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Halo: Campaign Evolved has a release date thanks to yesterday's Xbox Games Showcase, and we've also now been shown what we can expect from the game's various different editions, including one slightly baffling choice to make a digital game manual a Premium item.
Depending on how much money you want to spend on Halo: Campaign Evolved, Halo Studios has a number of different options for you when the game launches next month. As well as the Standard Edition, which just includes the game, there's the Premium Edition – which comes with five days of early access as well as some cosmetics, a digital short story, art book, and game manual. The $200 Collector's Edition includes all of those things, too, alongside some physical goodies – "a 12-inch Dark Horse Master Chief statue, light-up LED Cortana chip, Steelbook, three original concept art prints, physical version of the reimagined game manual," and the physical game (if you're on Xbox Series X or PS5, anyway).
As Prima Games points out, it's the digital game manual that's sticking out like a sore thumb here when it comes to the bonus content on offer for the more expensive editions. To give it a bit of room here, Xbox describes it as "a lovingly crafted modern homage to the original Halo: Combat Evolved game manual" that "blends classic presentation with contemporary detail." It adds: "Featuring updated gameplay information, controls, and background lore, the Halo: Campaign Evolved digital game manual is a nostalgic companion for longtime fans and a helpful introductory guide for newcomers stepping onto Alpha Halo for the first time."
So, you'd hope that it has a cool design that makes it feel a bit more like a digital collector's item like the art collections that Deluxe Editions of games – including this Premium Edition – often include. However, it's probably because it's a game manual – you know, a little booklet of information telling you how to play the game, which was once a standard thing included with all titles – that some fans are a bit annoyed, to put it lightly.
"Don't give me something that was industry-standard 20+ years ago under the guise of it being a 'feature.' If shoving it in a premium version is the only way it can be affordable, then don't do it at all. Really dislike this," one user on Reddit writes. "Oh fuck all the way off with this shit. My god. A fucking game manual and you have to pay more for it? An art book makes sense but a game manual?!" says another.
I suspect that most people opting for the Premium Edition will likely be in it for the five days of early access, making Halo: Campaign Evolved playable from July 23 rather than July 28, in which case the digital manual will just appear as a bonus. Bearing in mind that the Premium Edition is an extra $20 on top of the standard price (making it $70), it's a considerable price increase for anyone who does simply want to own all the bonus goodies.
