Celebrate Halo 2's 20th Anniversary By Playing Its Iconic E3 2003 Demo Very Soon

Halo 2's iconic E3 2003 demo, much of which did not appear in the final game when it launched a year later, will finally be playable next week via a Steam Workshop mod for Halo: The Master Chief Collection on PC, just in time for Halo 2's 20th anniversary.

The mod will be available for free and will release November 9, the same day Halo 2 released in 2004. In the demo, Master Chief rides in a Pelican to the Earth city of New Mombasa, where he meets up with embattled UNSC Marines and battles his way through the city streets. After boarding and hijacking an enemy Ghost (a new gameplay feature added in Halo 2), Chief escapes from a pursuing Phantom dropship, only to find himself surrounded by Covenant drop pods filled with Energy Sword-wielding Elites. As he pulls out a plasma grenade, Cortana tells Chief "Bet you can't stick it," to which Chief replies, "You're on" before throwing himself at the Elites as the screen fades to white. All the while Martin O'Donnell's instantly recognizable score plays.

It made a powerful impression back in the day. In an Xbox Wire blog post, Halo community director Brian Jarrard, who previously worked at Halo 2 developer Bungie, said the stakes and energy going into E3 2003 were off the charts.

Celebrate Halo 2's 20th Anniversary By Playing Its Iconic E3 2003 Demo Very Soon

Celebrate Halo 2's 20th Anniversary By Playing Its Iconic E3 2003 Demo Very Soon

Celebrate Halo 2's 20th Anniversary By Playing Its Iconic E3 2003 Demo Very Soon

Celebrate Halo 2's 20th Anniversary By Playing Its Iconic E3 2003 Demo Very Soon

Celebrate Halo 2's 20th Anniversary By Playing Its Iconic E3 2003 Demo Very Soon