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Over the weekend, Halo Studios released a 6-hour video of the Halo: Campaign Evolved main menu, which, as you’d expect, contains the iconic Halo music from the original game. But what you might not have expected is the debate the remake’s new Halo ring has sparked, and some fans calling it too detailed.
Fans are comparing this remade Halo ringworld to the original from the 2001 first-person masterpiece, fussing over any changes they spot. There are clear differences, and indeed the remade ringworld has more detail to it. But why would this be a problem? Some fans say that the details on the ringworld are too large, and so it gives the viewer the impression that the ring itself is smaller than it should be. Thus, this main menu ringworld doesn’t have the sense of awe and scale of the original, which relied upon simple shapes and abstract markings to convey mystery and impossible scale.
This has become a significant talking point within Halo circles, with some offering an explanation of sorts. The thought is that the sense of scale isn’t being portrayed properly here, not just because more detail leaves less to the imagination, but because of where we’re viewing the ring from.
“Yeah it’s for sure a mixture of camera techniques and lighting causing this effect,” redditor Haijakk said in a comparison thread that’s had over 1,400 upvotes. “The main menu just looks like I opened up the model in Blender while the cutscenes have the sauce.”
“Halo 1 really had an almost Death Star quality to the back of the ring,” suggested Deroqshazam. “Ton of tiny ambiguous details and lights appeared larger than conceivable. (Could have been 70s influence or just art style bc of engine limitations but I liked it).”
“It’s the macro details,” added ArmorOfMar. “As someone here pointed out, the original had a design reminiscent of the Death Star or a Star Destroyer. Vast, mostly flat surfaces covered in countless glimmering lights and tiny panel details gave the impression of something truly astronomical in scale.
“With the new Halo, there are too many oversized structural elements. Huge beams and chunky metal sections dominate the silhouette, making it feel more like a large machine than a megastructure. The finer details that sold its immense scale are largely gone.”
“The new design is full of pointless technological greebling,” Zwarlie concluded. “It’s all way too readable. The original ring’s exterior was gray and with a bunch of tiny little lights. It was also darkly lit and you couldn’t really tell what was on the exterior other than that it was gray metal and was obviously artificial.
“This new version is bright, with a ton of shiny reflective silver and bright blue lights in discernible shapes and geometry. Now that you can see everything on the exterior it looks much less mysterious and more like a cliche sci fi 3D model.
“The lighting also doesn’t help as you can just see everything on the exterior which kinda ruins the sense of scale.”
Ultimately, this is just the main menu of Halo: Campaign Evolved, and not how the ringworld necessarily looks in cutscenes or gameplay. But it goes to show how invested Halo fans are with every little detail — even when there are too many — in this high-profile remake.
This isn’t the first time Halo: Campaign Evolved has sparked concern, and some of that has even come from former Halo developers. In October last year, Jaime Griesemer, one of the key developers behind Halo, did not sound impressed when he reacted to the Halo: Campaign Evolved reveal, saying: “I made it right and they are breaking it for no reason.”
Still, there is a great deal of excitement around Halo: Campaign Evolved — as well as a spot of drama around way split-screen co-op works on PS5. Halo: Campaign Evolved is due out across Xbox Series X and S, PS5, and PC on July 28, 2026.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
