Halo 2 was the game that got me trying out the FPS genre. Before that, I wouldn’t even dare. But what could I possibly say about Halo 2 three years after its release, though? Wait and see. This PC version has a little bit more up its sleeve than its Xbox predecessor.
The story remains untouched. Master Chief plays the part of the “obstacle” preventing the Covenant from taking over and destroying Earth, with the help of a massive arsenal and some hints from Cortana.
You can start playing Halo 2 even before you’re done installing the game. This new feature is called “Tray and Play”, a Windows Vista trait that allows you to play as the game is loading.
The interface will look familiar, something like a more boxy version of the Xbox 360 Dashboard.
I was never very good at controlling my character in Halo 2, and FPS on a computer make my clumsiness even more evident. For those already experienced in PC first-person shooters, they will feel right at home. Plugging in a 360 controller to the USB port didn’t work out, not even after the software upgrade, so I assume you’d actually need the wireless adapter to have it work properly.
You can only go through the storyline so may times, but the online multiplayer is what keeps the game alive. Not only Halo 2 Vista comes with the original game and all content from the Multiplayer Map Pack, but it also includes two exclusive maps – District and Uplift – and a map editor that lets you create your own and share them with other users.
The online portion of the game is definitely where it’s at. Windows Live games allow Xbox 360 users who already have a Gold account to sign in with their gamertags and hop online to play some multiplayer matches.
There is a TrueSkill Matchmaking system that attempts to match you with players of the same rank or similar, but it doesn’t always work well, spreading out people through several servers, sometimes even placing them on their own.
Gold Live members can also create and host their own custom online matches. There is a list of both offline and online achievements that will be added to your gamertag, but sometimes it would take a day for them to appear on the achievements list.
Halo 2 went through a graphical facelift, with higher res textures, sharper graphics and better particle and lighting effects. I didn’t find the cut-scenes to look any more spectacular, but all the improvements really show during gameplay.
There are two downfalls that I see for this remake. The first, it’s a shame that Halo 2 so too long to come out. II honestly have always been hopeful for an Xbox 360 release that would give us our Halo fix until the third episode came out.
The second downfall is that it will only run on Windows Vista and a pretty powerful computer. If you don’t have both, no Halo 2 for you, which seems to be a forceful way to get people to upgrade their systems. Even with the required (there’s no recommended anymore) 1GB of RAM, the game experiences occasional moments of lower frame rate.
However, the Halo franchise is great and the game looks better than before. You also have the advantage of experimenting in new maps,creating your own and getting a few more achievement points.
For gamers who enjoy their FPS games on a computer, it’s a buy… provided they meet the requirements.
Special thanks to Arne Meyer and Microsoft for providing a copy of this title.