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Halo 2 | |
Developer: Bungie Publisher: Microsoft Release Date: Out Now Players: 1-4, 1-16 via system link or Xbox Live |
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Hah! Pffft! – Easiest review of the year. Halo 2 - Buy it.
...Okay, I guess the game deserves more words than that, but that’s all you really need to know. Still here? Alright, here we go then… Halo 2 starts by showing the differing fates of two of the combatants in the battle on Halo. Back on a space platform orbiting Earth, the victorious man-machine Master Chief gets a medal, whilst aboard one of the Covenant’s capital ships the defeated Elite officer blamed for the destruction of Halo gets publicly humiliated and branded by the Prophet leaders and their Brute underlings, and you might say his future doesn’t look rosy… ![]() ![]() ![]() First thing you get in Halo 2 is a nice shiny new suit of improved Mjolnir armour (Mark 6 no less!). You can now see MC’s legs and feet and can jump further and higher than before, and as a visual upgrade you also get a neat 5x zoom at any time through the visor by clicking the right stick (although you can’t fire weapons whilst zoomed in). The health gauge has been done away with, and consequently medikits aren’t required anymore – you need to take cover quickly when your rechargeable shield is depleted and make sure you don’t take many more hits, or you’re dead – this makes sense but also seems a bit hit and miss compared to knowing exactly how close to death you were in Halo. ![]() ![]() ![]() Human Weapons: Covenant Weapons: ![]() ![]() ![]() The weapons seem to be spread around the levels nicely, and if you’re in a tight interior location then there will be lots of small arms and shotguns etc, and similarly you’ll rarely be far from a decent scoped weapon if there are sniping opportunities – as always Bungie clearly want you to enjoy their game. Having said that, and maybe I was trigger happy on my first play through, but I seemed to be scratching around for ammo quite a bit when the enemy got more numerous - but another of the new features is that you can always nick a weapon from an ally if there's one handy. The rumble effects are the best yet – they make every weapon feel different and let you know when and where you’re being hit too – big explosions are given real impact with the mixture of sight, sound and touch too – Halo 2 assaults your senses from all directions, and you’ll love every minute of it. ![]() ![]() ![]() The physics have been given a complete overhaul. Improved ragdoll physics make deaths look more convincing and Havok physics make everything (that isn’t bolted down or concreted in) moveable or destructible. More sensible collisions with other Spartans in multiplayer games and also with marines in the main game mean that it’s much harder to run a friend over (accidentally) now. Master Chief may have been playing GTA on the long way home from Halo, because he can now steal vehicles with great aplomb. He can board any vehicle (even the Scorpion and the Wraith) and unseat or even kill its owner. As the vehicle approaches you hold X and he'll jump aboard. The Tanks have to have their hatches smashed open and a grenade thrown in to kill the driver.
![]() ![]() ![]() The campaign has 15 levels, now some are teeny (the first two feel like the same level for instance) and some are VAST. The panoramic views and feeling of scale at times is amazing. Being able to use the Covenant’s flying Banshees to soar high above the levels (although there’s a ‘ceiling’ to stop you from going too far) adds to the effect, and as usual Bungie always make sure you have a sniper weapon and can enjoy some long shots from time to time. It’s difficult to say how long my first play through H2 took, but I’d guess at roughly 12 hours, so it’s no giant of a game, not in terms of size at any rate.
![]() ![]() ![]() There are a few niggly things changed or missing from Halo 2 that I’d like to mention; there are no emblems now to show that you’ve completed a level on Normal, Heroic or Legendary difficulty - why take that out? – It was a real badge of prestige in my book, and I was proud to fill them up. Quite apart from everything else it was a quick way of letting you know how you stood in terms of completion. Someone also needs a slap for taking out the fun ‘race’ and ‘rally’ options in the multiplayer games; why they should remove an option like that Jason Jones only knows. Another thing missing is the ability to configure the controls for the vehicles separately – a neat feature in Halo, and again mysteriously missing from H2.
![]() ![]() ![]() Halo 2’s graphics throughout are pretty amazing; the insanely detailed and bump-mapped textures that we saw in Halo are no more (they're still pretty damn good but clearly use less polygons), but in terms of the sheer amount of stuff going on and the speed and solidity of frame rate the game is well in advance of Halo (or any other console game for that matter). Surprising then that there are some annoying glitches during cut scenes (they all use the game engine) when texture levels change or disappear altogether – amazing that they weren’t tidied up before release. And a final gripe with saddo editor mode on: I also noticed a typo in the subtitles, which is a bit shoddy. Halo 2’s music and sound FX are again done by Marty O’Donnell – I could yabble on about the 5.1 sound and the quality of it all, all day, but I’ll just say it’s all awesomely atmospheric, exciting, beautiful, rousing, haunting… (I want the soundtrack!). ![]() ![]() ![]() Right, enough's enough. This is simply the Xbox game of the year. Halo 2 is beautiful, frightening, quiet, noisy, gentle, brutal, technically superb, solo/co-op/one on one/multiplayer/ team/offline/online/system link nirvana - all things to all men, women, boys and girls, and I can’t believe there’s a working Xbox out there that won't get to load it up; it’s the game the console was built for. But the trouble is, now I want Halo 3. ![]() ![]()
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- Everything. |
- Some graphical glitches in cut scenes and a few… Ah who am I kidding – Halo 2’s “worst bits” are better than most other games best bits, and don’t matter a jot. |
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Halo 2 | |
Developer: Bungie Publisher: Microsoft Release Date: Out Now Players: 1-16 |
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Halo 2. It's not really the second coming but it's still mighty fine. And as well as defending the Earth from the Covenant and the Flood I would also like to defend the single player campaign which is nowhere near as bad as has been made out by some. In fact, it's superb. Though I thought the first game was a masterpiece I also thought it was frustratingly flawed. Some of the interior levels dragged a bit through repetition, I had issues with the last driving section, the ending and the Flood were annoying. Despite this the game was a piece of cinematic and combat brilliance and Halo 2 is no different. Things are instantly familiar, even the start feels like a space boarding retread. But there is just that little bit more polish and thought in the gameplay, just that little bit more confidence in the pacing and storyline. The dual wielding is a much talked about improvement, but for me it's the improved use of vehicles that is much more pleasing. They handle better, are more responsive and faster, and the ability to hijack them is cool. The level design is more diverse and interesting too, giving an epic feel, and though inevitably the 'wonder' of the Silent Cartographer has gone, the pure shooting enjoyment remains and has moved on in quality. In fact, I even welcomed the return of the Flood who simply aren't as annoying and relentless as the first game and are actually quite interesting to fight. I also found the storyline to be fascinating and compelling in a way that I least expected, though one disappointing aspect of the original Halo does return for the sequel - the poor ending. Here it's flatter than a pancake in Holland (though it whets the appetite immensely for part three so I can forgive it - IF it gets made). Also the noticeable graphical fill-in is a touch shoddy for an otherwise pristine looking game. So, for me Halo 2 delivered me a quality campaign, story, and alien combat sim that's perfect for console gaming without even touching the online area. It's only the slightest step forward from the original but in storyline, coherent design and combat, if there is better FPS fare on a console I want to see it.
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