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Halo 2 Review
With all things considered, this was undoubtedly the most anticipated game of 2004. From all of the midnight madness frenzies to the insane fan dissection of its innards only hours after purchase, Halo 2 has really made an impact on the industry. Halo 2 has already achieved two very important things. One has been its success in rising Xbox Live activity and the other, to convince more people that an Xbox is worth a look (for those who have yet to do so). Halo 2 is clearly an ambitious game in every aspect of its design and execution. Its Xbox Live features are unmatched and the cinematic quality of its single player campaign could be considered the best on the current crop of consoles. Halo 2 does suffer from a few faults in the very end though. I was never absorbed by the original Halo, because at the time of its release, I didn’t have an Xbox. The PC version, although satisfying, paled in the presence of other first person shooters on the system.
Without delving too much into the plotline of the game (it’s too “out there” to safely spoil anything), you play Master Chief who is returning home from his adventures destroying the original Halo. During a lovely awards ceremony, everything once again goes wrong in the galaxy and the Chief finds himself facing another bloodthirsty (not literally) horde of Covenant troops. This time though, they are taking the offensive by attacking Earth, placing the Chief in a very difficult position. From then on, the game throws you into the action as you hunt down every last one of them and the story itself is much improved from the original. The plotline in the original Halo was subliminal for the most part, and explained most of everything through what you actually saw. Halo 2 completely aims for a strong narrative this time and succeeds masterfully. Quality voice acting is marked at every turn (well, Cortana does sound a bit too happy, but whatever) and lets just say it has an ending that, well, no, I can’t say anything.
Those who mastered the original Halo by memorizing every map, weapon tactic and vehicle maneuver will find themselves in a sea of new things to fiddle with. The single player campaign feels a bit shorter than the original game, but overall it’s much tighter leaving behind a lot of the long blast fests that had the tendency to wear on the nerves. Complemented by a good plot, the game brings you to several different locales and puts you through plenty of different types of missions. The famous (and fun) driving missions are back, putting you in the seat of a Banshee, Warthog and Ghost (along with some new ones) quite a bit more than before, and allowing for some truly memorable fights. The controls are of course perfect for the Xbox controller as they were designed to be. Even with the inclusion of dual weapon wielding the controls compensate by providing extra depth for players. Speaking of dual weapons, yes, they are finally here. You now have the ability to hold two light weapons at the same time, mix and matching them as you please. It adds a bit more depth to the game and fun for those who enjoy seeing the Chief fully loaded. The one supposed downside which I actually consider to be a strategic element would be the fact that you must drop at least one of the guns in order to throw grenades. Frustrating for some, but hey that’s the point, war isn’t easy, deal with it.
 
Overall most of the original weapons are back with the noticeable omission of the assault rifle. The pistols have also been downgraded with the removal of their sights and overall damage (those with dual pistols can say otherwise). The SMG’s and Energy Sword have received mixed results from the hardcore fans. Some say they are too powerful (the energy sword), others saying too weak (poor SMG’s), but honestly, these are mere nitpicks that rely on personal preference. The Energy Sword I found to be an excellent weapon for multiplayer. While some say it’s an unstoppable killing machine, when you actually get one, its hard to feel high and mighty since every person you kill will be on your ass immediately after, ensuring a short run with the weapon. It’s an excellent way to spice up the sometimes repetitive action. The other weapons, like the rocket launcher and sniper rifle are back and unchanged aside from little things on the aesthetic side.
The vehicles are much more balanced in this game. In single player, you will still run into a few team members more than you would like but in Multiplayer they are much more useful since there are quite a few more maps that allow them. The banshee and Ghost have added boost features which make for quick transportation and the Warthog has remained largely the same. The biggest change is in their look though, aside from the normal mapping you are actually able to see damage on the vehicles, they even explode after awhile. Still, these vehicles are the best you could ask for in a game like this.  
Visually, Halo 2 often comes off as a stunning title. One of the best (if not the best) looking titles on the Xbox does have a tiny problem though. Throughout the beautiful cut scenes and travels through the levels, players will notice (or not) ugly pop-up, resulting in player models appearing in front of you, cut scene lagging and sometimes levels actually loading in the distance, but after a couple days its not a major issue. Still, its one that should have been fixed by Bungie or at least acknowledged directly to begin with. Otherwise, the inclusion of normal and bump mapping make the worlds look stunning with detailed textures all around and even the player models are quite nice (especially Master Chief). The enemies are often the best looking though as the normal mapping really pulls out their organic style. Aside from the often great voice acting and excellent sound effects, the soundtrack is also an achievement. For a first person shooter, Halo 2 is very pleasing to the ears and the action always seems to match with the thumping score.
The feature almost every Halo 2 fan has been waiting for is the multiplayer, both online and off. The game once again features system link play for up to 16 players and splitscreen support for up to four. A two player co-op mode has been included again that allows you and a buddy to play the single player campaign together. It often plays smoothly and is usually a great way to add some replay value to the game. We have about a dozen maps to choose from in Halo 2 and almost all of them are great for specific game types. Zanzibar is an excellent CTF map that features two completely different designed bases, something uncommon for the gametype. Two oldies are back featuring new names, but you can see those for yourself (if you can’t guess at least one of them, well, ok). A wide variety of modes have been included along with the favorites like Slayer, CTF and Oddball. The new type Territories is a good addition to the game, but it will most likely be avoided by most, since the players will stick with what they are “good” at.
Xbox-Live play is the biggest single addition to Halo 2. You log on, enter into the Live section and feast your eyes on a very robust set of options. You have the ability to join ranked matches in which you gain levels and experience points for winning. So every time you join that playlist again you will be automatically matched with players of a similar level. I found this to be an excellent feature that will end up preventing a lot of issues with bad server hosts and connections (which are also optimized). If you have a friend over, you can invite two or three of them over to play on Live with you as guests, but they will not be able to join in ranked matches. The playlists have their own setups including what game types and maps they cycle through so you have a good idea of what you are getting into. The buddy list options are also excellent allowing you to manage a list of friends playing Halo and message them (voice or text) and have them join a party which is the only way players can stay together match after match. Bungie has included the ability to create clans, which have their own set of features including the ability to join specially created clan playlists. Overall, I experienced little lag with my time on Live and the experience was unmatched by any online game that I have played in a long time. If anything, this is the part of the game that will keep people playing for months (or even years) on end.
Halo 2 is an excellent game that pushed the date November 9 into gaming history. From massive hype to the game itself, Bungie has shown us the power of a great game. It’s not the best game ever as some fans would love to assure you. The game suffers from a few issues, namely the length of its single player campaign, some graphical issues and an set of maps that might not keep some of the more causal gamers interested for long. With the promise of downloadable content, that can surely be remedied. Bungie has put together an excellent title, one which stands as an achievement for consoles, that they can stand up to the PC when it all comes down to it. If you put the effort in, great things will come as a result. That result is Halo 2. Now if you haven’t already bought the game, this would be the time to tell you to get off the internet and buy it now right? Right?
Written by Joseph Bennett. Posted year 2004.
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Released on
November 9, 2004
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