- Havoxfire
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Posted by: n357
1) Server browser rarely works. May not be the case for everybody, but I've heard many complaints about this. The usual recommendation is to play some campaign and go back to see if it's decided to work. I bought H2V mainly for multiplayer, and it should work when I want to play, not when it feels like it.
2) Controls go to hell on high-end machines, specifically when the graphics rendering frame rate goes too high. The game was meant to run at 30 FPS, and now that the frame rate is uncapped, problems arise. You can turn on vertical sync (forced in driver since the game has no option for this) or hack the game to improve this issue, but why should that be necessary?
3) CTF on Coagulation.
4) CTF on Coagulation. Almost all the time, this is the only game you are going to find with more than a few people playing. All the balance and variety thrown away by the players and server admins.
5) Aimbot. Gearbox did the right thing by removing auto-aim in the PC version of Halo. If you choose to use a controller to play instead of mouse and keyboard, you have to actually aim yourself just like everybody else. In H2V, mouse users aim manually, while 360 controller users get the advantage of auto-aim.
6) Hacks. Everything from stealing someone's name, to changing yours, to crashing the game entirely. There have been no patches for functionality or security since H2V was released. One patch was released shortly after the game was shipped, but only to remove some nudity to save Microsoft some complaints and/or lawsuits.
7) Did you notice your linked gamertag does not give you a Bungie.net logo next to your name? I think that's proof right there what MS and Bungie think of PC players. An obvious sign of their lack of respect. Also, no stats available at all.
8) Split-screen co-op REMOVED from the PC version of Halo 2. A notable software activist refers to this as an "anti-feature". A lot could be said about why this happened, but in the end, a great feature was taken out of the game for no good reason. Deliberately crippled. And personally, I cannot beat the game on Legendary without a partner.
9) Map editing kit. The Halo PC editing kit allowed use of custom content from the start. The H2V editing kit tries to limit map makers to only the content included with the game. Luckily, some map makers realized how foolish and unfair this is and worked around it.
10) XP compatibility. Because H2V was nothing more than a throw-away marketing ploy by Microsoft to sell more copies of Windows Vista, an artificial and unnecessary barrier was coded to prevent players from running the game on XP. Thanks to a very small and simple patch, the restriction is bypassed and the game runs just as well on XP, albeit only in single-player mode.
11) I've been calling Microsoft support regularly for over a year now, asking for help with the server browser and control problems (the ones that affect me directly). There has been no resolution at all. There seems to be a secret policy to humor people who seek help with the game, but ultimately ignore them. I can't count how many times I've been told the information I've given would be "forwarded to the developers". Too bad the development crew have been disbanded.
12) Activation limit. Install too many times even if just troubleshooting, and the game shuts down. If you call MS support and request a new product key, they may decided to grant you one after several weeks wait.
There are more problems, but these are the bigger ones I can think of off the top of my head.
I really can't argue with these valid complaints.
Is it even remotely close to any other competing PC FPS on the market today. lol wat? hell no.
I picked it up mainly for the easy achievements and the sentimental value of remembering Halo 2 on Xbox, which I was unable to do properly on the 14th.
If you're looking for a serious fps to get into on the PC, I suggest you look elsewhere. However, if you're looking to play a couple of "wtfever who cares" games just to look back on Halo 2 on Xbox, then sure go for it.
I personally found it to be fun going back through the campaign, then rolling in Live for a while getting some really easy achievements.