis, speculation on Xbox strategy, insights about new features and content, and spirited debate about Halo’s future (and its big move to PlayStation platforms for the first time).
Note: This episode is focused solely on the single-player/co-op campaign—no multiplayer discussion except in commentary about its absence.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Seattle Play Session: A Dream Fulfilled

• Tim & Mike visited Halo Studios in Seattle for a hands-on demo.
  • Demo: 20 minutes of "The Silent Cartographer" level—replayed multiple times.
  • Joy in experiencing Halo together, especially as a solo trip ("The bros of Hype take Seattle for Halo!" [02:23]).
• Nostalgia factor: Both hosts reflect on their personal histories with Halo:

  "Wow, it looks beautiful. It is crazy to have a remake of a game that was so iconic and special to me 25 years ago." – Mike [04:12]

2. Visual & Audio Upgrades

• Stunning Unreal Engine 5 visuals:

  “It looks gorgeous in Unreal Engine 5... being rebuilt from the ground up.” – Tim [05:38]

• Audio remaster:

  "The audio absolutely pops. Remastering the sound, remixing the music, bringing back the core voice acting cast... really felt impactful." – Mike [04:29]

3. Modernizing Halo—But Keeping Its Soul

• Sprint and Aim Down Sights:
  • Now possible, but toggleable for purists (“You can turn the Sprint off—old school style.” [11:43])
  • Balancing expectations of OG fans and new players.
• Updated guidance:
  • Waypoints to reduce frustration (“There’s waypoints for your destinations, but it feels in line with Halo, just a little bit further.” – Tim [06:31])
• Up to 4-player online co-op and 2-player split-screen:
  • Full cross-play/cross-progression with PS5, Xbox, and PC.
  • “So special” to bring couch co-op back ([08:03]).

4. Halo Comes to PlayStation 5

• Huge milestone

  "PlayStation 5. Halo is coming to PlayStation 25 years after its debut. I never thought I'd see the day." – Tim [06:13]

5. New Content

• Three New Campaign Levels
  • Master Chief & Sergeant Johnson in a prequel arc.
  • “New environments, gameplay, characters, and enemies”—including new mechanics ([08:54]).
  • "Little buddy cop action—three levels are going to be so much fun." – Mike [09:21]
• New/Returning Weapons
  • Energy Sword finally in Halo 1.
  • Covenant weapons previously only available to AI are now usable: Fuel Rod, Sentinel Beam, etc. Total of 8 new-to-CE weapons ([09:32]–[10:00]).

6. Campaign–Only Focus

• No multiplayer included (beyond co-op campaign).
• Rationale:
  • Halo needs to get the campaign "exactly right" for both new and old fans.
  • “It’s a delicate balance… As an OG fan, I feel very served.” – Tim [11:07]
  • “The full package to me of Halo is both those things, campaign & multiplayer... I was kind of stunned.” – Mike [21:29]

7. Mechanics & Feel

• Warthog controls maintained:
  • Traditional floaty, unpredictable handling preserved.
  • “For PlayStation fans who have never used the Warthog… a moment of ‘what is happening here?’” – Mike [10:45]
• Campaign quality-of-life:
  • Wayfinding, improved controls, four seats on the Warthog for 4P co-op.

8. Speculation & Analysis: Release Strategy, Pricing, and Franchise Direction

• Release Date:
  • Uncertain. Anniversary tie-in seems likely (November 15, 2026—the 25th anniversary).
  • Mike argues for earlier (February) to front-load a big Xbox year ([18:41]).
• Price Debate:
  • Worries about $70 for campaign-only remake.
  • “That’s a full cost game and we’re only getting half the experience.” – Mike [28:43]
• “Stopgap” Strategy:
  • Focused, smaller project to keep Halo in the public eye while retooling for the future.
  • “This is a nice reintroduction with the Halo Studios brand.” – Mike [12:25]
• What’s Next?
  • Do they remake Halo 2/3? Create new stories?
  • “Are they going to chart a new course and make a new story? We’re going to be talking about this for years.” – Mike [30:27]

9. Nostalgia, Newcomers, and The Halo Recipe

• Will newcomers connect?
  • Concern: The epic, cinematic moments that wowed players in the early 2000s might not impress today’s first-timers.
  • "Without that built-in nostalgia... is it going to feel the same way to them?" – Tim [25:22]
• Flood sequence tease:
  • Unreal Engine 5 makes the Flood look “unlike they’ve ever looked before—in the best way possible” ([26:52]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "The bros of Hype take Seattle for Halo." – Mike ([02:23])
• "I was wowed by the visuals and by the audio design. Right off the bat, you notice...rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5 looks gorgeous." – Mike ([04:12])
• "PlayStation 5. Halo is coming to PlayStation 25 years after its debut. I never thought I'd see the day." – Tim ([06:13])
• "Sprint, aim down sights, button configurations...it feels how I expect. It feels how I want it to—which is not how Halo 1 originally controlled." – Tim ([11:07])
• "You can turn the Sprint off. You don’t need to use it...a cool little nod to Halo OG fans." – Mike ([11:43])
• "The energy sword—finally, in Halo 1!" – Mike ([09:35])
• "How do they get me excited for maybe the future of Halo as well? Because now, there’s a lot of questions." – Mike ([12:25])
• "Halo is two things to everyone...a sci-fi action campaign, and stories you tell in multiplayer with your friends...usually it weighs a little more on the multiplayer side..." – Mike ([20:56])
• "This is clearly a ground up remake, different type of project...I feel very happy because I'm like, I'm getting what I want. But yeah, it's gonna be interesting to see this all play out." – Tim ([28:06])
• "From the team perspective, it was awesome to see so many people bought in, so focused on what they want to deliver and dedicated to this is the goal: Let's achieve." – Mike ([29:18])
• "They brought back Steve Downs and Jen Taylor...25 years later. It's so impactful." – Mike ([29:19])
• "Are you taking me to Halo 2 and Halo 3? Is that what we’re really doing? Or are they going to chart a new course?" – Mike ([29:57])
• "We’re going to be talking about it on this set for years." – Tim ([30:26])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:23] – Hosts recount the Seattle studio trip & demo.
• [04:12] – First impressions: visuals, audio, and voice cast.
• [06:13] – Announcement: Halo coming to PlayStation.
• [08:03] – Expanded co-op, crossplay features, three new levels detailed.
• [09:32] – New weapons: energy sword, Sentinel Beam, more.
• [10:45] – Warthog handling & discussions on authentic Halo "feel."
• [11:43] – Sprint toggle & campaign-only clarifications.
• [18:41] – Release date and Xbox first-party strategy analysis.
• [21:29] – Debate: the absence of multiplayer in the package.
• [25:21] – Will newcomers ‘get’ Halo’s signature moments?
• [26:52] – Flood sequence teases (Unreal 5 horror).
• [29:19] – Studio passion and vision; reflections on the future of Halo.

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Final Reflections

"Tim Gettys, Mike Howard—loved what we played of Halo campaign Evolved."
The remake is an impressive, loving modern update to a classic, with bold platform moves, visual and gameplay upgrades, and new content. The campaign focus, omission of classic multiplayer, and possible $70 price spark heated debate about strategy and value—not just for nostalgia-driven fans but new players, PlayStation gamers, and Halo's longer-term future. The hosts are cautiously optimistic, excited for 4-player co-op, and deeply curious about the franchise’s next chapter.

Transcript

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Rated PG 13. What's up? And welcome to the Kind at Funny Games cast for Friday, October 24, 2025. This episode's brought to you by the Outer Worlds 2. Blast off in Style with an exclusive skin for your rapid dawn in game pet. Brought to you by Five Hour Energy. When you purchase a Purple Berry punch or mock melon brew 5 hour energy product, you'll receive a unique code to unlock exclusive The Outer Worlds 2 in game content. We'll tell you more about that later. I'm Tim Geddes. I'm joined today by the master of hype, Snowbike Mike.

[B]

Give me some. Oh, feels good to be on the X Cast set with you. Surrounded by green. You know, I haven't been on this set in quite a couple of weeks.

[C]

Exactly.

[B]

Yeah, I had it back for The Outer Worlds 2 review. Was I a little jealous? Of course.

[C]

Of course.

[B]

You see this set. I want to be on this.

[C]

Why weren't you there for the Outer Worlds too, Tim?

[B]

Because you and I were out on assignment together and we went up to Seattle to fulfill my ultimate dream of going to Halo Studios and playing the next Halo game together.

[C]

It was wild. Mike. What a special experience. I never get to travel with you. I never get to go to events. I think in the entire time we've worked together, I've been on three events with you fully. Maybe an E3 here and there, whatever. But it was us. We did. We went to Vegas.

[B]

Sonic in Vegas.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

We went down to LA. Of course, that's E3. That's.

[C]

Yeah, it's different. But this was the first ever Tim and Mike one on one. And it was special.

[B]

The bros of Hype take Seattle for Halo.

[C]

Something very near and dear to both of us. And we could say what it is now. Halo campaign evolved. Wow. We got to play it. We got to play a 20 minute demo of Halo Campaign Evolved. It was the first opening of the Silent Cartographer Level Level 3 in Halo combat Evolved. The original Kevin showing B roll now of the new version that you can see and God damn, is it gorgeous in Unreal Engine 5. But we got to play that demo pretty much unlimited times. We, we had hours to sit there and, and play through this game.

[B]

Just keep playing it.

[C]

Yeah, just the same thing.

[B]

I went on normal. I kicked butt. I was like, you know what, I'll crank it up. The legendary.

[C]

See what happened.

[B]

I think they thought I was like lost because I just kept dying. And I was like, I just got a lot of time.

[C]

Yeah, it was tough. It was tough. But we, we got a lot of experience with that. And you know, Hilo so much about Halo Combat Evolved. It's the sandbox. It's about how does it feel, the different things you do in the vehicle, the Warthog, the different weapons, jumping on things. What you, what are you trying to achieve. So replaying it, a lot of fun there. Right. But we're, we're all over the place here. This is going to be a, a smaller games cast than normal. I just want to say that. Get that housekeeping out of the way because we have the Silent Hill F live stream going on right now actually at the time of this posting. This is a weird one we're recording. We can't post it until the game's officially announced at the Halo World Championships. That will happen sometime today day. So we got to get you out of here so you can go get on that stream.

[B]

I know. Isn't that crazy?

[C]

This is a time warp. This is. It's crazy.

[B]

Pull this up, but then also pull up the live stream. See what I'm doing right now while you're watching this. I promise you it's gonna be insane.

[C]

But yeah. We got a shout out to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney. The Psalm twining. Let's just get into it. Mike. Halo Campaign Evolved. What are your top level thoughts, Tim?

[B]

My top level thoughts? Wow, it looks beautiful. It is crazy to have a remake of a game that was so iconic and special to me 25 years ago. Then add that on top of that when we had the anniversary 13 years ago. And then me playing the Master Chief collection, switching back between the two graphic styles on just whenever now, you know. And it's special, Tim. When we got to sit down and play, I was wowed by the visuals and by the audio design. Right off the bat you notice, of course it's a 25 year old game really. Anything you're going to do, it's going to make it look better. But being rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5 looks gorgeous. The audio absolutely pops, right? Remastering the sound, remixing the music, making sure that's up to date and then most importantly, bringing back the core voice acting cast to redo the lines really felt impactful, really right off the bat on the first cinematic and then the moment that you get to start moving with Master Chief, it felt great, it felt modern. It felt like a game that is could come out in 2025, 2026 that we would just hold as a standard. And that is, hey, of course it's 2025, 2026. There's sprint, there's aim down sites which we'll talk about. Halo fans might grimace at the idea of sprint in Halo 1, but after Halo Infinite, I think fans now the new fans will want that. They want that modern feel and it absolutely nails that. Tim, what you think?

[C]

I mean look, we're talking about one of my favorite games of all time, one of my favorite campaigns of all time. It's now just absolutely gorgeous looking how I remember it looking back in the day. And I could have said that 13 years ago with the, the last, you know, remaster they did. This is a full remake, ground up, stem to stern, being remade. This is Halo Studios using Unreal Engine for the first time. Unreal Engine 5. This is going to be their future going forward. This is I think a very important project for them because this is going to reintroduce Halo to so many people and introduce Halo to even more. Why, Mike?

[B]

Why Tim?

[C]

PlayStation 5. Halo is coming to PlayStation 525 years after its debut. I never thought I'd see the day, but here we are. And we played on Xbox Series X. Yep. So, and again we, we played what you saw there like that, that demo. So it was fairly limited experience but I think it really told us what to expect from this. And it feels right, it sounds right, it looks right when you think what do I want from a remake of Halo 1's campaign? And we're going to stress that campaign, not multiplayer, Y, not we're not going to Battle Freak, we're not going to Blood Gold. Is that a good idea? Bad idea. We'll talk about that later. But we're talking about the campaign here. And what would we want to see updated from the Halo 1 campaign? Well, I got a couple things right. It's slow. We re me and Greg played through Halo with you during the pandemic. Right. Greg's first time and he really didn't have a great time. And a lot of that was because of how slow it was. A lot of that was how turned around you can get. And I was bummed out because my original plan was we're going to do four players. I wanted it to be with you and Andy as well joining us, but I didn't realize it was only two players back in Halo 1. So having said all that, they solved most of those problems. Yeah, you have a sprint, you can move around faster. There's waypoints that pop up for your destinations and in ways that aren't annoying they feel or it's not annoying but aren't cheap, aren't like too modern. It feels in line with what Halo 1 did. Just taking it a little bit further in ways that we're more used to now. And 4 player online co op, 2 player split screen co op, we're still getting all that. More skulls than you can imagine to remix your different runs of this game if you wanted to. And three brand new levels.

[B]

That's the exciting part, Tim. I mean it's all exciting. You just ran down. There's so much to talk about of coming to PlayStation. Full cross play and cross progression with 4 player online co op and then 2 player split screen on the couch console only. But like bringing it back to the old school days. You got a family member, a partner, a friend you could sit down on the couch is so special. And then the idea of like full cross play with now your friends on PlayStation, on PC, whatever. And four player campaign co op, that's really, really special and dope. And then three new levels.

[C]

Three new levels. And that's, that's, that's crazy. Three new levels of Halo 1. What's that going to be?

[B]

Where are you taking us people with the. My favorite was the speculations before all this. People like it's going to be the story told from the arbiter's perspective, which is pretty rad.

[C]

You're like arbit kind of awesome.

[B]

Yes. But this one I think is better.

[C]

I think this is the perfect move. We have Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson in a brand new arc set before the events of Combat Evolved, featuring new environments, gameplay, characters and enemies. I love they're going to keep the style and the vibe of the Halo 1 campaign, which is always one of the highlights of the franchise to me as a very, very old man. But I love that. I'm very excited. Sergeant Johnson, obviously one of the most beloved characters of the franchise. So having him back voice acted, all of that. It's going to be great.

[B]

Those two badasses, little buddy cop action three levels are going to be so much fun. And they're saying new mechanics, new enemies and new weapons added into Halo 1. This. That's crazy.

[C]

Weapons including the energy sword.

[B]

The energy sword.

[C]

You got the energy sword finally in Halo 1. A bunch of the other.

[B]

Yeah, the big ones they were talking about. It's like the Covenant enemies would drop weapons that you couldn't use and so they made it so you could now. So the fuel rods in there, the energy sword and then whatever that crazy laser beam is. I always forget.

[C]

Sentinel beam.

[B]

Sentinel beam. Thank you for that. And then they also have eight weapons as well. Eight more weapons as well.

[C]

Well, I think that includes those. That includes those. Yeah. There are eight weapons window that have never been in Halo one before. Most of them, if not all of them have been in the other Halo games. So they haven't announced all those. We'll have to see what. What's going on. But maybe they'll add a br. Maybe that's a little cheeky joke for you, I imagine. I imagine. Right. But. So I just want to say this felt perfect to me. Tim Gettys, somebody that wants to replay Halo's campaign, wants it to look and sound great, which it does, but wants it to feel more modern than Halo 1, but still feel like Halo. Halo. And I think that that's a delicate balance because you get in that warthog and you want it to feel a certain way and that way is wrong. But if you're a Halo player, it's the only way that.

[B]

Right, you mean Tim, it feels so. It's crazy because you said that to me and I looked at you shocked of like, Tim, this couldn't feel more right. Like, I love the way that the Warthog controls and I think for PlayStation fans who have maybe never used the Warthog or new fans in general, it will be a moment of like what is happening here?

[C]

And that's the conversation, man.

[B]

That's the thing.

[C]

It's like that's gonna be rough. I think it's going to be a tough pill to swallow. But again, I think it's a rock and a hard place where it's impossible to fully serve everybody because of what this project is. But as a OG fan, I feel very served. I feel very excited about this. You talking about the aim down sights and the sprint and stuff, the button, button conf. Button configurations. Just when you're playing. It feels how I expect it. It feels how I want it to. Which is not how Halo 1 originally controlled. Right?

[B]

That is true.

[C]

But it's been little differences. I don't. And again, this is campaign only. You can turn the Sprint off. You don't need to use it.

[B]

Yes. They said you could toggle on and off the Sprint if you want to go old school style on it. So that was a cool little nod to being like, hey, we know there's some Halo OG fans out there that won't love this idea, but hey, we're giving you both ways. Yeah, you have whatever way you want.

[C]

And they're doing little, little changes to add up to the game. Looking different and feeling different now. Like the Warthog now has four seats on it. So if you're playing four player co op, no one needs to get left. Do you remember what they called it? No.

[B]

The golf cart seat that you sit on the back of the bumper and he just holds on is great.

[C]

It is great. It is great. But yeah. So obviously I'm very high on this experience of playing this game. I can't wait to play. I can't wait for the new levels and all of that. From your experience playing the game, what do you have to say?

[B]

Very high. I mean, from playing the game, understanding that we are getting the Halo 1 campaign redone and remade. I'm so excited, Tim. I cannot wait to go through this experience one more time. And most importantly, I'm really excited about the three new levels. What could be, what's the story they want to tell? How do they get me excited for maybe the future of Halo as well? Because now there's a lot of questions, right? But like this, right now is a great idea and a great way to celebrate the 25 years of Halo while also with the rebrand of Halo Studios coming out and kind of reintroducing yourselves of like, hey, we know this really succeeded. We can't really fuck this up. So we're going to make this great and we're going to give it back to you. And then the next thing that we make, you know, we'll restart. But this is a nice reintroduction with the Halo Studios brand.

[C]

So here we go. Tim Gettys, Mike Howard loved what we played of Halo 1, of Halo campaign Evolved.

[B]

Loved it.

[C]

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[C]

lot of big questions here. All right? Like I was saying, we loved our experience with this, but we knew we were going to. It's kind of hard to mess up a. Hey, this thing we love. It looks better and sounds better and all this stuff more cinematic. Adding all the things we could think of wanting, plus three new levels. But what do we think about this announcement? What do we think about this being the follow up to Halo Infinite? This is the first time on a PlayStation 5 where seen Halo. The 25th anniversary of Halo is next year. When this game is coming out, we don't know exactly when. November 15th. Xbox. Xbox's anniversary. Halo's anniversary 2026. Are they holding off on releasing this until then? What.

[B]

Where are you at? Well, I mean, let's, let's start with the obvious. Like that's a layup, right? If you hold it until November, that's an instant win. We're celebrating 25 years. No better way than bringing it back with a total remake of the campaign. Now the reintroduction, the new idea, they just, they just restarted left Slipspace moved. Unreal Engine. This is the perfect like kind of stopgap of like, hey, this is a smaller project. We didn't have to create Halo Infinite 2 or some brand new Halo. Let's make something smaller, quick, focused, get it out in time for the anniversary. The bigger thing will be next. I love that, right? Because I don't want to wait another five years for Halo. I need, I need Halo in my life all the time. Right? And so I love that idea.

[C]

But you see, you don't want to wait where it's not even. That's over a year away from now to release a, a 10 now 13 level campaign for Halo.

[B]

If you are multiplayer and I talking about dates, then if we're going to get down on like Mike and Tim Armchair quarterbacking the dates. Yes, Tim, with what we expect next year to be. Fable, Gears of War, E Day, Forza Horizon in Japan, and Halo Evolved, the big four. This game should be a February release. If I'm armchair quarterback, I'm with you. I want to start the year off with a bang, 25 years of Xbox bang. Halo to start off the year. Because Forza, Fable and Gears are. Are way bigger titles than this remake, right? This is a big deal, but without the multiplayer. This isn't a new Halo. Those games are much bigger. Those are my holiday blockbusters. You got to be here, right? So I get this out before the GTA madness. I get the excitement going and then I end the year ending summer probably in August with Forza. Then I move in to Gears probably in like that October, September window. And then I hits in the big one right at the end of October into November. Fable, the ultimate Xbox experience.

[C]

Yeah, I mean, it's interesting having said all that, because I'm with you. I think that is in a perfect world. The move from us playing this game from where, from what we got to play. This game doesn't seem like it's that close to being finished. Doesn't seem like February is realistic. So it is that push and pull of what is the move here? And I feel like the easiest answer is, yeah, November 15th, it's the anniversary. Just put it out then. And also when you think about the different platforms, right, the games you mentioned, Fable and Gears and all that, are they day one on PlayStation? Who knows? Maybe not. Maybe it is like a staggered release like they've been doing.

[B]

They have been doing some interesting moves. You would day one that to your

[C]

point of like, this isn't on the same level as those brand new games, but if this is the PlayStation game, they're pushing towards the fall, maybe that's the move. It just seems crazy to me that it's that far away. And this is a campaign only thing being revealed at an esports event. At their final Halo Infinite multiplayer Esports event.

[B]

I'm.

[C]

And there's no. There's multiplayer because there's co op, but there's no multiplayer arena with the things that Halo, the first game is so known for. It's an interesting move, but it could pay off.

[B]

It will be very interesting to see the payoff because Halo is two things. And you and I had a really good discussion about this, right? Halo is two things to everyone and means two things to most people. It is an awesome, incredible sci fi action campaign with Master Chief and Characters that you'll never forget. But also it is the stories you tell in multiplayer with your friends. It is the moments that you share from Hang em High to lockout to Zanzibar and beyond. Right. Like that's Halo to me are those two things. And usually it weighs a little more on the multiplayer side because as we know, you play through the campaigns, you move on and usually stick with the multiplayer. So when they said we're going to give you the 10 levels and just do Halo one, I was kind of stunned. The full package to me of Halo is both of those things, campaign and multiplayer. You're telling me we're not going to add multiplayer to this. I still scratch my head to this day going Halo is two things. I think you got to have the full package to really sell me, especially if this is a dollar seventy.

[C]

And that's the thing. So yeah, there's so much here, Mike. You're nailing it.

[B]

We got to get in here.

[C]

So I do think that, and I'm being hypocritical even with what I'm here because I actually love the vision of this is Halo campaign Evolved. It's literally in the name that shows a commitment to we're doing one thing, we got to get it right. And I love that because they got to get it right. Halo has had too many missteps, too many mistakes made. They got to get this right. We've been saying that forever. Okay. But I, I do appreciate their first swing on PlayStation. A whole new audience. It's like, let's get it right. But I also feel like getting it right. There's this other side and we look at it and we go, okay, well, you, Halo Infinite Master Chief collection, Can we get those on PlayStation? And it sounds like that's very unlikely due to a multitude of reasons. I also think that just the writings on the wall, seeing this game, seeing what they're doing, Unreal Engine 5 seems to be the way forward. So I think that they are going to very much focus on Unreal Engine 5, Halo projects going forward in every way. I don't think there's going to be going back. So whatever the first multiplayer halo experience on PlayStation 5 is going to be at this point, I'm willing to bet It's Unreal Engine 5. And more than that, they got to get that the most right. Because that isn't just a nostalgia campaign that you're going to have fun with it. They're really doing everything they possibly can for what we want from it. It is something that's going to compete with Fortnite, Call of duty, battlefield, etc. Etc.

[B]

I mean, Tim, it's interesting because if we rewind to the beginning of Halo Infinite and that multiplayer surge, they had the world right. We talked about it, they just didn't nail the live service aspect of it. But when it comes to a team arena shooter and returning to the Halo franchise, they absolutely crushed that. And it's like, yeah, that's what I want on PlayStation. That's what I want everywhere. I want when we drop this, the craze be off the charts. And they had that with Halo Infinite multiplayer. Never dropped it on PlayStation, which if we could rewind time, I'm sure they'd say, oh shit, we should have put that on PlayStation Day 1. Because, you know, it's just odd that we're only giving you half of the Halo experience. And I worry that fans out there will play the campaign, enjoy 10 missions, 13 missions now, and then be left going, okay, well I, what else is there to do?

[C]

Yeah, a second re release of this campaign, by the way. Right. And also to be clear here, because this is a different engine, you can't do the novel, switch back and forth between the original. Totally fine, I, I get that.

[B]

Yeah, we didn't need that.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, that's cool and whatever. But this, this is clearly a ground up remake, different type of project. But I, I then go back to like, is this going to be the right introduction to new players? Like you saying like this campaign feels like 20, 25, 26, like that modern. It does in so many ways, but because it's still Halo 1 and they want to support that, not only does the Warthog feel the way it does, which again compliment from me, I do think going to be a negative for new players, like Nick Scarpino for example, is going to hate that. I think taking that even a step beyond like the Silent Cartographer, the level we got to play, the 20 minutes we got to play, like literally the moment to moment gameplay stuff that we got to play is one of the most memorable in video game history. To me, the storming of the beach, it felt like the most grand scale assault that I ever got to do in an interactive environment. At that point it was fucking nuts. Right? It's really just like nine dudes running

[B]

at you, isn't it?

[C]

You know?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And you see it now, it's like it's still just nine dudes running at you. It's because of how this game is presented, how cinematic it is. I'm not necessarily saying that as a complaint because it's still epic and still feels great and I still love it. But I don't know that brand new players are going to play it and have it if it's going to feel the same way to them. Like without that built in nostalgia.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

What do you think?

[B]

I mean, the nostalgia is going to go crazy on this game. I think OG fans like you and I are going to get hit with a wave of it for sure. I don't know. Showing these 20 minutes, like you said, showing these 20 minutes is the Halo sandbox at its core.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

But it also, like, there's a group of four covenant, and then you drive another 20ft, there's a group of four covenant, and then you get to a door, it's locked, there's a couple Covenant. It just wasn't the best, like, selling point.

[C]

But that's what Halo is.

[B]

Exactly. And there's just so many more moments, though. It's like you got to see the opening of Halo to really feel the vibes. Right. And I think Halo fans will love the story is great. Tim. Yeah. So I. I don't know. I guess I'm not too worried about the gameplay of it all, but I think the issue is, is they'll get through that and maybe they'll want more or maybe they'll go, ah, that was good enough. But that's where the multiplayer was supposed to compliment it.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That's where you tell the stories.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah, man. That's a very good point. They didn't get to let us play it and we didn't get there. They didn't even give us anything to show. But they did, behind closed doors, show us teases of the flood.

[B]

And they're hyping that.

[C]

And it. Because the Flood, like, I don't want to spoil it in case there are new people, but like incredible moments and, and set pieces in Halo 1 and there's a horror element to it. And the Unreal Engine 5, it makes the Flood look unlike they've ever looked before in the best way possible. Like, it goes beyond how you remember it. It is the thing of, like, oh, this is what they're cooking on. And like, this is going to. I can't wait to get to those moments. It's going to be spectacular.

[B]

That story's so special.

[C]

It is, man.

[B]

It's a journey. It's an epic journey that new fans are going to love and like old fans are going to love returning to. It's just. Is there more meat on the bone. And it just doesn't seem like it is.

[C]

And, and so we talked to the team, right? We interviewed a bunch of people there. We hung out with them all day. This team really cares about this. They. This is the project they want to make. And I do kind of feel like from talking to them, it's not like we didn't bring up all the points we're making about what about this, what about that? And they were steadfast. They sat there like, we're doing Halo campaign evolved. We want to get Halo's campaign right? And that's either going to vibe with you or not. I don't know that that's necessarily the right move. I don't know that it's the move I would have made. Maybe it's the move I would have made, but I don't know that's the right move. You get what I'm saying? Like, again, I feel very happy because I'm like, I'm getting what I want. But yeah, it's. It's going to be interesting to see this all play out. The price, I do think, is an incredibly important thing to bring up because all of us there were kind of talking about it and somebody brought up like, oh, yeah, it's going to be a $70 title. So not, not them, like other media people just speculating like, it's going to be a $70 title. And I scoffed at that. I was like, no, no, it's not like, no, there's no way. And then everyone was like, tim, I think it's going to be $70. And I'm like, that's unacceptable. You know what I mean? Like, that's fucking wild. But y' all kind of convinced me you're right, which, I don't know, Mike.

[B]

I mean, we will see with the announcement if there's anything more, if there's more details or later on come summer, if, if it is really a November date, that means we'll probably see it at the Xbox Summer Game Showcase and we'll probably get a price tag there and we'll understand a lot more to it, Tim. Right. But yeah, the $70 does irk me of, like, that's a full cost game and we're only getting half the experience. I just don't know where we stand. But from the team perspective, it was awesome to see so many people bought in, so focused on what they want to deliver and dedicated to. Like, this is the goal. Let's achieve.

[C]

We deliver.

[B]

We deliver. God, Tim. They brought back Steve Downs and Jen Taylor. Okay. They got him back in the booth and it. You could hear it, you'd care. The moment you hear it, you're like, wow, this is just so. It's 25 years later. It's so Impact.

[C]

Cinematics look great. Totally reblocked from the original storyboards.

[B]

They get.

[C]

They're cooking. They have a vision. I can't wait. I literally. Mike. I can't wait for me. You, Andy. We need to figure out our fourth.

[B]

Yeah. Who's our fourth?

[C]

We need the person coming on this

[B]

epic journey because, like, I can't maybe who hasn't experienced.

[C]

I think we need one new. One person that has an experience.

[B]

Might be a blessing out of the.

[C]

Oh, yeah, maybe it is. Might be a blessing. It is.

[B]

The final one, Tim, is the biggest one. When we walked out of this is like, where does this team go now? I totally get the vibe of, like, 25 years. We're remaking the original. That's all well and good, but what do we do next? Are you taking me to Halo 2 and Halo 3? Is that what we're really doing? Are we going to a Halo Infinite? Are they going to chart a new course and make a new story on the back of maybe one or just a restart? Tim, like, there's. I mean, we're going to be talking about it on this set for years.

[C]

Years.

[B]

Which it does get me really gassed up of. Like, what are they gonna do? Yeah, where are they? Because you can't rebuild off a Halo Infinite because those fans never played Halo Infinite 1. So I can't hit him with Halo Infinite 2.

[C]

We'll see, everybody. But, hey, let us know in the comments below what you thought of our conversation of what you thought of the B roll that we were showing you there. What you want from Halo overall? If you're a PlayStation gamer that's never played, are you excited to play the campaign for the very first time? And also, if you're watching this, no matter what time it is, no matter what you're doing, go check out the stream they're doing for Silent Hill F. It's about to be absolutely insane. Here's a little tease of it now. Breaking time, breaking space. Oh, man, I love you all so much. Until next time. Goodbye.

[B]

There's a world where legends race across city skylines.

[C]

Romance blossoms in glittering ballrooms.

[B]

And there's magic around every corner. It's a world known to many as Great Britain.

[C]

You've seen the action on screen.

[B]

Now visit the real star of the show. Visit Great Britain to discover more. Go to tripadvisor.com Great Britain.