Tight, polished, fun. Halo 2 is awesome.
I realized a change Halo, as a franchise, started making in Halo 2. It began to focus more on addictive and PC worthy multiplayer, and the campaign was becoming less and less important. That isn't to say the campaign is anything short of exceptional, in both Halo 2 and Halo 3! It just shows the evolution and loss Halo slowly went through as it progressed. Halo 2's biggest contrast to Halo is side-story that follows the Covenant. You play as the Arbiter, once great, he became a rejected member of the Covenant and a disgrace to his race, the Elites. Offered a chance to redeem himself, he takes it upon himself to go about suicide missions assigned to him directly by the Prophets, the three leader of the Covenant. Remember how we were slaughtering these beings without thought in Halo? In Halo 2, we finally feel sympathy for these creatures, or at least the Elites, who begin to realize the nature of their ultimate goal and come to realize they are fighting on the wrong side. Strangely enough, this quest as the Elites evokes more emotion than that of the Chief. Its like any government conspiracy film but with an incredible twist. But unfortunately, the awesome story of the Elites takes a toll in gameplay which is far weaker than when playing as the Chief. Playing as Elites really limits what weapons you can use and the setpeices just aren't that awe-inspiring, and it almost becomes a bit... boring, I hate to say. MC's story is all about hunting down the Covenant alongside the UNSC, and thus is more combat-centric then when playing as the Arbiter. Finally, we see this army in its full force! We also get a glimpse Earth for a few levels, but these are short lived as it eventually leads to another Halo, which the Covenant have hunted down, as they really want to trigger the Great Journey, the name they dubbed the event in which Halo detonates, which they believe will cause religous salvation. We already know thats bull, as learned in Halo. There isn't a whole ton to the Chief's story as far as crazy or minblowing events until the end, when we are forced to abandon - oops. Can't spoil anything for those few who haven't played Halo 2. While it ends with a cliff-hanger, I could care less, as Halo 3 is already out and so many other games and other entertainment mediums have used cliff-hangers in the past, its no less forgiveable here. Its not as grand or mysterious as Halo, nor is it as long, but its more emotionally involved, which is a plus. Save those who hyped this campaign to be perfect, no Halo fan will be disappointed.
Everyone knows how Halo made shooting on the consoles possible as well as refine it so it feels as tight as can be. Halo 2 further refines these mechanics in Halo with a few tweaks and small new features. As usual, you're limited to two weapons at once, which offers a very tactical perspective to something that may look like a simple run n' gun. Well, not quite two weapons... A new change in Halo 2 is the ability to dual-weild certain, light-weight weapons. Doing so doubles the stopping power, doubling the time it takes to score a kill head-on as opposed to doing so with just one. But this sacrifices the ability to throw grenades, and you can't melee attack or board a vehicle without dropping the other weapon. Its really balanced because of this, and makes for a great way to clear enemies faster in close-quarters hallways. Other tweaks have been made as well, one being your new MJOLNIR Mark VI armor, an upgrade from the previous armor you wore in Halo. It looks mostly the same, just some more design ques, and is still green, but it almost "lightens" the gameplay. Its still a somewhat heavy and tactical game, just not as much as Halo. For example, you move slightly faster this time around and your jumps go a bit higher. In addition to the "ighter" tweaks, your armor completely ditches the health system. This is sort of a good thing, as you aren't always going out of your way or backtracking to find health, and simplifies the gameplay a bit, its just health recharge. One last change is you can now hijack enemy vehicles. Simply go up to the side and press the B button at the right moment to latch on and automatically kick out your oponent, which lessens the overpowered feeling of vehicles quite a bit. As icing on the cake, Bungie has included new weapons (but ditched the Assault Rifle, for whatever reason), like the SMG and Energy Sword, the first melee-only weapon in Halo history.
Remember multiplayer in Halo? Its back, and better than ever in Halo 2. The addition of Xbox Live is certainly the hugest new addition in Halo 2. Returning favorites, both maps and gametypes, are mostly here from Halo, as well as a ton of new ones. The game uses a matchmaking system which quickly finds a match for you and puts you in a game with players who generally are as skilled as you are. Gametypes also have different variants, like swords only Slayer, or One Flag CTF, and so on. This really shakes things up beyond the many maps and gametypes, so it nearly always feels fresh and exciting. You can also do Party play with friends, and go on matchmaking together or play custom games on your own. Everything is incredibly balanced, the maps feel just right in the Halo universe, and its extremely addictive. This is the best multiplayer experience on the original Xbox.
At its release, Halo 2 was state of the art in presentation, and the game still holds up really well four and a half years later. The textures are very well detailed, looking crisp and high res, or at least on an SDTV. The AI is even better here, with enemies that also take advantage of dual-weilding and hijacking. Art direction is once again superb and unique, with grand and alien setpieces throughout. Marty O'Donnel and his epic OST return, but this time the music doesn't feel so mysterious and takes a more epic approach with battle music and such fit for any mega-blockbuster action movie, while still retaining the unique Halo-ish sound. The dialogue is well written and spoken, and as in Halo, your allies have hundreds of things to spew out when fighting.
Looking back, I realize how much love and care went into this franchise. Bungie put their all into the multiplayer and tweaking all the mechanics to near perfection. Despite the slight sacrifice of campaign for addictive multiplayer, make no mistake, this is another must have shooter, for anyone gaming on any platform. HAVE HALO 2.