Halo 2

Halo 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to Halo: Combat Evolved which both happen to be created by the same developer Bungie. Does the game meet up to the hype? Find out in my personal review of the game.
 
 
 
Gameplay: The gameplay in Halo 2 is exactly the same as the gameplay found in Halo: Combat Evolved which is a good thing since the gameplay in that game was fantastic. There have been a couple of new gameplay twists added to the game for good measure which are all balanced and great additions overall. First off you can now Dual Wield some of the lighter weapons in the game such as the new SMG and the classic Plasma Rifle so don't expect to dual wield two Rocket Launchers or anything crazy like that. This new dual wielding system does have it share of advantages and disadvantages which  help even it out with every other weapon in the game not making the option of dual wielding overpower everything

else. You now can also hijack vehicles which makes some of the Campaign's vehicle sequences more dynamic since more options are now available to you. This also helps make the Multiplayer more balanced since now you have m ore options available to you on how to destroy vehicles especially the all mighty Scorpion Tank. The only flaw in the ga meplay is that you'll be doing some backtracking here and there in the Campaign which can make the game feel tedious at times, but more or less this doesn't happen too often. The Flood is also a nuisance to fight in the Campaign and really they are not satisfying to fight either making you wish the levels they're present in which are a lot go by as fast as possible. These are really the only complaints though that I could point out the gameplay or at least the most significant, but overall the gameplay is fantastic in Halo 2. 
 
A.I:  The enemy A.I in Halo 2 is just as intelligent and dynamic as it was in the first game which is a great thing. Enemies once again take cover, flank your position and even dive out of the way of incoming vehicles. The same can't be said of your human allies who actually seem more dumb this time then they did in the original game and putting them behind the wheel of a Warthog while you man the Turret on the back is suicide because they will most likely drive off a cliff or into a wall as opposed to your main objective. They also don't really do a good job at attacking enemies and usually get slaughtered in combat. I would have to say though that I would rather prefer a Good enemy A.I and a bad Friendly A.I as opposed to a Good Friendly A.I and a bad Enemy A.I because really the gameplay centers around killing enemies and you want that to be as perfect as possible.
 
Story: The story in Halo 2 starts off a little bit after the events of the fist game and the Master Chief has made his way back to earth. Apparently the Covenant have commenced a full on attack on earth and you(of course) must stop them at all costs, but the real twist in the story lies in the fact that you don't play as the Master Chief most of the time and instead you play as the holy covenant warrior called the Arbiter. This does help add a lot of back story to the c

ovenant and helps not make the covenant out as just a bunch of aliens and more or less a species that is more comp lex then you could have ever imagined. The story itself though may be where Halo 2's biggest downfall lies since the story ends with a shitty cliffhanger that doesn't distill any satisfaction within you whatsoever and may even make you angry if you care enough. Nonetheless though it's fun for the most part except the parts where you fight the Flood because like I said earlier they're just a annoying and frustrating enemy compared to their living counterparts the Covenant and there are some amazing set pieces like the scarab battle and the part where you pilot a banshee and face off against several other Banshees. So the story is a letdown, but of course its still a ton of fun to play. 
 
Graphics: Simply put Halo 2 is one of the best looking games on the Xbox and pushes the hardware to it's limits. Everything is sprinkled with a high level of realism whether it be the spectacular bump mapping seen in the game or the mostly excellent looking character models.The framrate is also consistent and never really slows down or becomes choppy which is an improvement over the first game and is just surprising since so much more is happening this time around and it is all rendered so beautifully yet so smoothly at the same time making this game a true technical achievement. The only gripe about the game's graphics are its ugly in-game cut scenes and hideous looking Human Character models, especially their faces they just look really shitty compared to everything else.
 
Sound: The sound in Halo 2 is on par with it's visuals and is just as great as they are. The game has nice sound effects and a original soundtrack to help compliment some of the more intense sequences of the game. Really the Sound is top notch just like the first game and really adds to the atmosphere of the game.
 
Multiplayer: The Multiplayer is Halo 2's shining point overall it is the best part of this whole package. This time around it utilizes the system's Xbox Live capabilities enabling players to play online with a total of 16 players. This is really incredible to experience and is the best multiplayer yet on any platform mainly due to its excellent matchmaking system which really adds a whole lot to the experience. Its practically flawless and is a much better substitute to the first game's system link option which is actually still available here as well. The level design in the multiplayer maps is so diverse and highly crafted that there really is no weakest link out of all of th em and they are some of the best maps in a MP game to date. The Brilliance of the Multiplayer is that it really is groundbreaking and there is no other Multiplayer game like this currently available at the time. This practically makes up for the shitty cliffhanger in the Single Player/Coop Campaign. Coop also makes it return which is just as fun as it was before, but this time the Competitive aspect of the Multiplayer is better then the Coop due to Xbox Live that is not to say though that the Coop is bad because its not and really its a truck load of fun to play just as was before in the first game and adds some replayability to the Campaign.
 

  Overall while not as revolutionary as it's predecessor Halo 2 is a great game and really should be played or at least tried out by anyone remotely interested in FPS games. I highly suggest getting Xbox Live before playing this game because you would be missing out on a great deal of it if you didn't.