Halo 2 Prepped for Holiday Xbox Launch

The countdown to Halo 2 has begun. The long waited sequel to Bungie Studios' smash hit Halo will hit the shelves November 9, just in time for the holiday season.

In Halo 2, the Covenant -- an alien race bent on the absolute destruction of mankind -- has targeted Earth. All that stands between the citizens of the blue orb and annihilation is a genetically altered "super solider" named Master Chief.

Master Chief will not go it alone - the Bungie team has brainstormed an entirely new arsenal of weaponry to complement advances to gameplay and the game's programming.  Halo fanatics will notice improved graphics, a real-time lighting engine and interactive environments- all destructible of course. The Covenant will present an even more formidable foe for the Master Chief thanks in large part to enhanced artificial intelligence.

To top it all off, Halo 2 leverage Microsoft's latest Xbox Live interactive gaming technology codenamed Tsunami.

Tsunami features a flood of new features like online storage, in-game voice messages, the ability to organize into teams, enter into competitions, integration with MSN Instant Messenger, and eventually even video conferencing.

An aggressive marketing campaign will prelude the game's arrival. To wet the lips of enthusiasts, Microsoft has announced that it making a limited edition copy of Halo 2 available, which arrives inside of a collectible metal box with a second DVD that includes special content. No further information on the pre-order program is available at this time.