One-Click Install My Ass!
Posted 04/19/07 at 08:30:35 PM by Will Smith
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I've always been a big fan of team deathmatch games. The raw skill at strategy required to beat another team really appeals to me. With the exception of the occasional class-based game--I'm looking at you Team Fortress and Battlefield--team DM has been my game. So naturally, Halo 2 on Xbox Live was a huge draw for me. It was the first game with a large community and a focus on team DM to come in years. When my copy of Halo 2 for Vista (a topic for another post, some other day) arrived yesterday, I couldn't wait to take it home and fire it up.
I was excited about many of the new features I've been hearing the Games for Windows team talk about for years: Tray and Play, Xbox Live for Windows, and achievements for Windows games. Unfortunately, things didn't work out too well. Here's a rough sequence of events, starting when I dropped the disc into my drive and clicked the autorun icon.
8:35 PM: Click autorun
8:37 PM: Halo tells me to update my videocard drivers, which seems unusual for a three-year-old game
8:40 PM: Downloaded driver update, clicked install.
8:42 PM: Reboot to uninstall old driver.
8:44 PM: Reboot again to uninstall another old driver.
8:47 PM: Finally install new driver. Reboot a third time.
8:50 PM: Configure the resolution. 800x600 is a bit small for my 30" panel.
8:51 PM: Start Halo 2 again. Installer complains that my performance index score needs updating.
8:57 PM: Finish retesting my computer.
8:58 PM: Restart Halo again. WTF, I have to activate a game? Weak sauce.
8:58 PM: Attempt to sign into Live.
9:08 PM: Live login process informs me there's a patch.
9:15 PM: Live autopatch process fails twice. I exit Halo 2.
9:20 PM: I find the patch on the web and download it manually.
9:25 PM: Start Halo... again.
9:27 PM: Attempt login to Live again
9:32 PM: Halo completes its background install as I wait for the log in to succeed.
9:38 PM: Login fails. I go get a beer when I see an error code.
9:40 PM: I sit down on the couch and fire up my 360 to play Halo 2.
Finally, I was able to connect to Live and enjoy the seamless multiplayer experience that the service has to offer!
This is not what I'd describe as a seamless, easily-accessible experience that will help encourage more neophytes to get into PC gaming. And frankly, I might even cut a developer some slack if this were a new title, taking its first tenative steps into a larger world. But it isn't Halo 2 was released on the Xbox in November 2004--almost 30 months ago.
After I created an offline account--sans achievements, of course--I played the game. This is exactly the same game I played two years ago. The graphics are the same, and the gameplay is the same. While there are a couple of new multiplayer maps, it's just not enough to justify a $50 pricetag for a two and a half year old console port, especially since it doesn't work. Oh, and by the way, it also requires Vista.
Vista and gaming
Submitted by cola65 on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 9:44am
Haven't tried any other games, but DDO Stormreach installs and plays fine on recent hardware with Vista Ultimate with SP1.
Submitted by dukethepcdr on Fri, 08/24/2007 - 12:51pm
All the horror stories I am hearing about Windows Vista, especially when it comes to trying to play games on it remind me of why I've given up on Valve's Steam based programs. I used to play Valve's Half Life and Half Life 2 games for hours. They are excellent games that test both your reflexes and your puzzle solving skills to the limit. They also have great stories told with amazing graphics and voice overs. For some strange reason though, about a year ago, I could no longer get my Steam program to run reliably. It would start to load but then hang or give me weirld error messages or claim that I didn't have a valid account. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Steam with no success. I even tried reinstalling my OS (Windows XP Home) with no luck. I finally gave up on it and no longer play Steam powered games. It's too bad, especially considering that there are more and more games using Steam these days.
I'll probably switch from XP to Vista or at least dual boot the OS's when XP support starts to go the way of Windows 98 but not until then. XP works fine for the most part but I've heard nothing but bad news about Vista for gaming. They say it works find for productivity programs. But why in the world would you upgrade to the latest OS just to surf the net, type papers and do your taxes? You could do those things just fine on Windows 95. Gaming is the main reason why most people upgrade to new software and hardware. Why, I still use good ole Office 97 to type up letters and make spreadsheets. If Vista isn't good for gaming, what's the point of it?
"Why yes, it's a screwdriver...but it's sonic." Doctor Who
Submitted by einstein1971 on Wed, 07/18/2007 - 4:26pm
Seriously, you couldn't figure out how to install Halo 2? Wow. Do I need to start reading CPU or is it just gotten too easy for MaximumPC to bash Microsoft rather than write a good article?
Submitted by HeartBurnKid on Tue, 10/30/2007 - 8:01am
Did you even read his step-by-step of what happened? I'm with Will on this one -- even if you can make it through something as painful as this, you shouldn't have to.
Submitted by SciFiMan on Tue, 04/24/2007 - 6:48pm
What are these whiny Sack O' Crap console fanboys doing in my PC magazine? Did my browser get redirected to MaximumConsole?
Submitted by yagisencho on Thu, 06/07/2007 - 2:51pm
Hm...sounds pretty much like any other PC game install then (except that the game actually runs relatively bug-free once everything is configured).
Seriously though, sure would be nice to reach that one-click nirvana we keep hearing about. That said, I don't think I'll be playing Halo 2 on my PC. The multiplayer is great fun, but that's what my old copy and the XBox 360 is for.
Submitted by dalecomputer on Mon, 01/21/2008 - 12:49pm
you know you can expect that from m$ all of their
eula and windows activation and bull it was hard enough for me to go with windows xp when it came out i waited just for the bugs to get fixed and then i bought it and installed it after activating then installing my video card drivers and wtf reactivating because the driver update triggered the activation again i went to windows update and wtf 80 updates at the time i had dial up and it took like 2 hr then i had to reboot and the f***ing drivers set my screen to 800x600
littel big for a 20" and mostly thats m4 fault so i took my chances and this christmas i got myself a new computer with windows vista home premuim preloaded so i bought a win xp pro disc and loaded it in my new pc removing vista like i care about the side bar and the areo you can download that all you can download the side bar and the vista theme and flip 3d and thats what i did so i took my xp based machine that looks like vista and put it to the test with my buddys vista based computer and it's the same computer same amout of ram same prosessor i bought it for him then i bought mine so their the same and my xp based machine beat his in supporting more hardware and games my xp maching can take an old game like monster truck madnees 2 but vista can't even if you set the compatibility on the exe right i think that compatibility is a bunch of bull i don't think it even works.
so i want to know from you guys if i should install vista or keep xp or even go to linux
Submitted by Mastagunz on Tue, 04/24/2007 - 5:20am
Sony fanboys!!! :( HAHA J/K
That sucks big time, but hey
Submitted by grim386 on Mon, 04/23/2007 - 1:15pm
That sucks big time, but hey thats what we expect from Micro-Sucks anyways
Submitted by nerdrockriot on Sat, 04/21/2007 - 9:21pm
After the broken port of Halo: Combat Evolved is anyone suprised... and does any PC gamer even care... Most of the "revolutionary steps" that Halo took have been done over and over agiain on the PC for years... Halo bend over and suck me dry
Preston Everett Jurinak
Lame
Submitted by Sovereign on Fri, 04/20/2007 - 2:25pm
I thought at least Halo 2 for Vista would allow me to enjoy the game on my PC, but "enjoyment" is hardly the word for that experience...boo!
Submitted by Abel on Fri, 04/20/2007 - 3:26pm
I don't plan on getting Vista till next year.
I don't own an Xbox. But I was looking forward to playing H2 ( old or not) since I haven't played it.
But this is sad news. One more reason NOT to hurry to the Vista camp.Very sad indeed.
:(
Submitted by its just me on Thu, 04/19/2007 - 7:34pm
This is totaly n00b of microsoft.
Submitted by Jeffery on Fri, 04/20/2007 - 5:40am
Not really... this is everything you have come to expect from Microsoft over the last decade.
Exactly...that is totally M$
Submitted by Phosphorous on Fri, 04/20/2007 - 6:34am
Exactly...that is totally M$ procedure now it seems. Force you to new OS'es, temp you to these "new" games and then they suck ass.
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