Summary

After three years of waiting, after reading countless previews and scanning thousands of magazines for pre-release screen shots until my eyes turned bloodshot with strain, after counting the seconds until I could race to the store and pick up my limited edition copy, I finally got my hands on what could possibly be the most anticipated game ever made. Unfortunately (and I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for this), I cannot honestly say that I am completely elated with the final result. Halo 2 is, in its own right, an amazing game, don't get me wrong. However, I feel that after years of media hype, this title does not live up to the high expectations it set for itself. When I first popped the game into my Xbox, I was expecting it to hit with a maelstrom of new features and vast improvements over those presented in the original Halo. I was extremely disappointed to discover that the game does very little to build upon the foundation it already built for itself. A few new weapons have been added, but most are just suped-up knockoffs of other guns, and do not add any new dimensions of play (with the possible exception of the brute shot). And while being able to dual-wield certain guns and hijack vehicles adds some spice to the mix, these features seem to be there more for the novelty value than anything else. In addition, I was extremely disappointed to learn that they have done away with the health bar of old, which takes away from a good deal of the strategy that made the old game so appealing. Low on health? Just find some cover and wait for the shield to regenerate, then you're back in the fray again. On the plus side, Halo 2 does improve in several other areas. The graphics engine, which has been totally redone, looks positively amazing now, and many of the cutscenes (alone with a terrific soundtrack) look more like a live action movie than a game. And if it's frenzied, fast-paced action you want, Halo 2 delivers it... in spades. There is no lull in the excitement, as the game moves seamlessly from one insane firefight to the next. More intelligent and resourceful AI (both on your side and the enemies') make things more intense than they ever could be in the original. In conclusion, I'm not saying that Halo 2 is necessarily a bad game, just more of the same (which is why it gets a 4/5 in my book). But don't be worried, old fans of the series as well as rookies will surely get their heaping helpings of gaming goodness here.

Sound

See Overall Review

Gameplay

See Overall Review

Summary

Intro “Pick me up! Pick me up! I’ve got the flag!” This pretty much describes the last three years of my friends and I. I can’t even count the hours spent playing this legendary game. If you don’t yet know what I’m talking about, you have lived a sheltered life. Halo for the Xbox gaming system is one of the greatest games of all time and if you haven’t played it, stop reading right now and buy yourself a copy. Otherwise, sit back, relax, and enjoy this review. Conclusion Halo 2 is definitely Xbox game of the year and maybe even the best game ever. Its outstanding campaign tied together with the everlasting multiplayer will hold fans over until Halo 3. If you really liked Halo or even if you thought it was just O.K., Halo 2 is still the game for you. Now stop reading and snag a copy of this game!

Sound

Sound Halo 2 must be played on a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound system. You are missing out if you are just using two speakers. The game processes sounds as you play so if an enemy is behind you shooting, you will be able to tell and turn around because of the rear speakers. Most of the sounds in the game are right-on and sound like their real life counterparts. The same voice-acting is back and is average, to say the least. A major innovation in the online play is something called “proximity voice.” If an opponent is in your vicinity, they can make contact with you. For instance, right before you melee someone from behind, you can whisper something like “turn around,” right before you whack em’.

Gameplay

Gameplay Bungie added many new features this time around. One major addition is the ability to dual-wield. This brings a whole new dimension and strategy to the game. Almost all weapons can be dual-wielded. Notable exceptions are one-handed weapons such as the shotgun, rocket launcher, sniper rifle, battle rifle, and the carbine. Try using plasma pistol/SMG or magnum/SMG for the deadliest combo. Another feature is vehicle hijacking. It’s great feeling to knock an elite out of a ghost or wraith. The campaign mode is a breeze on the easy and normal levels, challenging on heroic, and impossible on legendary. The levels are nice and varied from outdoor earth levels to covenant levels inside spaceships. The enemy A.I. (artificial intelligence) is well done as grunts dodge grenades and others actually snipe you with the beam rifle. Compared to Halo, Halo 2’s gameplay by some may seem inferior, but after a few days, one will adjust. Overall, gameplay is awfully similar to its prequel, which is a good thing. It’s like Halo with gravy on top. Multiplayer Gameplay If Halo 2’s single player is a small McDonald’s combo, its multiplayer is supersize. This is what makes the game. Split screen and system link are back again but the Xbox Live factor extends the replay value tenfold and is designed brilliantly. Up to 16 players can play at once over the internet. Your friends list is easily accessible with a press of the ‘y’ button and you can instantly invite them to join your party. Once in a party, you can play either custom or ranked games. Custom games can have any game settings and levels you desire but ranked games are set in stone. They are chosen from something that Bungie calls “matchmaking playlists.” These games count toward your level, or rank, and separate the men from the boys. Bungie’s goal is to have every game be competitive. They match you up with people close to your level. If you keep winning, you move up levels and face tougher opponents. In the end, things balance out and you end up playing close games all of the time. This feature allows for more entertaining and challenging games. Communication with teammates can be done with headsets and the white button and is convenient in times of peril. My only complaint about multiplayer is the “cheating” that goes on. There are many glitches that need to be fixed so that all games will be fair. An example of one of these glitches is the “dummying” glitch. This allows a player to ride shotgun in a warthog invisible and invincible. They can be then dropped off next to the flag, pick it up, and be transported back to base. Other than this, playing online is a blast.

Summary

I think that Halo 2 is going to be, once again, game of the year. I enjoyed the 1st Halo but I found many of the levels repetitive and boring. They fixed that problem in Halo 2 by having very little repetitiveness. All in all I think this may be the greatist FPS ever made.

Sound

Ah Yes the sound. Well I thought the sound was awesome. The gun SFX were realistic as were the explosions and the death of enemies. I also thought it was cool that they used celebrities as marines. I think that the sound was realistic and great.

Gameplay

The Gameplay in Halo 2 is great. The campaign was great and long but it just left me wanting more. Me and my friends found a few glitches in the multiplayer level Coagulation. The glitch is that near the beck of each base you can drive vehicles up the wall. But everything else in the multiplayer is great. At first I didn't like Bungie having control in what and who I play but then you realize that just about every game they match you in, it's perfectly even teams. I'm still awaiting content download but I think they are going to wait a little bit. All of the game modes are awesome and challenging. They still have all the original games like CTF and Slayer but they also added games like Juggernaut, Oddball, and Territories. They even expanded on the original games. I think that it's great that they allow you to operate just about every covenant vehicle. It's also cool that you aren't hurt when you fall. This feature allows new tactical doors to be opened such as jumping down and killing someone with the sword or dropping into an enemy base by jumping out of a Banshee. Oh I almost forgot!!! Weapons,Weapons,Weapons!!! There's probably about 4X the amount of weapons than the last one. The new weapons include: Brute Shots, Brute Plasma Rifles, Covenant Carbines, Particle Beam Rifles, Covenant Energy Swords, Fuel Rod Guns,M6C Pisols, BR55 Rifles, M7/Caseless Suc Machine Gun, and the M68 Gauss Cannon(vehicle mounted). Oh, and one last thing. The duel wielding feel odd at first but then it becomes one of the coolest things ever. All in all I thought the gameplay was much better than the first.

Summary

the campaign was very good but there were onley two levels on earth and i was looking forword to the game being on earth.

Sound

the sound is out standing and they wouldn't leave out sound when there was alot of it[unless there is lag(witch happens very unoften)].

Gameplay

the gameplay was very exciting and well done

Summary

I think I have to start like most people have when reviewing this game. I'll start by saying Halo 2 is a great game in that it has all the things you would expect a great game to have, the graphics are nice, the sound is brilliant and the gameplay is almost flawless. However, if you are a seasoned Halo player I'm sure you have picked out certain things this game lacks which made H1 so good. Firstly the game's story line is not as solid and appears to be very rushed, the irritating combination of caractors may be to some people's taste but personally I don't like playing as the Arbiter, the sole purpose of the Halo campaign is to wipe out the Covenant, not to assist them. I have noticed various graphical glitches during cut seens whereby sprites just pop up out of nowhere which seems a little unpolished in my opinion. For somebody who has not played or played very little of the original this game would be fantastic as it does not differ hugely from Halo 1 but I found myself wanting to pick up the greatly missed assult riffle but had to settle for the feeble and unaffective Battle Riffle alternative. Its small things like this that let Halo 2 down. It seems clear that for some strange reason Bungie favour the Covenant over the humans. In this game the majority of the time you are forced to use Covenant weapons which is irritating. The feeble selection of human weapons are few and far between and not very satisfying to use. This is something that Halo 1 had spot on, all through the game you could pretty much choose what weapons you wanted to use regardless of where you were in the game. I am tired of being forced to use Plasma riffles all of the time. Bring back the Pistol from H1 and give us a proper Riffle and we'll all be happy.

Sound

This is where Halo 2 really shines, the sound is awsome, lovely orchestral scores and thumping milatary tracks really add to the experience, the weapons all sound nice and chunky so thumbs up on the sound.

Gameplay

The Gameplay was a dead-curt from the start, all Bungie had to do was stick to the original formular and they would be onto a winner, the fun element still remains but for seasoned players its nothing we haven't seen before.