HALO - PC Version Additions Guide by Alex Loy (loyalex@hotmail.com) To be posted only on www.gamefaqs.com ____________________________________________________________________________ I - Intro II - New Weapons III - New Vehicles IV - New Maps V - MISC VI - Xbox vs PC review _____________________________________________________________________________ I - INTRO Halo has been one of my favorite games for a long time. I was such a fan that I was skepticle of buying the PC version when it came out. There were a number of reasons - I didn't want to deal with the mouse and keyboard when I was a master of the Xbox controller, I didn't want to deal with worse graphics on my crappy PC, I didn't want to deal with lag and cheating and retarded noobs and all the other little gems of online gaming. Well, to make a long story short, I picked up the game last week and it's quickly become my favorite way to waste away the long hours of the day. I like it so much, I am writing my first guide ever to cover all the new stuff in the PC version, hopefully helping out all my Xbox compatriots who are looking for a new war to tide them over until HALO 2, should it ever actually come out. I hope it is helpful and that you enjoy it. Look for me under the name of "Wort Wort" online and try some of my own strategies on me! _____________________________________________________________________________ II - New Weapons Tired of pwning with the pistol, AR, Shotgun, sniper, needler, plasma rifle, rocket launcher, and plasma gun? Well, good news, we've got two new means to kill our enemy - The FLAMETHROWER and the FUEL ROD CANNON! _____________________________________________________________________________ 1 - FLAMETHROWER -A powerful piece of equipment, that as the name suggests THROWS FLAMES everywhere! The flamethrower may soon replace the shotgun as my close range weapon of choice. If you can hold the flame on a guy for about a full second, he will die, possibly with a pleasing scream. The flame thrower uses ammo called fuel canisters, and counts down from "100" to "0" on an ammo indicator on the weapon itself. It is a fuel hog, and will go from full to empty in about 5 seconds, so keep an eye on the indicator, as it takes forever to reload. Remember, CLOSE RANGE is the word of the day, this gun is all but useless at medium range or farther. A few tips- - Instead of holding down the trigger, fire in bursts to conserve ammo. - The flamethrower can hurt YOU if you get too close to a victim. Be cautious! -Always carry a long range weapon as well. Thus - Flamethrower + pistol = good, Flamethrower + AR = bad. - It has radius damage, meaning it hurts clustered groups of enemies. This can work wonders on a fully loaded warthog. Just try not to get run over. - Camping behind teleport points with the flamethrower will get you a LOT of kills, although it is cheap and will upset the enemy. Use at your own discretion. _____________________________________________________________________________ 2 - FUEL ROD CANNON (aka "The Noob Cannon", "The Pwnage Cannon") - This gun is a monster. Xbox players will already be familiar with this cannon; it's the same big guy that Hunters have attached to their arm, Banshees have as a secondary weapon, and grunts occasionally carry in the later levels. It fires a powerful green blob in an morter style arc, like the Covenant Wraith tank. It can kill in one direct hit, or two close hits as it has considerable splash damage. This gun is THE anti-vehicle weapon in Halo PC. It can easily stop a warthog and ghost, and even the Banshee if you have good aim or the Scorpion if the driver is stupid enough to let you get close. A good player becomes a one man army when equipped with the fuel rod cannon. -Lead your shots. This is true of any gun in Halo PC because of the lag, but especially useful with this one. Aim at the ground and try to make your enemy walk INTO the blast rather than aiming for a body hit. -When up against a fully loaded Warthog, aim for the driver. You will most likely flip the car and kill one guy, but the others will survive and be angry. Don't let them be. Shoot once, flip the car, and keep that warthog in the air by firing successive shots into the ground where it will land. "Juggling", much like a fighting game, is the key to success. - The gun can overheat like the Plasma Rifle, in even has the same meter. Watch it and don't let it overheat. It is tempting to go "rock and roll" with this gun but you will overheat and waste ammo and maybe even get killed. Try to fire in rythym, maybe 2 shots per second. DON'T just push the button as fast as you can. - The fuel rod cannon can lead to a lot of suicides, be cautious. If an enemy suprises you and gives you the old bum's rush, aim at the ground BEHIND him, don't just pull the pin and kill you both. In fact, this situation has a nasty tendancy to kill YOU and leave the guy you shot point blank still alive. Avoid the unnecesary anguish. - Height is your friend! When used from a high vantage point, it is easy to reign down death on your enemy. The bridges on Danger Canyon aand Ice Fields are great spots for this. _____________________________________________________________________________ III - NEW VEHICLES When I say "new", I mean "old but not in multiplayer", or "old with a rocket launcher attached". That is to say, the two new vehicles are the BANSHEE plane and the ROCKET WARTHOG. 1 - BANSHEE Everyone's favorite vehicle, the only air conveyance in the game. For those of you who don't know, the Banshee is a purple Covenant aircraft capable of high speed, amazing manuvering, and hovering. The Banshee can be used in the single player levels "Assault on the Control Room" and "Two Betrayals", but this is it's first appearance in muiltiplayer. Learning to use this plane online will be difficult because of skilled opponents and the fact that EVERYONE will be TKing you to try to get to it first, so the best way to get a feel for the thing is to load up Two Betrayals and take her for a test drive. The primary fire is an unlimited ammo laser cannon, the second is a burst of fuel rod gun plasma that has to recharge. - Hovering can be good for nailing someone with the plasma burst, but don't do it for too long or you'll end up dead and your pretty plane will be stolen. To hover, just hold "back" in the air. - The favorite way of all the Banshee whores to kill someone (and mine too!) is to simply dive down on an unsuspecting fool on foot and run him over like the Nazgul in "Return of the King". Very fun and always a crowd pleaser. - The Banshee itself is invincible. To kill a Banshee whore, you have to actually take out their sheild and health just like you would if they were on foot. The guy LAYS down in the banshee on his stomach, his head right in the middle of the front portion, so aim there. To clarify this, just go get in a Banshee and watch how you lay down. With this information and good aim, you can take out a guy with a single sniper shot if you're lucky, and then sit back and enjoy as he screams "HaXor!!!!" -Another stylish way to take out a banshee requires only a single plasma grenade. Find a circling enemy, shoot at him to get his attention, and 9/10 times he'll dive at you for the old "Nazgul kill". Wait, wait, wait some more, then stick that nade to his windsheild when he's right on top of you. Even if you die, you'll have great satisfaction. - To take out an enemy warthog, use the Fuel Rod tecnique listed above. For those of you too lazy to scroll up, this means shoot the plasma burst at the ground in front of the car, hopefully causing a flip. Then wipe out the crew on the ground. -To take out an enemy tank, (most notably on "Death Island") the best way is to fly as high as possible, then circle around behind the oblivious tank. Land almost on top of him from the rear, nail him with a fuel rod burst, then finish with the lasers. If you're right on top of him, he won't be able to hit you with the tank gun, and the slowing effect of the lasers will make it impossible for him to turn the gun around to hit you in any case. -Dogfighting is intense, though it often can become two Banshees circling each other forever, unable to hit each other. In these situations, I find it's good to suddenly go into a hover. The enemy gets confused, hopefully, and you have a few seconds to aim a plasma burst at him. The key to winning a dogfight is the plasma burst. Try to get a good one off. Additionally, remember that you're damaging the enemy, not the ship, so keep the pressure ON, don't let his sheilds recharge. Sooner or later you'll whittle him down. - A word on Team Killing. The Banshee is a hot commoditiy, and the temptation to kill your teammate who's also running for that empty plane can be great. DON'T DO IT!!! PLEASE! Just let the guy who gets there first have it. Now, on the other hand, should YOU ever be TKed for a ship, hunting season is open. Declare war and ruin that bastard's game. Be sure to accuse him of being unable to get a kill in anything but the Banshee, since it's most likely true. _____________________________________________________________________________ 2. ROCKET WARTHOG YEAH BABY! I love this vehicle. All it is, as the name suggests, is a warthog with a rocket launcher instead of a machine gun. But what a difference! I avoid the old warthog like plauge now if I can. The rocket launcher has unlimited ammo BUT must reload after every three shots. Thus it can fire three rockets rapidly, or three over a period of 10 minutes, but either way it must reload after to get another three in the chamber. - Aiming on the move, especially with the famous Halo lag, can be tricky. As with the fuel rod gun, LEADING and aiming for the feet of your opponent yeilds the best results. - If you are not moving, the rocket will go where the center line of the aiming reticle is. However, when in foward motion, it will go lower than that line. Thus, aim a little above your target. - You can reload before your three shots are up by pressing the reload key (Imagine that!). So if you kill a guy with one rocket, and suddenly find yourself in the clear, reload. Nothing is worse than coming into a firefight and finding you only have one rocket left, then getting killed during that 20 minute "reloading" icon. _____________________________________________________________________________ 3. The Shade Gun Not really a vehicle, and not really new, but the purple Shade stationary gun is now in multiplayer. The only tip I can give is to stay out of it unless you want to die quickly! Actually, it has one good use, and that's annoying Banshees, especially on the maps Death Island and Infinity. If you choose to take this important but dangerous job, remember to once again lead your shots. Anyone who's successfully shot down a plane with the AA guns in Battlefield 1942 is a good choice to man this weapon. A single Shade against a Banshee will lose, though. Teamwork is important. If you can paint the enemy Banshee with the Shade while a friendly Banshee attacks him, or while guys on the ground open up with their pistols, you have a good chance of success. _____________________________________________________________________________ IV - NEW MAPS Two new weapons and two new vehicles are all well and good, but the new maps were a main selling point for many, including myself. Since XBOX Halo only had two really huge levels, Gearbox decided to add 6 more giant ones to keep down the congestion during 16 players games. All the new maps are pretty big and follow the "Blood Gulch" design - IE two opposing bases and a whole lot of land in the middle, with some alternate routes thrown in too. I'll try to give some basic strategies and layout for each, but exploring and learning them for yourself is key! *******Important TIP******* Getting lost is very easy in these new maps, lord knows I spent my first few days of Halo PC wandering around in a daze. Then I noticed something stupidly obvious - the levels are color coded. IE - Blue lights lead to the blue base, red lights lead to the red base. If you're in a tunnel with red walls, you're near the red base, and vice versa. Obvious to some, but I hope this helps others like me who don't pay attention to wall color generally. _____________________________________________________________________________ 1. TIMBERLAND The smallest of the new levels, and my favorite. Timberland is a large, hilly valley with two bases set into opposing rock walls. Think of it as Blood Gulch in the forest. CTF is obviously the main purpose here, as in all the new levels, but I've enjoyed some pretty intese King of the Hill on this map as well. Each team starts at their base with a Warthog, a rocket hog, and a ghost out front. Inside the base you'll find a health pack and grenades on the first floor, and sniper rifle and shotgun on the second. Sniping is popular from the second floor as you can see the entire level, and even into the enemies base, but watch out for opposing snipers as well. Sniper rifles are scattered around this level on various hills. There is lots of cover, so sniping is a common way to die. KEEP MOVING. At the southwest and northeast corners of the map you will find a FUEL ROD CANNON, a key ingredient to single handed flag capturing. The best "mad rush" tactic I have is to grab a ghost, fly to the opposite corner of the map (near the enemy base) and grab the fuel cannon. Then fly into the enemy base. If your a good ghost pilot, than take that literally and actually fly INTO the base, running anyone over in your way. Grab the flag and fly back out. This technique requires a perfect flight though, as it's VERY easy to get stuck on a wall or the door in the base and get grenaded to hell. Thus a second option is to ditch the ghost at the top of the hill leading into the base, pull out your cannon, and GO TO TOWN on all the hapless guys who are spawning down there. When it looks clear, toss a nade into the flag room, grab the flag, and book out of there in the ghost or nearest vehicle. Luck is a big part of single handed CTF, of course, but since there isn't much team coordination as of yet (maybe voice chat someday?), flying solo can often yeild the best results. Powerups can help a lot in this level, especially active camo. These can be found on the path leading out of either base to the right on a hill near a shotgun. Also, an overshield is waiting on a little island in the center of the stream. _____________________________________________________________________________ 2. DEATH ISLAND If you've played the single player game, you'll quickly recognize Death Island as being a conversion of the island from "The Silent Cartographer". This is a BIG level with every vehicle and weapon in the game present. As the name suggests, it's a circular island with the opposing bases placed with their backs to each other. So basically a trip to the enemy base and back involves going in a full circle, one way or the other. Out front on the beach you'll find warthogs, rocket hogs, and tanks. I can't recall if there's a ghost there, I guess it might depend on the server settings. These vehicles are all secondary in any case, this map is ruled by the Banshee. The Banshee is located above your base. To get there, you must take a telporter in your base. There are actually two, one has a drawing of a shade on it that leads to the shade gun on an outcropping overlooking the base, the other has a drawing of a Banshee on it, which teleports you to the top of the level. Here, if you're lucky, you will find the Banshee. Most likely, though, another teammate has already taken it. You can camp here if you really are a poontang and wait for another to spawn. Or, if you are in fact a MAN (or tough woman) you can grab the sniper rifle here and go to work on the enemy plane campers, which are directly across from you. The top of the level has the most intense firefights in my opinion, since all the angry Banshee campers on opposing teams can see each other clearly. If you decide to rush the enemy position, you can kill the opposition and camp the ENEMY banshee spawn, which is at least tactically sound. Additionally, you can really tick the enemy off by driving a warthog up here and parking it on the enemy teleporter, thus blocking them from coming up here quickly. How do I get a warthog up there, you ask? Well, in the center of the top level, you'll find a path leading down to the area in Silent Cartographer where you fight the first Hunters in the level. You can find an overshield and fuel rod cannon here. If you look around this area, you'll see it's actually a hub between the two bases, with paths leading to your base and the enemy base. If you want to walk or drive here, just head left out of your base (facing the ocean) and take the first path off to the left. It takes some balls, but the best way to cap the flag is in a Banshee. Once you aquire one, head over to the enemy base. STAY HIGH (I mean altitude wise, although other connotations do seem to improve my game). Height makes it hard to get shot, especially by noobs who spray their ARs at you hopelessly. Pick off enemies and watch for tanks, a lot of people like to put 'em out in the ocean facing their base. Once the area looks clear, DIVE DOWN, smash your Banshee as close to the door as possible, hop out, grab flag, hop in, fly away! It's risky, as it could cost you your life AND your precious Banshee, but it feels good when pulled off! Dogfighting can play a big roll here. I'm not the best dogfighter, frankly, but see the above Banshee section for what tips I have. Finally, this is the level where the Shade is the most useful. Having a guy on it is a good way to distract enemy Banshees, but remember, ALONE you are a sitting duck. Use that team chat button and ask for backup. _____________________________________________________________________________ 3. GEPHYROPHOBIA I don't know what the name means, fear of something, but this level is sweet. It is, in the parlance of our times, the tits AND ass. This map is the only one with a "unique tileset", to coin a Warcraft term, IE it's the only one that looks new. Not in the forest, not in the desert, not in the snow, it's a huge three lane bridge sitting in the middle of space, a lot like FACE and FACE II from Unreal Tournament. On opposite sides of the bridge are the bases. The bridge also has a lower level that leads to underground tunnels going into to either base. Finally, this level has an overlooking "balcony" high up in space on either side of it, perfect for sniping. All the vehicles except the Tank are found in this level. The Ghost and the Banshees are by far the most useful, I don't even recall ever seeing a warthog in this level, but the Halo web site claims that warthogs are part of the default vehicle set, so I'll list em. The Banshee, of course, rules this level as well, although not as much as Death Island, because the lower bridge and the bases provide good cover, plus the level is just too big for a pilot to spot EVERYONE. To get the Banshee, you need to take one of the two teleporters in your base. One teleports you to the near side of the upper balcony, the other to the far side. On BOTH sides you will find a Banshee. Enjoy. Also up here you will find numerous sniper rifles, and also the occasional moron who likes to snipe away without ever moving or looking behind him. I HIGHLY reccomend you creep up behind these fellows, brain 'em, and then give their dead body a good hump just to drive the point home. In the middle of the upper bridge you will find Shades, not the most useful, but an active camo is also here, and that IS useful. Multiple guys on shades can take out Banshees quickly, but it's hard to find teammates who will do so on public servers. For CTF, stick to the lower bridge in a ghost. Banshees CAN get down here but most will stick for the easy pickings up top. If a Banshee does bother you down here, he will be very exposed in tight quarters, and since the level starts you with two plasma grenades, it's a good time to humilate the Banshee driver. Bet ya can't stick it! You can go through the tunnels in a ghost to get into the base, just be careful not to get stuck, as it can lead to a quick and sad death. Once you have the flag, Ghost on out of there, or you can take the teleporter if you really want to live on the edge. You COULD get a Banshee, or you COULD get raped by one. A final word on the Ghost - be careful, as it's very easy to fly off the edge, especially near the tunnels on the lower level. _____________________________________________________________________________ 4. DANGER CANYON Another good one, Danger Canyon is a symettrical map in the grasslands of Halo. You start with two hogs (one of each) and a ghost. It seems to be kind of horseshoe shaped, with bases on either end and the titular canyon in the bending point of the "U". The canyon has a large double bridge running over it, good for sniping or being sniped, and ESPECIALLY good to reign down death from above with the Fuel Rod cannon. Speaking of the fuel rod cannon, it's located on top of the little building in the middle of the canyon. You can also find some other useless guns like a needler there and an overshield on the opposite side. You can get to the canyon two ways - on land, or by taking the tunnels that can be accessed from your base. These tunnels are confusing at first, and my little tip about the light color is what finally taught me to navigate them. Basically, to get to the canyon is simple - follow the tunnel till you can drop off into a little room, do so, and walk outside onto the bridge. There you can run across to a teleporter which will take you down to the canyon. To get to the enemy base via the tunnels is a bit trickier. Go to the point where you can jump off into the room again. Now go outside onto the bridge but don't cross, hang a left. The last entrance you find to the left will lead you into the enemy tunnels. Go left again in these tunnels and look for a ramp leading UP. Take this ramp and you'll be back above that little room, just on the enemy side. Don't jump down but follow the path the the opposite door, which leads you to the enemy base. Phew! My favorite CTF strategy is again the Ghost rush. Get a ghost, fly to the canyon. Stop, grab the fuel rod gun, and continue on. Once you're at the base, either fly up onto the flag if you're feeling risky, or abandon the ghost on the ground and unleash hell with your fuel rod gun. When it looks clear, grab the flag and ghost out of there. You can also take the tunnels, but you may encounter enemies in there. In general the tunnels are good for escaping, but tricky for assaulting. A lot of people like to basically deny the enemy their tunnels by getting the fuel rod gun, following the tunnels to the enemy base, and then camping on top of the ramp that leads down to the main door and killing any sitting duck that wonders in. This works well and is extremely annoying to the victim team, but it also cheap. I don't do this personally, but I have had it done to me many times and can testify to it's effectiveness, so use it at your own discretion. Finally, a rocket jeep with a good gunner can be deadly, even if you don't get the flag. If you have decent team communication you can have two guys drive around the enemy base like crazy in a rocket hog, blowing up spawners, while another guy rushes in and takes the flag. Not good for you glory hounds that want 1st place, but good for the TEAM. Final word - when driving through the canyon, don't take that tempting looking jump in a hog unless you're a good driver. It's easy to wipe out and have your team killed by guys up on the bridges quickly. Never linger in the CANYON, it's full of DANGER. _____________________________________________________________________________ 5. ICE FIELDS This is kind of like danger canyon, except bigger, in the snow, with a much wider bridge that can accomodate vehicles. You start out with the same set up as danger canyon, two hogs and a ghost. Also be sure to trade in your AR immediatly for a shotgun or flamethrower in the base. There are three ways to the enemy base - on the ground through the ice fields, over the ice fields on the bridge, or via a teleporter to the ice fields. The teleporter is directly behind your base and leads to a little overlook on the ice fields, directly across from the enemy teleporter. So basically taking the teleporter almost always leads to an intense pictol fight between to opposing teams. You can jump off the overlook to the ground, it won't kill you but will hurt a bit, and there will be a fuel rod gun smack in the center of the ice. This is always a tide turner. You can also sneak over to the enemy overlook, camp behind their teleporter with a flamethrower, and burn some unlucky fools who will soon be calling you names if you keep this up. If you take a vehicle or walk out of the base, you'll find a branching path. Left leads up to the bridge, right to the ice fields. I almost always go right, especially in a ghost. The hog of course loses traction on ice, and can become a sitting duck in the ice field, but i've never really seen too many people take advantage of this, so YOU should. Camping in the ice fields with a fuel rod gun is a good way to keep enemy warthogs from getting to your base. The bridge is always a battleground, and for that reason I avoid it. Better to sneak in CTF I say, but if you head up there, you'll find an oversheild and great sniping locations. Snipers love picking off guys in the ice fields, so either do that, or kill enemy snipers to help out your boys. For CTF, the ghost rush works of course, and the teleporter escape is also popular. The teleporter takes you into the middle of the ice fields where you're horribly exposed, BUT it is also very close to your base. Chances are if you make it through the fields to the lights of your team's color, you're home free. _____________________________________________________________________________ 6. INFINITY My least favorite of the new maps, for the reason the name suggests - it's HUGE. Even with 16 people it's easy to go a while without a fight. A lot of people like racing on this level, I'm not a big race fan, but it's certainly a good map for that. Anywho, the map is like a figure eight with a base on either side. The center of the eight is an open rocky area with two huge, double leveled bridges running across it. Each team gets a big base like the structure you defend the marines in on the single player level "Halo". This structure looks across to a smaller building that actually has the flag on top. Each base gets a shade gun mounted on it, and a Banshee spawns on the top. To get to the top of the base, look for very thin paths leading up on the second level. You will find a sniper rifle and a good sniping spot here as well. You also get Warthogs and ghosts, of course. I think tanks would be good here but i've never seen em. At any rate, don't walk to the enemy base unless you are really bored. Drive, most people go left from the base, but either way works. I really haven't explored the terrain enough to get specific, but if you head right from the base you encounter a weird, Danger Canyon type structure with some goodies in it. The quickest way to the base, besides flying, is to teleport. You will see two teleports behind your base on either side. They lead to those giant bridges in the center of the map. Now here, you have to run accross the thin bridge, fully exposed with no where to go, to a teleporter on the other side that takes you to the enemy base. Enemy Banshees love to knock guys off the bridge, so use extreme caution. Going this way is always a risk, but it's quick. The shade is a good way to defend the flag, just spam it with lasers if an enemy is approaching it. If you make it the enemy base via teleport, you have some good cover behind the rocks for sniping and other mischief. Once again, the Banshee is the easiest way to score, but it is a risk to do it. Good luck! _____________________________________________________________________________ V - MISC Other stuff that isn't specific to a map or weapon goes here. One main change I've noticed from XBOX halo is that you ALWAYS seem to start with two grenades, which is a huge advantage. I don't know if this is a server setting or a game default, but it definitly can even the playing field if, say, you spawn right near an enemy warthog attacking your base. I always tell myself, if I die without using my two grenades, I've wasted my life. _____________________________________________________________________________ VI - XBOX vs PC Here it is, at the end of the day, the final verdict. Is XBOX halo better? Is PC halo better? The answer to both questions is yes. XBOX halo has the better campaign mode, plain and simple. The co-op alone has given me countless hours of replayablity with different teammates. Graphically, XBOX wins out as well. I have a crappy computer, PIII 1ghz, 400mb ram, FX5200 card. Most games I can run at full nontheless, like Max Payne 2. Even deus ex 2 went at 800x600 with texture detail on high ( I had to turn off shadows though). I run halo at 640x480 with all sorts of tweaks and stuff turned down. The multiplayer is playable (25-40 fps), the single player is not. It just gets too choppy during firefights to play on legendary, which is all i've played since getting Halo a year ago. However, I had the opportunity to try PC halo on a super computer, a brand new machine bought by Boston College for making 3D models of molecules. It had a Radeon 9800 pro, a gig of ram, and some insane processor. I got everything up to 1024xwhatever on high, and guess what, STILL CHOPPY on legendary! I was extremely dissapointed to say the least. I was hoping to run it at 1600x1200 and be blown away, but instead I get a choppy 1024. And you know what? It still didn't look much better than Halo on a nice TV with component inputs. The edges were slightly smoother, that's about it. Meanwhile, the Xbox can render and display the same scene twice on legendary co-op, and the only time it slows down is the final chase in the maw. All that being said, the PC obviously wins on one thing alone - online multiplayer. This is why I bought the game, and if you're reading this, probably why you bought the game. The new maps are cool, except Infinity. The gameplay is awesome. Running people down in a Banshee is too much fun for words. But... LAG. Why is it so bad? I used to think Battlefield 1942 had bad lag, now I pray for that smoothness in Halo. I cannot count the times I've run a guy over in my jeep only to discover he survived because he was no where near where he appeared on my game. Or meeleed a guy in the face and had him walk away unscathed. And I've only had the game for a week! As it is, I can only play on a dozen or so servers well. Not so good. Basically, the conclusion is PC is great for what it does, but I'd take the XBOX if it had the additional features. It sucks to know I have a guy cold only to get dropped by him inexplicably because of lag or a low framerate. I look forward to Halo 2, where we hopefully won't have these problems because - A. Bungie is making it, thus it will be polished and actually have decent netcode. B. It will be only on XBOX, so everyone will be on equal footing hardware wise AND the graphics will rock. Hurry up Bungie! _____________________________________________________________________________