Though Halo 2 for Xbox was the very best reason to own an Xbox when it came out three years ago, releasing it anew for PC doesn't have the same effect. In fact, considering you need to upgrade to Windows Vista in order to play Halo 2 for PC, it's something of a joke. You need a state-of-the-art operating system to play a three year old game originally designed for a six year old console. Nice.

Sure, graphics have been buffed up (just a token tad, though) and yes, Halo 2 remains a great first-person shooter (FPS) regardless of platform, what with all the sci-fi, alien invasion heroics, cool weapons and vehicles and compelling multiplayer play... but there are several such games for PC -- brand new ones -- that do all that and do it as well or better.