Halo 2
Bungie up the ante with the Xbox's most anticipated sequel.
Halo was without doubt the jewel in the crown of Microsoft’s Xbox launch, indeed, without its ground-breaking mixture of story, environments, vehicles, and AI, its difficult to imagine that Microsoft would have even managed half as well as they have done. All in all, it was plain to see why Microsoft were so keen to buy developers Bungie, and snap up this little beauty for themselves.
Its no surprise, then, that after the smash-hit sales and critical acclaim of the original, Bungie and Redmond are keen to get a sequel out the door. What we already know is that Halo 2 carries on from where the original left-off, pitting the Master Chief, the deifier of the evil Covenant alien race, once again against his foes, as they march toward Earth. New graphical overhauls are promised, as well as new aliens, and new weaponry – some of which will be derived from the master Chief’s new encounters.
More than double the number of driveable vehicles will feature, too, for both exploration and battle across the new huge landscapes we’re promised. Perhaps most exciting of all, however, is the Xbox Live support built in to Halo 2 – and it is this that will get even the most hardened of gamers salivating at the very thought.
A new and revolutionary graphics engine will make Halo 2, we’re promised, the toast of the industry – ranking alongside Doom 3 for innovation. Using new “real-time per-pixel lighting”, only made possible of late by the power of NVIDIA’s more recent graphics cards, Halo 2 will be almost indistinguishable from pre-rendered graphics. A la Doom 3. This new approach offers the opportunity for much-improved image quality, and greater detail – without the same hardware ‘expense’ as before.
This apparent graphical ‘simplification’, will result in models that despite the outward appearance of being more detailed are actually constructed of fewer polygons than the original! This will improve load-times and other memory issues, as well as benefiting online play where bandwidth is the key issue.
Comments
God bless you Bungie, God bless you
the AR in halo 1 sucked ass
Hi Luke,
Your Report makes the game (HALO 2) sound kick-ass, moreso than the original which me and eight of my friends play at least 8 hours a week by using a system link cable and two big TV's.
I will definently buy it as soon as it's out.
Rob.
Hi,
I CRAVE MORE HALO 2 INFO OR PICS OR EVEN BOTH, PLEEEAAASE...
Rob
i heard that there was a helecopter in halo 2 called an apachi, is this true?
i think halo 2 will be the hottest game of 2003. also i think people will start buying xboxs to play the game.
X-Box is the best console ever. PS2 and Gamecube doesn't know it yet, but they are dead.
Halo 2 WILL be the best game for Xbox holidays 2003! I love the first one but with the new graphics engine, damn! I allready reserved my copie if Halo 2! I wish it comes out sooner!
Great game and it might actually convince people of Japan to start buying more XBoxes... Just pray fans, pray...
halo was good but nodoubt halo 2 will be better just cant wait to play it.
Make Halo 2 come out faster have played the game and im reading the prequal to halo and so far all of it has been good. and the things you say about halo 2 sound awsome so make it come out in june when its my birthday
Halo is one ofthe best games ever
but it needs many more guns and air crafts would make it much better
this is a promosing review, can't wait to buy it in Englad
I do like games like Halo but when will console peole get it throught thier heads that the only type of controller you should ever use for this type of game is a frigging mouse and keyboard... they might as well have not bothered releaseing it as far as I'm concerned with out a mouse
i like the game but its missing a lot more like more guns and bad pepole and a lot more tanks and banchies you cam fly!
I think that halo is the best multi-player game ever made! I can't wait until you guys come out with the second one! You should really think about making jetpacks. Well I got to go Halinate!!
WHEn does this game come out???ANd when comes x-boxlive in europa out?
halo 2 will dominate any other xbox game for year 2 (WELL MAYBE)
Halo 2 is going to be the best game ever. I can't wait to play the game. The game alone sells out ps2, and Gamecube! lol!!
CRAM CRAM CRAM Get as meny options in the damn game as possible the first halo was severly lacking wep / viechles / levles CHARCTER MODLES/ CLasses and a 16 players vs 16 bots battle would e fun the origional halo had such lacking maps they where like fields NO air viechles.... wtf i recently saw a picture of a ATV Designed for halo 2 now your getting the picture... Me and my friends want to see more intricate Cool out door above ground bases and since master chief is oing to earth some broken down city maps would be so fun tom clancy style wtf is with out door levle walls just do a out of bounds re spon like tribes and Battlefield geesh i know the bungie people where rushed but i expect a lot more frome halo 2 me and my friends love the assault option to capture the flag and think it would be cool to make a assault map where you have to assault a base break down the walls and rush into the base grab the flag and get out that would be amazing they have all the right things to make a legendary game just lakeing the OPTIONS yet a gain halo is plagued with another deaadd! line and i hope microsoft does not limit halo 2s PONTENTIAL!
Anybody who thinks halo could be better should be kidding themselves because i think they did an excellent job on halo1 and halo2 looks awesome to.I think the only fault in halo1 was the lack of vehicles i thought there would be alot more.This might be something that would make halo2 even better then the first.Overall i think that you will not find a better game on xbox or ps2 or gamecube.I was instantly hooked when i purchased halo1 and i think it will be the same with halo2.
This is goin be one bad game. It will be the best game ever made>
When does it come out?
Somethings Halo needs that will garanty no game will every match it.
1. Stimulates in multi-player, this is the coolest thing out there next to halo game play, if you want a good example of it look at Perfect Dark for N64.
2. Bigger War scenes, I want to walk into a room and see all hell break loss. Guys everywhere riping each other a part.
3. New guns, lets see some advanced human weapons: Flammer, smart rockets, proxiamy mines (gernade function), silenced weapons, and maybe new vehicles like an exoskeleton suite.
6. More alien weapons too: Laser cannon, Laser sword.
7. New equipement. He is humans last hope and he is walking around with a flashlight. Give man some night vision or info-red.
5. "Warfare" I want to walk out on to a battle feild and there 100's of Humans behide me and 100's of humans in front of me. tanks, planes, everything.
Does anyone know when it comes out?
That was a good review about Halo 2 and I can't wait till it comes out. I hope there are more weapens such as photon cannons and flame throwers. I am definatly getting it. I hope in the new halo you can choose different characters in multiplayer mode such as a covenant grunt or the flood. goodbye
i think halo 2 is gonna become the most amazing game that has ever come out (till other games come out after it). the graphics are so amazing, and its in real time! i just can wait till it comes out, it will be sick. the first halo made me switch from ps2 to xbox, and its my favorite game ever, so i can wait till halo 2 comes out.
Finally a game that can use the power of the X-box to the fullest.
I think that the simplicity of the selection of guns makes the game more fun and the vhichels have to be limited to what they put out there so that you candrive or fly through out the hole level. Mabey you would like a game such as james boned where there are a truck load of guns and you can carry them all at once.
i saw a preview for halo 2 on a demo disk that i bought and rocks. the graffics are unbelievable! and the gun he has is crazy!
learn to spell then play it on legendary.
can anyone here freaking spell?
i just got the latest x-box demo and i previewed this game and all i have to say about it is that this game is going to be awsome and probably the number one game when it comes out i mean look at how many fans the game has gotten just from the first one alone, cant wait.
This applies to basically all the people who have posted about this article: You must spend too much time playing computer games and not enough time learning at school, becuase you all seem incapable of using punctuation and spelling correctly. Go to school.
Halo was great and I am sure as hell looking forward to Halo 2. Improved graphics, sound and gameplay. Can't wait.
Instead of roaming the comments pages for SPELLING errors, please only post things that respond to the original post. This is a place for reviewing or previewing games. If you are not here to do that and only for making derrogatory comments pplease go to a different site, or make your own.
i think it will be the best game people will ever play
ya know, i have been playing this game with all my friends since the day it came out. i tought the only way the game could be improved was with a stat keeper wtih ur guy, better weopons, and new levels. i still hope that that is a good idea, but the looks for halo 2 are looking up
My friends call me ''god'' of halo, but i would prpbably get my ass kicked by a nerd guy who does NOTHING but play halo and eat. When Halo2 comes out, I will try to solo it on legendary as I did on Halo(Truth and Reconciliation), well Ibored in school right now..hmmm well i agree there should be a 4 ppl co-op and 16 avaliable bots for Multiplayer, as far as the character thing..i wouldnt mind being the sword-guy.
wow chris! same here. hust sitting in skool. umm, what do u mean by the sword guy?? i thing the game shoud be themed like the time splitters 2. if u r in a certain leval, u should get appreitte clothing and wepons. but my main concern is "who is the best ouf of all ur frinds?" this could be solved by haveing a stat tracker. that would be the best thing i think they could put on there.
When does halo 2 come out
Halo 2 will hit the stores July 25th 2003 in US
When the hell is this game gonna come out, it's been like forever.
I heard that Halo2 might be released on july somtin 2003.
If anyone has liked Morrowind, Fable is going to be 300 times better!!! out.
i hope that halo 2 is huge and is better than the first. I hope it comes out soon. I really enjoyed the first halo soooooooo much that it has got to be my favorite all time game. Please send out halo 2 really soon
I got an X-Box with a copy of Halo 1 for Christmas 2002, and i have never stopped playing since. It is so damned good, and the AI and the graphics make it literally stunning (i thought that the cinematic at the start was taken from a movie.) Now that i have read the preview, i am eagerly anticipating the release of Halo 2, but i think bungie should not feel rushed to finish the game. I would rather wait until Christmas 2003 than have a half-finished, rushed game by June. Oh, and i also reckon that there should be an arena-type mode, because i am the only person who plays Halo in our House, and it would be great to play "Slayer" or "Capture the Falg" with some Bots!!
Halo is the best game ever made it was game of the year it got a 9.5 rating and halo 2 will get an even higher score and blow any new mario game away for all time.
I thank halo is the best game ever
I cant what tell halo to comes out
I hope one of the weapons is a flame thower.
Wrong, boyo. I think the dual-thumbstick method is the best method ever. Works for Red Faction (on ps2), works for Halo and UC (xbox).. I find it nigh impossible to get smooth movement with keyboard and mouse.. but dual thumbsticks simplify it SOOO much! A mouse is a glorified thumb.
i have a xbox but halo is still the best game.but when will bungie set the date for halo
Yah, I wish they would've had a stat counter too. Everything was cool though.. I just need to get some more controllers to play larger games :D
Just in the off chance thatyou or sum1 knows, when will H2 released in Aus.....?
i want to see more vehicles from halo 2
make a map editor for halo2
A game of this caliber may take a long time to come out so sit back and wait.?
I have the game halo and 6 other games, and by far halo is my favorite game. I think that halo2 to is going to be awesome. I hear that halo2 will have twice or more cars. It will also have alot more guns. It will be played on the enternet, with enough people it can be a war.
please, please leave it were you can only carry 2 guns. that is soooooo much more realistic.
you are sooooooo right about the warfare, MORE GUYS!
Sweet!! i hope they make a halo 3, but pitting it up against oter players online shouldave benn an idea for all halo games, rumor says that there is a new vehicle for the covanet and humans too, please give me a awnser to show me if its true, awnser soon! Oh and the weapons seemed to have benn modifyed to be smaller and more weapons have nice little scopes on them!
I hope halo 2 will be really great. it better be in order to compare to the first halo.
does anyone know's when halo2 comes out in america?
Halo is the best thing since sliced bread it is cool
Halo2 is going to be the best game since erm .... Halo.But I wish that Bungie would tells us more about the weapons and the storyline.
XBOX live is going to be crowded with square eyed gamers all screaming for more.Everyone above is insane.
halo 2 sounds COOL :)
halo is the best game
how can i wait so long for it to come out!?
I love the game.
this is the best game
When is halo 2 coming out?
NO I don't think so. No
ok we all know that with the info being released on the internet, that halo 2 is with no doubt gonna be the best game ever with all the new vehicles and weapons. i used to hate halo until my friend showed me it and now i think its awesome so obviously no other system like ps2 or game cube will come out with a better game any time soon after halo 2 is out.
sometime like nov or dec 2003
HALO 2 sounds amazing, with all the new levels, weapons, covenant, graphics..... well everything! The only bad thing is that it is coming out next year at Christmas. Ohh well at least I have something to look forward too. Peace Out!
IN HALO2 there should be Covenant dropships that have a cloaking device so a Brute could drop out and pelt you from high above.
I recently reserved Halo 2 at a videogame store. I asked them when it was coming out and they told me that the last they heard, they would be getting it in October.
I got an xbox about 5 months ago and still playing halo every night with my friends. Most new games i get I put down after a few months of playing simpily because they become to easy to play. Even if you set every setting on the harddest you can still beat it without trying very hard. However Halo has proved in my book that not all games are created the same. If I am killed in halo when I am responded the next time I go through the level things are placed different. Never have I played a game where that has happened. I watched the trailer for halo 2 and thought rush throught my head about what could be next. I love halo and can't wait for halo 2. h
Does anyone have pics of the new guns or vehicles? I saw One vehicle, it was a snow version of the Warthog. It had skis and it was white.
Halo was possibly the greatest game ever, but no doubt halo two wil be breaking limits.
halo #2 is cool and caint wait 2 play
man alive! I think im going to have a spasim, waiting for halo 2 anyway. Cant wait until it comes out. The problem is...when is it coming out?
Some of this stuff is simply amazing! Between me and my m8s, we have done absolutely everything you can think of in Halo and played it for days on end. From what i'm reading Halo 2 sounds like a reason to get a house, electricity, X Box, TV, Couch and several controllers solely for the purpose of being able to play it. And if Bungie need a year to supercharge it for us, let's give them it. Plenty of good releases and of course the original Halo to keep us entertained! (Also, gives us more time to finally get one of those 4 X BOX link cables, considering the 2 X BOX one just isn't enough to push Halo to its very limits). Sorry if this post is a bit long, but i've been typing up English Essays for the past 2 weeks and I just put everything into the most complicated and intricate wording I can think of =-D
Oh, erm... and also, for those people who want a 4 player co-op: Have you even played Legendary Co-op with 2 people??? (I've done the whole game on Legendary on both single and co-op, naturally) Try Two Betrayals on Legendary Co-Op: You get into a serious firefight with both of u in Banshees, you can get serious slowdown. Now imagine that with more complex AI's, weapons and vehicles (not to mention new enemies and more realistic physics). There you go, now you have a frozen screen. Simple, eh? I don't wanna argue, the idea sounds great, but to be realistic you'd need another X Box for like, at least every 2 new players. But still, if it can work, they'll make it work. no point in fighting over it. Just whatever, thought i'd make that point. (P.S. The voice command thing sounds TOTALLY SWEET!!!)
try to find more about the wepons and vehicles and how good their compared to each other
I've come across several drawings and fully-rendered models of various weapons and models for use in Halo 1, and it all looks absolutely amazing! The shadow: An ultra-sleek vehicle that looks something like a cross between a Warthog and a Cobra (tank). There is a buggy, which has no weapons at the moment, but is a great idea for quick locomotion. There are four prototype models for the Warthog: http://www.bungie.net/images/site/halo/gallery/halo2/warthog_concepts.jpg The original, a camo version, a troop carrying version with no weapons, and an arctic version that has four treads and still no weapon. Also the new Sniping weapon that is in most MC screenshots looks absolutely class too. The concept drawings for the Brutes and Prophets are also extremely interesting. All in all, Halo 2 looks to be a blast
I know that Halo 2 is going to be the best game of the year!! I heard that it is better than Grand Theft Auto Vice City!! The first Halo rocked but the 2nd halo is going to be better! it has new weponds and have the old ones as well! I already have the game! I wish.....
IT wont come out until 2004.
There are some peolpe that dont even know about the Mutli player mode. I was shocked to find this out. One guy had the game since it came out and just found out about it. Holy cow. That is all we play at our house. My wife even loves to play. We get the two boys and go to town. I am looking foward to Halo 2. This will be a good Christmas. We already have a second xbox and system link. We will have two copies of that as well.
halo 2 rules!!!
I really want this game bad but it doesn't come out till for ever. And im trying to order it but it takes to freaking long to ship it....
This is good
This game is so boring. The graghic sucks
please hurry up and make the game. you guys should put 4 player campaign. me and my friends think that would be even better. the game is going to be cool i know it will for sure, becouse the first one was the bad ass.
I loved Halo and i beet it in four hours strait! it is the best game i had ever played for any game system. I cannot wait for Halo 2.
definitely need more people able to play co-op on 1 console
Why is it not coming out this year?
it is comming out november 2003
Games would look just as pretty on the PC - and probably better, as graphics hardware for the PC improves over time whereas any given console is stuck where it is.
And yes, computers can output to big screen TVs. It's called video out, and many video cards support that feature.
Even though I've played Halo for a while and have adjusted, I still think the control would be a lot easier with a mouse and keyboard. With a mouse to control head movement instead of a thumbstick, far more precise movements can be more easily attained. The same goes with keys for forward/backward/step left/step right movements.
Maybe with a mouse and keyboard on the PC version I'll finally be able to beat level 3 on Legendary. :P
Games would look just as pretty on the PC - and probably better, as graphics hardware for the PC improves over time whereas any given console is stuck where it is.
And yes, computers can output to big screen TVs. It's called video out, and many video cards support that feature.
Even though I've played Halo for a while and have adjusted, I still think the control would be a lot easier with a mouse and keyboard. With a mouse to control head movement instead of a thumbstick, far more precise movements can be more easily attained. The same goes with keys for forward/backward/step left/step right movements.
Maybe with a mouse and keyboard on the PC version I'll finally be able to beat level 3 on Legendary. :P
You spelled "because" wrong. Genius
when is Halo2 coming out for xbox and when is Halo for PC coming out because i can't wait