Just recently my 12-year old niece wanted to try some first-person shooters. We played Halo on the 360 and she struggled with the controls at first, but started getting a little better. It was much harder for her to find the way forward with the level design. She would see the spectacle in a cutscene, but not really be able to take in if something plot-relevant or something leading her to the next checkpoint was said.

We tried the Master Chief edition and she loved the switch to mouse and keyboard for aiming. Struggling against the controls less, she instantly started figuring out how to peak corners and reload behind cover. Following the plotline got a lot easier with subtitles through the explosions. Watching her really made me aware of the progress in level design. On the Pillar of Autumn, first level, you try to move forward and there's an explosion, so you see you need to path around it. Solid. Then, you try to move forward just a little bit later and there's another explosion in front of you, but this time you're supposed to keep going forward through it. She explored every nook and cranny of that space before moving forward. Without a gun, you encounter Covenant, should you turn around and go the other way? Nope, just push through it. We had an easier time with co-op, but it was pretty eye-opening to see all the friction points without years of playing these.

Watching clips of Campaign Evolved, it identifies and adjusts those exact points of friction. They also expand the role of Major Johnson in the 2nd level instead of nameless marines. They rely more on nav points, which makes sense in-universe, though I tend to prefer level design that doesn't require them. It also looks like they cut some of the moments that required back-tracking and that's a good change.