X03: Interview with Pete Parsons
"90 Percent of Halo 2 is done"
Translation by Harry Al-Shakarchi
Juan-Les-Pins (France) - Even though Pete Parsons mostly answered questions about Halo 2 with "I don't know" or "I can't say anything about that yet" we were actually able to squeeze some things out of him.
BO: First of all, the most important question: when is Halo 2 going to be in stores?
PP: The game will be released when it's done, but March or April 2004 don't sound too far from the actual release time.
BO: What percentage of Halo 2's development is done?
PP: Hard to say. I'm playing the game every night right now and the guys at Bungie are already playing the multiplayer modes. I think we're at 90% done, but the last 10% are usually the hardest.
BO: Isn't Microsoft pressuring you with a release date?
PP: No, they are giving us time because they know they're getting a great product.
BO: How will the the plot of Halo 2 progress?
PP: We'll use any and every chance to progress the plot, whether it's via rendered scenes or scripted scenes that happen during gameplay. What there won't be are 30-minute videos. The plot in Halo was good, but I think we've gone beyond that in Halo 2 and achieved some great things.
BO: Are you already planning ideas that will appear in Halo 3?
PP: No, because we don't even know yet if there will be a third part. However, Halo's universe is so flexible that we could, if needed, create new games with new ideas for its game play.
BO: Will Halo 2's sound also be a major point like in Halo?
PP: Yes. Even though graphics seem more important for some, we find that sound is an important element of a game too.
BO: Will there be a PC version of Halo 2?
PP: I don't know yet. We [Bungie Studios] are having a lot of fun playing Halo on PC and over the internet, but we also play Battlefield 1942 now and then. We hope that Halo on PC will be a success, but not only out of commercial reasons, but because it would justify a PC version of Halo 2 as well.
BO: What do you think about other first person shooters?
PP: I can't wait for Half-Life 2. I've met with the developers and they're a bunch of good people, and we at Bungie don't find that they're competition. We're just trying to do our thing.
BO: How many people are working on Halo 2?
PP: A total of 50 people. Because Halo 2 is a much more involved project than Halo we needed more people to work on it.
BO: How long will Halo 2 be?
PP: It should be like Halo, maybe a little longer.
BO: What about the rumour that there will be another playable character?
PP: Untrue, it's Master Chief all the way.
BO: What's next for Bungie?
PP: We don't have any plans right now. First we'll complete Halo then we'll all take a vacation. After that we'll get together again and talk about what we'll do next.
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