Halo 2 (Xbox, 2004)

The Good

* Some of the best first-person shooter gameplay in the business
* Outstanding multiplayer features--tons of fun modes and customization options
* Incredible audio--music and sound effects both major highlights
* Impressive artificial intelligence
* Co-op mode tons of fun.

The Bad

* Disappointing story
* Short campaign
* Some unsightly graphical issues
* No co-op online.

Halo 2, the long-awaited sequel to one of the most widely praised, most influential first-person shooters ever created, has a very tough act to follow. Fortunately, it's built on a foundation that's as strong as they come. The game's success was preordained--publisher Microsoft tallied more than 1.5 million Halo 2 preorders in the weeks leading up to the game's release, which demonstrates just how confident Halo's fans are in the sequel's quality. But how is it, really? The good news is, the sequel to the Xbox's defining action game is an absolutely superb, fully featured game, boasting an excellent presentation, a highly replayable campaign, and the greatest, most complete online multiplayer component in a console shooter yet. A surprisingly disappointing story and a fairly short single-player portion are noticeable shortcomings, but there's just so much breadth of content in Halo 2, and the action itself is so outstanding, that there can be no denying its quality. Overall, it's one of the very best action games available.


It's good to see you, Master Chief.

There are several reasons why the original Halo ranks up there with a very small number of other first-person shooters as one of the definitive games in the genre. For one thing, Halo succeeded at establishing a cohesive, memorable, and original science-fiction universe. For another, the Master Chief, Halo's cybernetic protagonist, made a great hero. A fearless, enigmatic man, the Chief could succeed where pure flesh-and-blood humans could not, and guiding him to victory against the alien menace known as the Covenant, as well as the parasitic creatures called the Flood, made for a gripping story and an intense and satisfying gameplay experience.

Halo's gameplay was amazing in that it seamlessly integrated top-notch first-person shooting with incredibly fun third-person vehicular sequences and outstanding friendly and enemy artificial intelligence. The game's subtle innovations--the tactical consequences of such things as having recharging energy shields, being able to carry only a couple of weapons at a time, the ability to throw powerful grenades in between shots, and the option of dishing out fierce melee attacks--also did a lot to differentiate Halo from other shooters, and proceeded to influence subsequent games. Halo's multiple, well-balanced difficulty settings, two-player cooperative campaign option, and assorted multiplayer modes also ensured that the game had tons of lasting appeal. All these factors contributed to the game's well-deserved success, and they're all back in Halo 2. For the most part, the sequel takes an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to its gameplay--everything that you loved about Halo's action is back in full effect here. At the same time, the handful of new additions in Halo 2 are well thought out and well implemented, enriching the gameplay and making it seem fresh but still familiar.

Everything that you maybe didn't love about Halo is pretty much back, too.
Overall Rating: 10 out of 10

http://www.toysnjoys.com/impor​txbox/halo2.jpg
Halo 2 review
by
CLOUDNICK91



Now of course if you are like me ...or anyother person for that matter...you will love this game..i love this game....i've been entrapted in the Halo universe since the first game came out..i thought what a phenomenal story ....it's so compelling.The game was not only a magnificent FPS game, it's story was in a whole universe by itself. Just plain put - AMAZING!.
Move Forward 3 years and now we have Halo 2 .Now you must be thinking hey it's HALO 2!","this game is going to be awesome!" you are right you shouldn't ever hesitate to buy this game if you don't already don't own it.But i will say this.
"This gaming age has been the age of FPS games".


REVIEW.

Story
The opening cutscene shows the two major plot threads that will progress through Halo 2: the fate of Master Chief, Sergeant Johnson, and the rest of the human forces, which includes Commander Miranda Keyes, the daughter of the late Captain Jacob Keyes, and Lord Hood, apparently a ranking official in UNSC; and the fate of an unnamed gold Covenant Elite we come to know as The Arbiter, who was in command of the Covenant forces at Halo installation 04 and is consequently disgraced, accused of heresy, and then secretly sent on a special mission by the three Prophet Hierarchs of the Covenant: Truth, Mercy, and Regret.The Covenant Finally Find earth and Launch an Assault on the outer Orbital MAC stationary guns and send Dropships to Earth,INVASION.The Covenant Use the Ground troops, to board the UNSC's orbital stations and ships as a distraction to Plant bombs on the ships.Once they realize it , the Covenant have already planted bombs on several of the UNSC's SHIPs,Few of them explode....The Master Chief decides to give the Covenant a little suprise, One of their own bombs.

I wouldn't want to spoil any more of the story than i have to . All i can say is that it's magnificent. The best Story in a video game i've seen in years.

STORY SCORE 10/10

Graphics
Why are some people complaining about the graphics? The character models have normal mapping everywhere. They look so much better. Clothes have realistic folds and look amazing. The facial animations have been improved, heck, the animations just in general have been improved. Characters move much more fluently. I really loved all of the death animations and rag doll physics. Some of the ways that enemies die look really cool and sometimes funny. The textures have got better. Not much better since Halo 1 still has, arguably, the best textures in any video game.The only real problem is the facial textures in cutscenes.This is truly the only flaw this game has.
SCORE.9/10

Sound.
I will only say a little about this.
"AMAZING!!.Marty Mc'Donald's soundtrack is simply amazing! It adds so much depth and emotion to the story of the game. If anyone deserves ALOT of credit for making this game amazing it's HIM.
score.10/10

Gameplay.
What bungie basically did with HALO 2 is take the HAVOC physics engine and turn it into something amazing,the weapons control is better than ever . and plus you get a little auto aimer for those people who have a hard time aiming at their enemies with their controllers.you get very presise controls, very tight, you press a button it happens like BANG! no button lag.The best part is ..........*drools* melee attacking.
score
10/10

overall
you should buy this game , if you like .
FPS games,great stories..and great graphics this game is for

HALO 2 is the sequel to the highly successful and critically acclaimed Halo Combat Evolved. In HALO 2, the saga continues as Master Chief a genetically enhanced super soldier is the only thing standing between the relentless Covenant and the destruction of all humankind, all of which we already know!


Halo 2, possibly the most anticipated game of all time, is finally here. Bungie and Microsoft have done their part to make sure everyone sees and knows what Halo 2 is, and they've done a good job of it. But with increased hype comes high expectations. Halo 2 has been praised by fans as the game to get for 2004 and even the greatest game of all time before it was even released. So does it live up to the hype? And is LIVE enabled multiplayer as good as it gets? On with the review…

The single player mode is, of course, the bread and butter of any game (excluding party games). It's what makes or breaks a game. At its core, the campaign mode of Halo 2 remains very similar to that of the original. That's definitely not a bad thing as Halo's campaign mode was what made it such an outstanding game. But that's not to say that the gameplay is without updates and additions. Bungie wanted to show that they did not forget about the single player mode and they have done a good job. Tactical fighting becomes even more important in this game due to the new additions and changes. Combat is more refined and the levels feel more varied. One of the biggest changes the player will notice is that the health bar has now been reduced to just one bar instead of a bar plus multiple heath cells. Most of the levels are greatly designed, with areas that are perfect of standoffs or all out gunfights. The AI has been vastly improved upon. Enemies are even smarter and they will use their own unique strategies against you… Even the simplest fights can lead to your demise. Friendly AI has also been improved and your allies now have the ability to drive vehicles (though not very well). Additions to the weapons arsenal were expected, and the game delivers. The new weapons are great to use and many of the returning weapons have been reworked. The duel wielding ability adds a new twist to combat but doesn't necessarily make things any easier. The updates to the weaponry department means those old tactics of yours might not work anymore. There is more importance on the use of vehicles, which leads to some really fun levels. The physics have received some updates as well, everything moves very realistically. The rag-doll physics on enemies are excellent. You'll also take on the role of someone other then Master Chief during some missions, which leads to some refreshing levels and gameplay elements. The campaign mode feels very balanced for the most part. Bungie went the extra mile to remove the long load times between levels so that the action flows undisturbed. But this is rather pointless as each level starts out very slowly and eventless. There are some others flaws with the gameplay as well, including some returning ones. Some missions seem as if they are endless and continue to drag-on. The AI tends to become predictable midpoint through the game and the friendly AI is useless at times. Lengthwise, the campaign mode is still pretty short... less than 15 hours in normal difficultly. Of course, the co-op mode and 'Legendary' difficulty will definitely ask for another play through or two. All and all, Halo 2 really rocks and will forever !

In the history of videogames, each system invariably lands its super-mega winner, its system-seller, its Barry Bonds. On Genesis, you rolled with Sonic the Hedgehog. On Nintendo 64 you got Super Mario 64, on PlayStation you had Final Fantasy VII, and on Dreamcast you loved Soul Calibur. On Xbox, Bungie's first-person shooter, Halo, has become the MVP for three years running -- an unbelievable unmatched streak on the Xbox. But there is a new kid in town, and strangely, you've known its name for years.

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.

just finished the full walkthrough for Halo 2, as well as played a number of multiplayer games. 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 are fighting the Covenant, who are your main foes, but you also run into the Flood, who are a space parasite that wants to eat all life. In addition, there are mechanical creatures on Halo who want to kill pretty much anything including the Flood. So each location and creature type has its own look, feel, attitudes and reactions.

The graphics are simply gorgeous, from the rippling water to the clouds in the sky and reflections off of surfaces. I love taking screenshots of this game. The music is also extremely well done, in that the quality is always very high. But it's a little bizarre to be going from new age lilting softness in one heated battle to high intensity rock music in another and so on. It doesn't necessary track to the location you're in, either. It's just whatever the designers felt like putting in.

The gameplay and plot is where this game really shines. Your characters that interact with you are simply BRILLIANT in how they each do what a real live creature would do. Grunts are my favorite - these little Covenant front-liners are brave and talkative when they're in groups, but when you whittle them down they suddenly turn and flee, shrieking at the top of their lungs. Your teammates leap into vehicles with you, either driving or shooting depending on your preference. They'll come alongside you to give you support, and duck for cover when appropriate.

The quips the characters come out with mid-battle still make me laugh out loud. In one sequence you are the covenant Arbitor and are working your way through a room. You come across a pair of grunts and a jackal under attack, and take out the enemies. The grunt comes running to you in glee, shouting, "Arbitor! My savior!" Then he pauses and adds, "Jackal, say thank you to the Arbitor!" :)

The cut scenes are equally as brilliant and are truly movie quality in the interactions. The timing, dialogue, everything is great. The little touches are everywhere. In one sequence, the Sergeant is preparing his troops to get ejected in pods down to the surface of Halo. He walks past the Master Chief's pod and thumps twice on it, as if to say "All OK in there, ready to go?" Right on beat, you see Master Chief inside his pod, thumping once back in response. You really forget that these are just computer generated characters.

Multiplayer is the stellar addition to this release and there are reasons to be thrilled. You can play on a large variety of maps, in a number of styles, and there is even going to be downloadable content in the future.

That all being said, there are of course a few non-stellar aspects to this release. First, the ending SUCKS. The first one was bad enough with its "Oh I bet there is another Halo out there" so you don't even feel like you really saved the world. In this one, not only is it not a "you're done but it's not over" ending - it's pretty much cut off mid-battle! That is INCREDIBLY frustrating for a gameplayer. Obviously they want you to buy Halo 3, but that's going to be a year or two away. Can't we have some satisfaction in the meantime?

Next, the game is really short, even on normal mode. We had a friend start the game