Halo 2
 

I just hit the jackpot. I have a buddy that works at MS, and am flying out to see him in August. He just happens to have access to Halo 2. So, rest assured I will more than willing to share my experiences with the TFP forum. (Maybe even some Digisnaps if he has the copy at home!)

My buddy was playing it while I was on the phone with him the other day, and there are SOME SWEET ass taunts. Can't remember the exact wording, but something like

"You shoot like a girl"
"Is your barrel bent, you can't shoot straight"

I am SOOO excited for this release.. I promise to share more as I get it.

Please just don't repost any information I provide on another website. I don't want my buddy to get fired. :)

Burner....I've been wondering when we would hear from you.
It seems like ages since you dropped some of those tasty tidbits!

If you could, try to find out as much as you can get away with, such as...

How many multiplayer maps are there?

Are any other Covenents playable?

And being a pistol fan in multiplayer, is the increased firepower in dual wielding offset by lack of accuracy?

You may not be able to glean these specifics, but ANY info will be mucho appreciated!

I've got a question I hope you can find out...how many single-player levels will there be?

One of the answers I do know.
Yes, you can play as the covanent. Let me check into the rest and find out. :)

Another thing I do know, the Physics people went out to the gun range with some military people (ex or current I am fuzzy on) to get the hang of shooting real guns. I am told that the physics are being REALISTICALLY portrayed (as realistically as they can for some of the weapons!) in the game. ie: Pistol allows faster and better accuracy on quick shots, while sniper requires a longer aiming period to get back to top accuracy.
My buddy also told me they are staying true to the aspects of Halo, at least as far as player movements go. He said it isn't Unreal tournament, but it isn't Ghost recon either. Basically putting it right where halo fell.

Look, Halo was a cool game and all, but it had one GIGANTIC flaw that Halo 2 needs to address: the boring-ass, repetitive level design. It seemed like you go through the exact same room multiple times, before you get to the next set of identical rooms, followed by bridge that looks exactly like one you crossed ealier, then eight more identical rooms. BLEAGH!

Any idea if they are going to put some work into this?

The level design towards the middle and end of Halo were the same because Bungie ran out of time. Microsoft had them under contract to release Halo on the XBox launch, so Bungie had to struggle to get it finished, resulting in the repetitive level designs (especially after the Flood begins).

I'm guessing Halo 2 will have better level design because they're not under stress to get it finished on a launch date.

-Lasereth

Yeah, most of the reports I've heard have the consensus of Bungie being pretty much done with the game, and that they have the next 5 months to do nothing but tweak the system.

Despite the extra wait, this makes me extremely giddy.


EDIT: I got another question to ask...in multi-player, will there be any bots? That very well could make my day.

Nice.
I pre-ordered Halo2 about 3 months ago, and a couple weeks ago I got a call from Gamestop. They got a deal with Microsoft for whoever is already pre-ordered, gets a 'special addition' whenever it's released! Hell yes!

Yeah, I've seen the Elite's in multiplayer...I was wondering about Jackals, Brutes and/or Hunters.

Hunters and Brutes yes, but why jackals? Well I guess having a shield would be pretty cool, but then, the Elites are the "iron heart of the Covenant" and the Spartans fall under that category as well, so why would you want to play as a lower class, regular marine.

I can't wait for this game, gonna be so dope.

I'm probably the only XBer on the planet that is actually interested in this game for it's Single Player campaign!

Nope, im right there with ya

I liked the first Halo for its single-player experience moreso than the multiplayer experience. The only way the multiplayer was fun is if you had four people, two TVs, and two XBox's (preferably more, like 8 people, 4 TV's, etc.). I really hope Bungie puts as much effort into the single player campaign in Halo 2 as they did the first one. That's really what made the game for me.

-Lasereth

I really had a lot of fun with the co-op campaign. I wish someone would make a 4 player co-op campaign fps.

I'm not really into Halo but my roomies are, I'd love to get some info to impress them with :)

Your wish has been granted =)

Whoa! That game looks like a mixed bag!

They aren't as rushed to put the game out this time as they were for Halo. I do know they are working 6 days a week right now.. It may be just getting to the crunch, or it may be because it isn't where they want it to be. Not sure there, but they are in 6 days a week.
I have been told that if the character is in the game you can play as it. Not 100% sure if that includes EVERYONE/THING or not, but that is what I was told. I will for sure have more info in August though.. Stay tuned.

BTW, by rushed I mean they have had longer to develop H2 than they did for Halo. However, they are still churning and burning late hours right now. I can't even catch my buddy with time to play Live. :)

Heh, that's what it's like at every decent game studio pre-release =)

halo 2 means to me just one thing

buy the game, get some friend ... get some pizza and some sixpack , take one day off and play it coperative through

Yeah baby

Yeah, I will be off of work November 9th.. Funny thing is, so will my buddies that work at MS. You will be hard pressed to find an Xbox gamer at work on the 9th.

Hmmm, maybe they will get the port over to the PC by 2007 or so. Yay.

I seriously thinking about taking November off from work... Halo 2, Metroid 2, Metal Gear 3, possibly Splinter Cell 3... Jesus, life is good.

It'll be better on xbox..

Yeah, I was talking about that in the MGS3 thread, that each company is bringing out it's respective big guns to compete with each other. No doubt that each company will enjoy extremely high Christmas sales due to these big releases, and none of these game possibilities will be mutually exclusive for me. I will play and own all of these games. Oh yeah, a little rumor goodness to start the work week off with, apparently, KOTOR 2 might be dropping this holiday 2004, instead of early 2005. Life is super good! :)

They could just make the Master Chief talk like the guys from Red VS Blue when taunting,I'd be set.

THAT would be a fitting tweak/mod for both Xbox and PC versions. I would go apeshit if they did that.

Update:
The taunt thing was bogus. My Xbox buddy told me about it, so I asked my Bungie buddy.. He said nope, it wasn't Halo2 with the taunts..

But he did say this (bungie guy): There is a code written into halo 2 that makes hosting migrate to the person with the best connection. Seamlessly. So, you and your buddies are playing on DSL, and another guy joins the game. He happens to have a T1. The hosting will start a seamless gradual movement to the T1 player (won't notice at all) so that you can all gain the benefits of his better connection. I guess Bungie listened to all the Ghost Recon players!

Ah well, too bad on the taunting thing. But at least there's the connection upgrade. No more shit connections, and we can rely on super-fast stuff!

My buddy said he thought the taunts were from the next UnReal? I don't play that series so have no clue if one is due out or not..

The next Unreal is a good ways a way, they just showed off the engine at e3 this year, so don't count on it anytime soon. But then, what do I know?

I got the Official Xbox Magazine the other day and it had a Making od Halo 2 video on there, look around on the net for it guys, it's fucking awesome! Master Chief jumps out of an airlock head first into a planet willingly! Now that's some bad ass shit right there.

wasn't that on the very first trailer they released like a year and a half ago? when he jumps out of the ship and goes head first towards the planet? (later lands on a covenant ship or something)

This game looks fantastic, but something tells me not to even attempt to use Xbox-live with dial-up. Right?

:(

Never saw that one :( But the 'Behind the Scenes' look is awesome, I'm so totally pumped up for this game.

once this game comes out, ps2 people will, hopefully, come out of their funk.

i have been going back and playing halo with my kids just to get ready.