Halo Infinite recently received a major update in the form of Delta Arena, a playlist that includes recreations of Halo 2's most popular maps and a special third-person mode. But the real highlight is yet to come. And that's via a completely different Halo game: The Master Chief Collection. Soon, you'll be able to play Halo 2's lost E3 demo, thanks to some lovely modders.
So yes, to celebrate Halo 2's 20th anniversary, you can boot up Halo Infinite and dive into some Halo 2 maps. There are plenty of good and stylish games like Ascension, Midship, Lockout and more (you can actually play the original Halo 2 maps through The Master Chief Collection). I don't remember any of it because being a pretty young lad I didn't have Xbox Live at the time. I To do However, remember that you really enjoyed the campaign and rinsed it off for a day or so. God, I loved dual wielding and especially the Flood dominated levels.
Now, I don't remember the 2003 demo from E3 either because I was probably playing tag in the park or something. Either way, this is hailed as an iconic moment for Halo and Xbox, and what was possible at the time. In an interview with Halo community manager Brian Jarrard for Xbox Wire, he explains that it has remained locked ever since due to “glitches in technology”, but thanks to modders and “Digsite data archaeology” the original assets and files have been recovered.
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However, Jarrard says the team still has a lot of work to do, as the original E3 demo was created “on a version of the Halo engine that no longer exists” and contained elements that are incompatible with other versions of Halo 2. Halo senior franchise writer Kenneth Peter says there was even a need for an “Xbox dev kit,” which the studio doesn't have many of anymore.
But modders like Steven Garcia and members of Digsite helped shape the demo. Without them, we'd all have “a pretty precarious raw asset decline,” Peters says.
To play the recreated E3 demo, you'll need to own Halo: The Master Chief Collection and download the free mod from Steam Workshop when it arrives on November 9th.