Halo 2 release date: November 9th, 2004

Clone Sergeant · Post by **Clone Sergeant** » 2004-05-11 05:22am

As the title says, Bungie has finally given a solid release date on this oft-hyped game. Plus, they've announced a limited edition release that comes with a bonus behind the scenes DVD . Here's the link with the details about that.

They've also put out 8 new screens.Here

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-05-11 06:06am

Watching Gamespot's Stream of the Halo demonstration, looks awesome, and the energy lance is amazing.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-05-11 02:30pm

OOOH BABY! I all but forgot about being able to play as Covenant in MP... and the addition of the plasma sword. WHOO!

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2004-05-11 02:36pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:OOOH BABY! I all but forgot about being able to play as Covenant in MP... and the addition of the plasma sword. WHOO!

I heard rumors about the Covvies being MPlayable, but nothing else so far. Anyone know what race(s) you can play as? I imagine it will probably be the Elites, but one can always hope to play as a hunter.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-05-11 02:40pm

Captain tycho wrote:
DPDarkPrimus wrote:OOOH BABY! I all but forgot about being able to play as Covenant in MP... and the addition of the plasma sword. WHOO!
I heard rumors about the Covvies being MPlayable, but nothing else so far. Anyone know what race(s) you can play as? I imagine it will probably be the Elites, but one can always hope to play as a hunter.

Acording to the demonstartor, the elite was playable, saw it moving around controlled by a human

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-05-11 02:43pm

Captain tycho wrote: I heard rumors about the Covvies being MPlayable, but nothing else so far.

It was confirmed over a year ago. I forgot because everyone stopped talking about it. It's only Elites in MP.

Icehawk · Post by **Icehawk** » 2004-05-11 02:58pm

*looks at new screenshots, cums all over computer screen*

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-05-11 03:01pm

Icehawk wrote:*looks at new screenshots, cums all over computer screen*

Bit of an exageration no?

For those with GC or GBA's, you have a good year ahead of you from the press conferance.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2004-05-11 03:05pm

Any stastistical differences between Elites/Humans? Higher jump, faster movement, etc?

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2004-05-11 03:06pm

Captain tycho wrote:Any stastistical differences between Elites/Humans? Higher jump, faster movement, etc?

Unknown, from looking at the demonstartion, looks a bit faster, but I could be wrong.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2004-05-11 07:32pm

I expect it'll be much like RTCW multiplayer's Allies vs Nazis, it'll determine your starting gear and choices, and your side/objectives in scenario multiplayer.

That's what the demo seemed to suggest anyway.

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2004-05-11 08:50pm

I would have thought that I couldn't get anymore excited about Halo 2. I was wrong.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2004-05-11 09:21pm

YT300000, the review you linked to is funny; it goes on about map design and weapon coolness, which is only important because they'll never be modded

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-05-11 09:46pm

Now that we know when Halo 2 for the X-Box is being released, it would be nice to know when Halo 2 is released.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-05-11 10:14pm

Alyeska wrote:Now that we know when Halo 2 for the X-Box is being released, it would be nice to know when Halo 2 is released.

Why don't you shit on someone elses picnic?

EDIT: Oh, and yes, it looks amazing. Duh. This is going to be the game we all wanted the already stellar Halo to be.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-05-11 10:20pm

The Kernel wrote:
Alyeska wrote:Now that we know when Halo 2 for the X-Box is being released, it would be nice to know when Halo 2 is released.
Why don't you shit on someone elses picnic?

EDIT: Oh, and yes, it looks amazing. Duh. This is going to be the game we all wanted the already stellar Halo to be.

Why don't you shut the fuck up. I asked a question, nothing else.

Captain tycho · Post by **Captain tycho** » 2004-05-11 10:23pm

I heard rumors that the PC version would be released a few weeks after the Xbox release, but I can't verify that. *shrugs*

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-05-11 10:24pm

Alyeska wrote:Why don't you shut the fuck up. I asked a question, nothing else.

Excuse me, you said:

Alyeska wrote:Now that we know when Halo 2 for the X-Box is being released, it would be nice to know when Halo 2 is released.

Empahsis mine. You are suggesting that Halo 2 for the Xbox isn't the real Halo 2, which is really just the usual flaming you do on the subject.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2004-05-11 10:26pm

The Kernel wrote:
Alyeska wrote:Why don't you shut the fuck up. I asked a question, nothing else.
Excuse me, you said:

Alyeska wrote:Now that we know when Halo 2 for the X-Box is being released, it would be nice to know when Halo 2 is released.
Empahsis mine. You are suggesting that Halo 2 for the Xbox isn't the real Halo 2, which is really just the usual flaming you do on the subject.

Your shrink ever tell you you're hypersensitive and have a case of projection?

Anyway, to be honest, I don't see this being a big a hit on the PC market. The big things have largely been done, though destructable enviroments is new, I admit.

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2004-05-11 10:27pm

Captain tycho wrote:I heard rumors that the PC version would be released a few weeks after the Xbox release, but I can't verify that. *shrugs*

They probably meant in Dog Weeks.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-05-11 10:28pm

SirNitram wrote: Your shrink ever tell you you're hypersensitive and have a case of projection?

No I'm not, Alyeska has a history of saying that Halo on the Xbox was basically crap and that only the PC version would be living up to its potential. He's entitled to that opinion, but he doesn't need to bring it into threads about the release date for the Xbox version.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-05-11 11:28pm

The Kernel wrote:
SirNitram wrote: Your shrink ever tell you you're hypersensitive and have a case of projection?
No I'm not, Alyeska has a history of saying that Halo on the Xbox was basically crap and that only the PC version would be living up to its potential. He's entitled to that opinion, but he doesn't need to bring it into threads about the release date for the Xbox version.

All of which has no bearing on the thread. I asked a question, nothing more. Now sod off.

Sarevok · Post by **Sarevok** » 2004-05-12 12:01am

This time they should optimize the code for the PC version. The original Halo requires a monster of a computer to run smoothly.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2004-05-12 12:14am

evilcat4000 wrote:This time they should optimize the code for the PC version. The original Halo requires a monster of a computer to run smoothly.

Gearbox tried. There was something about optimizing Halo for the X-Box to begin with. By creating code around the X-Box, it seems that things did not work out properly for the PC or Mac. Neither platform can run the game on full options.

Now given that Halo 2 is built on the same machine and that we will have newer computers and they know the previous problems, better optimization seems likely.

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-05-12 12:22am

Alyeska wrote: Gearbox tried. There was something about optimizing Halo for the X-Box to begin with. By creating code around the X-Box, it seems that things did not work out properly for the PC or Mac. Neither platform can run the game on full options.

Perhaps that has more to do with their addition to the game code rather than the original. After all, the Xbox is little more than a GeForce4 with a 733MHz Celeron running DirectX and Windows NT. Easy ports are one of the key selling points. Up until now, developers have stated that Xbox-PC ports (and vice-versa) are quite easy.

So why was the PC version so hard to develop? I would say that the slowdown has much more to do with the custom shader programs that Gearbox wrote in an attempt to pretty up the graphics a little. What proves this nicely is that performance in Halo for the PC is tied directly to shader performance (one of the reasons that the next-gen cards do so well) which doesn't make sense with the original shader code, but only with the Gearbox designed code.