تم الكشف عن جميع اسرار هالو2 وتم الجواب عن جميع الاسئلة لديمو هالو2 وصور لم تروها....

[ظل رمادي]

الحين مقابلات خاصة في نواحي اللعبة المختلفة...

1_ التصميم..........


When the Bungie team sat down to plan out what would be shown at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, one thing was clear – A typical gameplay movie would simply not suffice. The team had loftier goals. They wanted to unleash a real-life, in-engine demo that would be played live in front of the fans. This demo would be the first real glimpse into the actual heart of the game and fan expectations were off the charts. The bar was set. It was time to deliver.

In the months leading up to E3, buckets of blood and sweat (and probably a few tears) were poured into making this demo something spectacular. Many of the guys literally stayed in the office for days straight, catching cat naps in the sound studio or under their desk when they needed to recharge. These guys are used to it – laying the foundation for world domination doesn’t come easy. It takes an enormous amount of work by a variety of different teams to pull together all the elements that make up this demo. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sitting down with various members of these teams to get some insight into their particular roles during the development of the E3 2003 demo.

First up is the Design Team. The Designers are generally responsible for everything that "touches" the player. Everything from level design to gameplay mechanics falls into their court. I sat down with Jaime Griesemer and Tyson Green to find out a little more about their part in pulling this demo together...

As the Designers for Halo 2, what was your role in creating the E3 2003 demo?

Jaime: As the Design Lead, I was responsible for determining what new gameplay features we should show, and I also helped Joe determine the scope and rough plot for the demo as well. I left all the grueling difficult parts for Tyson...

Tyson: The detailed planning and execution of gameplay sequences were my responsibility. In this context, whenever the player interacts with the world via his gun, it's a gameplay sequence, and that's what I took care of.

Can you briefly walk us through the process, from concept to final build, of how this demo came together?

Jaime: We started planning for the demo back in February, and since we wanted to have as little impact on our overall schedule as possible, we wanted to use a level that was already in production. Of those levels, EARTHCITY had the largest range of gameplay options since it had infantry and vehicle combat. It was early in the game, so it wouldn’t reveal any major story secrets, and it had most of the vehicles and characters we wanted.

The best part about using EARTHCITY was that it was a natural place to pick up after the announcement trailer. It re-introduced the Marines and the Warthog, as well as providing a good place to bring in the Brutes. It was the obvious choice for the location.

Then Joe and I came up with a plan for the demo’s storyline. It’s surprising how closely the final demo is to the original plan. We had to abandon some of the really crazy ideas, but the main flow is the same.

Tyson: Once an overall plan was in place, I started to experiment and flesh out finer details while helping guide the creation of the New Mombasa environment. How much we can do isn't always known at first, and the earlier we can find out, the better.

The process of building the gameplay sequences (broken into what we call "encounters") is incremental. Try something, scrap it or refine it, repeat the process as often as possible. As new features, new content, and player feedback become available, the encounters are revised to integrate them. Eventually, the focus turns from creation to optimization, and the encounter building process ends with bug fixing.

The whole time I was also working with Joe to achieve the cinematic flow of the demo, as well as doing everything possible to make it bulletproof, for times when Pete had to show the demo. The latter two steps are present in every level process, but were of particular importance for a high profile demo like this one.

What types of challenges did you encounter when designing and implementing an environment like "Earth City?"

Tyson: Tyson: "Earth City", which is actually named New Mombasa , is a pretty substantial departure from any previous Halo environment. Determining whether or not it could actually be done in a fashion we would be satisfied with was difficult. Designing a city which is both feasible in terms of content and performance and believable as a 26th century arcology is challenging.

Some little details turned out to be very important. For example, a flat street is boring to drive on, so we built up the distinctive sidewalks to give the streets a more interesting profile. Unfortunately, that made the corners very dangerous, flipping even good Warthog drivers. We eventually solved the problems, but it took several revisions.

Design-wise, what are the biggest differences between working on this project as opposed to working on the original Halo for Xbox?

Tyson: Experience. Halo showed us what people liked doing, and what they did not, and that helps us to improve the game.

For me personally, more involvement in the design of levels which I am populating. Halo 1 mostly saw me implementing levels already designed (including the infamous Library.) With Halo 2, I have opportunities to build levels like New Mombasa from the earliest stages, which is definitely a greater responsibility.

Jaime: In Halo 1 we had a very basic set of tools which we had to use in every situation. An Elite assaulting a group of Marines behaves exactly like an Elite retreating from the Flood. In Halo 2 we have much more sophisticated tools to customize the AI to a situation. It may sound subtle, but the effects are substantial.

Were there things you wanted to include in the E3 demo but weren't able to for one reason or another?

Jaime: There were some things in the original plan that we did cut, but there is still a good chance that they will make it into the final game, so I’m not going to tell you what they are.

Tyson: The technology was mostly there to support what we wanted to do, so it really came down to time. Given more time, I would have liked to polish more, and fill in some content gaps. Things like a roughly textured wall, or a missing character animation. Also, it would have been cool to show off more of Halo 2's physics capabilities.

Will all of the elements we saw in this demo carry over to the final release of Halo 2?

Tyson: No, probably not. Most of them, certainly the major elements, but nobody should expect a final level which plays or looks exactly the same as the demo we showed. That said, changes will be made to improve things, and not because the demo does things that we cannot actually do. Players looking forward to experiencing something at least as good as the demo will not be disappointed.

And remember, there was only five or so minutes of gameplay in the demo. The final level will be much larger.

Lastly, what's your favorite part/aspect of the E3 demo?

Tyson: Honestly? Explosions. Sometimes you hear critics pan "exploding barrels" in shooters. They say they're cliché. Well, here's a secret: people really like to see things explode. Give them quality and variety, and some people will blow things up all day long. Fully integrate it with your combat model, so that your gun can blow up the car and take out the two guys who ran for cover behind it, and you end up a deeply satisfying experience. The demo was full of fun and exciting things, but the best moments always seemed to involve something exploding.

Jaime: My favorite part of the demo was the section where the Brute boarded the Warthog and knocked out the Marines, followed by the Chief boarding a Ghost and kicking out the driver. It was a great example of an idea that sounded insane in a brainstorm session, but got implemented anyway and looks like it will become an important part of the game.

To be continued...

Design is just one ingredient required to cook up something as tasty and scrumptious as the recent Halo 2 demo. Next week I’ll be talking with Joseph Staten, Director of Cinematics, to get his perspective on the demos creation. See you then!

[ظل رمادي]

الجزء الثاني..

2- تصميم العروض السينمائية...........



Cinematics. Cutscenes. In-game movies. Call them what you will, but with a plot line as rich as the one found in Halo and Halo 2, there’s no denying the importance they play in conveying the story to the player. If you've seen the video of the Halo 2 E3 demo (you have seen it, right!?), then you've already got an idea of the impact that cinematics will have in the game. But how did these "movies" come to be? This week I spent a few minutes with Joseph Staten, Bungie’s Director of Cinematics, to find out how it all came together...

What were your goals for this demo?

Joe: : The most important goal was to cash the huge check we wrote with the announcement trailer. We promised people that playing Halo2 would be as exciting as leaping through space onto a marauding alien battle-cruiser, and this demo needed to deliver on that promise. The demo needed to exceed expectations. It needed to raise the bar. It had to give people and even bigger rush than they felt watching the announcement trailer, and that was no small task.

Can you talk a little about the differences between the Halo2 announce trailer and the E3 2003 demo?

The E3 demo is just that: a real-time demonstration of Halo 2 gameplay. The announcement trailer was rendered in-engine, but was never played live, before an audience. Whereas the announcement trailer was designed to show off our new technology and re-introduce the Master Chief, the E3 demo was designed to show people how much fun it is to play Halo2--how much fun it is to wield two SMGs, take down a Brute with a melee combo, or board a Ghost and boot its driver to the curb. Both presentations are firmly grounded in the Halo2 story, but the E3 demo brings the story to life in concrete, gameplay terms.

Can you walk us through the process of how this demo came together? For example, does it start with a storyboard artist, then the programmers/artists make it real, then you start playing with it in-engine, etc..

Each time we put together a trailer or a demo our process becomes more refined, and at this point we have our act pretty much down. Everything starts with the script. The script serves the basis for storyboards on my side of things and a clear list of tasks for the engineers, artists and designers. This demo was really a mission-in-miniature, so while Tyson was working on the gameplay section, I assumed my usual role as the "bag man"--collecting and assembling cinematic assets as they came on-line, and eventually delivering a "frame-accurate" version of the entire demo to Marty and Jay for music and foley. Throughout this assembly process Harold and the rest of the test team pounded on the demo checking it for stability, and it's interesting to note that the build never crashed during its 150+ showings.



How different was the final script for this demo from the original starting point?

Not very different, actually. Which isn't necessarily a good thing. The original script was pretty ambitious, and we were crazy enough to stick to it (much to the detriment of our sleep habits, hairlines and marital harmony). We really only cut one thing...and I'm not allowed to talk about it. Let's just say if you thought the Brute boarding the Warthog was cool, this would have been, without a doubt, too cool for school. Or at least too big to fit into the classroom.

What’s the biggest challenge in putting together something of this magnitude?

Coordinating the efforts of dozens of guys across a number of functional areas. The E3 demo was truly a team effort. Very few people sat this one out, and it gets complicated when lots of folks are trying to cram art, code, etc. into a single build in a limited amount of time. Ideally you want to stagger things--have assets hit in a nice, neat, predictable order, but that's very hard to achieve. Inevitably there's a mad rush at the end as people try to get as many cool things into the demo as possible--not the best thing to have happen when Marty and I are trying to lock things down, and spend some quality time together polishing the dramatic details.

Do you have a particular favorite moment or aspect from this demo?

That would have to be the re-introduction of the Elites in their insertion pods. I wanted to create a moment that would have as much emotional impactful as the Chief launching himself out of a space-station, but more visceral--a moment of exceptional danger that, if it were to happen during the course of a level, would make anyone who's played Halo think "holy -blam!-, how am I gonna fight my way out of this?!" And, well, nothing says danger like an Elite with an active energy-blade, let alone six like-armed Elites.

Is there anything significant about the demo or anything that people might miss?

Unfortunately, the thing that's missed most often (not by people who watch the demo, but by me who's playing it) is one of the damn Ghosts that appear right before the Marines' medical tents. The goal was to shoot the second of the two Ghosts in the air as it flips off the hood of the other Warthog, but invariably I would choke and miss "the shot" as it's become known around the office. Initially, I tried to convince people I was missing intentionally--that I was "cleansing my palette" for the next, and final pair of Ghosts. But when it became apparent that I couldn't make the shot even when bet significant amounts of cold, hard cash I had to admit that I (as Hamilton so politely put it) had no clutch. Indeed, in the run-through of the demo we're releasing on the web I miss the cursed shot, and one can almost hear the hearty jeers of my so-called Bungie brothers as I flail to explode the Ghost well after it hits the ground.

Come back next week for Part 3 as I interview another development team about their role in building the E3 demo. Be sure to check out last week's story for an interview with the design team.

[ظل رمادي]

بالعكس والله تعبكم راحة اخواني ;-) ولسى في مواضيع ثانية عن هالو...........


3- الصوت............



Marty O’Donnell, Audio Director (aka Marty the Elder) along with Jay Weinland, Lead Sound Designer, (Jay the Younger) make up the audio dynamo responsible for everything you heard in the Halo 2 demo. Whether it’s the delicate musings of a harp or the roar of incoming Marine bombers, there’s a tremendous amount of audio elements woven into the demo experience. I recently sat down with both guys to ask a few questions and get a better idea of how they do what they do.



Can you give us an overview of the process and what it takes to put the audio elements into this type of project?

Jay : Since we were essentially just making a portion of Halo2 work for E3 we approached it in nearly the same way we do when finishing a game except we were doing it for only one level. So we break out all of the various aspects of the audio including music, weapons, ambience, animations, footsteps, and dialog. A couple months before E3 we had the specific plan of exactly what we wanted to do with the demo and could focus on creating the assets that would be needed. As usual there was a huge outpouring in the final weeks leading up the show. In essence it was a microcosm of what we can expect later this year when we finish the rest of the game.

Marty :A few of us got together early in the year to discuss what we needed to accomplish at E3. Lots of brainstorming and big crazy ideas (especially from Joe) which finally got winnowed down into a plan that was hopefully doable. At that point I started thinking about what sort of music and audio would be required to make it happen. Originally we thought that we’d do something similar to the 2001 Gamestock event where we had live gameplay choreographed to music being played off a CD. We weren’t sure how much of the new sound engine would be ready for a live test by May, but eventually we decided to have everything playing out of the Xbox from the Halo2 engine.

What was the biggest difference/challenge in working on the E3 2003 Demo as opposed to the original Halo 2 announce trailer ?

Jay : Without a doubt it was the fact that everything had to work in-engine. For the announcement trailer we were doing traditional audio post production on a movie. For the E3 demo we needed to create, attach, and mix all of the audio within the confines of the game engine. This is a much more difficult and arduous process but in the end we were both satisfied with the outcome and the fact that the entire process helped us to streamline the audio engine and identify action items as we move forward.

Marty : Live 5.1 music and ambience. We’ve never tried that before. The Halo 1 sound engine had live 5.1 of all the mono sounds that needed spatialization. Music and ambience were stereo but played out of both the front and rear speakers. Halo 2 will have true Surround Sound ambience and music. Also, although the middle part of the demo was full of cool scripted events, the timing changed every time someone played through it, I wanted the music to follow the excitement and still build to a climax. That meant I needed to write and record a piece that once it started never let you go and still was able to flex with variable game-time.

*note - Check out an excerpt from the musical score of the original Halo 2 announce trailer here.

Are there any rituals or traditions you abide by when it comes to putting together the audio mix for a game like this?

Marty: Beg for more mix time. It's become a tradition to tweak things until the last minute and as a result we only had one afternoon to do the final mix on the whole thing. (Some say this "tradition" is actually a diabolical plot devised by Joe to make Marty miserable. -ed.)

Jay : Make it good!

Can you explain the process you go through to actually compose the musical score for Halo 2? Do you just start messing around on a keyboard and build from there?

Marty : I think about themes that I’ve already used in previous Halo pieces and what those themes represent. Then I get storyboards or better yet, captured video of a section of the demo and start playing music on my keyboard to the picture. Usually something good starts to happen, at least that’s what I depend on. At some point I rough out some music and I start to orchestrate it using samplers. That’s usually when I bring Joe or Jason in to listen and give me some feedback. We even put the unfinished intro music into the build so everyone on the team could get a feeling for the progress we were making.

Tell us about working with the orchestra. How did that go? Was Marty conducting?

Jay : This was one thing I was very sorry to miss. We had planned on having me be at the session and helping out with some of the conducting duties but as the day approached it became apparent that I should really be at the office plowing in more sound. Next time...

Marty : Yeah, unfortunately I was the sole Bungie representative at the big orchestral/choir recording session. I had my wife, Marcie, conduct the choir because she’s an incredible conductor. She’s also probably the only conductor that would let me write new music in between takes and still conduct it. As far as the orchestra goes, I like to record in sections; High strings first, low strings second, horns and flute, that sort of process means that it’s not as important to have a conductor there. The players are listening to my recording of sampled instruments as they play which includes a click track, so they might not even pay attention to a conductor anyway. That way I can be in the control room actually hearing what we’re putting on tape (or hard disk), and not have to worry about waving my arms in front of a bunch of really good musicians.

For the Halo 2 announce trailer, you both played a number of instruments. What instruments, if any, did you guys play for this latest endeavor?

Jay : Due to lack of time I was unable to play at all on this recording but rest assured I’ll do my best to worm my way into the rest of the music.

Marty : I’ll get Jay to play oboe and English horn someplace on Halo 2, but he was too valuable as a sound designer on the demo this time. I ended up singing, playing percussion, piano, and harp.

Any anxiety on your part for topping what was one of the highest acclaimed game soundtracks in recent memory?

Marty : What? Ok great, now I'm nervous!

The E3 demo featured several new elements (the Covenant cannon, SMGs, Guass rifle, etc..) that all required new sound effects. How do you guys go about coming up with those sounds? Is there anything in particular that you fall back on for inspiration?

Jay : The most important thing is matching the sounds to the visual effects of the weapon. The next most important factor is the functionality of the weapon (how much damage it does etc). So taking the case of the Covy cannon there is a kind of blue electrical plume when it fires which led me to add some electric aspects to the sound effect. Also this gun does a huge amount of damage and should sound incredibly powerful. We added a wind-up prior to the cannon firing to help create some anticipation of impending doom. I usually let the source material inspire me. I may listen through a lot of stuff and pull a lot of different things which for whatever reason strike me as perhaps being a interesting part of what I am trying to make. I then pull all of it into a Pro Tools session and start playing. In the case of the covy cannon I pulled a few dozen elements into a session but only ended up using 6-8 (heavily morphed from their origins).

Marty : I still keep my hand in on the sound design (just to keep Jay honest) and a lot of times I’ll let Jay start making something and I’ll jump in and add a little something to what he’s done. Sometimes I’ll just say to Jay "more ear candy" and leave it at that. We spend a lot of time working on the sounds of the weapons and vehicles because we know how important those sounds will be while playing the game. Movie sound design is a big inspiration for us because that’s where some of the best work has been done. My goal is to meet or exceed the audio experience of my favorite movies.

What is your favorite part of this process and what is your personal favorite audio element in the finished product?

Jay : The process can be rather painful, especially at the end. Some people thrive on sleeping in bean bag chairs around the office but they are also usually young, unmarried, and childless (none of which applies to me). However despite the long hours I really like the electricity during those times, the feeling that we’re really making something special that the gaming world is going to love. As far as a personal favorite element, that is tough. I am partial to Marty’s score as well as a lot of the sound design in the outro. However the pelican flyovers and landing sequence was probably my favorite to work on and takes my vote. The Halo audio engine now allows us to do full 5.1 mixes and this demo was the first time we really put it to the test. There are times in the intro/outro when up to 3 surround mixes are playing simultaneously!

Marty : It’s good that Jay said that thing about being partial; he knows how his bread is buttered. Not everyone at Bungie agrees with my choice to include harp during the intro, but I like how that turned out. I also really like the new sound of the ghosts, and the plasma sword being brandished. My favorite moment for this particular process was when our demo Xbox decided to revolt during the final dress rehearsal of the Microsoft Xbox Press Conference. The three VP’s looked a bit panicked. I, of course, was cool as a cucumber.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

Jay : You ain’t seen nothin yet! This game is going to be glorious in every way and hopefully will bring in even more Bungie fans to help with the ole world domination plan. See you on the flip side...

Marty : I just plan to stay within myself, have a good time, and put the puck in the net. I think the Cananimators are starting to rub off on me...

Thanks to Marty and Jay for their time and insight into the audio creation process. Rest assured we’ll be keeping tabs on their progress as Halo 2 continues towards release.

As a special treat, they hooked us up with some special audio goodies for our Tru7h & Reconciliation Site. The newly added Halo Dialog Archive contains some of the lesser heard dialog bits from the original game. We’ll continue to add more in the weeks ahead. We’ve also got a new Halo 2 Outtakes section with a few funny moments captured during the recording of dialog for the E3 demo. Check 'em out and stay tuned for more stuff down the road!

For even more audio bliss you should also check out the Halo Music Outtakes which contains some earlier recordings done by Marty during the development of the original score.

For more Halo 2 E3 Demo news, check out these prior stories:

[ظل رمادي]

وهذا موضوع يوصف وصف تفصيلي ممل لكل ماحدث في ديمو هالو 2 .........

From Gray Shadow......................

Enjoy..............

E3 2003: After the first showing of proper gameplay today at Microsoft's E3 press conference, Halo 2 appears to be Halo, only much more so. Judging by the audience reaction, this will not be a problem. The demo, showing a running shootout between marines and Covenant forces in the war-torn ruins of Mombasa, was greeted by the loudest ovation of the evening.

The level starts off much like the first game, with Master Chief landing in the company of a dropship full of marines. There's no crash landing this time, though -- the Chief and his squad are being sent in to relieve a hard-pressed unit defending the city. The level takes some time to get properly cranked up, with some very nice bits of scene-setting to prepare you for the upcoming firefight. As Master Chief works his way up through to the front lines of the fight, he passes through a triage area where medics tend to wounded marines. The voice acting and sound effects, whether it's wounded men screaming, sergeants giving orders, or doctors calling the time on dead soldiers, helps establish some atmosphere before the tide turns.

The tide does turn, of course, what with the one-man army arriving on the scene and all that. To begin with, the Chief relieves a marine position on a high terrace overlooking a street intersection, with a mix of sniper fire, grenades, and barrages from a stationary machinegun emplacement. As when piloting a vehicle, the perspective shifts to a close third-person view when the Chief takes control of the artillery, using its fire to clean up oncoming Covenant forces.

Then it's time to swap weapons, for something a little more suited to close-in work. The default weapon in the level is a new assault rifle. It has a lower rate of fire than the first game's basic rifle, but that's balanced by more punch and added sniping capabilities. Later, the Chief grabs a pair of bullpup submachineguns, receiving one of them from a marine sergeant before he jumps down into the streets. This leads to an extended sequence of shooting up alleys full of smaller Covenant aliens -- the double machine pistols put out plenty of fire for taking out the little guys.

The level scripting, meanwhile, serves up some great bits of eye candy. The key target in this sequence is a Covenant artillery emplacement, which is putting out fire at orbiting craft. After a few ineffectual assaults from the ground, the marines call in an air strike -- two fighter-bombers range in and blast the massive artillery piece with a quick bombing raid, clearing out one key objective. Meanwhile, however, more Covenant dropships and gunships cruise in over the streets, leading to the first vehicle-based sequence in the demo.

Two Warthog jeeps roll by, and Master Chief takes the gunnery position in the second. The Warthog's gun appears to have been beefed up a trifle, again trading its whirring automatic fire for a heavier energy-weapon punch. The two jeeps fishtail through the streets destroying gunships all the way, until the Chief finally leaps out for a slightly more daring approach. Late in the demo, the Covenant troops start attacking in small one-man hoverbikes -- they don't fly very high, but they're fast and maneuverable, with a pair of forward-firing energy cannons. As one draws near, the Chief jumps on board, throws off the pilot, and takes control, all in one third-person sequence with a great camera angle to show off the action.

Then it's time for a little chase scene. A pair of Covenant bikers chase the Chief as he heads out onto an abandoned freeway -- he makes it through the closing blast doors that lead to the outskirts of the city, but his pursuers miss their chance by a hair. The resulting cinematic is very cool, as Master Chief is thrown from his bike and skids along the freeway, kicking up sparks from his metal skin the whole way. Is he in the clear? Nope -- just as soon as he gets his bearings, a rain of Covenant drop pods crashes around him, and out hop a squad of hulking alien soldiers with massive energy swords. The chief readies a grenade...and we fade to black.

The whole sequence has even more polish than the best heavy firefights of the original Halo -- if the finished game can pack this much scripting and background detail into every battle, we're looking at a very fine game. The urban backgrounds in particular offer an impressive contrast to the natural beauty of Halo. It's a war-torn hellhole surrounded by towering skyscrapers instead of supposedly virgin paradise, but it's a fine piece of level design nonetheless. As the Warthogs skate around the city streets, there's almost too much detail to take in, and the street design offers more than just right angles. Covenant ships pull in from around odd corners, come up through underpass on-ramps, or dive in between tall buildings.

The aforementioned opening sequence also deserves a lot of credit, even if it doesn't have the flash of the subsequent chaos. One of the coolest parts of the original Halo was the sensation of fighting alongside real comrades, even if they're just AI-controlled bots, and it's nice to see the sequel building some of its scenes around their presence. Later on, the contributions of allies remain a significant part of each encounter. AI-controlled marines toss grenades to clear the way for Master Chief, drive intelligently as they cruise around the city in tandem, and yell plenty of helpful advice over the cluttered tac net.

Halo 2, then, is looking about as good as we could have hoped it to be. Our fondest hope, of course, would have been to be able to actually play it, but you can only ask so much in these sorts of situations. Enjoy the latest screenshots, at least, and look forward to hearing plenty more about this one throughout the year.

[ظل رمادي]

وهذا موضوع يوصف وصف تفصيلي ممل لكل ماحدث في ديمو هالو 2 .........

From Gray Shadow......................

Enjoy..............

E3 2003: After the first showing of proper gameplay today at Microsoft's E3 press conference, Halo 2 appears to be Halo, only much more so. Judging by the audience reaction, this will not be a problem. The demo, showing a running shootout between marines and Covenant forces in the war-torn ruins of Mombasa, was greeted by the loudest ovation of the evening.

The level starts off much like the first game, with Master Chief landing in the company of a dropship full of marines. There's no crash landing this time, though -- the Chief and his squad are being sent in to relieve a hard-pressed unit defending the city. The level takes some time to get properly cranked up, with some very nice bits of scene-setting to prepare you for the upcoming firefight. As Master Chief works his way up through to the front lines of the fight, he passes through a triage area where medics tend to wounded marines. The voice acting and sound effects, whether it's wounded men screaming, sergeants giving orders, or doctors calling the time on dead soldiers, helps establish some atmosphere before the tide turns.

The tide does turn, of course, what with the one-man army arriving on the scene and all that. To begin with, the Chief relieves a marine position on a high terrace overlooking a street intersection, with a mix of sniper fire, grenades, and barrages from a stationary machinegun emplacement. As when piloting a vehicle, the perspective shifts to a close third-person view when the Chief takes control of the artillery, using its fire to clean up oncoming Covenant forces.

Then it's time to swap weapons, for something a little more suited to close-in work. The default weapon in the level is a new assault rifle. It has a lower rate of fire than the first game's basic rifle, but that's balanced by more punch and added sniping capabilities. Later, the Chief grabs a pair of bullpup submachineguns, receiving one of them from a marine sergeant before he jumps down into the streets. This leads to an extended sequence of shooting up alleys full of smaller Covenant aliens -- the double machine pistols put out plenty of fire for taking out the little guys.

The level scripting, meanwhile, serves up some great bits of eye candy. The key target in this sequence is a Covenant artillery emplacement, which is putting out fire at orbiting craft. After a few ineffectual assaults from the ground, the marines call in an air strike -- two fighter-bombers range in and blast the massive artillery piece with a quick bombing raid, clearing out one key objective. Meanwhile, however, more Covenant dropships and gunships cruise in over the streets, leading to the first vehicle-based sequence in the demo.

Two Warthog jeeps roll by, and Master Chief takes the gunnery position in the second. The Warthog's gun appears to have been beefed up a trifle, again trading its whirring automatic fire for a heavier energy-weapon punch. The two jeeps fishtail through the streets destroying gunships all the way, until the Chief finally leaps out for a slightly more daring approach. Late in the demo, the Covenant troops start attacking in small one-man hoverbikes -- they don't fly very high, but they're fast and maneuverable, with a pair of forward-firing energy cannons. As one draws near, the Chief jumps on board, throws off the pilot, and takes control, all in one third-person sequence with a great camera angle to show off the action.

Then it's time for a little chase scene. A pair of Covenant bikers chase the Chief as he heads out onto an abandoned freeway -- he makes it through the closing blast doors that lead to the outskirts of the city, but his pursuers miss their chance by a hair. The resulting cinematic is very cool, as Master Chief is thrown from his bike and skids along the freeway, kicking up sparks from his metal skin the whole way. Is he in the clear? Nope -- just as soon as he gets his bearings, a rain of Covenant drop pods crashes around him, and out hop a squad of hulking alien soldiers with massive energy swords. The chief readies a grenade...and we fade to black.

The whole sequence has even more polish than the best heavy firefights of the original Halo -- if the finished game can pack this much scripting and background detail into every battle, we're looking at a very fine game. The urban backgrounds in particular offer an impressive contrast to the natural beauty of Halo. It's a war-torn hellhole surrounded by towering skyscrapers instead of supposedly virgin paradise, but it's a fine piece of level design nonetheless. As the Warthogs skate around the city streets, there's almost too much detail to take in, and the street design offers more than just right angles. Covenant ships pull in from around odd corners, come up through underpass on-ramps, or dive in between tall buildings.

The aforementioned opening sequence also deserves a lot of credit, even if it doesn't have the flash of the subsequent chaos. One of the coolest parts of the original Halo was the sensation of fighting alongside real comrades, even if they're just AI-controlled bots, and it's nice to see the sequel building some of its scenes around their presence. Later on, the contributions of allies remain a significant part of each encounter. AI-controlled marines toss grenades to clear the way for Master Chief, drive intelligently as they cruise around the city in tandem, and yell plenty of helpful advice over the cluttered tac net.

Halo 2, then, is looking about as good as we could have hoped it to be. Our fondest hope, of course, would have been to be able to actually play it, but you can only ask so much in these sorts of situations. Enjoy the latest screenshots, at least, and look forward to hearing plenty more about this one throughout the year.


وش شكله ذا؟؟ قاعد احاول ارسل الرد لي ساعة الا ربع!!

[DeadLy_]

و الله مرات سيرفر المنتدى يخرف نتيجة الضغط عليه بس يالله الحمدلله انه شفنا هالموضوع الرائع ;-)

[ظل رمادي]

اخيرا لقيت واحد يتفق معاي في هذه النقطة.........

مشكور على الدعم اخوي سوني كيد