Halo Campaign Evolved Mission 4: The Pillar of Autumn Walkthrough

This is a Legendary co-op walkthrough of Halo Campaign Evolved Mission 4 — The Pillar of Autumn, the first mission of the remade main campaign after the three prequel missions (Boarding Action, The Most Dangerous Game, Heavy Burden). Below: cryo-bay opening notes, gunfeel and particle highlights, four-player co-op features, and where to grab this mission’s 3 skulls + 1 terminal, with the full video embedded above. Andy and Gus come away impressed — this is the Halo 1 opener they remember, but with a stronger intro and modern presentation.

Halo Campaign Evolved Mission 4 setup

• First mission of the remade Halo: Combat Evolved campaign — the prequel arc is behind them.
• Legendary co-op throughout; full playlist and text walkthroughs live on TeamRespawn.net.
• Andy and Gus have covered every FPS and RTS Halo walkthrough except Halo 5.
• Overshields are still available early in the level — one per player, same as classic CE.
• Launch apology skin (orange outfit) was distributed for early server troubles; redeem through the in-game menu.

Cryo bay opening and intro cutscene

The mission opens in the cryo bay with Covenant already boarding — a stronger setup than the original, where Chief mostly wakes up and is told what is happening. Andy and Gus praise the new intro cutscene, the cryo smoke aesthetic, and four cryo pods that support four-player co-op from the start.

• Covenant breach the bay early — cracked cryo glass, Marines under fire, and the classic “Security! Intruders in cryo 2!” beat.
• Dialogue is largely unchanged from CE, with one notable addition: a Marine asks Chief to make sure his daughter gets something (Andy and Gus flag this as the only new line they caught).
• Delivery feels slower and more deliberate than the original — pauses between actions add weight to the scene.
• The Australian Marine voice is preserved; Johnson’s facial expressions look slightly off in cutscenes (a recurring critique across the prequels).
• Collectible heads-up: Speed Limit is on a back-wall walkway at the very start; Magnified sits on top of the first weapon rack in the unarmed armory stretch.

Combat, gunfeel, and presentation

Once weapons are in hand, the remaster sells itself quickly. Particle effects and visible bullet trajectories through the ship’s windows are standouts, and the guns feel excellent — a point Andy and Gus repeat because this may be a viewer’s first Team Respawn video. Legendary still punishes careless pushes; they get flanked and die more than once in the early corridors.

• Particle effects are the graphical highlight — smoke, sparks, and tracer fire read clearly even in dark interior fights.
• Gun audio and recoil feel strong; Andy compares the overall quality favorably to modern Halo despite running on Unreal.
• Cutscene quality is high, though some online feedback about choppiness is fair — Andy and Gus suspect compression or abrupt cutscene transitions (hard cuts instead of fades) rather than low asset quality.
• They joke that the in-ship firing range is a long walk from the cryo bay — sidetracked corridors after blown doors explain the detour, but the UNSC interior still invites architecture nitpicks.
• Bridge cutscene with Keyes and Cortana lands well; Andy says the cutscenes could carry a Halo movie, though Gus prefers hard-CGI animation over live action (Halo Wars Blur-style).

Four-player co-op and platform notes

Campaign Evolved’s four-player co-op is a headline feature for this mission and the rest of the campaign — something CE never offered. Andy and Gus expect it to be huge for replay, especially with split-screen and cross-platform support.

• Four-player co-op with four cryo pods in the opening — never possible in original CE or MCC’s two-player campaign cap.
• Split-screen is supported.
• Cross-platform co-op — Andy believes PC and PlayStation players can party together (not fully confirmed on stream, but advertised for the release).
• First Halo on PlayStation; Andy and Gus note the platform expansion alongside co-op upgrades.
• Warthogs now have a pull-out rear seat behind the turret for a fourth rider — a small but tasteful change they wish had existed since Halo 3’s four-player co-op days.

The Pillar of Autumn skulls and terminals

This mission packs 3 skulls and 1 terminal. Andy and Gus mostly play through for combat and story commentary; the locations below fill in the collectible route so you can grab everything in one Legendary pass (order matches a natural playthrough; locations cross-checked against the Push Square skulls & terminals guide).

• Skull — Speed Limit (Reveille / Rally Point Alpha): At the start, when you gain control of Chief, go to the back wall with two UNSC emblems. Jump onto the two containers on the left, then up to the walkway beside you. Follow it to the end — walk over the skull to pick it up.
• Skull — Magnified (Reveille / Rally Point Alpha): While unarmed and being led through the ship, the objective marker sends you into an armoury. In the centre of the room, weapon racks line the walls — check the first rack; the skull sits on top in the middle.
• Skull — Perspective (AI Constructs and Cyborgs First! / Rally Point Bravo): After the bridge cutscene with Keyes and Cortana, re-enter the bridge. Go to the window area where two crew members work at computers. Drop down into the space below them to find the skull — Andy and Gus grab this one on camera.
• Terminal — Approach (Rally Point Charlie): Much later, after the ventilation crawl, you reach the destroyed office overlooking the cryo bay where the mission began (broken window on your right). Go through that room, turn left immediately after exiting, and enter the adjacent office. The terminal is in the back — interact to activate it.

Late mission flow and franchise asides

• Push through Covenant-occupied corridors toward the lifeboat escape — the mission ends once the last lifeboat sequence wraps.
• 343 Industries remake quality gets praise again; Andy and Gus reiterate that 343 excels at remasters (Halo 4 campaign solid, Halo 5 weak, Infinite respectable) and joke about a future Halo MCC Evolved or a Halo 3 remake next.
• Halo 2 Legendary co-op “one death resets everyone” comes up — in later games that behavior is an Iron skull, but Halo 2 baked it into base Legendary; Andy would not let Gus run Legendary on their Halo 2 Anniversary playthrough for that reason.
• UNSC ship names get a shout-out — Burden of Proof from the prequel missions is a favorite; Andy would name a boat Reconciliation if he ever owned one.

The Pillar of Autumn walkthrough takeaways

The main campaign starts strong. The remade cryo intro gives better context than classic CE, gunfeel and particles sell the Unreal rebuild, and four-player co-op with a Warthog jump seat finally matches how people actually play Halo campaigns with friends. Collectible route is straightforward if you know the detours — Speed Limit and Magnified are both in the opening stretch before you are fully armed, Perspective is the easy miss after the bridge scene, and Approach is the terminal tucked left after the vent-office overlook. Main caveats from this run: cutscene transitions can feel abrupt, Johnson’s face still looks a little stiff, and Legendary interior pushes will punish flanks. Overall, Andy and Gus are happy to be in the remade CE campaign proper.

FAQ: Halo Campaign Evolved The Pillar of Autumn

Is this the first main campaign mission?

Yes. The Pillar of Autumn is Mission 4 in the full Halo Campaign Evolved release order — after the three prequel missions — and the first mission of the remade Halo: Combat Evolved campaign.

Does Campaign Evolved support four-player co-op?

Yes. Four cryo pods in the opening, four-player campaign co-op, split-screen, and cross-platform co-op are supported — a first for CE campaign play.

How many skulls and terminals are in The Pillar of Autumn?

Three skulls (Speed Limit, Magnified, Perspective) and one terminal (Approach). Speed Limit is on the back-wall walkway at the start; Magnified is on the first weapon rack in the unarmed armoury; Perspective is below the bridge window computers after the Keyes cutscene; Approach is in the office left of the destroyed overlook room after the ventilation section.

What changed from the original Halo CE intro?

A new boarding intro cutscene plays before gameplay — cryo smoke, four pods, and Covenant already breaching the bay. Dialogue is mostly identical with at least one new Marine line; pacing is slower and more cinematic than the original wake-up sequence.

Are Overshields still in this level?

Yes. Overshields appear early in The Pillar of Autumn, same as classic CE — one per player when you find them.