- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Greetings,
Having seen the many requests and threads for a Halo 2 demo, I've decided to come up with this. If you like it, try and bump the thread so that it stays near the top and bungie get to see it, instead of sinking. And remember, if you don't want to know anything about Halo 2 - you want it to remain a surprise - you don't have to play it
Proposed Demo Features
Single Player: 'EarthCity' level shown at E3 2003 (or the level section shown if the level continues past the cutscene)
Multiplayer: Possible Co-op mode
Support for Splitscreen/LAN games
Possible integration with XBL 2
Settings: Allow player(s) to create a profile
NOTE: A Disclaimer would DEFINITELY need to be used IF the graphics used in the demo for those particular levels are NOT FINAL.
Possible Shipping Methods:
On the Demo disk on OXM
On other magazines
On ecommerce sites such as Amazon for a small fee (7$ / 5£ ?)
FOR:
+ Generates more publicity about Halo 2 (It'll be mentioned in every game mag most likely and make the front page of OXM since it'll be on their demo disc)
+ Allows new Halo players and Xbox owners to play the game and see what the fuss is about, probably increasing future Halo 2 sales
+ Multiplayer/Co-op mode could increase Xbox sales (if a friend who doesn't own an xbox played the demo, they might decide to buy one for Halo 2 - I brought one just to play Halo) which would benefit Microsoft and Bungie
+ Allows Halo 2 fans to play the game and get even more hyped up about it
+ No story details are given away
+ No other unmentioned weapons/characters/etc are given away since most players have seen the 2003/2004 E3 presentations
+ Little work would have to be done since the levels and programming needed have pretty much been completed
+ Causes the forums to become less cluttered
+ Making the demo XBL compatible would encourage more people to sign up for XBL
AGAINST:
- Would require a little work to be done in terms of programming, and marketing
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
* A Disclaimer would be required
* Not every player will be able to use multiplayer, so SPC is important
* Allowing MP games with 1 player to allow exploration of Zanzibar would offer people who are unable to play multiplayer a taste for it
Flawed Arguements Against The Demo:
t will ruin the surprise
Rubbish. All the stuff in the demo will be what we have seen/heard about before. No unrevealed stuff.
It doesn't portray the quality of the final version
Possibly, but the Halo demo didn't exactly do that either - in the Xbox one, MC moved like a rock at about 2kph. Not exactly retail-version quality.
But some people want to wait for the retail version
Simple. Don't play the demo. If you can't resist playing a demo if one is released then it's your problem.
People who have played the demo will have an unfair advantage come Nov. 9th
Wrong. Ok, so they might know a few more things about the Zanzibar level than others, but a lot of info is given away already in gaming articles. As for skill, Halo is very similar in terms of gameplay to Halo 2, so practice on Halo in the meantime
The experience of Nov. 9th won't be as good if we've played the demo
Don't play it if you're worried about it. However, the demo should give you hunger for more, and you'll be dying for Nov. 9th to come so you can get stuck into the rest of the game.
[Edited on 6/18/2004 9:26:53 AM]