Microsoft today announced that people in the UK will have to wait a few extra days as the highly-anticipated Halo 2 will hit UK retail shelves on Thursday, November 11, 2004. Halo 2 is getting released in North America on November 9, 2004.

Halo 2, a sci-fi action/first-person shooter game, is a full sequel to the best-selling original and will continue the story of the Master Chief, a genetically enhanced supersoldier who is the only man who has successfully defied the Covenant, a coalition of alien races on a murderous march toward Earth. Read more for some new screens...

Halo 2, a sci-fi action/first-person shooter game, is a full sequel to the best-selling original and will continue the story of the Master Chief, a genetically enhanced supersoldier who is the only man who has successfully defied the Covenant, a coalition of alien races on a murderous march toward Earth. Read more for some new screens...

Halo 2, a sci-fi action/first-person shooter game, is a full sequel to the best-selling original and will continue the story of the Master Chief, a genetically enhanced supersoldier who is the only man who has successfully defied the Covenant, a coalition of alien races on a murderous march toward Earth.

Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie Studios today announced that Halo 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the hugely successful and critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved, will land on store shelves on November 9, 2004. In what promises to be one of the biggest launches in videogame history, Halo 2 will be the focus of an extensive marketing campaign that includes cinema, print, outdoor, online and television advertising.

"Halo 2" is the sequel to the highly successful and critically acclaimed game "Halo: Combat Evolved." In "Halo 2," the saga continues as Master Chief, a genetically enhanced supersoldier, is the only thing standing between the relentless Covenant and the destruction of all humankind. Pushing the Xbox hardware to its very limits and utilizing Xbox Live in a way that Bungie believes will redefine online play, "Halo 2" will expand on everything that made the original game great. At its heart a compelling and captivating story, "Halo 2" makes revolutionary advances in design and technology. As expected Bungie has made the e3 trailer available, read more for download links. Be Warned, it's hires and 160mb big!

Halo 2 continues the story of the Master Chief, the genetically enhanced super-soldier who is the only human ever to successfully defy the Covenant—a coalition of alien races on a murderous march toward Earth. To the mysterious leaders of the Covenant, the human victory at the ancient ring structure known as Halo was an unacceptable failure. They will not fail again... Check out two new screens below!

Noticed on VE3D that Bungie has updated their Halo 2 site with some E3 plans for the game. Here is a clip:

A demo like Halo 2 requires a special setting and this year we’ve pulled out all the stops. As fans enter the Microsoft booth, one of the first things they’ll encounter is the glorious Halo 2 Theater (a concept drawing is pictured at left). This custom theater was built from the ground up specifically to showcase Halo 2. The theater seats about 65 people and comes with all the bells and whistles you’d expect (complete with hypnotic control rays for our diabolical world domination plans). By the way, this ‘aint just another movie. The original Halo 2 announce trailer was an in-engine cinematic that was prepared in advance and released to the world. This time around, the E3 demo will consist of 100% bona fide in-engine gameplay and cinematics. Bungie team members like our Director of Cinematics, Joseph Staten, will be personally playing through the demo for everyone to experience. It’s been said a bunch already but I can honestly say after seeing this impressive display countless times around the office – It’s good. Oh so good. It might be a good idea to pack some extra under shorts because we can’t be responsible for what might happen. As mentioned in my last story, we don’t have concrete plans for an online release yet but once we get back from E3 we’ll regroup and explore options for sharing this demo with the world.

Bungie.net has a post from Matt Soell saying that Halo 2 will definitely not ship during 2003 - sources close to the company say the first quarter of 2004 is the current target. 'There has been much speculation regarding Halo 2's release date since we announced the game last year. The fact is we don't like announcing release dates unless we're certain we'll meet the deadline.' Read more for the full statement...

Halo 2, a sci-fi action/first-person shooter game, is a full sequel to the best-selling original and will continue the story of the Master Chief, a genetically enhanced supersoldier who is the only man that has successfully defied the Covenant, a coalition of alien races on a murderous march toward Earth. “Halo 2” surpasses its predecessor both in graphical beauty and combat intensity. Bungie has released 4 new Halo2 screens, read more to check them out ...

A few houers ago we tossed up the announcement about Halo 2 is coming to X-Box.. Now we got the first screens from this version, so enjoy them below!

Microsoft Game Studios Announces 'Halo 2' and 'Project Gotham Racing 2,' Highly Anticipated Sequels to Top-Selling Xbox Games.. Microsoft Corp. today announced at the X02 North America event that "Halo 2" and "Project Gotham Racing 2," sequels to best-selling Xbox games from Microsoft Game Studios, are in development for the Xbox video game system. "Halo 2," developed by Bungie Studios, is expected to arrive on store shelves for the 2003 holiday season, and "Project Gotham Racing 2," developed by Bizarre Creations, is due in early 2004.

"WE WANT IT. You want it. Everybody wants to know what's really going on with Halo 2. We know. Other than confirming its coming, Microsoft has been very coy about the game, repeatedly dodging everyone's questions. Everyone, that is, except for Official UK Xbox Magazine."