5 Things Halo: Campaign Evolved’s Prequel Missions Must Deliver

Halo remains one of the most enduring and beloved series in gaming history, at least the original trilogy. It balances epic sci-fi storytelling, unforgettable characters, and a rich universe. With Halo: Campaign Evolved, fans will be able to experience the original game with updated visuals, but more than that, Halo Studios has revealed that there will be additional missions added onto the base game. The only other information fans have received has been a confirmation that these will be prequel missions taking place before the events of the game. This had led to much fan debate.

If done right, these prequel missions could completely recontextualize the events of the first Halo. They could fill gaps long left to novels and lore entries, finally letting players experience the build-up to one of gaming’s most iconic openings. Here are five things Halo Studios needs to consider for Halo: Combat Evolved’s prequel missions.

5) Content From the Halo Books

For years, much of Halo’s richest lore has lived in the pages of its novels, and fans of the games may have missed out on these. The prequel missions serve as a way to bring these to life, and the perfect choice is Silent Storm. This chronicles some of Master Chief’s earliest Spartan-II missions during the early years of the Human-Covenant War. Bringing even part of that story to life in playable form would be a dream for longtime fans.

It would showcase the raw, brutal reality of humanity’s early encounters with the Covenant at full force. It’s not the confident Chief of Combat Evolved yet; it’s a younger, tactical leader still learning what it means to carry the weight of being humanity’s ultimate soldier. Players could see John-117 operating behind enemy lines, leading mixed teams of Spartans and Marines. Not only this, but it would allow Halo Studios to expand upon the relationship between Master Chief and Sergeant Avery Johnson.

By drawing from Silent Storm, Campaign Evolved’s prequel could strike the perfect balance between old-school Halo combat and grounded military storytelling. These missions could make the game feel more grounded and realistic while setting up how much of a threat the Covenant is. This angle would unify the Halo game canon with its literary one, giving both long-time fans and newcomers a shared foundation to understand the Chief’s evolution as a leader.

4) Giving Classic Characters the Spotlight

While Halo: Combat Evolved introduced us to legends like Cortana and Captain Keyes, several secondary characters captured fans’ hearts despite limited screen time. Chief among them was Foe Hammer, the steadfast Pelicon pilot who assisted Master Chief throughout the first game. She was always there when we needed extraction or fire support, yet we never learned much about her story. A prequel mission featuring Foe Hammer could finally change that. Before the Pillar of Autumn’s fateful escape, players could see her in action, bringing more narrative and human depth to the game.

Beyond Foe Hammer, the prequel could spotlight other underappreciated figures from Halo’s early lore: Marines like Sergeant Johnson before he became a legend, a look at the legendary Marvin Mobuto, who died fighting the flood, or more of the series’ underappreciated characters. These connections could make Halo: Combat Evolved’s opening scenes hit even harder, as players would know the faces and stories behind the names.

This kind of attention to legacy characters would be both nostalgic and meaningful, deepening the emotional stakes of a story we already know by heart by giving a look at some of the behind-the-scenes moments. The Halo lore is rich, especially when considering the novels, and there is so much opportunity for Halo Studios to bring iconic characters and moments to life.

3) Showing Off More Spartans

If there’s one thing every Halo fan wants, it’s more time with the rest of Blue Team. For decades, Halo’s expanded universe has fleshed out Linda-058, Kelly-087, and Fred-104, the Chief’s Spartan-II siblings who’ve fought alongside him since their childhood in the Spartan program. Yet in the mainline games, we rarely get to see them together before Halo 5: Guardians. The Campaign Evolved prequel missions are the perfect chance to fix that. A segment showing the Spartans’ operations before the fall of Reach would make nearly every fan happy.

Another Spartan Halo Studios could show is Jun. Jun was the sole member of Noble Team to survive Reach, and fans would love to see more of him. A prequel mission could be set on Concord or the Battle of Fumirole. Seeing this iconic character in another game could show his legacy and just how he managed to survive the events of Halo: Reach.

More Spartans means more potential for dynamic gameplay. Halo Studios has teased co-op, but playing a special mission as Blue Team would be an incredible feature in Halo: Campaign Evolved. Even if it doesn’t include other Spartans, these missions could serve as a way to show just how special Master Chief is, allowing players to see the legendary man’s rise to fame.

2) The Fall of Reach

Every Halo fan remembers the haunting ending of Halo: Reach — Noble Six making their last stand as the Pillar of Autumn escapes into space. But what exactly was happening on the other end of that story? Those who aren’t familiar with the novels were likely asking themselves, Where was Master Chief during Reach’s fall? Halo: Campaign Evolved has the opportunity to answer that question with its prequel missions.

We know that Master Chief was aboard the Pillar of Autumn in cryosleep in preparation for his secret mission. But before this, Master Chief was very active in the war. Halo Studios could show some of the missions leading up to Chief coming aboard the Pillar of Autumn under Captain Keyes’ orders. In this regard, there are countless stories in the novelizations that could be used.

Alternatively, Halo Studios could bring back the ODST. Several ODST were deployed to Reach, and it would be incredible to get some of the gameplay from Halo 3: ODST back with Campaign Evolved’s updated graphics and mechanics. Reach is one of the catalysts of the Human-Covenant War, and fans are obsessed with it. Expanding upon this chapter of the war could bring so much depth to the opening of Halo: Campaign Evolved.

1) A Covenant Flood Mission

If Halo Studios really wants to surprise fans, this is the mission that would make Halo: Campaign Evolved’s prequel unforgettable. Imagine you’re not Master Chief, not a Spartan, not even human. You’re a Covenant Elite commander on a mission to investigate a mysterious Forerunner installation, one that turns out to be a Flood containment facility. We know the Covenant was aware of the Flood before Installation 04, and this could be the perfect way to explain this.

We’ve seen the Flood awakening from humanity’s point of view, but it would be a different experience seeing it from the Covenant’s perspective. We know from lore that the Covenant’s discovery of the Flood was as catastrophic for them as it was for humanity. A playable mission showing that moment would be horrifying, thrilling, and narratively powerful. Even if it is a small force of Flood, seeing it tear through a squad of Elites would be terrifying and set the mood for this enemy in Campaign Evolved.

The Arbiter isn’t a playable character until Halo 2, but making a playable Elite in the prequel missions would be a great touch to honor this. Making the protagonist the Arbiter wouldn’t make sense, especially if we expect the Covenant to fall in this mission, but it would still be thematically satisfying. It would expand on the Covenant’s lore, give fans the first truly canonical playable Elite campaign since Halo 2, and set the perfect stage for the ringworld horrors that follow.

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