Halo 2: Automatic Update is today!

[PhoeniX]

The Halo 2 update comes out today which is supposed to address cheating and weapons balance issues. Do any of you have it yet? Have any of you been checking for it constantly since midnight even though the site plainly says it will be released this morning?

Have it or not, what are your thoughts about this (multi-player) game changing update? Is it good bad, should console games simply be left alone and not be obtrusively changed?

[Avatard]

I don't know what the changes will be, do you have links? The cheating is very bad....

Maybe they'll make the needler and pistol a competitive weapon....I hope the don't make the pistol as insaneo as it used to be. And maybe make that dumb alien bouncy grenade weapon usefull, like replace it with the fuel rod gun from the PC version of Halo.

[PhoeniX]

I don't know what the changes will be, do you have links? The cheating is very bad....

Maybe they'll make the needler and pistol a competitive weapon....I hope the don't make the pistol as insaneo as it used to be. And maybe make that dumb alien bouncy grenade weapon usefull, like replace it with the fuel rod gun from the PC version of Halo.

here is a link with all the info

http://www.bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?story=weeklywhatsapril15th&p=3014696

[slip81]

I haven't gotten the update (I haven't even gotten Halo 2 yet, but soon). But from what I've hear it sounds like it will be an improvement. Cheating is a big problem in Halo and itreally ruins the fun for honest gamers, so it's good that Bungie is trying to solve the problem.

As far as the weapon balancing issue and changing games in general, I see nothng wrong with that. I'm glad that home games have finally reachd the point where developers can release patches and updates to improve upon their games. Though it's really nothing new, PC games have been doing it for years.

[CreamSoda]

That;s actually a really good update to have. It fixes alot of my most annoying Halo 2 problems...

Bring on the real grenades!!! :D

[Avatard]

Wow, I love it. The Brute Gun was the one I was talking about, the one that was useless. Now its a good melee weapon AND the shots are better, it was so frustrating to make not 1, but 2 picture perfect bouncing shots around a corner with 2 direct hits only to have the dude come around the corner and kill you. So lame. Plus balancing single weapons/'nade combo is awsome, now people can't say "oh, I prefer the old halo cause I don't HAVE to dual wield", nice option now. Shorter fuses, mmmmm. Kudos MS for your intrest in providing better game play, or attempting to keep more subscribers for the money, whichever LOL

[ubersaurus]

Here's some of what I've noticed:

Sword flying from the car, and from weapon switching, no longer work.
Dummying no longer works.
Magnum now requires a whole clip just to drop shields. This means dual wield combos with it are slightly less effective(but still brutal)
flags no longer bounce as far. Glitchy flag bounces on Colossus and the like is cut
SMG/Plasma Rifle combo takes slightly longer to kill
Frag grenades drop shields in one explosion, and go off slightly faster
plasma grenades go off much faster, and kill in one explosion, if you are even standing close to them
Melees with "weak melee weapons", like the SMG, Needler, or pistol, will almost take down your shield in one blow. Brute Shot melee WILL kill your shield in one hit, and apparently damage you physically as well. Jumping melees in general seem to kill.
Brute Shot grenades kill in 2 shots, as opposed to 3-4 they used to.
standbying is now easier for the system to track, and reports indicate people who do it usually seem to end up getting kicked out of games and suspended/banned within seconds
hacked game accounts are banned automatically upon sign in
grabbing items through walls no longer works.

[SkiDragon]

From what I have played so far after downloading this, I cant say I am too impressed. There seems to be more lag than usual, or people are still cheating, I cant tell. When people start teleporting around and killing me it makes little difference.

[ubersaurus]

From what I have played so far after downloading this, I cant say I am too impressed. There seems to be more lag than usual, or people are still cheating, I cant tell. When people start teleporting around and killing me it makes little difference.

The lag is a side effect of the update...they had to reset your Xbox's internal connection settings for Halo 2. It takes a few days worth of games to get it back up to speed, just as it did when the game first came out. This was addressed in their weekly update last friday.

Edit: Bungie says the first 4 new maps will be available next monday. Woo!

[Aprilsrain]

I haven't really noticed too much of a difference at all. But I'm not the best player :)

[SamuraiSmurfette]

Does that affect the offline portion as well?

[ubersaurus]

Does that affect the offline portion as well?

Well you have to go online to get them first, but otherwise, it'll affect offline Multiplayer. Campaign mode is wholly unaffected by the update.