Game Preview:Halo 2 for PC

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Hired Gun/ Bungie Software
Platform Available: PC, Xbox
Release date: May 8 2007 (US), June 30 2007 (Europe)

For eager PC gamers who want to experience Halo 2, but do not own an Xbox or Xbox 360 console, the long wait is finally over. Halo 2 for PC is just around the corner and it will be the first PC game to take advantage of Microsoft’s Live Anywhere application with the bundled Windows Live program. Does it feature any new content? Read on to uncover the answer.

To begin with, PC gamers will be glad to know that a whole new range of achievements have been specially created for the PC version of Halo 2. For Xbox owners who have played the game before, but wish to return to it again, that is something to look forward to. For communication purposes, a voice over IP functionality and text chat are supported. However, for whatever reason, co-op play has been omitted all together and despite being the first game to ship with Windows Live, cross-platform gaming will not be possible in Halo 2 for PC. Fortunately, a map editor is on hand to compensate for that. Using the wide variety of textures and skins available, players will be able to create their own maps and share them with others online. Halo 2 for PC will also come with the multiplayer map packs that were released after the Xbox version of Halo 2.

On the graphics front, the PC version, though a port of the Xbox version, has been given more graphical power. It will not be able to compete head-on with Half-Life 2 or upcoming games like Crysis and Unreal Tournament 2007, but overall, it will look more polished and manufacture more eye candy than its Xbox sibling. Given that the game is compatible only with the latest OS, Windows Vista, players should not have a reason to worry about the graphics.

The content of the single-player campaign mode will be exactly the same as in the Xbox version. For players hoping to use a gamepad for the game, the new controls will also be exactly the same as with the old control scheme for the Xbox controller. That’s all for now.