So when this engine - dubbed 'pstencil' - was dropped in place for more traditional baked shadow maps, I think there were consequences for the game's eventual presentation: many of the areas look flatly lit, or even unlit, with barely visible shadows.

When you look at screenshots from this renderer, you can see how the bump mapping comes to life with real-time lighting and shadows, just as it does in Doom 3. The sequel just doesn't quite work for me in the same way.Īnother reason why Halo 2 has a very particular look is due to a radical change that happened in its development cycle - as you'll see in the video embedded below, the sequel was originally going to use a Doom 3-style rendering engine, focusing purely on real time lighting with hard stencil shadows. The first Halo still stands up to scrutiny today - its more simplistic geometry is offset by its vibrancy in colour, great usage of tiling textures and some timeless material work. As I see it, Halo 2 is a game with a slightly awkward audio and visual presentation - the original design for the game aimed for a greater usage of bump mapping, real-time physics, and even more complex level design and it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that the original Xbox couldn't quite cope. While the first Halo's Anniversary revamp fell a little flat, the sequel is something else. It's a cute trick, but goes beyond visual flourishes alone - the revised soundtracks is excellent and the revamped audio is especially impressive. Just like Halo: Combat Evolved, you can switch between the modern graphical presentation and the old instantaneously with a single keyboard press (TAB on PC). Beyond that, there are the graphical and audio engine changes to Halo 2 itself, where nearly every single aspect of the overall presentation has been updated and improved.

Its greatest advantage comes from the inclusion of the remastered assets, kicking off in spectacular style with the replacement of the original's in-engine cinematics with stunning pre-rendered videos delivered by Blur Studios. With three games from the whole package now available to PC users, the good news is that in my opinion, this is the best release so far - and I'd also rate is a clear upgrade over the existing PC rendition of the game. So how does this port from the Xbox One conversion of Saber Interactive's Xbox 360 original fare? What extras does it bring to the table, how well does it run - and does it manage to avoid the problems and issues of some of the other games in the PC collection? A mere 13 years on from its initial release, Halo 2 has been re-released on PC as part of The Master Chief Collection - an ongoing enterprise that has attracted as much criticism as praise.

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