Halo: Combat Evolved left a powerful and lasting imprint on the design of FPS games since its release back in 2001, so much so that multiple games following it tried to land themselves as successful “Halo killers” (and to no avail). The team at Bungie managed to keep the franchise afloat and release multiple hits all the way through 2010, with their last entry in the franchise being Halo: Reach, a rather poetic send-off considering the story of Reach is set directly before the events of Combat Evolved and is based off the events of the first novel released in Halo extended universe, Halo: Fall of Reach.
One of the key visionaries behind Halo’s iconic aesthetic is that of Marcus Lehto, who worked as the art director from Combat Evolved to Halo 3, later becoming creative director on Reach. Some of his most important contributions include the design of Master Chief’s MJOLNIR Mk. V armor that he adorns in the first game, which he went through nine iterations of before settling on the final design. In an interview with his alma mater, Kent State University, he spoke about the importance of his time there in the design philosophy and work ethic that would help shape the look of Halo, saying, “The program here really helped give me the tools necessary to enter the workforce to actually tackle the things that I didn’t anticipate I would be tackling in my professional career as a graphic designer once I exited the school (…) from graphic design through visual illustration and other things that I did while I was here at the school”.
Despite poor reception from parts of the fanbase towards Halo Studios’ (formerly 343 Studios) contributions to the franchise, Marcus Lehto has spoken fondly in the past about them, stating on Twitter in 2022, “Hats off to my friends at 343. #HaloInfinite campaign brings back the magic of Halo. Really enjoying my time back with the Chief!”. With the recent release of Halo: Campaign Evolved, Marcus Lehto took to X to share his thoughts on the game and so far he’s impressed, with only a few gripes that he says, “are taking a back seat to the fun”. Lehto responded to another X user’s comment on the design of the Flood levels, stating they “looked great”, but that he would have liked to see the environment “feel alive and dangerous”. Responding to another X user’s comment about the use of Unreal Engine 5, Lehto stated, “Standing up Halo in UE took real effort, so that was a worthwhile effort”, and that while he enjoyed the liberties and additions made with the cutscenes, “a few are absolutely cringe”.
Been slowly playing through Campaign Evolved on Heroic (the diff we designed the game for 25 years ago).
Overall, I really love the upgrades – movement, cinematics, visuals – damn the lighting is brilliant.
Do I have gripes? A few, but they are taking a back seat to the fun. pic.twitter.com/JHa4q0YAxk— Marcus Lehto (@game_fabricator) August 5, 2026
Not everyone was happy to hear this however, with one X user saying, “It’s really sad that you’ve become a shill for this slop. The work in the original done by a comparative handful of people outstrips this abomination by lightyears. They literally shit on your art direction”. God forbid one of the core-creators of Halo who is responsible for the look that we know it for (and who has decades of experience in the gaming industry and understands how development actually works) have something positive to say about later iterations of his own work. Some people can’t be pleased it seems.