First Halo 2 Vista Review... [Archive]

DigiQ8

07-05-2007, 06:11 AM

86%

Full Review (http://www.gamingtrend.com/Reviews/review/review.php?ReviewID=828)

Pros:
* Fantastic integration of Games for Windows ? LIVE system
* Easiest multiplayer system of any PC title to date
* Tray and Play is revolutionary and simple
* Powerful editor included for free
* VOIP system is as simple as it is on the 360
* Achievements!
* Dedicated servers already in place, as well as the ability to host your own
* Keyboard/Mouse and 360 controller support
* Low system requirements

Cons:
* Mixed bag of high resolution and low resolution textures with no DX10 support
* Is activation as finicky as Windows Activation? Will I need to re-do it after changing hardware?
* Vista only means lower adoption rate
* Pay-to-Play multiplayer only - no LAN, no Local, No Internet
* Full price for a 2.5 year old title

"Pay-to-Play multiplayer only - no LAN, no Local, No Internet"
WHAT THE HELL !?

mindless_moder

07-05-2007, 06:13 AM

are you sure its the frist :P ?

86%
"Pay-to-Play multiplayer only - no LAN, no Local, No Internet"
WHAT THE HELL !?
thats exactly what i was thinking :S ...
also whats that "powerful editor included free" bit ? if its just a map editor then i dont think it should be listed as a pro because those are free anyway. i think that making it vista only was a big mistake .

DigiQ8

07-05-2007, 06:14 AM

are you sure its the frist :P ?
<3
also wrong forum woohoo

Glirk Dient

07-05-2007, 06:15 AM

mindless_moder

07-05-2007, 06:19 AM

OMG WTF? You gotta pay for multiplayer? Thats pretty lame for a game like this. I guess in a way it makes sense because xbox users have to pay for multiplayer but at least they can still lan/local. I hope it isn't a very steep price or any more than live is.

im guessing thats because the whole live system uses up their bandwidth whereas on a pc the servers are hosted on a server computer that is run and paid for by you. the pay-to-play would be a plus if it actually connected to the xbox 360 live servers so that you can play along side people who have consoles.

DEATHMASTER

07-05-2007, 06:30 AM

pay to play? If thats true, this game just wiped out another set of players, including me.

Uriel

07-05-2007, 06:33 AM

Pay to play? Suck ma doodle Microsoft. As soon as there's another OS for gaming, im nabbing it.

DEATHMASTER

07-05-2007, 06:37 AM

according to http://www.microsoft.com/games/halo2/
it's still up with that FREE live silver account to play on, I'm believing that over some review.

xcellerate

07-05-2007, 06:40 AM

the pay-to-play would be a plus if it actually connected to the xbox 360 live servers so that you can play along side people who have consoles.

You know that wouldn't be fair!

Mouse/Keyboard > Controller

JNightshade

07-05-2007, 06:45 AM

pay to play? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

_Z_Ryuken

07-05-2007, 07:25 AM

It's only pay to play if you want the gold account or something.

How can you have multiplayer without LAN or internet is what I'm wondering.

xcellerate

07-05-2007, 07:28 AM

How can you have multiplayer without LAN or internet is what I'm wondering.

ESP.

mindless_moder

07-05-2007, 07:31 AM

what does the gold account offer ? .
btw pay to play isnt really unheard off most mmorpgs are pay to play. doesnt really work too well for an fps though :S..

Baal

07-05-2007, 11:54 AM

I'll play the singleplayer...

Screw Microsoft

Sulkdodds

07-05-2007, 12:08 PM

Actually, PC Gamer UK also revied it.

They gave it boring/100.

nutcrackr

07-05-2007, 12:09 PM

boring out of 100 sounds AMAZING.

Lucid

07-05-2007, 12:10 PM

P2P...
What... the... ****.

If it's pay to play, it better be a ****ing revolution in multiplayer gaming.

Gorgon

07-05-2007, 12:38 PM

pay to play Halo 2?????

**** you Microsoft, I am pirating this shit.....to play single player.

ĐynastҰ

07-05-2007, 01:11 PM

You know that wouldn't be fair!

Mouse/Keyboard > Controller

Keyboard and Mouse arent listed as being 'officially supported', but you can plug a USB mouse and keyboard into the 360. The 360 uses the same USB ports as a PC, how do you think the controller works in the first place?

The 360 is made by Microsoft, so if it wasnt supported then they really ARE idiots.

[Edit] Dont know why im caring, Halo 2 was boring for me anyway.

Baal

07-05-2007, 01:18 PM

pay to play Halo 2?????

**** you Microsoft, I am pirating this shit.....to play single player.

I was gonna say this but I thought I'd get lynched.

Same still goes :D

edit: But seriously though...who's gonna pay to play a god damn First Person Shooter, and not just any FPS, an OLD FPS that is a sequel to a revolutionary game - Halo 2 isn't even anything special.

Christ, I might condone this pay to play crap if they were releasing Halo 3 for Vista alongside the 360 release, but Halo 2 for "Vista?"

Come on now

giant384

07-05-2007, 01:47 PM

yes i never really got the difference between silver and gold on xbox live. also im not paying shit just so i get the opportunity to play with xbox fags.

Solaris

07-05-2007, 01:51 PM

-
* Pay-to-Play multiplayer only - no LAN, no Local, No Internet
* Full price for a 2.5 year old title

Lol microsoft

Tamer17

07-05-2007, 01:58 PM

Isn't anyone bothered by the fact that under "Pros" there is NOTHING ABOUT THE DAMNED GAME ITSELF?

That's because the game never was what the hype made of it, i presume.

VirusType2

07-05-2007, 02:00 PM

-
* Pay-to-Play multiplayer only - no LAN, no Local, No Internet
* Full price for a 2.5 year old title

Lol microsoft

The sick part is, the game will sell like crazy, and Microsoft knows it.

Halo has some ravenous fans and a household name. Everyone who plays games has heard of it. So even if they have no idea what it's like, the fact that it's so popular means it must be pretty good right?

Scenario:
Mom and Dad buy a PC for the family recently (it has vista)

Kid sees Halo 2 in store and realizes he can play it on his family computer.

Kid spends allowance on Halo 2.

MS laughs like an evil villain. muahhahahahaaa. .... ahhahahhahhhaaaaa..

StardogChampion

07-05-2007, 02:33 PM

Hopefully someone will just hack it to death to allow us to play over the net normally with hosted servers.

CyberPitz

07-05-2007, 02:33 PM

Damn you M$! Give us a good game next time --;

alehm

07-05-2007, 03:37 PM

Releasing a 3 year old game for the PC @ full price $50
Make it only work on a DX10 OS when it doesn't really use DX10 $100-$200
Sit back and watch people buy the game like crazy..... priceless

clarky003

07-05-2007, 03:40 PM

Wow, that's insanely ridiculous, why the hell can't PC users create their own servers and just play for free like normal?

Fishlore

07-05-2007, 03:43 PM

Does this mean we can expect "pay to play" for all of Microsoft's future games? Will Microsoft try to force third parties to adopt the "pay to play" model sometime in the future?

Iced_Eagle

07-05-2007, 04:11 PM

HOLY INACCURATE REVIEW

Wow, I don't know why they put that there.

1) Multiplayer is free in Halo2 with a Silver account. You only need Gold to get access to multiplayer achievements or if you want to host and control your own peer to peer server.
2) There is LAN play! I have no idea what the hell this guy is talking about. Perhaps he should have run h2server.exe -lan because that's all you need to do to put a server into LAN mode... This guy should take down his review because of that inaccuracy alone.

http://blogs.ign.com/MGS_HiredGun/

Read the latest entry in that guys. It talks a lot about how dedicated servers and such are run and gives you some clues into all of this.

So to recap:

1) You don't have to have XBL Gold or pay anything besides the initial money for the game. To get access to multiplayer achievements and host and control your own games and such, you will have to get Gold. You also won't be able to get into some servers if they are marked as "Gold Only" which is a flag dedicated server admins can set. What I'm guessing is that currently only Bungie has servers up and has them set to Gold Only, which is why this guy is saying it's "Pay To Play". When the game goes live, people will set up their own server, which will give the server admin the choice if they want to allow Silver and/or Gold members on the server.

2) There is LAN play and every normal option in games.

This guy needs to take his review down. It's horrible and inaccurate!

*Edit* Just sent the reviewer an email, hoping he takes another look at the game and changes his review so it's not so flawed.

Evo

07-05-2007, 04:40 PM

Actually, PC Gamer UK also revied it.

They gave it boring/100.

This man speaks the truth!

p.s Samon...Sulks has PCG with the hl2 stuff in ;)

Baal

07-05-2007, 05:19 PM

HOLY INACCURATE REVIEW

Can we get confirmation on this?

Dalamari

07-05-2007, 05:23 PM

Looks shit, just like the Xbox version. Also, it's beyond stupid you need to pay to play online.

DEATHMASTER

07-05-2007, 05:41 PM

Thanks for the info Iced, I was hoping that reviewer was on crack.

Kadayi

07-05-2007, 05:48 PM

**** you Microsoft, I am pirating this shit.....to play single player.

Colour me surprised with that comment :dozey:

Evo

07-05-2007, 05:56 PM

For those who wondered Halo 2 got 66% in PCGamer

:D

Gray Fox

07-05-2007, 06:18 PM

For those who wondered Halo 2 got 66% in PCGamer

:D

So high, did M$ pay them?

CyberPitz

07-05-2007, 06:21 PM

So high, did M$ pay them?

my best guess....

Evo

07-05-2007, 06:25 PM

So high, did M$ pay them?

That is a bad score for such a hyped game by MS to lead the way for Windows Live. If it was considered good by PCG it would've had 75+

Loke

07-05-2007, 06:35 PM

For those who wondered Halo 2 got 66% in PCGamer

:D

Pros and cons?

i am HOLLYWOOD

07-05-2007, 06:41 PM

Pro's
um. . . .

Con's
the fact that um . . . is the only thing in the Pro's section

CptStern

07-05-2007, 06:47 PM

pay to play? Microsoft better be paying better than mimimum wage to play their game because ...wait a minute ..we pay? not them? boy talk about shooting themselves in the foot ..and the groin, the other foot, and finally in the head. Not even if it was free, no seriously not even if they payed me

Sulkdodds

07-05-2007, 06:50 PM

MS says Halo, we say goodbye.

Has nobody made that joke yet?

Anyway Stern, it's only pay-to-play for extra options and playing against Xboxers. It's still stupid.

StardogChampion

07-05-2007, 07:01 PM

MS says Halo, we say goodbye.

Has nobody made that joke yet?
I smell a new internet fad.

CptStern

07-05-2007, 07:06 PM

MS says Halo, we say goodbye.

Has nobody made that joke yet?

Anyway Stern, it's only pay-to-play for extra options and playing against Xboxers. It's still stupid.

I see ...so why would anyone pay to play against xbox players? arent there enough pc players to play against? and I thought halo2 vista wasnt going to be cross platform?

Iced_Eagle

07-05-2007, 10:51 PM

Can we get confirmation on this?

For starters, read the official Halo2 Vista blog which talks about LAN gaming, and how you can play if you are a silver (ie free) member of Live.

http://blogs.ign.com/MGS_HiredGun/

Second, I emailed the reviewer and said that he e-mailed Microsoft for verification on some points but they didn't email him back by deadline, and is going to get Microsoft on the phone for clarification so he can fix the review.

Kyorisu

07-05-2007, 11:33 PM

Pros
----

It's Halo

Cons
----

It's Halo.

DEATH eVADER

08-05-2007, 12:17 AM

pay to play? If thats true, this game just wiped out another set of players, including me.

In the words of Zach from TV series Heroes

"This isn't a popularity contest, its an unpopularity contest."

bam23

08-05-2007, 12:39 AM

Just when you thought they couldn't get any more greedy.

No coop, pay to play, vista req, **** that.

BHC

08-05-2007, 04:41 AM

"Pay-to-Play multiplayer only - no LAN, no Local, No Internet"

I'd say it's time for the gaming community, in it's entirety, to extend it's middle finger to Microsoft and acknowledge it's treading on uneasy ground. Bastards.

Shelling out not only for a new OS, which is ludicrously overpriced - but asking us to pay for what we've had for years free of cost? Take a hike MS, nobody cares about Halo 2 PC THAT much.

DigiQ8

08-05-2007, 04:43 AM

For starters, read the official Halo2 Vista blog which talks about LAN gaming, and how you can play if you are a silver (ie free) member of Live.

http://blogs.ign.com/MGS_HiredGun/

Second, I emailed the reviewer and said that he e-mailed Microsoft for verification on some points but they didn't email him back by deadline, and is going to get Microsoft on the phone for clarification so he can fix the review.
good to hear

Kyorisu

08-05-2007, 04:47 AM

Qonfused

08-05-2007, 04:54 AM

Stingey

08-05-2007, 04:55 AM

I find it amusing how many people in this thread haven't read the replies. you can play online for FREE (silver account) if you want the advantage of running a dedicated server and some other crap nobody uses you need gold.

Frankly it should all be free and MS can still screw themselves.

You do realize most mp games are played on dedicated servers? Microsoft is walking on thin ice here and I sincerely hope it cracks.

Kyorisu

08-05-2007, 05:01 AM

You do realize most mp games are played on dedicated servers? Microsoft is walking on thin ice here and I sincerely hope it cracks.

No kidding I though it operated via magic. I'm sure there not that stupid, they would at least have to release a free version for ISPs and what not. Have a look at their web page though dedicated server is listed under requiring a gold account along with achievements, send/receive game invites, matchmaking and wow you get 30 days free on your purchase of Halo 2 for windows Vista.

DEATHMASTER

08-05-2007, 05:10 AM

I suppose it does give another meaning to DEDICATED server heh.

nutcrackr

08-05-2007, 06:15 AM

reviewer should be fired.

DigiQ8

08-05-2007, 06:22 AM

oh well, we'll see how its turn out..

*search torrent*

BHC

08-05-2007, 06:41 AM

I'm boycotting Games for Windows, and I urge everyone else to do the same. This will tell Microsoft where to put it.

I'm on the same page, I won't be buying any "games for windows" that demand use of the Live service for features at all either.

Iced_Eagle

08-05-2007, 08:07 AM

Microsoft is horrible.

PC gamers aren't like Xbox players. Our system of doing servers has been perfect for the past ten years. Now Microsoft wants to convert PC gamers to an Xbox Live-like program on an absolutely shitty OS. Making us pay for givens will alienate the entire PC gaming population. In Shadowrun, you won't be able to talk to your team without a Gold account. What the **** is that?

I realize that $50 a year isn't that much. It's just the thought of paying for something we've had for free for years. And it's worked perfectly fine.

I'm boycotting Games for Windows, and I urge everyone else to do the same. This will tell Microsoft where to put it.

wtf? Who has been telling you that you need Live Gold to use voice chat in ShadowRun because they are terribly mistaken.

The only benefits Gold gives you is cross-platform, multiplayer achievements, and TruSkill matchmaking. Sure there might be other little things here and there, but that's the main service. Everything else is a silver level and can be done for free.

Microsoft knows and wants to make sure they won't start charging for something that is free already. For a dedicated server, I think all you need is a valid cd-key or something to run the server, and you don't need a gold account associated with it to run the server. Thus, that's the same has it's always been.

Voice chat and all that jazz, all integrated and is much easier for developers to integrate. Plsu, free for all tiers.

Think about it. The current "service" we have now is naturally free under Live. Plus you get achievements, text/voice messaging, friends list, etc etc... Then the Gold features make it better. So pretty much, Microsoft has only raised the baseline experience and also extended what the experience could be with Live.

DigiQ8

08-05-2007, 10:11 AM

wtf? Who has been telling you that you need Live Gold to use voice chat in ShadowRun because they are terribly mistaken.

The only benefits Gold gives you is cross-platform, multiplayer achievements, and TruSkill matchmaking. Sure there might be other little things here and there, but that's the main service. Everything else is a silver level and can be done for free.

Microsoft knows and wants to make sure they won't start charging for something that is free already. For a dedicated server, I think all you need is a valid cd-key or something to run the server, and you don't need a gold account associated with it to run the server. Thus, that's the same has it's always been.

Voice chat and all that jazz, all integrated and is much easier for developers to integrate. Plsu, free for all tiers.

Think about it. The current "service" we have now is naturally free under Live. Plus you get achievements, text/voice messaging, friends list, etc etc... Then the Gold features make it better. So pretty much, Microsoft has only raised the baseline experience and also extended what the experience could be with Live.
People just wanna hate everything done\made by microsoft

Operational

08-05-2007, 11:01 AM

People just wanna hate everything done\made by microsoft
Perhaps, but in this case MS deserve it.

DigiQ8

08-05-2007, 11:28 AM

Perhaps, but in this case MS deserve it.
you mean GFW Live ?
whats wrong with it ?, everything you do free now will be the same with more features ( friends list, vocie+text chat etc. )
and if you get Gold you'll have Cross-play, so if you dont care about crossplay just sign up for Silver.

destrukt

08-05-2007, 02:34 PM

Perhaps, but in this case MS deserve it.Yeah, they deserve morons to make things up, right.

Icarusintel

08-05-2007, 04:01 PM

Plus you get achievements, text/voice messaging, friends list, etc etc...
OMFG! r u sirius!? STOP THE F*CKING PRESSES! THIS SHIT SOUNDS AMAZING!

:rolleyes:

CptStern

08-05-2007, 04:36 PM

you mean GFW Live ?
whats wrong with it ?, everything you do free now will be the same with more features ( friends list, vocie+text chat etc. )
and if you get Gold you'll have Cross-play, so if you dont care about crossplay just sign up for Silver.

the problem is that you cant see beyond your own instant gratification to see this isnt very good for pc gaming ...they're pigeon holing us into accepting their business model as the only way of playing games online ..why would a company spend extra time and money for MP online functionality if they can just use the Xbox live service that's already made and easy(er) to implement? ..ok now ..where do mods fit in? where does community made maps/skins fit into a closed system where the majority of users (xbox360) are unable to install any of the user created mods ...so at this point developers really have no incentive to ship a game editor when the majority of users cant use anything created with said editor

I like that MS is trying to give pc gaming a much needed boost ...but frankly this isnt the way of doing it: forcing gamers to play by their rules is what console gamers are used to, not pc gamers ..I mean if we wanted to play in a closed controlled enviroment where your hand is held throughout the entire process we would have just bought a console. I for one will avoid playing by MS's rules for as long as possible ..and if gaming goes the way of a standardised collection of services designed by guys in suits more concerned about maximising profits rather than IP sustainability then it might be time to move on to some other more creative medium

Sulkdodds

08-05-2007, 04:48 PM

Attempts to create an 'everything box' from the top-down are highly disconcerting.

Steam works (or does it?) because it started from the bottom up - like the PC itself.

DigiQ8

08-05-2007, 05:03 PM

the problem is that you cant see beyond your own instant gratification to see this isnt very good for pc gaming ...they're pigeon holing us into accepting their business model as the only way of playing games online ..why would a company spend extra time and money for MP online functionality if they can just use the Xbox live service that's already made and easy(er) to implement? ..ok now ..where do mods fit in? where does community made maps/skins fit into a closed system where the majority of users (xbox360) are unable to install any of the user created mods ...so at this point developers really have no incentive to ship a game editor when the majority of users cant use anything created with said editor

I like that MS is trying to give pc gaming a much needed boost ...but frankly this isnt the way of doing it: forcing gamers to play by their rules is what console gamers are used to, not pc gamers ..I mean if we wanted to play in a closed controlled enviroment where your hand is held throughout the entire process we would have just bought a console. I for one will avoid playing by MS's rules for as long as possible ..and if gaming goes the way of a standardised collection of services designed by guys in suits more concerned about maximising profits rather than IP sustainability then it might be time to move on to some other more creative medium
Time will tell..

CptStern

08-05-2007, 05:16 PM

sure it will ...we'll see if shadow run (first cross platform game) will have user created mods or servers that accomodate more than a handful of players soon enough

Iced_Eagle

08-05-2007, 11:09 PM

OMFG! r u sirius!? STOP THE F*CKING PRESSES! THIS SHIT SOUNDS AMAZING!

:rolleyes:

People laughed at it for the Xbox360, but look at what it's turned into. I'm sure the same thing will happen on the PC.

DEATHMASTER

08-05-2007, 11:47 PM

I'd cut the chances in half though, unless they offer better things without the shelling out.

Qonfused

09-05-2007, 12:08 AM

you mean GFW Live ?
whats wrong with it ?, everything you do free now will be the same with more features ( friends list, vocie+text chat etc. )
and if you get Gold you'll have Cross-play, so if you dont care about crossplay just sign up for Silver.

http://www.xfire.com/

The only interesting thing is the cross-platform gaming, which if it's good, I'll probably be buying Gold for considering 90% of my friends are Xbox noobs.