There aren't many people out there who had been more anticipating the release of this game than I had. Expectations were high and I think that I can say that, for the most part, Halo 2 is everything that I was hoping that it would be. Let me start off by saying that Halo 2 improves on almost every aspect of the original Halo. any complaints that I have with the game aren't because they are worse, rather that I was hoping that Bungie would have improved them more. The most noticible flaw that I see in the game is easily the level design. While it's certainly not as bad as the previous game (where entire levels were made out of one or two rooms repeated over and over again) there is certainly some repetition in the interior rooms, particularly later in the game. Usually you'll only see a room 2 or 3 times though when it is done and this is easily over shadowed by the outdoor environments. The signature of the Halo series has been its massive outdoor environments, and Halo 2 takes this even further than the first game. The sense that the game gives that you are actually in this world and in the middle of this galactic war is, in my opinion, unmatched in any other game out there. I would advise playing through on Normal the first time you play, even if you are a veteran from the first game you are going to want to have the time to look around you and enjoy the amazing settings that Bungie has created. This feeling is helped by the fact that, like the original, there are no loading scenes in the entire game. The only loading screen you will see is when you start the game. From there on out you'll only see minor hitches like in the first game as the next area loads. Bungie has obviously wrung every last ounce of graphical capabilities out of the Xbox with Halo 2. The character models and textures may not be as good as recent games such as Chronicles of Riddick, but for a game with areas probably 20 times larger they come pretty damn close. The cutscenes are a vast improvement over the original game as well. They may not be FMV and the textures tend to pop in a few seconds after the scene starts, but they look great for in engine cut scenes and do an adequate job of progressing the story. The music, as well as the rest of the sounds in Halo 2 is absolutely prefect. Seriously, I can't think of a single complaint about any aspect of the sound. There has been a lot of talk about the Halo 2 story line since it was released. Obviously opinions of the story line are subjective but I'll just say that I thought it was excellent. It did a great job of expanding the game universe while still staying true to the core aspects of the original game. A lot of people seem to be bothered by the cliff hanger ending, but I thought that it was suitable. No one likes to be kept waiting for a sequel, but they are done well the entire series will be better in the end. And then of course there is the multiplayer. Let me say one thing, the multiplayer is pectically perfect. It is by far the most addictive and entertaining experience I have had online on any platform. At first I was a little put off. Due to the fact that Bungie wants the rankings to be fair there were very few filters that could be used when choosing a game. You essentially picked the size of game that you wanted and whether you wanted a team game or free for all and that was it. However I have come around due to two things. First of all this really opened my eyes to a lot of the game types and maps that I had been avoiding. Second, Bungie has done an excellent job of continually updating the experience and adding new games types. The party system is also excellent, as long as you have enough friends to play. It really captures the spirit of the system link in the original, letting you go from game to game to game with the same group of people. And then there is Bungie.net. Bungie.net had just about every bit of info you could want to know about halo. You can view the post game carnage reports from every game that you have ever played. You can see all the stats of you teammates and opponents as well. I think the most inspired aspect of bungie.net is the game viewer though. You need to go check this out at least once after an online game. Teh game viewer is essentially a group of shots of the various multiplayer maps from a variety of different angles. For every single game you have played you can look at these maps and see where you were for every kill, what weapon you used, where your opponent was, as well as all of the same info for everyone in the game. It really is incredible. Multiplayer really is where the true Halo 2 experience is at and it promisses to only get better.
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
