Halo: Campaign Evolved is bringing some new weapons — here's my informed speculation about what they could be

One of the big games on the way in 2026 is Halo Studios' Halo: Campaign Evolved, a remake that expands the classic experience with new visuals, enemy behaviour, three new missions, and many other additions.

When I visited Halo Studios in October, the team confirmed there would be nine weapons available that weren't previously, and they even confirmed several of these, with the Energy Sword, Fuel Rod Cannon, and Sentinel Beam all present like in Combat Evolved, but now able to be picked up and used by players.

Also joining the roster are the Battle Rifle and Needle Rifle, the former hailing from Halo 2 (and becoming a staple ever since), while the latter has only been used in Halo: Reach. Altogether, that's five known weapons, with four more left to be revealed.

To that end, with the year coming to a close, I've decided to go through and take a look at what other weapons make varying degrees of sense.

Now, to start, there are a few obvious categories we can cut wholesale. We won't be seeing any Promethean weapons, nor will there be any guns introduced by the Banished, since both of these factions are absent not just from Halo: Combat Evolved but from the entire original trilogy.

Finally, I also won't be pulling in any "variant" weapons from Halo 5: Guardians and Halo Infinite, since there are simply so many of those as to make any list unwieldy. Given that Halo: Campaign Evolved doesn't feature player-versus-player multiplayer, it's also just extremely unlikely any of those weapons will be included in any capacity.

Brute Weapons

• Odds: Low

I'm cheating a bit to lump a bunch of different weapons together here. Any pre-Banished Brute weapons — such as the Brute Plasma Rifle, Brute Shot, Gravity Hammer, Spiker, and Mauler — all have the same chance of being in, which is to say, fairly low.

There aren't any Brutes present in the campaign, and with no multiplayer PvP, the odds seem extremely low for any of these spiky tools to be added.

The only thing that makes it technically possible is the fact that there are three new prequel missions in Campaign Evolved. It seems unlikely to me that these missions would have Brutes and Brute Weapons (that's a lot of work for just three levels), but it's not impossible.

Covenant Carbine

• Odds: Low

This semi-automatic Covenant precision weapon was introduced in Halo 2 as a counterpart to the Battle Rifle. This would make a fair bit of sense for some Elites to be a long-range threat in certain levels, but with the Needle Rifle already confirmed, there'd be a large degree of overlap, and a different long-range weapon we'll go over below makes more sense.

DMR

• Odds: Low

A fan-favorite introduced in Halo: Reach, the Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR) is quite similar to the Battle Rifle, eschewing a three-round burst for a single precise shot. It would be great for players to have the choice, but with the Battle Rifle and Needle Rifle already confirmed, it falls into a similar problem as the Covenant Carbine.

Flamethrower

• Odds: High

The Flamethrower was almost included in Halo: Combat Evolved, where it would've been used to burn through Flood gunk at a pivotal moment in the campaign. The flamethrower also appeared in Halo 3, again as a weapon to be used against the Flood. With the opportunity to revisit the original game, having this added in seems like a no-brainer.

Grenade Launcher

• Odds: High

Another Halo: Reach weapon, the Grenade Launcher is notable for its dual modes, where holding the trigger allows it to function as an EMP device. With Halo: Campaign Evolved also adding EMP functionality for the Plasma Pistol, this seems like an extremely reasonable addition.

Particle Beam Rifle

• Odds: High

Also introduced in Halo 2 (where it immediately became the bane of every player's existence in the hands of Jackal Snipers), the Particle Beam Rifle is a Covenant Sniper Rifle, with extremely high damage only offset by how easy it is to overheat. Having Jackals and a handful of Elites use these in the sniper-focused third mission, Truth and Reconciliation, could shake things up in a wild way that I'd love to see.

Spartan Laser

• Odds: Medium

Introduced in Halo 3, the Spartan Laser is a unique human-made weapon that's used to atomize anything it shoots, but the low battery means each shot has to count. While the Rocket Launcher and Fuel Rod Cannon mean there's already plenty of explosives, having the Spartan Laser available in select missions seems possible.

Submachine Gun

• Odds: Medium

This "bullet hose" was first introduced in Halo 2 as a replacement for the Assault Rifle. With the Assault Rifle in subsequent games (including Campaign Evolved) being reworked as a more mid-range weapon, the Submachine Gun could fill the niche that the original version of the gun served in Combat Evolved.

Do you agree or disagree with my assessment? Which new weapons do you want to see in Halo: Campaign Evolved? Let me know in the comments!

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