Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Ron Burke

Let me preface this entire review by stating that Halo 2 came out on the original Xbox on November 9th, 2004.  It has been the most popular game on Xbox Live with over 4 billion total games played which equates to over 700 million hours logged. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to really quantify how much that is, but I’m gonna say it’s a lot, and that Halo 2 was a little bit of a success, despite the 80’s style cliffhanger ending. Microsoft and Bungie continue to support Halo 2 to this day, even on a new platform – on April 17th players were given two new maps via the Xbox 360.  With the Bungie team busy making Halo 3 on the Xbox 360, Microsoft turned to internal studio Hired Gun to handle the task of bringing their flagship console title to their Windows Vista platform. This new version of Halo 2 would integrate with the Vista platform and would introduce several new features to PC gamers including the ability to earn achievements and create their own multiplayer maps.  On May 8th 2007 we’ll see the release of Halo 2 for Vista, but we at Gaming Trend have gotten our hands on the game quite a bit earlier than that to let you know how things are shaping up for Microsoft’s crown jewel.  Before we get there, let’s take a look at what you’ll need as a minimum to enjoy Halo 2 on your shiny new Vista machine.

OS: Windows Vista
Processor: 2 Ghz Pentium 4 Class Processor (or x64)
RAM: 1 GB
Hard Drive: 7 GB
Video Card: DX9 graphics card: WDDM driver, PS 2.0/32BPP, At least nVidia 6000 or ATI x700 or above.
Multiplayer: Internet connection for Games for Windows – LIVE
Drive: DVD-ROM drive

(To sum this up, if you can run Vista, you can run this game)

Halo 2 pushed the 700Mhz Xbox to its breaking point graphically, featuring a level of detail normally reserved for a Next-Gen title.  It was clear that Bungie had worked extremely hard to fully optimize the game for the platform to take advantage of every drop of processing power.  Now, almost two and a half years later, Hired Gun studios has the unenviable task of trying to update Halo 2 to bring it to the PC crowd – a group known for being quite picky about their shooters. 

Firing up the game brought me back to the world of Halo 2 in a hurry.  It was clear that many of the textures and models had been reworked.  It is as if everything got a fresh coat of paint.  While many players will be sad to hear that this game doesn’t support DirectX 10, it does sport some new lighting features and a fairly wide variety of resolutions ranging from 800x600 up to 1680x1050.  One advantage of having a higher resolution to toy with is that the HUD for the game is moved further from the center of the screen.  On the Xbox, the HUD items were offset from the edges by an inch or so (depending on your TV size), but with the PC they are fully grounded to the corner.  Playing widescreen on your PC, won’t even notice the HUD – a welcome update.   While the flat white surfaces of the first level of the game really don’t express this upgrade well, later levels in the jungle or on the Covenant ships really show off a bit of eye candy. 

Getting into familiar territory for those who have played Halo 2 on the Xbox, I took the Zanzibar level for a spin.  Seeing other Spartan armors up close really showed how much extra work was put into that texture, with the Warthog jeep getting similar love.  Unfortunately, it was also in Zanzibar where I began to notice some of the textures that didn’t get as much attention.  The Zanzibar level starts off on a beach in front of a set of concrete stairs.  The beach textures are fairly basic and tend to repeat in obvious patterns when you look closely. (From a distance they are less ugly).  On the other hand, the snow textures aren’t that bad.  Wall textures also vary wildly with some rock walls looking normal mapped and sexy while others look completely flat and lifeless.  If the vehicle textures weren’t so damned great looking they probably wouldn’t stick out so much on the ugly ground and wall textures. 

There are a few reasons that I can see for not making this game as great looking as something like Gears of War.  First and foremost is knowing your audience.  Halo 2 sold over 7 million copies on the original Xbox and has held the multiplayer crown until being challenged by the aforementioned Gears of War.  By keeping the texture system fairly basic for the most part, Halo 2 will be accessible by almost anyone who is able to actually run the Vista Operating System.  While I’m disappointed that we didn’t get a Halo 2 with the graphical detail of a game like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or Unreal Tournament 3, there may be light at the end of the tunnel.  Because Halo 2 ships with a powerful editor similar to the system used to make the game itself, players can create their own maps and import their own textures and geometry.  This means that once the public gets hold of this editor we’ll likely see full texture replacements similar to what we saw in the PC version of Oblivion, giving more eye candy to those who have the rig to handle it. 

Since the Xbox supported 5.1 surround sound, it seems that the Vista version of Halo 2 simply had to move the great voice work, excellent sound effects, and soundtrack-worthy music over and use it without modification. You gotta love it when your job is done for you. 

As before, all of the sound effects are crisp and the music is rousing.  The battle themes make you want to jump out there and kick ass and the more serene themes help support the quieter moments between battles.  Vehicles on both sides roar and screech as they tear through the battlefield.  While the Vista version doesn’t bring anything new to the table here, it doesn’t break anything either.  I have to agree with our Xbox Halo 2 review and give this section a 96% - it has held up quite well.

What irks me most about console to PC ports is that they often rip out a perfectly good control scheme just to haphazardly throw in a keyboard and mouse control scheme.  Sometimes it works, but most of the time it doesn’t.  The folks at Hired Gun are smarter than this, knowing full well that Halo 2 was built around a console controller.  They have included all of the configuration options included with the original Xbox, allowing them to be used with the Xbox 360 controller.  Simple! 

To appeal to the PC FPS crowd, Halo 2 also supports mouse and keyboard play.  Like any good shooter, Halo 2 uses the WASD configuration, mapping the fire key to the left mouse button, zoom to the center wheel button, and grenade toss to the right mouse button.  Not happy with that setup or have more keys that you’d like to assign?  Go nuts - you can configure all of the keys to your heart’s content. 

There is one area where the game falls very short - audio customization.  Sometimes the music is blaring so loud you can't hear your friends in chat.  Unfortunately, the game uses one audio setting to determine how loud everything is so if you turn down the music, you also turn down the voice.  Initial tests with the voice chat were a mixed bag as any other chat service - sometimes it is clear as a bell, and sometimes you sound like you are in a tin can underwater.  I think we'll have to chalk that up to the tubes of the Internets.

There is one thing that improving netcode, adding new textures, or rebuilding control schemes won’t fix – the game storyline.  I’m going to briefly go over the storyline for Halo 2 for those who haven’t played it on the Xbox, but obviously nothing has changed for this version, so if you loved/hated it on the Xbox you’ll love/hate it here.

After assaulting the Halo ring in the first game, the Master Chief has returned to Earth.  The Covenant are preparing for a large-scale planetary bombardment and this time the Covenant are prosecuting it as a religious war.  You have been branded a heretic by the enemy and they are making it their personal mission to grind your Mjolnir armor into dust. 

Right at about the dozen-hour mark you’ll really begin to get into the story, and then it’ll start taking some odd twists.  Before those twists can be explored your tiny human brain will be squeezed in the vice of one of the worst endings in recent history.  You’ll be clubbed like a baby seal with an 80’s style “To Be Continued…” ending – I’m not looking to spoil it for you, I’m trying to prepare you so you don’t fling the disc across the room.  Besides, if you did that you’d miss out on some of the multiplayer mode that still holds the Xbox Live leaderboard in its grip.

Before you can hate the ending to Halo 2 you’ll have to install the game, right?  Wrong.  Microsoft and Hired Gun has brought something completely revolutionary to the PC market – Tray and Play.  Several companies have tried to do this, but all of them have failed miserably.  They all attempted to bring a console-like install-free game experience to the PC, but all of them were fraught with problems and cost overruns to make this possible.  I’m not sure why Microsoft isn’t making more of a big deal about this feature, but I find it to be a pretty awesome advancement.  Just as if you were going to play Halo 2 on the Xbox or Xbox 360, simply put the disc in your drive and wait.  Halo 2 will pop up a window giving you four simple options – Play Halo 2 for Windows Vista, Customize Game Install, Install Dedicated Server for Halo 2, or Install Map Editor for Halo 2.  For the Tray and Play experience, simply click “Play Halo 2 for Windows Vista”, insert your product key, and you’ll get a green progress bar telling you that the game is preparing to start.  The bar will move across the screen for about a minute, and then you’ll get the familiar Microsoft and Bungie screens.  When you get to the menu system (and any loads after that) you’ll see a small text box in the corner that will advise that the game is copying data and how much is complete so far.  The Tray and Play option took about 2 and a half minutes after I put in the product key and activated it to put my boots on the ground.  It couldn’t be simpler.  Even the Windows Firewall was automatically configured for online multiplayer automatically – it doesn’t get any simpler.  While using the Tray and Play option, you’ll insert the DVD to play, that is until the game is done streaming in the background.  Once the background stealth install is complete you’ll simply launch the game from your Start menu as normal.  If you chose the custom game install option you’ll get the usual install options and the game will install in its entirety.  This process takes a long while, even on a 10k RPM Raptor, so the option to Tray and Play sounds pretty enticing for that instant gratification fix.  Since the performance hit was almost nil, my choice was pretty simple.

When I logged into Games for Windows – LIVE for the first time while playing Halo, the game advised that I needed an update.  Rather than having to surf to a website, navigate through ads, wait in line, extract the patch, and any other mundane task associated with staying up to date, I simply sat back and let Halo 2 do the work.  Just like on the Xbox 360, a screen with a progress indicator came up and advised that the patch was being applied.  When it got to the end, the game closed and re-opened.  Could this be the end of complicated patching?  A guy can dream…

Halo 2 for the Xbox had a great system for meeting up with your friends to ensure you all ended up in the same game.  This party system is still intact for the Vista version, but is all but unnecessary as you can join any game you want.  You can still jump into your own lobby to meet up with your friends and matchmake the party into an existing game, or pick a specific game from the browser.  This leads everyone to the same game, but it doesn’t attempt to put you all on the same team – you’ll be treated as an individual once you arrive.  It is here that the Games for Windows – LIVE functionality comes into play.  The Games for Windows – LIVE team and Hired Gun teamed up to seamlessly work the Xbox 360 Live system into the PC game, enabling you to use one login for both platforms.  Since you are essentially signing into the same system, you’ll also pick up achievements on the same Gamertag, as well as the same friends list and chat options.  Certainly PC titles have had VOIP and friends support far longer than their console counterparts, but it has never been easier than it is on Xbox Live. You can even use the chat functions outside of games, just as you can on the 360.  As an avid player of both platforms, I’m glad to see this system come to the PC, but I will whole heartedly request to be able to add more friends to my friends list – I’ve got 100 just on the Xbox 360, now I have to have room for my PC friends.  Just like the 360 Live function, you can see what your friends are doing when they are signed in and invite them to play at any time.

As I mentioned, Achievements are integrated into this version of Halo 2.  For the first time ever, PC players will be able to earn Achievements by simply playing the single player and multiplayer game.  Some are simple, such as finishing a level - others are more difficult such as getting 5 stealth kills from behind without being seen.  If the Achievement score addiction catches on and is integrated into the Games for Windows certification process, PC gamers will get to share in the addiction of bumping that stupid little number just a few more points.  Think of it as keeping up with the Jones’, virtually.

Creating a dedicated server for any game is often a harrowing process, requiring a working knowledge of Command Line Interface input, Linux, lunar alignments, witchcraft, and all other manner of chicken bone tossing.  Halo 2 for Vista sports a server hosting option that is as simple as the Tray and Play option.  If you want to run it as a dedicated server, you can even set it as a service.  You can also join any of the 24 (and probably going to grow) dedicated servers that Microsoft already has running and waiting for you.

Once you’ve gotten the game up and running, you’ll probably want to try out the multiplayer functions of the game.  The game supports 16 players simultaneously and sports several modes of play - Capture the Flag, Slayer (pure deathmatch), Assault (round-based team deathmatch), King of the Hill (hold a specific location for as long as possible), Oddball (hold the ball for the maximum amount of time), Juggernaut (one player is the Juggernaut, everyone else is trying to kill him as fast as possible), and Territories (similar to Onslaught from Unreal Tournament 2K4).  In addition, you can set options such as which weapons are allowed, whether vehicles are allowed, and far more.  When you’ve created a custom rule set you can save it for later use as well.  There are also two exclusive maps called District and Uplift that are exclusive this version, but with the included map editor and the seamless map download system, it won’t be long before there are hundreds of great maps to chose from. 

As you might suspect, Halo 2 has a decent storyline for singleplayer, but it is multiplayer where the game really shines.  Few games are this well balanced and this well executed. If I were scoring only the single player game, this score will be mid 80s, but with the technological advances in this version, as well as the tight integration into the new Games for Windows – LIVE system, that wouldn’t make sense. You won’t have to install or rely on Gamespy, All Seeing Eye, Xfire, or anything else to find your friends – you simply have to hit the Guide button and see who’s online and up for a game.  Welcome to the new dawn of PC multiplayer gaming.

There is one area where the multiplayer will upset PC gamers - there is no multiplayer matchmaking service without Live support, and even then you'll have to pay for it.  Granted, even with a Silver account, you can still jump into a game easily, but you'll just be presented with a list of server names and how full they are.  It isn't a new concept for anyone who has played any PC game in the last decade.

How do you measure the value of a game with over 700 million hours logged?  That alone would justify a score of 100. How about the included editor to make any map you’d like?  That has to be a large factor in the score as well.  The lack of an ending hurts a bit but the 13 to 15 hour ride to get there is intense. At this early stage it is hard to really determine the actual ‘value’ for your $50 investment.  Vista exclusivity hurts this title as many folks are holding off on the new platform due to the horrific driver support from third parties like nVidia (you’ve had years to get drivers written, save your excuses).  The lack of DirectX10 support on a Vista-only title is also a little puzzling.  Will more casual players be attracted to the simple Tray and Play option and simple matchmaking service?  Will PC players shun the game for the lack of matchmaking options without paying for it?  How will all of this play into the LAN gaming scene?  It is too early to tell how the PC market will respond to a 2 year old $49.99 console port, but I hope they latch on – the multiplayer and new technology for ease of use is worth the price of admission. Now PC players can enjoy the thrill of leaping onto the front of a Banshee and kicking the driver loose. While the single player may end like a car crash, the multiplayer seems to live forever. Vista does put a big question mark on the adoption rate for this platform, but that isn't the games fault.  Halo 2 may not represent the best FPS experience you may see on your PC, it does represent the future look of PC gaming.  Now if only they could get Halo 3 for the PC and Halo 3 for the 360 to have cross-compatible play – I guess they’d have to announce Halo 3 for the PC first, wouldn’t they?

Gaming Trend Score

87

1. Graphics: 80
2. Audio: 96
3. Controls: 90
4. Gameplay: 85
5. Value/Replay: 85
6. OVERALL:87