The newly revealed Halo: Campaign Evolved, an Unreal Engine 5 remake of 2001’s Halo, isn’t just a graphical update of the original game. The devs are making some big changes to the classic Halo experience, and this includes changing levels. And yes, if you were wondering, The Library is one of the levels getting tweaked.
Ask 100 random Halo fans what the worst level in the first game is, and 90 or more will likely say “The Library.” This late-in-story level is very long, filled with never-ending waves of Flood, aka space zombies, and has limited supplies, checkpoints, and waypoints. It also lacks visual variety and can be a dull experience on lower difficulties and a pain in the ass for those playing on higher difficulties who enter unprepared. To help players in 2025, Halo Studios is making some changes to Halo’s infamously annoying level.
In an October 24 blog post, Halo Studios and Xbox explained that with Library, “it felt right to make tweaks to several areas” to create a “new experience that balances nostalgia with the expectations of today’s gamers.”
“We learned from Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary that there was still an appetite for things like better wayfinding, navigation, and diversity in enemy encounters,” said Halo creative director Matt Szlagor. “In The Library specifically, which features several Flood encounters, we wanted to reevaluate the pacing and enhance the environmental storytelling. We’ve added new lines to Guilty Spark, which guide players through the level, and there’s new dialogue that gives more insight into the narrative as it plays out.”
He further added: “We’re not changing the stories, it’s about refining and adding context to this moment, and other levels like it, so players can stay on track.”
Speaking to Rolling Stone, executive producer Damon Conn claimed that every mission, encounter, and cinematic in Halo: Combat Evolved has been “rebuilt and retouched with the spirit intact of the original’s awe, sense of discovery, and heroism.” Hopefully, that means the Library won’t look like the same boring grey corridors over and over again for 20 minutes.
Halo: Campaign Evolved launches on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in 2026.
