Halo's PS5 Debut Rewrites the Rules With Sprint, Vehicle Hijacking, and Reworked Weapons

When Halo: Combat Evolved launched alongside the original Xbox in 2001, it rewrote the rules for console first-person shooters. Now, more than two decades later, Halo Studios is taking another swing at that legacy with Halo: Campaign Evolved — a reimagined version of the classic built specifically for PlayStation 5, and loaded with changes both subtle and sweeping. The game arrives July 28, marking Halo's historic debut on Sony hardware.

Among the most immediately noticeable changes is how the game controls. Campaign Evolved adopts a modern button layout tuned for the DualSense, placing grenades on L1, weapon swapping on triangle, and reloading on square. Players can also sprint at any time by clicking L3, a feature entirely absent from the original. The notorious Warthog — responsible for more Marine funerals than any Covenant Elite — now uses standard vehicle controls with the left stick handling steering and R2 and L2 managing throttle and braking, making chaotic off-road moments far more manageable.

On the health side, Campaign Evolved abandons the original's health pack system in favor of a dual-recharge model. Master Chief's shields regenerate as always, but his underlying health also recovers — just much more slowly. This keeps combat tension alive without forcing players to scour environments for pickups mid-firefight. Meanwhile, Overshield and Active Camouflage power-ups are no longer auto-activated on pickup; they're stored and deployed manually via R1, giving players strategic control over when to use them.

Enemy encounters have also received meaningful attention. Jackals equipped with Beam Snipers — a Halo 2 introduction — now appear in early missions, and Flood-infected Hunters lurk in later levels. Players can also hijack enemy Ghosts and Banshees, though Elites return the favor when given the opportunity. Weapons across the board gained aim-down-sights functionality, reworked sound design, and DualSense haptic feedback, making even lighter firearms like the Plasma Rifle feel genuinely impactful. New weapons including the SMG, Needle Rifle, Fuel Rod Cannon, and Energy Sword round out an already dense arsenal.

Beyond the main campaign's 10 missions, Campaign Evolved includes three all-new bonus missions set a year before the original game's events, starring Master Chief and Sgt. Major Johnson. These introduce the Battle Rifle, Brute Plasma Rifle, and Spike Rifle, alongside Brutes as enemies. The package also expands multiplayer from two-player couch co-op to four-player online co-op, and adds collectible Skulls, story-expanding terminals, and difficulty settings ranging from Heroic to the notoriously punishing Legendary.