There has been much hype about Halo 2 {H2} because the original Halo was THE game to own on the Xbox and its one of the greatest FPS ever created. Question is, does H2 live up to hype generated by the marketing machine or does it disappoint. With that said, H2 is not just an incredible game, but its overall package with the Single-Player campaign {SP} and Multiplayer {MP} component that seems to really one up every other FPS on consoles to date. What makes H2 so much better than the first one? Well, Bungie has been able to achieve that rare thing in gaming today, where the sum of its parts really outweighs what’s come before it on console platforms or any game previously in a franchise such as this. H2 achieves a seamless balance between Story, Gameplay, AI, SP, MP, Graphics, Sound, and Replayability. H2 has one of the best Sci-Fi stories currently on-going in games today. The tale of the last Spartan trying to stop the Covenant from destroying the human race, only to find out its not really the Covenant minions we have to worry about as much as the lying Prophets and The Flood. In H2, the story has many cut-scenes unfolding the events from both the Covenant and the Human perspective, which was quite a surprise to many to find out that the Arbiter and Master Chief {MC} are not so different in what they are both trying to achieve for their race. The cliffhanger ending may anger some, but honestly it’s good look forward to Halo 3 and makes you want to know what happens. Half-Life 2 also has a cliffhanger and most games worth their weight in gold make you want more. Gameplay in H2 is some of the best and most satisfying of any game on any platform. There are a variety of ways to accomplish each objective, which really creates some enormous replayability. The various weapons, dual-welding, vehicular action, vehicle jacking, and playing between the MC and Arbiter really goes a long way to create a non stop adventure that’s so seamless, you constantly can’t wait for what’s next. Although, the dual-welding has been done before. It’s a blast in H2 to try the different combinations of weapons to determine which are most effective. The vehicle jacking as such a blast. Trying to steal a vehicle from an Elite or having them steal yours creates such fun and its priceless in online games as well. The new weapons Carbide Fuel Rod, Brute Shot, are all nice in their own right, but welding the Elite Plasma Sword really changes gameplay up and is a devastating weapon to use. The new Drone Covenant are especially nice in their movements and are a nice touch to advance enemy depth. What puts H2 over the top for me is the limitless replay gamers will find in the multiplayer on Xbox Live. H2 has such a complete set of maps, game modes, game modification abilities, clan support, and stat tracking that it really is head and shoulders above anything ever on a console. Many have complained about how they are disappointed they can’t chose a specific map and game mode in QuickMatch and OptiMatch. What gamers fail to realize is that these games are not running on dedicated servers so there would be no way to create an interface that would list current games by map, game mode, and availability to choose from. What H2 does instead is search Xbox Live and matches plays of close to the same skill level and configures it to run on the player with the fastest connection and this results in silky smooth online play that is lag free. There will be plenty of downloadable content on the horizon and H2 online will live on for years after Xbox 2 comes out or until Halo 3 arrives. The AI in the Halo series is the bar to judge other FPS by. The Covenant and other Halo enemies are known for reacting tactically against the player. They run away, duck, roll, and use cover to their advantage. At times they will advance on your position in numbers but they use cover to make it a challenge to eliminate them. Some gamers have stated the game is short. It takes about 10 hours on Normal, but that’s not where H2 excels. The harder Heroic and Legendary modes AI will double the length of the SP campaign easily. Bungie created a new graphics engine to optimize the Xbox hardware and man its awesome. H2 has the best Xbox graphics next to Ninja Gaiden and Chronicles of Riddick. The Normal Mapping gives everything in the environments an incredible sheen and lighting to them. Extensive Bump Mapping and Specular lighting effects are used. Complaints have been made about the Normal Mapping POP’s {or instant graphic model loading} that occur in a few of the games cut scenes. What gamers fail to realize is that’s the price you pay to limit loading times and create a game that runs seamlessly from start to finish and never pulls you out of its immersive atmosphere. The cut-scenes are generated in real-time using the games graphics engine instead of prerecorded CGI scenes. This means there are no loading times between the end of each level the cut-scene and the start of the next level. The POP’s are infrequent and only occur for a split second, and you really have to pay attention to notice them. If by some chance these occur for you more often then maybe your graphics chip in your Xbox isn’t working to spec, because I have played H2 thoroughly on both my Xboxs and rarely do I see the POP’s occur and it never occurs in game for me. The sound is rich, deep, and enveloping. The Covenant characters are voice acted by many recognizable Hollywood actors and they have done a great job on making the cut-scenes believable and non-cheesy. Keith David who plays the Arbiter is especially incredible with his deep rich voice. Great Job Bungie on determining the talent you wanted voicing the characters. In conclusion, everything about the H2 speaks of quality. The Graphics, Story, Gameplay, Online, New Enemies, Weapons and Vehicles, AI and Voice Acting rounds out one of the greatest packages in a game to date. H2 is the very pinnacle of FPS on Consoles and has such polish everyone should experience this game. If you’re a fan of the series, I need not have to convince you. H2 will consume your life. For, those wondering what all the fuse is about, you need to experience this game. If there ever was a system selling game created its Halo 2 and it’s only on the Xbox.
By Madskillz999 | Review Date: Dec 23, 2005 | XBOX
I'm finally ready with the review of this awesome game! First off, this is obviously the sequel to the hugely popular initial Halo game. You are Master Chief, a space marine who is sent out to battle the enemies. You... Read Full Review
Halo 2 is a worthy sequel to Halo. While the story does lack in some parts, overall, the game is still excellent, one of the best games ever. To get the bad points out of the way, i didn't like the single player campaig... Read Full Review
