Halo 2 heading to PC

By Ellie Gibson Published 9 February, 2006

But only if you've got Vista.

Microsoft has announced plans to release Halo 2 for PC - specifically, PCs which use the new Windows Vista operating system.

It's being developed by a special MS Game Studios team together with Bungie, and will feature both the single-player and multiplayer modes of the original.

Plus, it will include the extra maps which Xbox owners got in the Multiplayer Map Pack, and you'll even be able to create and customise your very own multiplayer levels.

The Xbox version of Halo 2 was a huge hit, with more than 7.3 million copies sold worldwide. As for the franchise as a whole, more than 14.5 million Halo titles have been shifted, and players have clocked up more than 600 million hours of online play on Xbox Live.

Microsoft didn't so much as hint at a release date for Halo 2 PC, but seeing as Windows Vista is slated for a 2006 launch it seems the game could be out by the end of the year.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (48) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Xerx3s #1 6 years ago

    :\

  • Mark II #2 6 years ago

    Oh.

    PS - 2nd :/
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/06 @ 23:03

  • Fubdub #3 6 years ago

    pretty cheap way to shift more Vista... (Well, someone had to say it, even if it's obvious)

  • JediMasterMalik #4 6 years ago

    This is MS trying to make more money. Getting PC players to get vista if they want to play Halo 2 (or an XBOX). Disappointing really...

  • Lothar Hex #5 6 years ago

    Oh shut up Jedi. Nobody's forcing anyone to buy it. The people who wanted Halo 2 will have bought it ages ago.

  • tengu #6 6 years ago

    Cool, now they can patch it so it has an ending.

  • yagisencho #7 6 years ago

    I, for one, welcome our Vista overlords.

    (I do rather fancy the idea of watching the Halo2 cut scenes in real-time, complete with fully-rendered textures. Plus...1600x1200 resolution, 4x FSAA, etc.)

  • Stickman #8 6 years ago

    So Halo 2 will only work on your pc if you use Vista?

    Rather than MS trying to squeeze more money out of people, it seems to me they've just vastly reduced their market.

  • Narv #9 6 years ago

    It probably because it is using directX 10 which isn't compatible with XP. Nor any of your old games unless you take a small performance hit through directX 9 emulation.
    Edited by 1 at 09/02/06 @ 23:36

  • Luigi #10 6 years ago

    Well... Half Life 3 (sort of) bundled with Vista... Now that's great news :) About Halo2, as Lothar Hex mentioned... who wanted to play halo has already done it with the xbox version. Personally I couldn't care less about halo. Cumprimentos (greetings) from Lisbon.
    Edited by 1 at 10/02/06 @ 00:33

  • BartonFink #11 6 years ago

    Cool, now they can patch it so it has an ending.
    Nah that may happen in Halo 3.

  • BartonFink #12 6 years ago

    Anyway if Halo on PC was anything to go by anybody in their right mind will have either a) forgotten the whole affair b) bought an Xbox to play it properly ages ago.

    Can't see it shifting Vista at all.

    Vista will shift all by itself, nicest OS I have seen in a long time.

  • SeesThroughAll #13 6 years ago

    hehehe, nice one tengu :)

    This won't make much of a difference, unless anyone wants to play Halo 2 with a mouse so badly, that they're willing to pay more than twice the cost of an XBox 360 for Vista.

    Don't think so.

    Is it a way to push Vista? At least, a way to make look it more appealing. (As if the eye-candy wasn't enough for most people). Will this happen to lots more games? Very likely.

    @ Luigi: Eh pa, isto esta cheio de tugas! hehehe

    @ BartonFink: "nicest OS I have seen in a long time." Nicer than OSX too?
    Edited by 1 at 10/02/06 @ 00:53

  • BartonFink #14 6 years ago

    yup

  • smelly #15 6 years ago

    It probably because it is using directX 10 which isn't compatible with XP

    LMFAO!!!!

    How naieve are you? It'd run under xp (and dx9) no problems, this is a way of selling a new OS, no other reason!

  • ali-uk #16 6 years ago

    Sounds good to me. But then I actually LIKED halo2.

  • Space Dan #17 6 years ago

    If I gave a f**k about Halo I'd be pretty p*ssed off right now. Lucky I think it's sh*te.

  • Talha #18 6 years ago

    I think for once we should not be so cynical about MS. See, they are doing a PC port of Halo 2, and since Vista and DirectX 10 are months away, it makes more sense to make it a 'launch title' for Vista as a gaming platform (yes, they have been pushing XP as a gaming platform 2).

    All I can say is that XP has shown remarkable legs, not feeling completely horrible even after 5 years. And Vista looks nice, so it will shift regardless.

    Although I would be more interested in a port of RalliSport Challenge 2 - where is that dammit? It is not as if the XBox version sold a lot, so why not turn that wasted opportunity into gold?

  • Genji #19 6 years ago

    HL2 didn't have an ending either, as I recall...

    Anyway, I can't see how Halo 2 is going to shift any copies. The reception of the first game when it came out on PC was lukewarm to say the least. The franchise seems to have been "tainted" by consoles, in the eyes of many PC gamers.

  • Nithron #20 6 years ago

    Well... aside from the 'tainting' the series received, the Halo port to PC was quick and dirty to the extreme.
    They left out co-op mode, and the game ran uber-slowly no matter what kind of rig you had - despite the fact that, by the time it was released on PC, the graphics and physics were nothing at all remarkable. Conspiracy theorists claimed it was deliberately slowed down in an attempt to make the XBox seem more powerful to PC gamers but... Who listens to them anyway?

  • marilena #21 6 years ago

    I'm sorry, but it just doesn't work this way on the PC. No game can have an impact on the sales of an operating ystem. Back in the day when the market was dominated by a few franchises, I imagine a new Quake would have helped push the operating system it was using. But now there is no game with enough attraction power.

    On the other hand, like Barton says, the move to Vista will be pretty natural, most people will want it.

  • Triggerhappytel #22 6 years ago

    Maybe they could alter the Campaign mode so it's not, y'know, shit...?

  • gallow #23 6 years ago

    How is Halo going to sell Windows Vista? Its an average FPS game at best. Idiots.

  • trevd72 #24 6 years ago

    just get a second hand xbox and a second hand copy of the game and be done with it. should only cost you £60

  • Hicksy #25 6 years ago

    Bloody annoying!

    I would love Halo 2 on pc but I am not upgrading to Vista in a hurry :/

  • kangarootoo #26 6 years ago

    @gallow

    When will people stop making snap shouts of "idiot" at hugely successful companies. If MS really were idiots, they wouldn't be one of the largest corps on the planet.

    I say again, like I've said so many times, if they (they being MS this time, but could easily be Sony or Ninty) think this is a good idea they are probably right. If we disagree with them, we are probably wrong. They pay hundreds of thousand employing experienced experts to make these decisions. You really think we could do it better?

  • gallow #27 6 years ago

    The reason I say idots is because Halo is Microsofts IP and they think that because it is a successful XBOX game that it will be just as successful on the PC. But compaired to current PC FPS games it is average at best.

  • Furbs #28 6 years ago

    It may not be the most popular PC FPS, but it'll still make a profit. Which I guess is succesful.

    This is literally money for old rope for MS, with the added bonus of being a high profile title. Its all about marketing Vista and getting in a few extra dollars. Pretty smart move I'd say.

  • ali-uk #29 6 years ago

    I love the hate of Halo coming off this thread. I gotta say though, I am thoroughly bored of Halo 2, both sp and mp. Half-Life 2 always brings me back for more though :)

  • sickpuppysoftware #30 6 years ago

    Phew lucky thing that the PC has about, ohh, a gazillion other FPSs to choose from.

  • Kafeen #31 6 years ago

    "pretty cheap way to shift more Vista... (Well, someone had to say it, even if it's obvious)"
    Nah, people will just pirate it, the same they did with every other version of windows.

  • AtomicBanana #32 6 years ago

    (I do rather fancy the idea of watching the Halo2 cut scenes in real-time, complete with fully-rendered textures. Plus...1600x1200 resolution, 4x FSAA, etc.)

    Chances are it'll run terribly, the FSAA support will be broken or non-existant, 1600 x 1200 will run far too slowly on any computer due to a slack port. The multiplayer will also be broken, buggy, and easy to hack. PC Gamers will ignore it within a few weeks.

    But, as someone else said, who cares - anyone that was passionate about halo played on the xbox, and are now waiting for halo 3 :)

  • space_ace #33 6 years ago

    what a visionary proposition

    har, har

  • Xerx3s #34 6 years ago

    Im a pc gamer, but i have to admit that the shooters that weve had in the past few years where 'meh' at best compared to the real classics. Perhaps the standard set by those classics was just to high to meet again. let alone surpass. HL2 was fair nuff, but nothing spectacular and therefor a huge disappoinment imo (considering how much i liked the original). The fast online shooters (quake, unreal, etc) cant seem to get anywhere near the supreme feeling of the originals these days. And where are the original, fun to play concepts like System Shock 2? 90% of the stuff released these days is below par crap with a storyline as flat as the netherlands & a fun lvl of 2 minits.

    Games like Fear where fun, but i didnt bother playing them a second time, unlike the years ive played games like UT'99, HL, CS, Q3, SS2, etc.

    But there is hope though. Games like Bioshock might be the next classic. /fingers crossed.
    Edited by 1 at 10/02/06 @ 10:52

  • myiagros #35 6 years ago

    just yesterday someone from MS said that they have no plans in the near future to make games exclusive for Vista or XP. Was he just missinformed or will this actually work on XP as well? Or is this game so far off that it is not considered the near future?

  • Furbs #36 6 years ago

    Must be, because as mentioned above, if its a DX10 game, it isnt going to work on XP.

  • oceanmotion #37 6 years ago

    MS don't give a toss about Halo 2 PC making them a lot of money. Its made enough already and will make a little more on PC. Its just nice thing to show Vista as a gaming platform much like that new Cry Engine 2 game.

  • Talha #38 6 years ago

    Hey guys, stop ripping off my initial comment. I will have all you suckers for Copyright infringement

  • reality_cheque #39 6 years ago

    I think this makes perfect business sense. It's a product that's been well recieved, doesn't need much promotion, they already own it so can do what the fuck they like with the game, plus this way there is a game that will run on Vista without any issues.

    At the end of the day, if you don't like it, don't buy it! Bill Gates does not have a gun at your head, nor has he stolen your free will.

    With that in mind, how can anyone consider this a bad thing?

  • Narv #40 6 years ago

    @smelly, naive I am not. I wasn't talking about any intentions that MS might have good/bad or otherwise. I was talking about the technical nature of the issue.

    If they have written Halo using the DirectX 10 api then it isn't going to be compatible with XP regardless of the fact that it originally was written for the Xbox with DX9 quality graphics.

    Personally, I like the idea of a game like this being a sales tool for a new OS like Vista. As people have said if you were mad about Halo 2 you probably already have it.

    If they can chuck in some of the new DX10 effects into the GFX it should be something to see and so make a good tech example.

    I'm already a Vista user (via MSDN) and personally I love the OS, however, a lot of people are going to be disappointed by the minimum hardware requirements (of course not PC gamers that is..).

    Oh and before anyone MS fanboys me I hate the IE7 beta look at what it does to eurogamer for a start...

  • spiny #41 6 years ago

    "Halo 2"

    /me shrugs
    /me moves along

  • smoison #42 6 years ago

    They should bring the descent franchises back, Like Midtown Madness, and Crimson Skies. They were great until the Xbox stole them all....

  • AtomicBanana #43 6 years ago

    'They should bring the descent franchises back, Like Midtown Madness, and Crimson Skies. They were great until the Xbox stole them all....'

    They were great on the xbox too thanks very much :)

  • Furbs #44 6 years ago

    It Motorcross Madness is your thing, get MX vs ATV Unleashed. Its by Rainbow Studios who made MM 1&2. Nice little game too, lots and lots of variety.

    Not sure if its out on PC yet, but I know its coming.

  • Saii #45 6 years ago

    Meh, if they wanted to shift more Vista lke this they might as well just bundle that damn game in there.

  • YUSHi #46 6 years ago

    @ Ace Grace

    You're probably right there about the DRM.

    It's like Microsoft are making a technology demonstration using a high profile product to demonstrate to third-party developers (not to mention warding off individuals from casual piracy) who maybe a little shy on developing games for the platform because of rampant piracy that exists in PC gaming. If they can show that developing games so that they only run on one machine and ONLY one machine as per the EULA agreement as any one time and that any duplicates can't run without prior authorization (allowing people to make backups of their game discs) then Microsoft will probably be able to resell the technology on a per-unit-sold basis making them more $$$ and reassuring developers/publishers alike.

    Windows Vista is going to be DRM hell or DRM heaven depending what side of the fence you sit on.

  • SeesThroughAll #47 6 years ago

    "Isn't this a push to reinvigorate PC gaming?"

    No. PC gaming does not need reinvigorating.

    "Microsoft are trying to get people to see Windows as a gaming platform again which probably means DRM and region locking on Vista."

    DRM is unfortunately going to invade everything, and I for one, see more disadvantages than advantages in it. So, I wouldn't be surprised or concerned about DRM locking Halo 2 or any other game to prevent piracy. That's a good thing.
    The only problem I have is companies in general using DRM to lock their clients' information and thus use that to charge for additional services or products whenever they fit. (imagine in the future, someone's thesis may not be edited until they pay the monthly software key required to access it - it sounds to me an awful lot like extortion). DRM is dangerous.

  • immateriaux #48 6 years ago

    I think MS are fairly aware that the majority of informed PC users see nothing much of value to Vista, so they are going to have to create some interest somehow. Had to laugh at the interview with the MS guy that came out with this info:

    MS Guy: Halo2 needs Vista for all the technical advances Vista brings..
    Interviewer: Such as...
    MS Guy: I can't say...
    Interviewer: What advanages is Vista going to bring to Halo2...
    MS Guy: I can't say...
    Interviewer: What else can you give us then...
    MS Guy: I can't say...

    Essentially, they haven't figured out what are believable technical excuses to try kid the public with yet.

    MS has always launched a new OS by focusing on backward compatibility - eg XP was a huge step away from DOS yet they still tried to retain DOS compatibility modes as much as they could. However, as XP more than adequately suits the majority of users needs presently, I'd expect more attempts by Microsoft in the next number of months to lock down aps into their new OS in an attempt to force people to buy the thing.
    Edited by 1 at 11/02/06 @ 22:46