It looks like the early-stage Halo 2 and Halo 3 remakes were planned to far exceed the bare-minimum content that Halo: Campaign Evolved offered. It’s no secret that Halo: Campaign Evolved was a polarizing remake, releasing with very little content and bonus missions that I’d describe as on par with Halo 5's level of bad storytelling.
But I’m not here to pour my heart out over that. In a new report from @Mr_Rebs_, he provides us with some insight into how vast in scope a Halo 2 and Halo 3 remake was going to be before Halo Studios was gutted and the mantle of responsibility was handed over to Activision.
Multiplayer, Forge, Firefight, and more: What could have been
According to Rebs, Halo Studios reportedly conducted a survey among select community members regarding what they wanted from a Halo 2 and a Halo 3 remake, with the studio allegedly referring to the trilogy of remakes as “Project Manihi.”
For the Halo 2 survey, Halo Studios reportedly asked the following questions:
- Bringing back dual wielding and how important it was to the experience.
- Including a full multiplayer component retaining Halo 2's classic gameplay.
- Having a complete selection of multiplayer playlists available at launch.
- Adding Firefight.
- Reusing Blur Studio's Halo 2: Anniversary cinematics.
- Potentially introducing entirely new bonus missions.
Rebs claims that participants pushed back against reusing Blur cutscenes because Halo Studios wanted to reuse assets from Campaign Evolved, creating a visual mismatch. Respondents also believed that dual wielding was essential to a Halo 2 remake, and on that, I do agree.
As for multiplayer, participants reportedly wanted the classic gameplay preserved while ensuring it remained appealing to casual and competitive players, with a full selection of playlists available from day one.
For Halo 3, however, Rebs alleges the studio's ambitions were even greater, with Halo Studios looking to take everything it had learned from Campaign Evolved and the proposed Halo 2 remake and apply it to Halo 3.
The survey reportedly evaluated how important it was to deliver the complete experience, and participants essentially said yes to everything: multiplayer, Forge, Theater, and additional modes like Firefight.
One of Rebs' sources suggested that Halo 3 was intended to become the flagship project of the entire remake initiative, with Halo Studios apparently looking to invest more resources into making it the most complete experience of the three.
It is also reported that Halo Studios were planning to do more bonus missions similar to what we got in Campaign Evolved, and that these next two remakes would also exist alongside the next mainline Halo game.
Since the layoffs at Halo Studios, though, all these plans are pretty much dead in the water, and I can’t say I’m not happy about that. I had zero faith in Halo Studios' ability to even remotely deliver one more remake, let alone two remakes alongside a new mainline entry, but maybe that’s just me.
Let me know how you feel in the comments. Would you have been excited for the prospects of a Halo Studios crack at a Halo 2 and Halo 3 remake, or are you like me and glad we’ll never see them?
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