Having beaten the game today, I suppose it is time I sit down and type up my opinion of this game. Halo 2, the sequel to the wildly popular Halo, is a very satisfying follow-up that delivers all the things that I wanted in a Halo sequel except for one thing: a proper ending. Also, it fails to address some of the issues found in the original Halo. Anyhoo, on with this review. To start, I would like to say that the gameplay, as with the original, is very addictive and unbelievably fun. The new additions only serve to make the game even more enjoyable. My favorite and the most impactful implementation to the gameplay, in my opinion, is dual wielding. Sure, it's been done before. In fact, it's been done several times before. But in Halo 2 dual wielding is executed perfectly and adds a lot of strategy to the game, mainly because you can combine the different types of weapons for dual wielding. Of course, certain weapons, such as the shotgun and rocket launcher, cannot be dual wielded. But that is a given. The second most noteworthy addition is the ability to hijack vehicles. While fun, this ability is only useful on a few rare occasions, and it is quite a risk to pull off on certain vehicles. My only real concerns with gameplay are the ommision of the lifebar, which is very stupid, since you no longer have any way to gauge how much damage you can still take after your shields have been taken out. Also, the controls seem slightly looser than they were in the original. This is not a very big issue however, and I got used to it very quickly. My biggest problem with this game, of any category, is the ending. I won't spoil it for you, though there isn't much to spoil. But let's just say it does not close the game too well, and it frustrated me very much. In closing I would like to state the obvious. Multiplayer in Halo 2 is very entertaining, and unsurpassed on consoles. But why are there still no bots? Now onto the presentation. Halo 2 looks great during gameplay, and the framerate is fairly consistent almost all of the time. The enemies are far more detailed than they were in Halo, and the same can be said for the marines you will be fighting alongside as well as the various weapons the Master Chief will use throughout the course of the game. I did find a few issues with the presentation in Halo 2. Oddly, though overall the game is superior to Halo in it's presentation, I found the textures around environments to be less polished than those in the original. Not a large issue, but still a little dissapointing. Also, there is quite a bit of visible mipmapping of textures in the opening of the cutscenes. This jarringly yanks you out of the Halo universe for a few short seconds and reminds you of the fact that it's just a game. In short, it affects the actually immersion you experience when playing the game, and that is definitely not a good thing. But honestly, it isn't a big issue, and the low res textures shown at first are replaced within a few short seconds, so it really is not too big of an issue. It's just so glaring because the rest of the presentation is magnificent. Oh, and one more thing. The level designs still tend to be very derivative and bland, not to mention repetitive. Also, most of the levels don't appear to serve any purpose other than that of providing a good place for a gunfight. In the department of sound, Halo 2 is just as good as the original. That is to say, the music and various sound effects are still great. The music always sets the mood during battle and everywhere else, and the tunes played during the game are very catchy. I find myself humming the main theme quite a bit. I feel like I'm not doing the sound justice by giving it a nine, because it often times will alert you when you are coming up to a major battle or make a tense scene even more atmospheric and, well, tense. But I still found nothing about the soundtrack or the sound effects particularly captivating. That isn't to say that the sounds of Halo 2 are not great, because they certainly are. Halo 2 is, undoubtedly, a worthy follow-up to the original. It has very few faults. But it fails to address many of the issues fans found with Halo. But, at the same time, Halo 2 adds a lot of new fun elements to the formula, while improving on the best parts of the first game. To sum it up, Halo 2 was definitely worth the wait. It isn't revolutionary, but it's certainly entertaining.
By Madskillz999 | Review Date: Dec 23, 2005 | XBOX
I'm finally ready with the review of this awesome game! First off, this is obviously the sequel to the hugely popular initial Halo game. You are Master Chief, a space marine who is sent out to battle the enemies. You... Read Full Review
Halo 2 is a worthy sequel to Halo. While the story does lack in some parts, overall, the game is still excellent, one of the best games ever. To get the bad points out of the way, i didn't like the single player campaig... Read Full Review
