Halo2 is the best shooter game for the Xbox
Halo 2, this year's most anticipated title -- along with Valve's Half-Life 2 and Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas -- is a whopper of a game. It doesn't matter which way you cut, dissect or analyze it, Halo 2 comes up aces in every way. It's a noble achievement in storytelling, gameplay balance, and multiplayer design. And it's easily the best console-based, online game on Earth. Like so many people have said thus far: In 2004, Halo 2 will own you. While it's been three years since Halo stormed gamers' Xboxes, Bungie has quietly toiled away at creating a natural evolution to its award-winning first-person shooter, and it has succeeded wildly. It's crazy to say that every bit of hype Halo 2 receives is deserved, but once you play it, you'll be pressed to agree. All of the improvements mightily outweigh the minor complaints from the surprising, cliff-hanger story in the single-player campaign to the unendingly blissful carnage of the online game.
The Story Deepens
The most coveted aspect of Halo 2 in Bungie's three years of development has been the storyline, which sadly, I will not reveal now. I don't want to ruin it. What I can say is this: Halo was a game about exploring a single ring, and in that it's like the movie Alien. Halo 2 is like Aliens. The first Alien movie was about learning the parameters of a single creature. The second movie was an onslaught of aliens, multiple plots and sub-plots, and conspiracies. It was bigger in scope and more encompassing in its ambition than the first. Halo 2 is a massive expansion of the original story in every aspect. The story is more complex, and to a much greater extent than its predecessor it's more vast, more mysterious, and ultimately, a much meatier one. Just like Aliens, it is bigger in scope and more encompassing in ambition than its predecessor