Brace yourselves for the Master Chief coming in hot with all of his dual-wielding glory; the beta lighting for Halo 2 begins today on Friday, April 17.l This means that the inevitable release of Halo 2 as part of the massive Halo: The Master Chief Collection will undoubtedly be landing on PC relatively soon as long as there are no nasty bugs that need to be ironed out that the developers haven’t caught already.
If you’re interested in joining in on the various flightings that take place for the Halo collection, you’ll need to opt-in on HaloWaypoint to get a chance to be included on them. Note that the flightings aren’t full-scaled releases; you’re opting into what could very well be a horrendously buggy mess that you’ll need to sort through, and testing environments that can pull your hair out.
In exchange, you’re among the first users to experience new titles, before anyone else gets to.
https://twitter.com/343Postums/status/1250921408080646144
Halo 2 is arguably the title that cemented Halo as a powerhouse in first-person shooter storytelling that catapulted the Xbox sales well past its plateau back when it released on November 9, 2004. This became a primary selling point of the Xbox 360, as the Halo franchise was a console exclusive; if you wanted in on the Master Chief experience, you had to own the Xbox 360.
The original Halo was a massive achievement in its own right; Halo 2 capitalized on its predecessor in a unprecedented manner for the time in which it was released.
Granted, its conclusion was also a sticking point for many fans of the series, as many argued that it cut the climax of the title in half, and users had to wait to experience the rest of Master Chief’s expedition.
If you’ve never played through Halo 2 before, you’re in for an absolute treat; just note that the title absolutely ends in a manner that demands a sequel. The good news is that the sequel won’t be too far away; the original Halo dropped earlier this year as part of the collection, mere months after Halo Reach was released. It’s likely that we’ll see Halo 3, and perhaps even ODST, before 2020 ends.
Of course, it’s difficult to talk time frames in an environment that is currently in the midst of a pandemic, and that’s true whether we’re discussing 343 or an indie developer. Everyone is trying to work from home as best as they can, and it creates interesting issues that will inevitably arrive. The goods news is that, once again, Master Cheif is back.
