- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Of course it's worth it. That's why we're all here at this message board. Trollers aside, I'm not sure you'd find many around here or other Halo message boards that would say "stay away!" :)
If you're expecting gameplay to be exactly like Xbox Halo, then you might be setting yourself up for disappointment. I don't want you take that wrong. Gameplay is still exactly the same, movement still exactly the same, etc. Performance all depends on your computer. If you've got a decent processor and video card in your computer you should be alright. In my opinion, the graphics are better in Halo PC, mostly because you can view them on a single screen at a higher resolution (as opposed to having it divided four ways on a TV in lower resolution). Also, I consider Halo PC to be vastly superior to its Xbox counterpart because at any time of the day you can hop online and there will be at least 1000 people paying online in any number of maps/custom gametypes (most of the time there are upwards of 2000 players on PC). Plus, Halo PC ships with a few new multiplayer maps and a couple new weapons (Flamethrower & Fuel Rod Cannon). You also get to use a mouse/keyboard combo, which is a plus in my book, but that preference varies wildly, even around here.
There are a few things that you should be aware of. Most people like to complain about the lag, but this should be expected on any game played on the Internet. Adjust for the lag appropriately and you will hit your target every time. Some people also complain about the resource intensiveness of Halo, but again, this is easily solved by either upgrading your system or tweaking system/game settings.
On top of all that, Gearbox (the company that ported Halo to PC) has released a separate version of Halo multiplayer called Halo Custom Edition, which allows gamers to play user-created custom content. There are already 160+ custom maps in circulation. I don't know if you're interested in something like this, but it's a free 100+MB download to owners of Halo PC and is the future of Halo online gaming.
Hope this helps with your decision.