Halo 2

Most people have focused on the poor storyline and huge anti-climax. However, though the storyline could have been written on the back of an envolope (and probably was), this doesn't really matter to me (Doom 3 has no story to speak of and thats still great). The problem I have is with the levels themselves. With the exception of a few outdoor levels such as Cairo (arguably the game's highest point) most of the game sees you running into a room, killing all the aliens in it, perhaps picking up a new weapon and running into..exactly the same room again, with the same aliens in slightly different positions.

Also, a few more levels set on Earth would have been nice as the Covenant ships and cities were very similar to the areas in the original, especially seeing as Earth was one of the many points that were really hyped up.

The first Halo game made me want to replay it over and over again, trying to complete it on all the difficulty settings but this one, I completed it once on Heroic when I got it and have never had any inclination to play it again.

I understand this review is very biased as I haven't covered the multiplayer, which to be fair is probably the best xbox live has to offer, but this has been detailed in just about every other review and so I haven't bothered.

Its a good while later and Halo 2 has surfaced AGAIN on a massive wave of hype. By this time I've added an Xbox to my GC and PS2 setup but decided to steer away from the hype machine again, frothing fanboys and whatnot. I waited a couple of months down the line and finally picked it up. So what does Halo 2 offer?

Well for one the storyline aspect of the game has been fully ramped up, all gloriously realised in one of the best graphics engines I've seen in a long time. I like a nice adventuresome one player game and Halo 2 does the business. Twists and turns are thrown in to the story line to great effect. Greater depth in exploring the motives and characteristics behind the Covenant and the Flood give the Halo universe an added dimention. While I played the game through I realised why it was a good decision NOT to investigate every morsel of information that there is out there for the game. The joy is in the experience, hence not dissecting the plot details here in this review. Some of the cut scenes such as the descent to Earth and the battles down on the planet are mindblowing.

The vehicles play a much greater part in proceedings. Scenes with many Warthogs buzzing around fighting with Ghosts and Wraiths are more frequent and a nice diversion to the foot based action.

When it comes to the mechanics of the game, its pretty much the same. The dual wield option for weapons is a nice new touch and something that adds yet another tactical play to the 'you can only hold two weapons at one time' approach. Pick up two handheld guns and you can start loosing off some serious damage, you do this at the expense of being able to chuck grenades around.

The health meter has been abandoned, your Master Chief has only his shield to protect him. If it goes down and you start taking flack, you're going to cack it so you have to take advantage of the terrain and hide. New weapons have been added to the game with grenade launchers, Covenant sniper rifles (which are LETHAL if you're on the recieving end of them) and fuel rod cannons giving a bit more depth to both sides methods of attack. Also you encounter a new breed of Covenant, the Brutes. Big viscious ape like creatures which are NOT fun to encounter when they bezerk.

The difficulty is nicely pitched, the levels again granting you a wider array of bad guys, weapons and scenarios to test you as the game progresses. Normal mode only provided a few stumpers and is pretty much on a par with the originals Normal mode, Heroic took me about 2 weeks to get through. Tactics have to be modified for this difficulty level, you just can't go wading into the action with any weapon and guns blazing. Legendary is a bit TOO nails for me right now! But there is something to challenge all out there.

The best addition to this game may even take this FPS past Golden eye in the legendary stakes. Not only can you gather around a TV with your mates to play, but you can take advantage of the Live online play. Ace. I love this because it gives me a chance to take on my mates who are scattered around various towns in the UK. Plus nothing beats taking on real people rather than a computer AI.

Now try your best and avoid all hype and opinion about this game. I've scanned through the reviews on this site to see some UTTER pish being spouted about the game ... if this can win over someone who HATES the hype engine then there has to be something to it. The game IS just as long, the one player mode IS just as good if not better for the added cinematic style, it IS just as challenging and it IS more rewarding. Some of the arguments against the game are about as superficial as you can get. If you're going to lay anything against this game it is the occasional pop up that happens in the cut scenes and the VERY occasinonal slowdown when everything gets a bit too hectic. This is all far and few between and such a little gripe to take away from what is essentially a simple yet rewarding experience.

Grab it, be astounded and don't let anyone tell you any different... you will be hooked.

Secondly if you go into this game with high expectations, you will probably come out the other side of completing it with a sort of dissatisfaction, this is because too many of us are comparing this to the prequel! As with any sequel if you compare it to the groundbreaking, amazing prequel you will generally be disapointed.
If however, you just accept that this game is a good, fun game with great graphics, superb and fun multiplayer and a decent hero too then you will have a lot more fun with Halo2 than is possible with so many comparisons.

Finally if you have XBOX LIVE then you have to get this game, it is so much fun to drive around in a jeep with a machine gun with three other people shouting like nutters whilst caning everyone in your path only to be blown up by a rocket launcher!

The game does live up to the promise of good graphics and gameplay but in no means does it out do halo combat evolved or live up to the hype made. It has basically dug a ditch for itself by having so much hype.

The game of course plays extremely well, looks great but the game is supposed to be set on a good story which it isn't. It lets itself down. Lots of the objectives are utterly pointless and some levels leave you dashing past things that you would want to slow down and take a look at. In these levels stopping would mean getting killed, which leaves absolutely no room for exploring. The good gameplay or graphics do not compensate for the story as the end is the worst ending in gaming history. It leaves it open for halo 3 which is good, but they could have tied a few knots first.

The game could have definitely been longer. One person said that halo 2 was better than halo as you didn't have to go back and fore a level. Such as Assault on the control room and two betrayals. But i for one think that if this makes the level longer and more enjoyable go for it. So even if there are more levels in halo 2 they don't make the game longer than halo 1.
A level in halo 2 is just part of a level in halo 1. I would much rather fewer levels so that the game could have been longer.

But all in all it is a good game a tad disappointing but a good game. After all, if halo 1 wasn't made first and halo 2 was. Then everyone would think it was superb and the best game around. We were spoilt with the first game and really should stop trying to compare them.

Definitely a good game to buy with lots of extras from the previous game. Just dont expect to be immersed into the story too soon as when you do the game will probably end.

Halo 2 was a big dissapointment, I know a sequal has a lot to live up to when it has to follow a game as complete as Halo Combat Evolved. But even so...

From the outset I it just didn't seem finished, like properly tested and had been rushed out to meet a deadline. The glitches in the cut scenes are obvious - at some points the Chief appeared as plain green, then after a couple of seconds all the detail on his suit appeared. This happened more than few times. There were also times when targets just appeared from nowhere! Seriously just materialised in front of you while walking. I know there small things, but they do get annoying - especially when they've had soooo long to get it right.

SPOILERS
The story, while good, made me groan. Starts well enough (love the fighting in city), then before you know it you're back in space and landing on ANOTHER halo! This is where it starts to feel/look/play similar to Halo - although there is less repetition - you do, on occasion, get that deja vu feeling. There are even parts of the game that you can just run through without killing a thing if you don't want too (boring I know) and still progress.

Halo 2 is just more of the same with a few tweeks. The tweeks are fine and add to the depth of play, but there was nothing extra in the game that had that special something. Oh and don't get me started on the worst cop-out ending I have ever seen...seriously, it's embarrassing!

My last moan is that it is a lot easier to complete than the first - even on heroic.

I really didn't want to write this review, but I was dissapointed. I will play Halo 2 again and I'm glad I bought it, but come on guys - do it for the gamers, not the money! Oh and hang your heads in shame at that ending...how could you?

P.S. - If Halo 3 comes out on Xbox 2 i shall be annoyed!

In short: This is a great game, but don't buy if you don't have/aren't ready to invest in X-Box Live (although you really should, it's quite cheap, and Halo 2 is bundled with an X-Box Live 2-month trial (at least the Limited Edition is)). Also: The Limited Edition is definately worth the money. Now, go, buy!

* Whilst the hype would suggest you spend the game defending the Earth, this is not actually the case. There are sections on Earth but these make up less than half of the levels in the game, so the ads and posters you may have seen are a bit misleading. I was fully expecting to save the Earth and be the hero but that is not what actually happens.

* Don't expect this game to tie up the story completely, this is more like another chapter in a big story.

* The game is not perfect. Whilst other big games have pushed their release date back to get things fixed, Halo 2's release date was set some time ago and stuck to. As a result a small few things aren't perfect. There is some graphical pop-up in the cutscenes (which you will get used to), some enemies will occasionally glitch or get stuck when they turn around (this is fairly rare), and some speech is difficult to make out clearly (apparently this is much better if you are playing on a surround-sound system - also using subtitles helps with some occasions). These problems are not major and you will get used to them, but they are present.

Having played and completed the Campaign mode and had 24 hours to think about it I reckon the game is up there with some of the best shooters around, but it is not as much ahead of the competition as the first Halo was. It is a massive amount of fun to play though, the weapons are great (particularly the plasma sword), the story is epic and some of the locations are absolutely incredible. There are more vehicles to drive and the vehicles you could drive in Halo 1 have been improved.

I won't go into any more detail as I don't want to spoil it for anyone, this is a very good game as long as you dont start it expecting it to be perfect. For the problems I listed I have to knock a star off so thats 4 stars.