Of course, Microsoft promises that Halo 2 will be both bigger and more ferocious than ever before, with intense second-generation visuals and more space marine combat than you can shake a pulse rifle at. Take a look at these first screens from the trailer screened at the X02 event earlier this morning (the same trailer that will eventually be released by Microsoft for online downloading soon). While no official comments were made, the images appear to be taken from real-time in-game cut scenes of the title, which is running on a brand-new, finely tuned engine sporting awesome new lighting effects. Check out the texture design on Master Chief's gun, for example and marvel at how Bungie pulls off that "worn" metal look on his armor.

"Our code squeezes every drop of power out of the Xbox," said one of Halo 2's engineering leads, Chris Butcher. "We're doing dynamic lighting and shadows, per-pixel everything, rendering gigantic, lush environments. The graphical features we're using are so advanced we don't even have buzzwords for them yet."

Although story and gameplay details are still secretive, it was revealed that the Master Chief will return, armed to the teeth with brand new weaponry, and will have even more drivable vehicles to at his disposal throughout his new missions. Brand new Covenant forces will also join the mix, in addition to some new foes that are still under wraps at this point. Fans who experienced the original can already begin to imagine what kind of thrills the future may hold with the sequel.

Perhaps the biggest lure to Halo 2 will again be the multiplayer aspect -- this time both online and split-screen. Lead designer Jaime Griesemer comments, "we still have the multiplayer game-types that people loved in Halo, but we're planning something special for multiplayer in Halo 2. I don't want to ruin the surprise, but imagine the essential Halo single-player experience: pitched battles between the humans and the Covenant, massive vehicle and infantry engagements. Now imagine that every combatant is an actual person playing over Xbox Live!"