Skulls will return in Halo: Campaign Evolved. Halo Studios tells Polygon about why the Halo: CE remake features the ‘most’ of any Halo campaign.
In many regards, Halo: Campaign Evolved is a one-to-one remake of 2001’s Halo: Combat Evolved. But there’s one way in which this latest iteration is shaking things up: According to its developers, the remake will feature more skulls — gameplay modifiers that increase the challenge — than any previous Halo game.
Skulls, collectibles that are quite literally shaped like human skulls, are tucked away in hard-to-reach or easily missible segments of Halo campaign levels. Once you find one, you unlock it permanently, and can then apply its effect the next time you load up a campaign level. (Skulls are also used in Firefight, Halo’s horde mode.) The intent here is to encourage players to replay campaigns: When you go to play a Halo level a second time with a skull activated, you’ll get a different experience than you would have the first time.
“I love the replayability that skulls bring to a campaign, and there’s almost endless variety,” Brian Jarrard, community director at Halo Studios, said in an October video roundtable about Halo: Campaign Evolved.
Historically, skulls have heightened the difficulty of Halo campaigns. The Famine skull, for instance, reduces how much ammo appears in weapons you pick up. Catch causes NPCs (friend and foe) to throw more grenades, while Blind removes your HUD.
