Aren’t into video games? Just want to know if you should buy this game as a gift for someone this Christmas? Well scroll down to the end of the review. A nice bottom line has been put in for those that aren’t gamers, but just want to know the scoop on Halo 2. The rest of you read on for the gamers review.
Well it was hyped to the moon, and promises were made that must be kept, so the question is: does Halo 2 live up to all that it promised? The good news is the Bungie sequel delivers on its promise with the multiplayer aspect of the game. The bad news is: the story just doesn’t compete with some of the best First Person Shooter (FPS) games out there (namely Metroid Prime).
Halo 2 looks great: there’s a noticeable improvement over the original, with Master Chief looking very polished, and the environments looking absolutely huge. The frame rate never drops, no matter how much is happening on screen. Playing single player co-op with 2 people and facing off against an army of 10 foes in high rez glory never dents the system. The weapons look fantastic, and player animations are great as well. One small slip that is easily caught in the graphics department occurs during cut scenes – suddenly, and unexpectedly, you’ll see textures switch from low resolution to high resolution in a split second. It really is something that stands out - especially if you play the game long enough; you start to notice that it happens in almost every cut scene. The level of detail on vehicles is great, especially as you sustain damage. You’ll definitely be able to tell when your warthog is on its last legs just from looking at the level of damage it’s incurred. A small graphical note to those who have widescreen TV’s: you’re in luck - this is the way Halo 2 is meant to be played. Not only do you get a higher quality picture, but because it’s playing in widescreen, you also have the ability to see more of the screen than if you were using a standard television. I’m not telling you to go out and buy a four thousand dollar plasma, but if you already own one, you’ll be pleased.
Halo 2 also scores well in the Audio department. Some of the best orchestral music I’ve heard in a while, all being filtered through Dolby Digital 5.1, adds to the immersive experience. The voice work is priceless too, and better yet, it rarely repeats itself. Your fellow marines will deliver some great one liners while in battle, and that’s thanks in large part to the work of Orlando “keepin’ it rheeeal” Jones, and David Cross. The Covenant also speak English now, and it’s great to hear them talking off in the distance, planning just how they’re going to defend against you. If you actually listen carefully enough, many times you’ll know how to approach a situation just by hearing what your enemies are planning. The story also moves forward very well thanks to the voice work, and thankfully there is no horrible acting like in many of today’s games.
The Gameplay in Halo 2 builds on the original Halo’s experience and really only adds a few things to the whole package. Recharging energy shields, a small inventory of weapons, vehicle driving, great AI, and everything you remember from the original is back. Now let’s go over some of the changes shall we?
In addition to your jump actually being higher, you no longer suffer fall damage. The only way to actually get hurt from jumping is to fall to your doom. At E3 we were told that ‘it simply hadn’t been implemented yet’, but it appears Bungie liked what it brought to the table so much that is decided to stick with it.
|
|
The much requested dual wielding of weapons has been added. However, not every weapon can be dual-wielded; you clearly can’t dual wield a shotgun, or other large weapons. Each weapon you wield can be independently fired using the L and R trigger on the Xbox controller. It allows you to strategize quite a lot when you want to use 2 weapons at once. You could alternate between firing the left and right guns to keep a steady stream of fire power going at your enemy (one weapon fires, while the other reloads). You can dispatch enemies twice as fast in a hail of gun fire. You can even have the tactical advantage of selecting which weapons you want to dual wield, since they don’t have to be the same type of weapon. Dual wielding does come at a price though: you’ll no longer be able to throw grenades or use melee attacks while in this mode.
The most striking difference in gameplay is the health meter, which is now gone from the game. It’s just you and your shields. If your shields run out and you take any kind of serious damage, you’re a goner. It makes Halo 2 a much more action oriented title then the first, but if you’re on too easy a difficulty setting, you may find that action oriented feel to be a little too predictable because you’ll simply be jumping from attack to attack.
Added to all the old vehicles found in the first Halo (and the noticeable damage they now take), you’ll get to drive around in some new sweet rides. The original vehicles, especially the Warthog, got some major tweaking. The Warthog can now power slide, which makes it a great ride while you’re in the middle of the action, and gives you much tighter control of the off-road'er. The Covenant’s Ghost has now become the defacto fun ride in Halo 2; it now has after burn which makes it extremely maneuverable, not to mention impossible to dodge if you happen to be on foot. I do want to mention this: even though I previously stated that you’ll be able to tell when your vehicles are about to give out, it’s always your shield which will determine whether that vehicle finally explodes or not. No matter how much damage your Warthog takes, it won’t blow up until you die in it first. This essentially means that you don’t have to worry about anything other than your health. To some this may be a good thing while others may find it a bit lame that your vehicle won’t blow up despite 30 minutes of constant attacks. One more thing before I move on from vehicles: the most fun addition now in play is the ability to hijack anything that moves (there’s nothing like kicking someone in the head, stealing their Ghost, and then turning around to blast them away with that very Ghost).
Halo 2 also has a bunch of new weapons, the most talked of which is the Covenant Energy Sword. That bad boy has the ability to one-hit kill anything if you line it up properly. Trust me; you don’t want to be on the other end of a blade swipe in multiplayer.
There are plenty of new weapons in addition to the many revamped ones, and the great thing about the choices, is that each serves a game player's needs, and none is overpowered by another in the hands of the right player. It’s very evident that all the top guns are liked by different groups; while playing with fellow editor Ryan Maule, it was easy to spot that fact. Ryan loved the Battle Rifle, while I was partial to dual wielding the SMG. Both had their strengths and weaknesses, but in our respective hands they were each pretty deadly.
The truth is you’re going to need all the new weapons and vehicles, because the enemy AI is much better than the original's (which had great AI to begin with). Enemies don’t follow some kind of set pattern that you can easily recognize. Play through an event ten times, and you’ll find the enemies will act differently each of those ten times. Playing through on the hardest difficulty setting will illustrate that fact pretty harshly, as you fail to get control of a situation simply because you have no idea what the enemy is doing or going to do.
So you’ve got new weapons, new vehicles, better AI, but everyone is dying to know about the story. Has the story gotten better? Is it still a sore spot like it was in the original game? Well, the bad news is that it hasn’t. It still sticks out like a sore thumb, much like in the original Halo. The good news (I guess), is that the increase in overall greatness of Halo 2 is partly to blame for that. While the story is an improvement on the first, the fact that the sequel is so much better means the story should have been great too. To put it in perspective, the story in Halo 2 is close (but not quite) to the level of the original Metroid Prime.
In the interest of not being a spoiler freak, I’ll just say this: Although the story is brand new, and much better then the original, prepare to take on the same enemies, in the same locations, for virtually the same reasons you did in Halo. The only real difference now is that the story will add a few new wrinkles to what you played through in the first game. You’ll probably hear this from several places, but truthfully, the biggest disappointment of Halo 2 is its ending. Play through it - or just wait for which ever loser publication comes along and ruins the game for you - and you’ll see for yourself what I’m talking about. Many of you will not be pleased with the way the game ends.
At the very least Bungie has done amazing things right with Halo 2 multiplayer. Hands down it’s the best multiplayer game ever created for a home console, and I’d go as far as to say it could be better then anything seen on the PC as well.
There are a grand total of seven multiplayer modes in Halo 2, with every mode having its own possible ways to play. You can play each mode (any way you like) on every single one of the dozen or so maps -- customizing the rules any way you like, making the replay value of Halo 2 almost inconceivable. I’d venture to guess you could play Halo 2 multiplayer for the remainder of Xbox’s life cycle and still not get sick of it.
Playing online is not only a breeze, but the big thing with Halo 2 is being able to play with your buddies together through maps and game types easily. It’s possible to stick together as a group and have your entire group join an open game session, instead of each of you having to search out and send out Xbox Live invites to be able to play together.
Halo 2 is bringing to the home console what PC games have been doing for years with their titles. Clans and stat tracking of individuals will now be done via Bungie.net, and Xbox Live. You’ll be able to form a clan with your friends, name it, give it custom outfits, and play together in hopes of rising to the top of the worldwide charts. You can also do this on your own, but as anyone who’s ever been in a clan will tell you, it’s much more fun to do this sort of thing in a group.
Halo 2 had a lot of hype to deliver on, and thankfully Bungie pulled it off. As of right now it’s the defining piece of software for the Xbox, and I have no reservations in telling people to go pick up a copy of the game. Even if you hated the original Halo, you will find something to like about Halo 2. I wasn’t a big fan of the original, and neither was fellow Editor Ryan Maule, but we both are having a blast with Halo 2. It’s not gaming perfection, but it’s the best thing to happen to the Xbox thus far.
Bottom Line for Video Game Novices
It’s simple; if you know someone with an Xbox they’ll either be buying the game themselves, or be requesting it for Christmas. If you know someone with an Xbox who hasn’t purchased Halo 2, this’ll be a perfect stand alone gift for them. Combine this with an Xbox video game system (if they’re gamers, and don’t own an Xbox that is), and you’ll have the complete holiday package to keep them busy for months to come.
