May 19^th, 2002 (12:00am) - Just one slipof the tongue told us all we wanted to know. An inside source has confirmed that Halo 2 exists. We practically flooded our pants. We’re still slaves to the original, but to know that more is on the way, and is being crafted as we speak...well, we’re drooling with anticipation.

The timing is everything. Xbox is off to a rip-roaring start buy Microsoft need to keep the momentum going. And what better way to keep the good times rolling than by announcing the follow-p to the game that’s got people pulling Xboxes off shelves as fast as their hands can move?

That announcement will take place at videogaming’s biggest industry event of the year-E3(Electronic Entertainment Expo) in Los Angeles, between May 21 and 24. Last year Microsoft were unfairly savages at E3 by critics keen to make a story out of rubbishing Xbox.

Pride was unquestionably wounded. This time Billy’s boys are determined to storm the show with major Xbox online revelations and-ta-daaah!-Halo 2. What’s more, Microsoft executives have already said that Christmas 2002 is when they strike back at Sony. They want more Xboxes under trees than PS2s, and they won’t go into that fight unless they’re armed to the teeth. Odds on then, that Halo 2 will be Xbox’s killer game next Yuletide.

So what will it be like? We honestly don’t know. But developer Bungie are masters of the paper trail. They love to hide little clues about future plans for the dedicated to find.

The entire Halo story is one super-heavy hint about the course of the sequel. We’re told that the Halo itself is just one of many ringworls peppered around space Malevolent Al drone 343 Guilt Spart refers to our Halo as ’Installation 04’. So already we have a location, pregnant with the secrets of the mysterious alien race known as the Forerunners. And we have a plot. Complete the game and, after the credits have finishesd, Halo delivers its FINAL ending. You must see this. We won’t spoil it here, but it outlines the hook for Halo 2 and expansion into space. Suffice to say the terror of the Flood, and rogue AI that’s crazier than paving, isn’t over yet. The chase is on. As the Master Chief himself prophesies in his final scene: "I think we’re just getting started."

-Xgamer Magazine

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