Halo 2 (Windows Vista)

Bungie Studios, along with Hired Gun, a division of Microsoft Studios, ported Halo 2 to PC for use on the Windows Vista operating system, as a release title for the "Games for Windows" category. It was released May 31, 2007. Some have speculated that the game will be released for Windows XP eventually. Note that the game can be played on an XP, but the framerate and texture quality suffers as a result.

Main Additions
Halo 2 Vista has been reworked graphically for the PC, including high-resolution textures and support for very high resolutions. While the single player campaign does not differ from the Xbox version (apart from the Juggernaut), if the player has a gamertag for Live, they can earn single player achievements to be displayed on their account.

One of the selling points of Halo 2 Vista is an included map editor. It will include the same programs as previously used in the Halo Editing Kit (HEK). These programs are Guerilla, Sapien, and Tool. The game's map editor also includes a pre-made "custom" map by default, named Example, which was made for players to observe as an example for making their own custom maps.

The release date was originally planned for May 8, 2007. The release date had been delayed for May 22, 2007 (May 29, 2007 in Australia) because the team needed "to make some improvements to the install experience and address other technical issues." However, release dates had been erratic, as Australia had publicly available copies, and some stores in the United States were selling copies as well. Microsoft had stated that the release date had been pushed back one final time, due to partial nudity found in the Halo 2 Vista Map Editing Kit, making the release date May 31st for the United States. These glitches can be removed.

A new ability pushed by the Microsoft team is a feature called "Tray and Play". It is an attempt to emulate the ability of consoles to instantly play new discs in a DVD Drive without installing them. It allows the end-user to play the game as it is installing.

Graphics Comparison: 300px

Multiplayer Additions
Halo 2 Vista, being a release title of Games for Windows, includes support for the Live for Windows system. It intertwines with the Xbox Live system, allowing communication with someone who has an Xbox. The interface is similar to that of the Xbox 360 dashboard. Instead of using peer to peer matchmaking, players will be able to create dedicated servers, which are created with a program that comes with the disc.

Gamertags, which are used on Xbox Live, are also used on Live for Windows. If a player were to have an Xbox Live gamertag, they would be able to log on using that. Otherwise, a free, silver account can be registered for a player. For $50 a year, a silver account can be upgraded to a gold account. However, Halo 2 Vista does not support cross-platform play.
 * Features for Silver Accounts
 * Free.
 * A single gamertag with a universal gamerscore
 * Single Player Achievements
 * Private Chat
 * Friends List


 * Features for Gold Accounts
 * $50 a year, 1 month trial with game
 * All Silver Features
 * Multiplayer Achievements
 * Can create own games
 * Can filter game browsing
 * Matchmaking

Exclusive to Halo 2 Vista are 2 new maps, District and Uplift (However, Halo 2 Vista does not include the maps Desolation or Tombstone). Users can also create their own custom maps using the new map editor, and then host games with those. Other players can download the map while in the lobby.

System Requirements
The minimum system requirements to run Halo 2 on Windows Vista is a Windows Experience Index of 3.0. The recommended system requirements is a WEI of 5.0.


 * Requires Windows Vista
 * 2GHz Pentium 4 Class Processor (or x64)
 * 1GB of RAM
 * 7GB of hard drive space
 * Nvidia 6100/ATI x700 video card or above
 * DVD-ROM drive

The game can be set on different levels of detail (low, medium, or high) to change performance and appearance. Anti-Aliasing and resolution can be changed, as well.

Controversy
Halo 2 for Vista was rated M for Violence, Language, Blood and Gore, and Partial Nudity. However it actually turns out that a bug in a .ass error and blunder appeared to show the back of a naked person. This can be removed simply with a patch downloadable from the Halo 2 Vista website. Originally people thought the rating was because of Cortana's nude figure, until Bungie discovered the .ass error. In some opinions this was the Arbiter as he was stripped of armor.

Halo 2 On XP
Halo 2 can run on XP through a patch available online. The Vista only requirement drew criticism from the public due to Vista's continuing unpopularity compared to XP. It's possible that an XP version of Halo 2 may be released in the future, however this is unlikely, as Microsoft is eliminating Windows XP software. Hey, though you may be thinking - why do this anyway, Halo 2 Vista might actually run faster on XP because of Vista's larger processing overheads with all those services...

Internal Links

 * Halo 2
 * List of Achievements
 * List of Patches