What you need to know
- The demo for Halo 2 shown during E3 2003 was one of the biggest and most iconic pieces of marketing for Bungie's beloved Xbox shooter, but since its engine was scrapped, it never got a public release.
- Over 20 years later, though, developers from Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries) have collaborated with community modders to recreate the demo from the ground up using updated versions of its original assets.
- A playable version of the demo is being released as a free mod for Halo: The Master Chief Collection on the Steam Workshop on November 9 — Halo 2's 20th anniversary.
- Additionally, on November 5, Halo Infinite is getting a new Operation: Great Journey update with Halo 2-themed cosmetics, maps, a new playlist, and a weapon called the MA5K Avenger that's inspired by Halo 2's SMG.
There's only a few days left until the 20th anniversary of 2004's Halo 2 — Bungie's beloved sequel to the original sci-fi FPS that kickstarted Microsoft's flagship Xbox franchise, and one of Xbox Live's biggest early multiplayer titles. Without a doubt, it's one of the best Xbox games as well as one of the most popular and influential games of all time, and this weekend, you'll be able to play a demo of it I thought was completely lost to time.
I'm referring to Halo 2's famous E3 2003 demo that was shown to the trade event's audience a year before the game's release, and is widely considered to be one of its most memorable pieces of marketing. The demo build was created using a version of the Halo 2 engine that was scrapped during development, and as a result, it never made its way into player hands officially. However, thanks to extensive collaboration between Halo Studios (formerly 343 Industries) developers and dedicated community modders, it's been recreated from the ground up using updated versions of its original assets.
"Even the original executable is difficult to work with, as you need an Xbox developer kit to get it to boot, which is in increasingly short supply even within the studio. But now, in 2024, we have the Digsite-developed tools to analyze and automate up-porting old assets, and the unearthed knowledge to know why Bungie built things the way they did in the demo," said Halo senior franchise writer Kenneth Peters in a new Xbox Wire blog post. "Digsite" is the name given to the team of developers and modders that work together to restore content from older Halo games.
“Steven Garcia (known to the community as General_101) was vital ... He was a one-man army and did a significant chunk of the work in developing tools, updating scripts, and even arting the levels," Peters continued. "Digsite team members Ludus, Neo Te Aika, Sean T, xScruffyDaSasquatchx, and Killzone then provided finishing touches ... Without them, we would probably have only had a rather unceremonious drop of raw assets and that was it."
A playable version of the demo is scheduled to come to Halo: The Master Chief Collection (MCC) — a bundle of all the pre-Xbox One Halo FPS games updated with modern features and improvements — on November 9, which is Halo 2's 20th birthday. It's being added as a free Steam Workshop mod, which unfortunately means you won't be able to check it out if you play on an Xbox console or through the Microsoft Store on Windows (and by extension, that means no Xbox Game Pass access, either). The good news, though, is that the Halo 2 portion of the MCC can be purchased separate from the rest of the game for $10 on Steam, which should be all you need for the mod to work. Notably, the MCC also goes on sale frequently, so it's not too hard to get all of it for less than its $40 MSRP.
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The demo itself features a short campaign level that never made it to Halo 2's full release, though its similarities to the missions Outskirts and Metropolis will be strikingly apparent to fans of the game. In it, Master Chief and a squad of ODSTs arrive in the city of New Mombasa on Earth to help UNSC Marines repel Covenant invaders, holding out until air support arrives and then leading a Warthog charge through the streets. From a gameplay perspective, it looks almost identical to regular Halo 2, though it does have a few noteworthy quirks; namely, the Battle Rifle is single-shot instead of burst fire, Ghost vehicles don't seem to be able to boost, and the Gauss Warthog can shoot terrifyingly fast.
Admittedly, this isn't really a huge release or anything, but even so, I'm looking forward to experiencing this relic from Halo's history after seeing it dozens of times over the years. I've always thought it looked fun to play, and love some of its cool moments like bombers blowing up Covenant artillery cannons and Brutes jumping from their dropships to hijack vehicles.
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Halo Studios' celebration of Halo 2's legacy doesn't stop with the release of this demo, by the way. On Tuesday, November 5, the live-service Xbox and Windows PC shooter Halo Infinite is getting an Operation: Great Journey update that features content inspired by the beloved classic. This includes several themed cosmetics and a new weapon inspired by Halo 2's SMG called the MA5K Avenger that operates as a close-range alternative to the regular Assault Rifle, along with a special new 4v4 multiplayer playlist called Delta Arena.
Delta Arena features seven remakes of fan-favorite Halo 2 maps (Ascension, Turf, Lockout, Warlock, Midship, Sanctuary, Beaver Creek) made by talented community Forgers, along with custom settings to make Halo Infinite's gameplay feel as close to Halo 2 as possible. Notable tweaks include disabled sprint, enabled collision with allied players, 120% jump height, and the inclusion of the new Avenger as the weapon you spawn with (try and track down a Battle Rifle ASAP).
I got a chance to play some Delta Arena early (along with PvE Firefight in third-person, which is also coming with Operation: Great Journey) last week, and greatly enjoyed my time in the playlist. If you were a big fan of Halo 2 multiplayer back in the day, definitely make sure you check it out once it's live in Halo Infinite tomorrow. Note that Halo Infinite multiplayer itself is free-to-play, and that its campaign is playable through Game Pass.
