Halo 2 Review

All of the vehicles are a bit different this time around too. All of the Covenant vehicles can divert power from the weapons to the engines for a quick burst of speed; this is useful for getting out of a tough spot. The tank has the driver a little more protected from sniper fire, and the Warthog only slides when you tell it to (pulling on the emergency break trigger). The Banshee can also do tricks. The whole system, one of the best parts of Halo, has been reworked with more detail and more features. You have to applaud the attempt to make a good thing better.

The health and shielding system is unlike the previous one, like so many other things in the game. You don't have a health bar, once your shield goes down (it's quite a bit stronger this time around though, and recharges faster) you can only take a few hits before you die. In multiplayer, this will probably heat up the matches, as you won't be constantly waiting for your shield to recharge while your health, despite being weaker, doesn't. It can take some time getting used to, but it is a better system for the most part.

Where the f--k is bullet-time when you need it?

In case you're wondering, this IS a weapon.

Beating people to death is a bit different too. You can link up attacks with some weapons, not quite like you could in Chronicles of Riddick, but you can still link them up to an extent nonetheless. The sword is probably the best example of this, but the battle rifle has the ability in addition.

The physics are even more abundant, fallen enemies tend to ragdoll a bit, and all of the previously stagnant crates will now move. The immersion and amount of detail added to this game is stunning, especially when you realize that it is running on the same technology as the old one was.

The A.I. is amazing this time around. It was good in Halo; it is great in Halo 2. Your fellow soldiers can drive any vehicle this time around; the enemy will drive any vehicle. The tactics at use are even more impressive, troops seek cover, and they regroup. To an extent, traps are even set (of course, they only ever work once, if at all). The A.I. is simply amazing.

Oh, and when you're playing as the covenant guy, the Arbiter, you don't have a flashlight; instead you have a five second active camo. It can either be very useful, or a total waste, you have to use it tactically. As soon as you hit something or something hits you, it fades though.

My one complaint about the Arbiter missions is sort of silly. I'm programmed to kill any Covenant that I see thanks to the previous Halo, so often times I would wind up killing a teammate simply by virtue of forgetting what side I was on. (Don't fret it, it happened to me ALL the time. They're all alien bastards anyway. - Ed) Eventually I was able to put this reflex on hold a bit, but every so often I would catch an Elite with its back turned and smash him with a sword.

For some reason Bungie also opted to add bosses to the ends of several levels. This was something that Halo lacked, instead it just climaxed in terms of how chaotic things got (the Two Betrayals would be a good example). In Halo 2, instead, they do that and then on top they add a boss to face off against. It's somewhat bizarre and tends to drag on the tactical thought aspect that Halo was built around.

And if you got lost in Halo, you're going to get completely lost in Halo 2. The flood have the wonderful ability to all look the same, as do much of what's going on in the levels themselves, so there is a strong chance you will not know where you are. The Forerunners and the Covenant are still very insipid architects, and the Flood don't help in the least.

Speaking of the levels, they have a tendency to either be much grander in scope, or with the lower ceilings on some levels, give you a horrible claustrophobia, similar to what Halo did at times. There aren't as many huge outdoor battles, with nothing but tanks and infantry running about, although there are certainly more tanks, more ghosts, more everything in the outdoor battles. I would love to play through the original Halo with some of these advancements, just to get to see my favorite levels again but redone with more detail. Bungie, might I suggest that you let me play through the Two Betrayals and Assault on the Control Room with the new stuff through Xbox Live? That would be awesome.

Halo was a short game for the most part, very short, and Halo 2 isn't much longer. I haven't played it through multiple times yet (although I have played it a lot). I think that the reply value is a bit higher thanks to the ease of multiplayer matches this time around, although the single player doesn't lag far behind. I'm excited to play through again, but I don't know if I'm going to play through the hundred-odd times I've done with Halo. Only time will tell.

If anything, Halo 2 is really just a more intense and more detailed Halo; it certainly can prove to be more challenging with certain enemies, and it can prove to be a little much of the same thing in many other areas. There's many people screaming out that it is the exact same thing as Halo, and then there's an equal number of people saying that if it isn't broken, don't fix it. It's another sequel, and it really isn't fair to expect Halo 2 to somehow be a brand new game. It's one of the best sequels I've ever played, and it does everything that a good sequel should: takes the original and improves on it. Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 are going to, or did do, the same thing. They are just revamped versions of the original with some new features thrown in, here and there. It's a great game again, just a bit greater.

With the promise of Halo 2 being Halo on fire with ninjas and a hospital zone and speeding, and a helicopter and all of that is on fire too, Halo 2 comes through: A great game and a must-have for anyone that owns an Xbox.

Speaking of which, by now everyone does own it, and if you don't, all the kids will laugh at you.

Closing comments by 2Lions: I feel I need to add a few words here that might offer additional insight into the sequel. While I agree with most of the points that Smapdey has so enthusiastically stated, I feel that the AI, more complex as it may be, needed more polish. On a couple of occasions, the enemy soldiers would get stuck on objects in the environment, an occurrence that I don't remember happening in the original.

Halo 2 is certainly grander in terms of its cinematic appeal, but I did get the feeling at times that Bungie had to sacrifice some additional Q&A testing time to get the game out the door in time for the holiday season. In connection to this, one could also say that they could've spent a little more time on perfecting the layout of some of the maps.

Overall, however, Smapdey's closing word holds true. This is a mammoth project in every sense and as you well know, no game is perfect. Fans of the original will be delighted with Halo 2.