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July 27, 2026

Halo Campaign Evolved hits Game Pass tomorrow, reviews land at Metacritic 82

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The Unreal Engine 5 remake of Halo: Combat Evolved joins Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on July 28 at 8am PT, with critics calling it a gorgeous, faithful remake that's thin on content and missing PvP. Plus: PS Plus adds Dying Light and Citizen Sleeper 2 tomorrow, Steam's six-game free weekend and Train Fest both close this morning, and Foretales stays free on Epic through July 30.

Halo Campaign Evolved joins Game Pass tomorrow, reviews say it nails the feel

Halo: Campaign Evolved, Halo Studios' full Unreal Engine 5 remake of the original 2001 Halo: Combat Evolved campaign, launches Tuesday, July 28 at 8am PT on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass (standard edition, free with a sub), Xbox Wire confirms. It's also on Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and cloud, with Xbox Play Anywhere. Paid early access has been open since July 23 for Premium Edition owners; everyone else gets it tomorrow.

Reviews went live July 23 and the consensus is genuinely favorable but measured. Metacritic sits at 82 Generally Favorable (PS5 82, Xbox 86, PC 80), and OpenCritic is at 83 with an 88% Top Critic Average across 60 reviews. It's the lowest-scoring Halo on Metacritic, but only because the original scored 97.

The praise: it feels like classic Halo. Polygon called it "one of the best remakes of all time," GameSpot gave it 8/10 and called it "the best way to play through Master Chief's first game" and "the new gold standard" (roundup), and VGC and Daily Star both handed out 10/10s (scores). The floaty jumps, tight gunplay, and vehicle physics survive the engine swap intact, and the 4-player online co-op (up from 2 in the original), three new prequel missions with Sgt. Johnson, and 42 collectible skulls add replay value.

The knocks: there is no PvP multiplayer and no Firefight mode, just the campaign plus a remix mode, and several reviewers flagged that as thin for the price. PC Gamer called it "a neat, but fundamentally flawed remake that doesn't always understand the appeal of Halo," Kotaku noted the Master Chief Collection (six Halo games, full multiplayer) costs $40 while this is $50 for one campaign, and IGN gave it 7/10 calling it "a lean retread" that's "more of a test run for its future with Unreal Engine." DualShockers (6.5/10) cited PS5 performance issues. Per PC Gamer and Windows Central, the standard edition is $50 and the Premium Edition (early access, cosmetics) is $70.

The Game Pass angle erases the price debate entirely: free with Ultimate or PC Game Pass, no extra purchase, day one. If you have a sub, tomorrow morning is the moment.

PS Plus adds Dying Light and Citizen Sleeper 2 tomorrow

PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium get their final July wave Tuesday, July 28 (US, UK, and Japan; already live in other regions since July 21), per the PlayStation Blog. Four games:

Dying Light (PS4, OpenCritic 74, Techland's zombie parkour survival horror, 1-4 player co-op). Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (PS5, OpenCritic 87, the standout, a TTRPG-inspired narrative RPG about a runaway android in a hostile galaxy). Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind (PS5/PS4, OpenCritic 71, retro-style beat-em-up from Digital Eclipse). Snow Bros. Wonderland (PS5, no critic aggregate yet, 3D isometric platformer sequel to the 1991 arcade game).

Citizen Sleeper 2 at OpenCritic 87 is the one to claim first. The Essential tier monthly games (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, For the King II, CrossCode) remain claimable through Monday, August 3.

Steam's six-game free weekend and Train Fest both close this morning

Two Steam promotions end today, Monday, July 27 at 10am PT (1pm ET), roughly two hours after this issue lands, so the window is tight.

The six-game free weekend (free to play, not keep) covers Metal Gear Solid, Master Collection Version (83% Very Positive Steam, $19.99 down to $9.99 at 50% off, the 1998 classic, beatable in about 12 hours), Unrailed 2: Back on Track (88% Very Positive, $19.99 down to $11.99), Icarus (80% off at $6.99, DayZ creator's 8-player survival, discount runs through July 30), Killing Floor 3 (Mixed 48% Steam, $39.99 down to $19.99), and Wild Assault (Mixed 68%, $14.99 down to $6.74). Firefighting Simulator: Ignite already left the free weekend early on July 26. Discount tails continue past the free-play end: Icarus through July 30, Unrailed 2 through August 3, Killing Floor 3 and Wild Assault through August 6.

The Train Fest genre sale closes at the same 10am PT moment. Last chance for the verified historic lows: Loco Motive at $10.79 (40% off, comedic point-and-click mystery), Overcrowd: A Commute 'Em Up at $3.99 (80% off, station management), Zoochosis at $11.24 (55% off, horror train), and A Bumpy Ride at $9.74 (35% off). The next Steam event is the Cyberpunk Fest opening August 3, per the Steamworks calendar.

Still free to keep: Foretales and Yet Another Zombie Defense HD through July 30

Foretales (Epic, $19.99, Metacritic 74, Steam Very Positive 86% of 757 reviews, a narrative card game never given away before) is free to keep through Thursday, July 30 at 8am PT. Epic revealed the next pair: OTXO ($14.99, top-down action roguelite with slow-motion gunfights) and Sol Cesto ($13.99, tactical roguelite dungeon crawler), both free July 30 through August 6 at 8am PT.

Yet Another Zombie Defense HD (Steam, $3.99, Very Positive 82%, top-down zombie tower-defense for up to 4 players) is free to keep through Thursday, July 30 at 10am PT. The Mound: Omen of Cthulhu, Lost Explorers' Swords Pack ($4.99 cosmetic DLC, requires the $29.99 base game) is free to keep through Wednesday, July 29 at 10am PT. Together After Dark (Epic, $2.99, Mixed) ends today, July 27.

On Xbox, For Honor (Metacritic 78, Ubisoft's melee fighter) remains free for all Xbox members with no Game Pass required through Tuesday, August 4. The Metal Gear Solid Free Play Days bonus day (Game Pass required) ends today.

Forward calendar

That’s the reading for this issue.