Recently, Microsoft sent me a copy of Halo 2 for Vista to review. Actually, they sent it to Shane, but it ended up in my tiny paws, so I was the lucky one to test out Halo 2 and see how a two year old game refreshes itself on a new platform.

For anyone that has been hiding under a rock since mid-1999, Halo 2 is the 2004 follow-up to the hugely successful Halo: Combat Evolved, which came out in 2001. Halo is one of those games that has become a cultural phenomenon, invading its way into action figures, books and even posters. It has been hailed as the greatest FPS shooter to hit the Xbox, but has not lived up to that expectation on the PC. It is a fun game, but Halo 2 still falls far from being the pinnacle FPS shooter that it could be on the PC.

(Click on pictures in the review for the full size)

You start the game out in the familiar shoes of Master Chief. The Chief and Sarge have made it back to Earth and are going through a celebration for their heroism, when an advance fleet of the Covenant show up and crash the party. After the initial attack, you switch characters and start playing as The Arbitor. The Arbitor was the main general responsible for the protection of the first Halo ring that was destroyed in the first game. He has been given a scarlet letter and the role of Arbitor to root out the false prophets of the Covenant. The Flood makes an appearance as well, being brought to the Halo ring by a false prophet.

At first, the two different characters did not make a lot of sense. It felt like a cheap plot device, but after playing through the full game and seeing the whole story unfold, it was a wise decision to include the Arbitor path as a playable element of the story. Not only do you see the battle from another side, you get to learn a little more about what makes the Covenant tick and how their religious structure works. The story is what has always made me enjoy Halo and what really hooked me into Halo 2. The twists and turns and betrayals come at you fast and furious and will keep you playing to find out what is going to happen next.

Graphically, the game is a mixed bag. Essentially, the PC got the exact same game as the people that played on an Xbox two years ago. There have been no real improvements in the look of the game. Character models look sharp to say the least. I did like the sense of emotion that was displayed on the faces of the characters, and the main Brute was a visual spectacle. Weapon blasts were also done nicely. Plasma Grenades have a nice pulse blast, while rockets explode in a cloud of thick dust, but all of this is nothing that we have not already witnessed in other games in the past two years on the PC. There is a nice mix of outdoor and indoor environments, but the textures are reused so often, I had a tendency to get lost. I often couldn’t figure out which way I had come from because the room would look almost the same as the one I had just been in. A game that was delayed from the Xbox to the PC for two years should have had more done to spruce up the graphics.

Ambient sound has always been a factor in Halo and it is the same in Halo 2. While playing the game, hearing the echo of a faint voice, or the sliding of doors up ahead, it always has your head turning, wondering where the next menace is coming from. Walking into a dark room, and hearing a growl of the Flood made me hit the flashlight and start looking for the rush of bad guys. Music in the background is present most of the game and includes the haunting main theme song along with a mix of rock tracks and classical pieces. The music mixes together quite nicely and the right type of music plays at the right points. Weapon sounds are solid and give the player a satisfying sound. Rock off a blast from a shotgun and it gives a resounding blast. Fire off a plasma rifle and you are rewarded with a high pitched whine as it cuts through the air like a knife.

While the game has been highly anticipated by PC users, even bigger is the fact that this was a launch title for the new Games for Windows Live campaign. You can view the Live menu at any time just by pressing the Home key, or from the main menu by pressing the guide button. Live really adds to the experience of the game. It was cool to see my friends pop up when they came online, and it was a snap to send them messages through the Live system. The system does need some work, however. While achievements were huge and seeing them add to my total Gamerscore was sweet, it never gave me an indication of what the achievement was for. All you get is an