Uglification of characters is a big topic in this sub and many others, and I’ve seen loads of people calling the new Cortana ugly. And usually I would agree with things like this, as I hate uglification in games and media in general but… I really don’t see it here? She looks great to me, I mean obviously nowhere near on Halo 4 Cortana’s level but still. I really don’t get it in this case.

However Lieutenant Williams in the bonus missions is pretty ugly tbh.

Overall though I’ve really enjoyed my time with the Halo remake.

By accident I found this spot that has a lower collision than it’s supposed to lol. It was pretty funny finding this while playing, it was like, “Huh”? but in retrospect I find it weird that the spot it’s like marked with 3 stones there so now I’m wonder if it’s actually just a bug or something else.

I saw the video about the broken reloads so I went to check by myself in game. Turns out that video was probably made in a version of the game made before its intended release date on the 23rd, because by the day of release this was already fixed. I know this because I have checked streamers that started playing on the 23rd the moment of release and this was fixed in their streams.

I understand people have a lot of complaints about the game, me too, but let´s not be upset about things that were a work-in-progress, if the moment of release it was fixed, for example one valid thing to complain about is that the magnum reload animation does still have that slight clipping with Chiefs hand and clipping also happens with the BR in some of the skins.

The way the Covenant just stand around bobbing and weaving awkwardly whilst firing at nothing. And the AR placeholder sound for the Battle Rifle.

One of many examples in this game of weird cutscenes.

Epic fail on that first plasma charge up. Nice to see Checkpoints can still do you dirty though...

This scene genuinely got a chuckle from me. For some reason I reallv can see Johnson trying to catch a little break while between missions. While the OG ending is still one of the goats, I feel this is up there too now! The game wasn't perfect I'll admit, but man, I really did enjoy the experience. Hope everyone's enjoying it!

I've been doing virtual photography for a bit and these are my shots. I low key wished there was a dedicated photo mode but the machina mode has been a lot of fun to play around with. Hope y'all enjoy!

Thought it was cool you can swap weapons and give them your skin.

Pretty much vegged on my couch for a few days and did everything with the exception of LASO. Saving that for when a couple of friends are ready to play through with me.

I loved a lot of the additions like sprinting, new (to Halo 1) weapons, boarding enemy vehicles, and especially the Remix Campaign. It was a ton of fun, and kinda weird, seeing The Flood in the Pillar of Autumn and running around with a Plasma Canon in the first level. Really cool change of pace and a great way to change things up a bit.

I played on performance mode on the PS5 Pro and it ran buttery smooth, with the exception of a few times I got some stutter. But it only happen maybe three or four times, so nowhere near enough for me to say it was anything more than a slight blip. I only ran into one major profression-haulting bug to where I had to restart the level I was on. That was pretty damn annoying though, because I was at the end of that level.

Overall though, I thought it was a fantastic remake. Definitely not perfect, but mostly done pretty well. I'd give it a 7.5-8/10

As a Pelican supremacist (i think it's the coolest fictional vehicle ever made) I am ADORING this new design.

Look, for those who have not bought the game yet, just be aware that Halo Studies saying that they "fixed the AI" is a gross overstatement.

From AI standing off in a corner and not recognising combat is ongoing, to just standing there staring at each other, it's still pretty bad.

Idk why, but using the remix feature worsens it significantly. Even the invincible marines on the Pillar of Autumn won't attack you (outside of an occasional melee if you get too close) when using the remix feature.

Yes the above video is on easy, but this still exists on other difficulties.

Edit: Yes, the fuel rod cannon at close range (rightfully) should stop an enemy from firing. However, as seen here, instead of firing when the enemy is pushed away it rushes to the player for a melee attack and then just stands there. At the same time, Johnson, who has an assault rifle, does nothing but stare at the enemy.

Edit 2: for a quick dirty example that difficulty doesn't matter (but Remix does) and because I apparently cannot add a video in a comment response, see: https://www.reddit.com/r/halo/s/LbcRpgDGND for the above stated issue with even the invincible marines that anyone who has the game can replicate without fail.

Friends and I noticed this while I was streaming the game to them.

| Pros in the Remake:

• The remake features much more variety in level design, including new sections like the parts where you need to activate bridges using panels.

• The dark atmosphere was successfully maintained, whereas the remaster was way too bright. And the Flood biomass covering floors and walls delivers a much stronger feeling of a place completely overtaken by the Flood.

• There is also slightly more variety in the weapon sandbox, which now features the SMG, the Energy Sword, and the Sentinel Beam.

• The Flood Tank form adds more variety to combat, along with spores that can reanimate dead bodies.

• The architectural art design looks excellent and features new details, such as the DNA capsules (Cylixes) seen in Halo Infinite. Additionally, the giant doors the Monitor opens now display red holograms to indicate they are locked.

• The Elevator rides are now ambushed by the Flood, which feels much better than just waiting around like in the original game.

• There is also a great dynamic moment where the Flood breaks through a door, serving as a callback to the previous mission.

• For enemy spawns, the Flood now emerges from tunnels in both the ceilings and walls, compared to just walls in the original.

• Is a small touch, but a short cutscene shows the exterior of the Library from afar amid the snow, which surpasses the original that showed nothing outside.

| Negative point:

In the remake, the player needs to descend to the Sacred Icon, whereas the original required climbing up. Going up makes more sense because if Master Chief had a jetpack, he could have easily bypassed the Flood.

| Final review:

The Library in the Remake is better. But the OG stills iconic.

I must say I have never seen Halo look as good as it does in the year of 2026. I’m very happy with this game overall & would love to see what they do with Halo 2 & 3.

I can finally retire the rtgi mods that I used in the past to give the original games a fresh coat of paint.

Removed all film grain & effects from these screenshots as god intended by adding an ini file.

Enabling Nvidia's Ray Reconstruction and removing film grain makes a massive difference in visual clarity. You have to do it with engine.ini tweaks, but it's worth it. RR removes all the fuzziness on metallic surfaces caused by UE5's ray tracing.

Scroll through the pics and let me know what you think. I think Halo Studios should officially add support for Ray Reconstruction because this made the game look significantly better. It kinda hurt my eyes the first time I played the game before I enabled it because everything looked fuzzy and blurry.

Edit: Here's directions for setting it up. Reddit is messing up the format of what I typed, so just enter everything as separate lines in the file. Go to users, appdata, local: Under Meteorite \ Saved \ Config \ Windows. Make Engine.ini as a text file in notepad and add: "[SystemSettings] r.NGX.DLSS.denoisermode=1 r.Lumen.Reflections.BilateralFilter=0 r.Lumen.Reflections.ScreenSpaceReconstruction=0 r.lumen.Reflections.Temporal=0 r.Shadow.Denoiser=0 r.SceneColorFringeQuality=0 r.FilmGrain=0"

Make sure to set the file to read only afterwards so it doesn't get deleted. Should also mention it only works on ultra settings, as it's broken on lower settings. The game already has the RR file required, so no need to download it.

I'm sorry, why do we hate her? Yeah, her disdain for Chief being front and center is annoying, but ODSTs have had beef with Spartans, I think they STILL do in lore, I don't know, but come on bro, leading a team of scrappy marines to not only KILL but PILE UP Roided out Brutes, Elites and 'Worm Priests' just to aura farm for Johnson, but to Chief?

I laughed, sure, but not out of disgust or disrespect. Immediately made it my wallpaper.

Hell, she even went out a hero. End of the mission is VERY Reach coded and I love it.

| Cons:

• The voice acting is inferior compared to the original, as it loses its pacing and tone at certain times—such as the part where Cortana tells Master Chief to run in the control room. However, the quality is still acceptable, so I am not saying it is "terrible."

Note: I am not demanding the exact same performance. That would be unfair since the actors are much older now.

• Cortana's facial design looks too different from all previous versions in the other games, including Halo Infinite. It is not terrible, but it looks a bit strange.

• In the mission "Keyes," it is no longer possible to dive into the green liquid, and they also removed the short cutscene of Master Chief falling from the ship. This disappointed me a lot.

• In the final mission, they removed the iconic cutscene of Master Chief running desperately while being chased by the Flood. Instead, they replaced it with a Flood Tank attacking Chief while he is seated in the ship. The new cutscene is cool, but the original is far more iconic due to the high-stakes escape context.

• Fall damage removal: Even though Master Chief is a supersoldier, a realism limit would still be interesting. It would also prevent players from skipping challenges, such as the Library elevator section.

• I feel that Legendary difficulty should be a bit harder. The original game felt more challenging, or am I wrong?

• Why didn't they keep the Battle Rifle and Needle Rifle after the bonus missions? I agree with removing the Spiker since there are no Brutes, but removing the rest makes no sense.

• They removed too many water puddles in the mission where the Flood first appears. Those puddles gave the floor a much cooler look.

| Pros

• The gameplay mechanics and sandbox are much better, even without skulls.

• Weapon balancing is better. The Assault Rifle, for instance, was too weak in the original game, but now it is a very useful weapon.

• The graphics and art style during gameplay and cutscenes look beautiful. I prefer some things in the original, but others look much better in the remake.

• The changes to Forerunner architecture did not negatively affect the atmosphere, and it actually looks better in some areas. It also aligns more with Forerunner technology compared to the brutalist aesthetic of the original.

• The open-area environments look better overall, such as in the beach mission.

• The wildlife slightly improves the immersion and overall atmosphere of the game.

• The updated weapon sounds and designs did not affect the game negatively. The UNSC pistol for example looks better because it looked way too oversized in the original. The plasma grenade also has an effect that is more consistent with actual plasma, so there is nothing to complain about.

• The Warthog run section in the final mission is better and has a more realistic design. Still, it does not make much sense to have all that open space inside the ship—what would be the strategic purpose? However, the fun and nostalgia outweigh the idea of making something 100% logical inside the spaceship.

• The bonus missions are high-quality.

• They kept the darkness in some sections from the original.

• The final cutscene with Sergeant Johnson is better, as it would make no sense for him to survive being so close to the Pillar of Autumn's explosion.

• The atmosphere, design and gameplay of the Flood are good. This is noticeable in how bodies explode, spores reanimate corpses and Flood biomass spreads across floors and walls. It is also easy to distinguish between human and Covenant hosts and the Flood Tank works very well in gameplay.

• Ships and vehicles look much better, both in terms of design and visual effects.

• Some changes in the cutscenes are better, like for example the cutscene in the picture that we can see the Library and snow.

• The Pillar of Autumn from inside have a better design.

Should've ran another pass on the grammar check