Only for Windows Vista, Halo 2 will offer gamers both the single-player campaign and multiplayer experience of the original, as well as the additional maps offered in the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack. Gamers will also have the opportunity to build, create and customize their own multiplayer levels.

Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequel, Halo 2, have achieved phenomenal success on the Xbox video game platform as gamers around the world follow the saga of Master Chief in his battle against the Covenant forces. In 2003, the original Halo roared onto Windows PCs. In Halo 2 for Windows Vista, the action picks up where the first game ended. Master Chief, with the help of a small group of marines, has destroyed the religious artifact and artificial world known as Halo, and is making his way back to Earth. There, he and the last surviving Earth forces will mount a titanic struggle against the marauding Covenant enemy. To date, the Halo franchise has sold more than 14.5 million games worldwide with over 600 million hours of multiplayer action logged across Microsoft's Xbox Live online gaming service.

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To ensure the end result is well-rounded and refined, 343 have been shipping testing “flights” intermittently before release. The second weekend of the phase 2 test has finished, meaning the second flight is now over. Until you can get your hands on Halo Infinite again, here’s five more mods to keep you hyped. In case you missed our first editorial, you can read it here:

The Silent Cartographer: Evolved

By Siliconmaster


The Silent Cartographer is a fan-favourite level from Combat Evolved’s iconic campaign, and marks one of the most creative setpieces in the game. Coming at a small moment of triumph, the level is a high note in the story and a fond memory for CE fans. This mod takes the time-worn foundation set in 2001 and enhances it with new weaponry, mechanics, enemies, and an expanded level that greatly extends the sandbox present. New strategies will have to be employed to complete this level, and even veteran CE players will find new challenges ahead thanks to totally original weaponry and mechanics. It’s a great vertical slice of what a full overhaul of Halo’s campaign could look like - which we’ll be touching on more soon.

Halo: Covenant Edition

By KasperZERO

Playing as a Covenant Jackal


The concept of “you play the bad guys” is a classic and successful formula for mod projects, and Covenant Edition is a great imagining of what it’d be like to be on the other side of the conflict. Playing as all manner of species from the alien Covenant, there’s a variety of play styles introduced by this mod, and new ways to employ the weapon sandbox to achieve victory. It’s especially satisfying to crush enemies as a mighty Hunter for the first time, and much like The Flood: Virulence as covered last week, a good time for any returning CE fan to get a fresh new take on the campaign.

Firefight Against UNSC

By matthewtoo5

Marines


Firefight, first introduced in Halo 3: ODST, is the multiplayer co-op survival mode of Halo. From ODST onwards, this mode allowed players to face increasingly difficult waves alongside friends. This mode has featured solely the Covenant so far (though recent MCC updates feature the Flood and other factions for the first time), but this modder has enabled you to face UNSC assets as a Covenant elite instead! The UNSC make surprisingly formidable enemies and it’s a fun twist on the firefight mode. Play, but be sure you and your friends are up to the challenge!

Halo 2: MJOLNIR Edition

By BioGoji1989

halo2 2020 07 16 22 13 19


Where the previous Halo 2 mod focused on parity improvements between console and PC ports of the game, this mod instead focuses on overhauling the balance in the gameplay sandbox. On Legendary especially, Halo 2 is notorious for its balance being all over the place, from certain weapons being useless to other enemies being deadlier than damn near anything else (look at you, beam snipers). This mod hopes to rebalance the entire game, provide a fairer challenge on Legendary, and give a little bit of improved functionality to weaponry, all in the aim of restoring the slightly more considered sandbox of Combat Evolved. Halo 2 is still amongst the toughest Halo games, but this mod makes the campaign a little bit more accessible when put alongside its contemporaries.

SPV3

By halo-spv3


SPV3 is one of the be-all end-all Halo mods, overhauling Combat Evolved’s entire campaign in ways untouched before. Many features from later Halo games like weaponry, enemies like the brute, and more help bring CE into closer parity with the rest of the series, and meanwhile, wholly original additions to the tools players utilise in the richer and more in-depth combat encounters give SPV3 its own spice of originality. It’s still one of the best pieces of Halo custom content to date, and still enjoying some level of active support, it’s a solid experience for any Halo fan, new or old alike.


Feet First

Last week, I wrote an editorial going over the first weekend for Halo Infinite’s phase 2 flight, which was focused on smaller team engagements with a little bit of vehicle action right at the end of the weekend. As a brief aside for anyone who missed the first, Halo Infinite is the next big release from 343, following up from Halo 5. It’s the first mainline Halo game to come to PC at launch for years, and to make sure it’s as refined as can be, 343 have been running testing periods - Flights - to iron out issues ahead of time.

Halo Infinite Phase 2 Flighting: Part 2

Grapple hooking vehicles for a quick and easy hijack is one of the most effective
ways to utilise the already-iconic new powerup

My thoughts on the last flight were that, broadly, I enjoyed the weapons and pickups, though some like the Commando definitely need to be reconsidered in terms of their place in the sandbox, and other weapons like the Heatwave were satisfying but difficult to master. Where Infinite’s weaponry gets it right, it gets it really right; but weapons like the needler and plasma pistol show that the opposite is also true. The weakest parts of the sandbox are really weak.

Halo Infinite Phase 2 Flighting: Part 2

The classic Warthog makes its return, having featured right at the end of the previous weekend
and playing a big part in the newest BtB mode in this part of the flight


Two Sticks and a Rock

Whilst last weekend’s flight had me of the opinion that Halo Infinite’s multiplayer might end up being one of the most formidable and enjoyable to date, this weekend’s flight solidified that opinion in my mind. Whilst I’m mostly a campaign player, I’ve played a healthy dose of the multiplayer of every Halo since Combat Evolved. It’s no secret Halo 5’s singleplayer campaign didn’t go down well with fans, but the multiplayer itself was still excellent. Nowhere did I feel so strongly that Infinite’s competitive modes would be some of the most fun in the franchise’s history than in the Big Team Battles mode introduced this weekend.

Halo Infinite Phase 2 Flighting: Part 2

The map featured in this weekend’s Big Team Battles test had all the usual hallmarks of Halo’s vehicle sandbox with the mongoose, ghost, warthog, and scorpion all appearing. Meanwhile, depending on the gamemode, the Wasp (a new addition in Halo 5 as a UNSC air vehicle) and the Banshee are also up for grabs

Every vehicle is hitting just about the right notes. Some of my fondest memories in Halo multiplayer have been belting a Warthog around tight passages and challenging enemies in any vehicle to follow, and all the wheelman kills that follow from competent driving. Nothing feels better than flipping from a cliff in Infinite and crushing an enemy mongoose, then grappling to a nearby Ghost for a quick hijack. All of this frenetic action is enhanced by what feels like a speed boost for all vehicles over previous Halo games. The Warthog takes off, as do the Mongoose and Ghost, and whilst I didn’t get an opportunity to pilot it myself, the Scorpion also seemed to be doing remarkably fast manoeuvres that will be reminiscent of its almost ridiculous speed in Combat Evolved.

Halo Infinite Phase 2 Flighting: Part 2

Getting the hang of other equipment like the repulsor gauntlet is essential to getting on with the sandbox and making the most of the tools given to you

Finishing the Flight

It’s no certainty if I’ll be in the next flight, but if I’m not, this one convinced me that at least the multiplayer will be a brilliant offering of Infinite’s. I feel given the trailers seen so far, the campaign could benefit from the same stress testing, as lots of remarkably helpful feedback has seen implementation during the multiplayer flights already. The campaign, however, remains an unknown quantity.

Check out more Master Chief Collection mods here!

(You can also check out more Halo: Combat Evolved mods here)

In any case, we’ll possibly see one more testing period before Infinite’s projected release in about a month - a last-minute round-up of any other bugs that can be solved. Infinite’s repeated delays so far could also mean another one is on the horizon, if the rest of Infinite’s flighting so far indicates further improvements are needed. For the most part, however, I’m positive about the new release - and we’ll be sure to cover any more news about Infinite closer to the finish line.

Halo Infinite's Phase 2 Flight 1st Weekend; 5 Halo Mods To Play Before You Finish The Flight

Halo Infinite's Phase 2 Flight 1st Weekend; 5 Halo Mods To Play Before You Finish The Flight

Feature

With the first weekend of Halo Infinite’s phase 2 flight concluded, here’s five mods to keep your skills honed in prep for next weekend!

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halo2 wmp skin

halo2 wmp skin

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This is the archived copy of the Halo 2 skin for Windows Media Player10\12 by Microsoft\Bungie

Halo 2: Spartan Edition (featuring Halo 2: Cortana)

Halo 2: Spartan Edition (featuring Halo 2: Cortana)

Full Version 5 comments

Defeat the Covenant one last time and become fate.

Halo 2 Reclaimed R2 Visuals + Gameplay Map Files [H2X60]

Halo 2 Reclaimed R2 Visuals + Gameplay Map Files [H2X60]

Halo 2 Reclaimed Full Version

The main, and recommended, package of Halo 2 Reclaimed with all fixes. Ready made .map files if you don't want to go through the patcher.

Halo 2 Reclaimed R2 Visuals Only Map Files [H2X30]

Halo 2 Reclaimed R2 Visuals Only Map Files [H2X30]

Halo 2 Reclaimed Full Version

VISUAL/AUDIO ONLY FIXES. Ready made .map files if you don't want to go through the patcher. For use with 30 tick rate.

Halo 2 Reclaimed R2 Visuals + Gameplay Patcher [H2X60]

Halo 2 Reclaimed R2 Visuals + Gameplay Patcher [H2X60]

Halo 2 Reclaimed Patch 1 comment

The main, and recommended, package of Halo 2 Reclaimed with all fixes (VISUALS and GAMEPLAY). Quickly swap between H2V’s and H2X60 maps by patching...

Halo 2 Reclaimed R2 Visuals Only Patcher [H2X30]

Halo 2 Reclaimed R2 Visuals Only Patcher [H2X30]

Halo 2 Reclaimed Patch

VISUAL/AUDIO ONLY FIXES. Quickly swap between H2V’s and H2X30 maps by patching and unpatching all maps with the push of a button. For use with 30 tick...

Post comment Comments  (0 - 10 of 71)
Bost0n-KR33m
Bost0n-KR33m - - 1,133 comments

N Stuff

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pacibro101
pacibro101 - - 1 comments

how do i download this?

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Roguelike89
Roguelike89 - - 131 comments

The off-center crosshair ***** with my eyes so much, why didn't they center it??

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Jesus4life
Jesus4life - - 15 comments

Fav halo

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TheSleepingObama
TheSleepingObama - - 438 comments

FIX IT BITCH'S!

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TheLeadHead
TheLeadHead - - 364 comments

It's a shame the multiplayer for the PC version is so buggy, but the Xbox version got it's servers cut off. ;(

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UTUmbrellaSTARS
UTUmbrellaSTARS - - 322 comments

It is a shame, thou I heard off one of my gaming friends that 343 industrials are remaking Halo 2, like when they remade Halo combat Evolved Anniversary, im going to google it tobe sure thou :)

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Guest
Guest - - 693,899 comments

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RangerC
RangerC - - 1,484 comments

the crosshair is so damn bad placed.

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AirborneSn1p3r
AirborneSn1p3r - - 3,137 comments

funny rogue squadron 3d which came out in 1998 has more going on at its site than this lol.

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Iceelite
Iceelite - - 262 comments

thats cuz this game is very complex and hard to mod.

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maddnesscats
maddnesscats - - 210 comments

this game isnt that complex

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Artsy
Artsy - - 294 comments

The quality of the game is not based on the amount of mods it has, but how many players and hours of fun it brings to it.

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Guest
Guest - - 693,899 comments

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Darth_Weasel
Darth_Weasel - - 426 comments

This game is actually my number 1 favorite game of all time still. i was crushed when they took it offline on the xbox.

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