Halo 2 for PCs has been a long time in coming but you will need Vista installed in order to be able to play it. Halo 2 will not be released for any other operating system. It also supports a new feature that is Vista only called Tray and Play.

Tray and Play is a similar feature found on the XBOX 360. When you play a game on your 360, data is cached to the hard drive for the next section so level loads don’t take nearly as long as it would if it had to pull the data from the DVD.

It doesn’t work exactly the same way in Vista but it is similar. When you put the Halo 2 DVD in your PC, it will begin installing the files, like any other game. But, unlike other games, you will be able to play it almost immediately as opposed to waiting for the whole thing to install.

As you begin playing the game the rest of the files will be installed in the background; it supports several new features as well. You can select an option to fully install the game before playing it or select it to install for another user without playing it at all.

Due to a new activation system you will no longer need the DVD in the drive once the game is installed but you can leave it in there if you really want to, I don’t know… so you don’t lose it or something.

Tray and play does not support playing the game without installing the files to the hard drive so you must install it but I think it is cool how they have designed it. Here’s hoping this technology doesn’t stop with Halo 2 and that all new games support it. For the rest of the features Tray and Play supports, IGN has an FAQ with Jo Clowes the project lead for Halo 2 on Vista.

I don’t know if including this feature on all games would cause backwards compatibility problems with non-Vista PCs or not, it may well. If you want to play Halo 2, you’re going to need Vista and that’s really all the reason you need to upgrade right there, that is, if you didn’t play Halo 2 on the XBOX (as I did not).

I do own a XBOX 360 but with Halo 2 being so close to release for PCs, I may as well wait and play it properly (with a keyboard and mouse) and it is my full intention to pick up the Legendary Edition of Halo 3 on the 360.

Related:

Halo 2 and Gears of War are coming to a PC near you

Halo 2 delayed for Vista, discounts offered

Halo 2 nudity revealed

Halo 2 for Vista contains nudity, goes on sale "as is"

Halo 3 to come in three flavors

Entry was posted on Monday, April 9th, 2007 at 6:05 am under PC.

Read more entries by Jonathan Schlaffer.
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