Halo 2 is going to be an exclusive for Windows Vista, but won't use DirectX 10. Something's up.
It’s a sad day when console games are dominating the exciting upcoming releases, so forgive us as we shed a small tear for PC gaming here at PC Authority. The days of the PC’s dominance as a gaming platform are not over, but the range of titles that appear on both console and PC is increasing. Additionally, new top shelf releases are tending to be console exclusives more often, which is a shame for PC fans who would have got a lot out of them.
A prime example is Halo 2, now several years old, which is soon to be released on the PC platform, under Microsoft’s new branded ‘Games for Windows’ banner. As a smash hit on Xbox, PC gamers will finally get access to Halo 2 this year, but thankfully with a number of welcome improvements above and beyond the rather disappointing port of the original game. The game is going to be strongly souped-up with support for high-resolution PC screen modes and much more detailed textures, due to the PC’s inherently larger store of RAM and VRAM. It will also support the Xbox 360 controller on PC (which connects via a USB port).
Now here’s the weird part: Halo 2 for PC won’t require DirectX 10, but it will require players to be running Windows Vista. Now if that isn’t an artificial reason to upgrade, we don’t know what is. The other great news for PC players is the inclusion of a map editor with Halo 2 on PC, which will no doubt spawn a generation of brilliant community-created maps to challenge their skills.
Playing Halo 2 for PC online will also be streamlined thanks to Microsoft’s “Games for Windows - Live” service, which will allow players of Halo 2 on PC to easily connect with each other’s games and get into online tournaments. The catch is that you have to subscribe to the service (unless you already have a subscription to Xbox Live). The silver class of Live membership allows you to play multiplayer Internet games, while the gold membership includes multiplayer matchmaking, multiplayer achievements and cross-platform gameplay between Xbox 360 and PC players.
Most players can agree that it seems fairly academic to pay for network play when most games shipping today give you that feature for free. While Games for Windows Live might sound slightly redundant at launch, give it some time. Xbox Live itself took some time to get established, but now it’s pretty widely recognised as a smooth system that combines fairly seamless voice and gaming via the Internet.
There’s something very convenient about always using an unified interface to access your online friends and arrange games with them. Oddly enough, the cross-platform Xbox to PC Internet gaming functionality will not be ready for the release of Halo 2 on PC. However, after Halo 2’s release, new title Shadowrun will follow it in mid 2007 – along with a system upgrade that allows the Xbox and PC head-to-head Internet gaming to take off. Oddly, the classic card game UNO will also release and support the cross-platform functions. This can only mean there is a greater pool of players to challenge and enjoy, especially with the geographic separation here in Australia. It’s always better to play with and against other players in the same country to get the best possible ping performance.