Halo: Campaign Evolved introduces a fresh twist to the classic campaign by mixing traditional gunplay with fan-favorite weapons from later series entries that never appeared in the original release. Alongside these additions, several existing weapons feature slower swap and reload animations, smaller clips, or reduced effectiveness.
To help players navigate the arsenal, all weapons in Halo: Campaign Evolved have been ranked exclusively based on how they appear and function within the campaign.
Halo: Campaign Evolved Weapon Rankings
- Sentinel Beam: Struggles with energy-based ammo resupply issues. Usable for breaking shields at close range, but outperformed by almost every other option.
- Plasma Rifle: Useful for shield breaking, but suffers from the same energy-based ammo limitations as the Sentinel Beam.
- Brute Plasma Rifle: Features a faster fire rate and higher damage output than the standard version, but remains unstable and inaccurate.
- Plasma Pistol: Highly situational. Excellent for dealing with Covenant vehicles like those in Assault on the Control Room and breaking shields, though hampered by the Magnum's slower swap speed.
- Spiker: A powerful Brute weapon capable of shredding shieldless enemies and pinning targets, but restricted to infrequent appearances in Bonus Missions.
- Beam Rifle: A precision long-range energy weapon that cannot be reloaded once depleted, making it risky for prolonged use.
- Energy Sword: A melee option suited for sneaking up on enemies or fighting the Flood, though it puts players in high-danger close-quarters combat against stronger foes.
- Needler: A common sight across almost every mission with abundant ammo, serving as a reliable quick kill for early-game foes.
- Assault Rifle: A decent mid-range fallback option, though its maximum clip size is nearly cut in half compared to the original variant and it lags behind the SMG.
- Sniper Rifle: Extremely powerful for one-shotting average enemies at long range during early missions, but loses utility once the Flood appear.
Combat Strategy Tips For Campaign Evolved
Weapon performance changes significantly in this release. Keep these practical takeaways in mind when deciding what to carry:
- Avoid relying on energy-based weapons like the Sentinel Beam, Plasma Rifle, and Beam Rifle as primary loadouts due to the inability to resupply traditional ammunition.
- Factor in the slower Magnum weapon swap speed when attempting classic shield-popping combos.
- Swap out restrictive weapons like the Spiker or Sniper Rifle once mission objectives shift toward close-quarters combat against the Flood.