Halo 2

I was a big halo 1 fan, I loved the game loved the story and thought it was amazing. Halo 1 was defiantly the golden-eye of next gen. But is halo 2.

GAMEPLAY 8/10 - Gameplay was fun a big improvement from the last game in every way. But nothing really new was added to the game play making it pretty much the same thing just more crafted. But it was still fun and I enjoyed it. Even though it was very repetitive just like the first game. and there really wasn't much to the game play besides killing mindless aliens.

GRAPHICS 9/10 - Graphics where well done, a big improvement from the first game considering the fact that both where made for the same system. All the models and textures where well done. Defiantly well done.

STORY 4/10 - Stroy, here is where the game loses its points. The story was rushed. The first game was simple and full of surprize's. Halo 2 added all these new creatures and all these new halo rings and characters that didn't really fit. The game didn't really have a ending and if it did it sucked. Also because the story lacked the levels lacked and you didn't really know what you where playing for. Also the game is WAY TO EASY. The first time through can take an average person under 10 hours no problem.

Muilty player 10/10 - Muilty player was defiantly an improvement from the last one. IT fixed up all the problems with the last one and made it 10 times better. This is the only reason people will play this game after they beat it.

OVERALL 7/10 - I know I gave a lot of it good reviews but I still feel like there was something missing in this sequel. Something that the first game had and this game doesn't. People always think that if it has good graphics it makes it a good game, there wrong its game play and the game play was to much of the same. The first game was repetitive and this game was pretty much the same as the first but better graphics.

and story is an important part because it motivates you to beat the level and helps you know what your playing for. But the only reason people beat this game was hoping the story would get good, or just to tell there friends they beat HALO 2.

Halo was a hugely original, unique game that offered an unprecedented method of playability to the gamer. Halo 2 expands in every way; graphics, narrative, character, accessories. This time it offers you the covenant perspective as you play another character, ARBITER; a disgraced covenant elite who must stop a rebellion in the galaxy; along with the consummate professional MASTER CHIEF as he vows to stop the destruction of Earth during the war. HALO 2 reeks of quality; nice fine touches of witty, purposeful additions to appeal to the hardcore, loyal players of the original; rock music used in the BUNGIE opener; Johnson and Chief at the awards ceremony; Captain Keyes daughter's introduction; the return of Blood Gulch in the multiplayer. Hell; this is so far the best sequel to a game ever. Ever!!!! Halo 2 is a sweeping; hugely epic adrenaline shot straight to the heart, with occasional cinematic breaks directed by the legendary Joseph Staten; of course the real battle begins when you clock the game on easy, normal and hard; and you find your way barely breathing through LEGENDARY mode. I can say that; as i have completed the game, it finishes comparably to the Matrix 2; you know there's going to be a third and it ends rather abruptly which is one of my main gripes; damn the excitement, this is not halo 2 but halo vanilla. A perfect consumer product that diversifies but never quite fulfills expectations as to the original. I would expect Halo 3 to ship in no more than 3 years time; rounding up the story with a thrilling climax; the end of a trilogy, the best FPS trilogy created by man...well, BUNGIE then (they're not quite human y'see) and if sales records are anything to go by it will probably be the best selling game ever. You owe your forty quid, your twenty hours time and infinite fun to BUNGIE; slaving away under fluorescent bulbs to perfect their craft! C'mon guys; the next step; TOTAL WORLD WIDE DOMINATION!!!

Halo is probably one of the hardest games in history to follow-up. But alas, after three years of waiting, the fans are finally served a huge amount of 'Flippin sweet' in this incredible masterpiece that shouldn't be even considered a game. Halo 2 creates a genre of its own. It's still a first person shooter, but there are so many things about this game that put it into this 'own genre' I like to call: Impossibly good. Its so awesome that it is nearly inevitable to play for hours on end just to beat your friend down for that one-millionth time in a multiplayer game. So what if the ending is a huge cliffhanger? The games story is so excellent and mezmorizing, its easy to forget about it. Awesome doesn't even kiss the feet of Halo 2.

Halo 2, hmm....I thought I might try it out, I mean, I only spent 100000000 hours on the first one...

Anyway, this game is good. REALLY good. As a matter of fact, so good that if you have an Xbox and don't own this game, you should slap yourself.

I thought I might start on the story mode when i got it. Halo 2 begins with a ship orbiting Earth being attacked and of course, you as the chief, must save it. OK, and then you go down to Earth for a kick-butt battle (sorta) and then what? Well, the Covenant general in charge of protecting Halo is still alive, but he has been sentenced to death by the Covenant. However, the Prophets refute this death sentence and instead make him into the legendary Arbiter. Arbiter is the other main character introduced in Halo 2.

Chief discovers a new Halo and he is sent down to destroy it, and actually kills the prophet of regret, however, he becomes outmatched by the Prophetic Guards that guard the water pyramids. An odd creature captures him and Arbiter, so they meet for the first time. The odd creature transports them to find a key; he transports Chief to the Prophets' capital ship and Arbiter to a jungle area on Halo. However, the flood take hold of the ship and you are left to deal with both the flood and the Covenant Army. Meanwhile, Arbiter deals with the Covenant Brute Chief, Tartarus. Chief manges to escape the ship. Arbiter makes friendly with the general of Earth's army, a girl who I don't know the purpose of, and everybodys favorite character, Monitor (or Oracle, whatever). The game ends in a cliff hanger, Arbiter and the gang learn of the "Ark" from the Monitor and Chief zooms toward Earth to end the Covenant war by killing the final Prophet, the Prophet of Truth.

Yes, you do not end the crisis in Halo 2. However, I didn't beat legendary mode yet...(!!!) But anyway, I was sooo disappointed with the end, I ran to multi player. multi player online in Halo 2 is utterly so INCREDIBLY AWESOME I don't think that there is one word in the dictionary that can explain it. Let's just leave it at that.

Story: Ending: 1/10 Sniff, sniff Story: Other than Ending: 9.4/10 Co-Op- 10/10 Online: 10/10 because ratings unfortunately cant go higher... OVERALL: A+

Except for the ending.

Just beat the game an hour ago, if there is such a thing when playing this game. I'm going to do something different and speak on the issues I had with this game, then I'll speak on the pros.

First, the Cons: 1. The BIGGEST problem, and I shouldn't say problem as much as irritation, was the fact that every time you change weapons/go to single-wield mode, you DROP your off-hand weapon. Personally, I don't believe the OH weapon should be discarded; it should be put back into your inventory just like your second weapon in the primary hand.

2. AI. Now, I know A lot of people out there will disagree with me, but my beef with the AI is simple; the Humans seemed to be more.. I don't know.. dumber than the Covenant AI. That's the best way I can put it; the Covenant seemed to play with more tactics than their Human counterparts. There were even times I had to go track them down from areas I just left just so they would continue the advance with me. I never seemed to have this problem with Covenant.

3. This is another irritation, but less of a hemorrhoid than the weapon-switching. I noticed that certain weapons and vehicles were reduced in their damage, damage radius, or effectiveness. Let's start with the frag grenade; the blast radius seemed to be reduced. Same with the Rocket Launcher (the lock-on mechanism more than made up for it). Scorpions; their damage and damage radius definitely been noticeably reduced (although the frequency in firing compensates very nicely).

Now for the Pros: 1. Everything.

Side notes: -- I haven't played the game online, although I doubt much of the mechanics of game play will change. The online environment will remove 1/3 of my gripes, so I'm sure it'll be a pleasurable gaming experience.

-- I'm a little disappointed at how short the game was. I read somewhere that game originally had 90mins of dialogue, but they reduced it to 50mins for brevity's sake. I'm sure we all would have enjoyed seeing this missing footage in the game.

-- I was surprised as hell when the game put me in the eyes of the Covenant.

That was a refreshing change. In fact, I don't know about the rest of you H2'ers, but I actually PREFER playing as the Arbiter than as MC (I know, that's blasphemy). I see more of an advantage in the stealth that the Arbiter brings than I do the light that MC can emit (even though it lasts for like 10 seconds).

-- Favorite weapons: Shotgun, Plasma Blade, Dual Plasma Rifles (BLUE!!!), Beam Rifle, Rocket Launcher, Needler. Notice that I list very little Human weapons; mainly because they need no reloading. There are those that argue that the reload factor means that you will always have a weapon that is capable of firing. All you need is ammunition; plasma weapons run out of ammunition at some point, which makes them useless. My counter argument is that I found very little ammunition throughout the game, but multitudes of discarded Covenant weapons; more so than Human. Also, if you've played the game, you'll know what I mean when I tell you that there are battles that require every second of your attention. Reloading takes away from that. I chose the Beam Rifle explicitly because it needs no reloading. In melee combat, nothing comes close to the Plasma Blade; next would be the Shotgun. Careful regulation of trigger pulling will keep you from overheating your Plasma Rifles. The Rocket Launcher.. well, that needs no explanation. And the Needler has been improved since the first game; it seems to be stronger.

I also like the fact that it sticks to your opponents, then blows them up.

-- Word of advice. Should you ever come across Brutes, Honor Guards, or their equivalent as Flood, and you find that conventional weapons fire isn't doing the trick.... a well placed Plasma Grenade does the trick. Saved my @ss more than once; just make sure you have room to flee.

-- I can't wait for Halo 3... and when you beat the game, you'll agree with me too (hint, hint).

Protocol, the amateur critic. L8.