Halo Combat Evolved Designer Blasts Remake for Ditching the Original’s Design Philosophy — What Have They Done?

Halo Campaign Evolved just got a big gameplay drop, and one of the folks who helped build the original is not loving what he saw. Ex-Halo designer Jaime Griesemer hopped on X over the weekend and again a few days later to call out changes he says bulldoze core encounter design and pacing in the remake.

What sparked it: a Warthog doing things it was never meant to do

Right after the massive announcement, the studio pushed out a 13-minute gameplay video from a pre-release build. In one sequence, Master Chief and company are joyriding the Warthog across the map, flattening enemies and blasting through obstacles. Griesemer says that is precisely what Halo Combat Evolved was designed not to let you do.

'You aren't supposed to be able to take the Warthog up to steamroll the Hunters. I intentionally placed rocks in the way so you had to fight them on foot. When you can just smash the crates out of the way it wrecks the encounters. But the worst part? They put trees in the landing...'

That post went viral. Griesemer points to very specific geometry choices he made back in the day—rocks and blockages that forced a tense on-foot fight with Hunters—that the remake appears to erase with smashable crates and a more permissive path for the Hog. He even tagged original art director Marcus Lehto (@game_fabricator) to ask what happened to 'beloved B30,' a nod to one of the original mission codenames.

The sprint argument, round two

On Oct 28, Griesemer followed up about the remake's newly added sprint—yes, it can be toggled on or off—arguing it undercuts the whole rhythm of a Halo mission. In his view, once sprint exists, players blow past critical exploration beats and skip encounters entirely, and vehicles stop feeling essential because your feet are suddenly fast enough to do the job. He also warned that if levels are already locked down, fixing sprint's ripple effects late in development can be a nightmare; if it is early enough, there might still be time to rebalance.

Fans are divided

The replies are a split screen: plenty of players are annoyed he is criticizing a modernized approach, while others say if anyone gets to weigh in on encounter design and philosophy, it is the guy who helped design those encounters in the first place.

What this actually tells us about the remake

The build shown is pre-release, so some of these choices could still change. But this is a good example of how tiny environmental tweaks—like turning a barrier into a breakable crate or planting a few trees where a dropship lands—can quietly upend how a fight plays out. It is also a reminder that adding seemingly simple mobility options (sprint) has cascading effects on level flow, enemy placement, and the role of vehicles.

• Warthog access: The remake lets you smash through crates and drive the Hog where the original intentionally blocked you, which Griesemer says breaks set-piece encounters with Hunters.
• Level geometry tweaks: He specifically called out new trees in a landing zone as a small change with big consequences.
• Sprint toggle: New to Campaign Evolved, but he argues it wrecks pacing, encourages skipping encounters, and makes vehicles feel less necessary.
• Timeline: First post on Oct 25 (tagging @game_fabricator and referencing 'B30'); sprint critique arrived Oct 28.
• Context: All of this came after a 13-minute gameplay slice from a pre-release build—translation, work in progress, but the design direction is already raising eyebrows.

My read

I get why fans want Halo to feel snappier in 2025, and I also get why the guy who placed the rocks doesn't want you driving over his carefully built fights. If Campaign Evolved is going to keep sprint and a freer Warthog, the encounters will need to be rebuilt around those tools—not just ported and loosened. Otherwise, you are trading memorable fights for fast-forward.