if this game didnt focus on multiplayer, it woulda been better than the first
but then............halo2 came out. Halo 2 seems very rushed. As you can see the games better improvements are the graphics, physics, and........thats basically it.
Gameplay, it plays like any fps, just run and shoot things. But then it wouldnt feel great with out the right guns. In halo one, the assualt rifle, and the magnum were loved much more than practically any gun. Now in halo2, the assualt rifle is replace with a battle rifle(which only does burst, and makes you think why isnt there an option to choose automatic or burst, and the magnum has been weakend and feels like a BB gun. A funny thing is that halo2 claims that the pistol is "fashionable" and not powerful. So now we lost our favorite guns(most of us at least) and now we have dual wielding. Dual wielding is awful imo, the guns that are held with one hand can be dual wielded. They degraded the plasma pistol, the plasma rifle, and the pistol just to be dual wielded. The SMGs are so weak, except when dual wielded, which is still weak, yet they recoil and are hard to control, calm down SMGs your no that strong. And dont get me started on the needler, that is the worst weapon ever, so much im not even gonna explain it.
over all the gameplay is pretty fun and destructive, not as fun as the original, but more destructive, so it evens out.
Graphics- the graphics are good, but nothing so spectacular. There seems to be a problem in the cutscenes, you'll see that the graphics kinda glitch from smooth to detailed,and its very noticeable.
Sound- Same great score. The main theme has been changed to seem more extreme in a way. The guns sound good, the acting is ok, master chief still has his cheezy one liners.
I really hate how the xbox live movement( thats what i call it now) has made developers focus more on multiplayer, and less singleplayer. Games like battlefield and rainbow six, and perfect dark zero. Though the singleplayer is allright, its not better than the first and doesnt have much replay value. The multiplayer is the main thing in this game, so much that if you see your friends list, anybody who is playing halo2 is not playing the campaign.
The multiplayer is heluva blast, really fun, and hard.
I think of halo2 as more of a multiplayer game like counterstrike(which i dont like) and less of an actual game experience.
Im dissapointed now, lets hope halo3 is better than this.