Halo 2 for PC to arrive soon

Author: Brett Thomas
Published: 15th March 2007
Comments (15) Stumble
"Lock and load" - Halo 2 will grace monitors everywhere on May 8th.

"Lock and load" - Halo 2 will grace monitors everywhere on May 8th.

Love it or hate it, there are few who can deny that Halo is probably one of the true successes of FPS games on consoles. To many of our readers, it's the holy grail of shoot-'em-ups, whereas to others it's just average. But either way, the title blew away previous console expectations for the genre, something that hadn't been done since Golden Eye on the Nintendo 64.

The success of Halo 2 for both Bungee and Microsoft has made it an obvious first choice for the first connect for the Windows Live service, a parallel to Xbox Live. To do that, Halo 2 needed to be released on PC first. So now its date has come - May 8th.

Of course, what hasn't been discussed as much is the missing interoperability. Windows Live is meant to duplicate a console-like experience, but not every game will work between PC and console. In fact, Halo 2 will not even be the first game to include this feature - that honor is reserved for Shadowrun, a game not due out until June.

Whether Halo 2 could be patched after that is uncertain, but for now it will just be Windows vs. Windows. Microsoft blames this on Halo 2 not being designed for the Xbox 360 to begin with. Apparently, since the game isn't written for the 360, it can't be adapted to play cross-platform. However, since the original Xbox was even more like just a computer than the 360 makes this a curious statement.

Much like the Xbox Live service, Windows Live will have a bit of pay-to play. It will set you back $50 USD per year for a gold membership, which allows you matchmaking. It is also required for you to do any of that cross-platform gaming mentioned earlier. Whether this will offer any legitimate value over other online solutions has yet to be determined. Unlike the bBox, which holds a rather captive audience, the PC has several services that provide the general functionality of Live, though maybe not in as neat and tidy of a package.

Do you have a thought on either Halo 2 or the new Windows Live? Is it not quite what you expected, or does it sound like it will do what it should? Tell us your thoughts in our forums.
Quote riggs 15th March 2007, 12:14
I never even finished the first Halo game...ok, so it was my brothers Xbox (which I didn't get a chance to play very often), but I got quite bored towards the end of the game.

And anywho, I thought Halo 2 wasn't that great? At least that's the impression I got off my brother - he seemed to think the single player was pretty dire, too short and didn't conclude anything. Yeah, I know Halo 3 will pick up where the 2nd left off, but still, he was pretty disappointed.

And regarding the PC->360 multiplayer (if/when implemented), I'm assuming it'll hook you up with players of a similar calibre? Otherwise the poor 360 owners will just get completely owned by the keyboard & mouse using PC nuts...
Quote DougEdey 15th March 2007, 12:17
Quote:
Originally Posted by riggs
I never even finished the first Halo game...ok, so it was my brothers Xbox (which I didn't get a chance to play very often), but I got quite bored towards the end of the game.

And anywho, I thought Halo 2 wasn't that great? At least that's the impression I got off my brother - he seemed to think the single player was pretty dire, too short and didn't conclude anything. Yeah, I know Halo 3 will pick up where the 2nd left off, but still, he was pretty disappointed.

Multiplayer was awesome though for a console.
Quote:
Originally Posted by riggs

And regarding the PC->360 multiplayer (if/when implemented), I'm assuming it'll hook you up with players of a similar calibre? Otherwise the poor 360 owners will just get completely owned by the keyboard & mouse using PC nuts...

Games for Windows Live does this automatically for you. So basically if you are awesome with a keyboard and mouse and someone else is as good on a 360 you will be put together.

I think it works of your voice chat aswell, so whoever keeps shouting "****ING CHEATING N00Bs OMGze34ere WTFOMGLOLBBQFATSAUCE" gets put onto a server for pratts.
Quote mikeuk2004 15th March 2007, 12:18
Ok the best FPS are PC based so why would PC gamers want console ports???? Also its old, there are newer and better FPS games out and coming out.

Halo 2 had its time on my old xbox before getting rid of it. The year is for Halo 3 and not revisiting the old.

move on.
Quote Jamie 15th March 2007, 12:56
What's a bBox?
Quote keir 15th March 2007, 13:25
Be Unlimited's router :o
Quote r4tch3t 15th March 2007, 13:37
So basically anyone who plays FPS even semi-frequently on PC is very unlikely to play against a console player. We all know that KB+Mouse totally owns for FPS. Never been a fan of Halo anyways, I will not play a FPS with a controller, its unnatural.
Quote aggies11 15th March 2007, 15:05
Charging for Windows Live sounds crazy. Why will PC players pay for something that is has been mostly free (and still is)?

I have to wonder if this move is less about getting existing PC players to use Live, as it is an incentive to get 360 players onto PC.

They couldn't give it away free, otherwise that would upset people paying on 360.

Some Have said that Halo 2 should have been the minesweeper of Vista. While a neat Idea, thats pretty unrealistic unfortunately. However, I think it would be a very smart move to include Halo2 with a 1yr Games For Windows Live subscription. That would soften the blow for PC players, and be a reasonably "fair" thing to do. I think you would see decent adoption rates. Some may say that's a bad deal for Microsoft. But face it, it's a Service providing features most of which are already Free, and a several year old Console Port. $50 (USD) seems pretty reasonable for the pair.

Obviously this will never happen, but thats probably the only thing that would get (me), a PC gamer who doesn't already have a 360, using the service and/or playing Halo 2 on PC. Heck, having a Live account gives me more reason to own a 360, which is a double win for Microsoft.

Aggies
Quote Techno-Dann 15th March 2007, 16:01
Pay money to play an FPS game online? No thanks, I think I'll stick with UT.
Quote Snaek 15th March 2007, 16:23
The article says that Windows Live Gold is $50/year and this gives you access to the matchmaking and cross-platform game playing. I would assume then, that there will be a Silver level of Windows Live, following the pattern of XBox Live, that should be free and offer less features, though (hopefully) still allowing you to play online.
Quote Hazardous 15th March 2007, 16:49
Quote:
Originally Posted by r4tch3t


We all know that KB+Mouse totally owns for FPS... I will not play a FPS with a controller, its unnatural.

It's for that very reason that I've pre-ordered my son one of these XFPS for his 360...
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d40/DavyDuncan1955/Game%20Controllers/XFPSforXbox360.jpg


Dunno how well it'll go down, if (/when?) he starts winning all the skirmishes he takes part in online though :D
I would think it'll give him an advantage, so it might not sit too well with console die-hards
Quote Skill3d 15th March 2007, 21:00
@Hazardous, thats a nice piece u got there for your son... I'll bet he'll punish those poor controller bashers :)
Quote DXR_13KE 15th March 2007, 21:45
they want me to pay a monthly fee to play a FPS on-line? let me see.... nope, shove that game into a certain slot..... i am happy waiting for crysis :D
Quote Aankhen 15th March 2007, 22:33
It's really irritating to see all the "ZOMG PAY 2 PLAY PC ONLINE???? NEVAR!" type comments. You don't have to pay to play online like you've been playing all this time. If you pay $50 a year for Gold membership, you get matchmaking and cross-platform play (as mentioned in the article) and a few other small things, IIRC.
Quote Bladestorm 16th March 2007, 18:44
Have they sorted the issues with acceleration and mouse movement with adaptors since the XBOX days ? back then the last ones I looked at found that most of the games were setup to accelerate the variable input from the analog sticks and the mouse couldn't do the same, so while you gained a lot of accuracy at long range, the gamepads could turn a lot faster (ie drag the mouse all the way across the pad and turn 45 degrees, like back in the worst of the ball mouse days)
Quote Hazardous 17th March 2007, 09:51
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bladestorm


Have they sorted the issues with acceleration and mouse movement with adaptors since the XBOX days ?

I won't be able to find out for sure, until they get that XFPS in stock/send it to me... but I honestly don't expect acceleration/mouse movement to be much of an issue, given the much higher resolutions (is that the right word?) mice use these days?

You can even adjust a few 'on the fly', so if you're finding pointer movement too slow, you can up the speed at which it moves during gameplay, by simply pressing a button!
There's no need to quit the game you're playing to change its speed B)
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