The release of Halo: Campaign Evolved marks a significant milestone for the franchise, as it represents a complete evolution of the art of making Halo games. This new chapter in the series is a testament to the power and capabilities of Unreal Engine 5, which has allowed the team to bring the world of Halo to life in a way that was previously impossible. The art team's journey began with Project Foundry, a test bed and proof-of-concept exploration of what it means to bring Halo to life in Unreal. This project helped them test key workflows and set a new bar for the variety, richness, and visual ambition they wanted to bring to the franchise.
One of the key outcomes of Project Foundry was the ability to solve development challenges around environments, materials, world-building, and atmosphere. This work directly influenced the levels in Halo: Campaign Evolved, such as 'Halo' and 'Assault on the Control Room', as well as the broader implementation of the Flood throughout the game. The team was able to move faster, iterate more freely, and lower the technical barriers between artistic intent and in-engine execution, thanks to Unreal.
The art team established five key art pillars for the project: military/science fiction, aspirational/spectacle, grounded/relatable, intriguing/storied, and thoughtful/intentional. They also had a North Star, a careful balance of three influences: the original Bungie-era concept art, the insight and expectations of long-term Halo players, and a deep effort to preserve the essence of the original game. Every decision was carefully vetted, with only the changes that genuinely enhanced or added to the experience making it through.
The team also drew inspiration from Bungie's original work and elements from other parts of the Halo franchise. They held conversations with community members to guide many of their decisions and treated every element of the original game as a crown jewel. The Mjolnir armor and Warthog were great examples of how they balanced evolution with preservation.
The development of the three bonus missions was different from the approach and work on remaking the original ten missions, but there were also many similarities. The team learned a lot from making the original missions, which allowed them to be far more ambitious in their scope for the bonus missions. The goal was to introduce a new Covenant faction, the dogmatic and extreme Sacristan, while delivering both the vast scale Halo is known for and the claustrophobic intensity of Covenant ships.
Overall, the team is proud of the compelling visuals that still feel true to the original. They want players to feel hope and excitement when they load into Halo: Campaign Evolved for the first time, and they believe that the game will deliver a love letter to the original while making it exciting and relatable for both longtime fans and new players.
