Anyone got HALO 2 yet?

The "cg" scenes if that what they are, were horrible. Especially when its a marine or person in cg.

That one marine in the pelican had no white on his eyes!!! He friggin' looked like a covie spy! :smt043

However, this game is insanely fun and everyone should try it.

It makes no difference to me, because im getting Killzone, metroid, halo, and a lot of other games, too, though.

 

Ok, I'm basically finished the game, somewhere around level 14. I can give a quick rundown on it.

First off, and best off, the environs are much better this time. They don't repeat nearly as much, though a few levels do. But it doesn't have the same "endless gray rooms" as the first Halo did. I wish there was more outdoor sections, as those are the most fun, and display the A.I. etc. the best, but I digress. I was playing on Heroic, by the way. The A.I. exhibits cheap behavior in some places, but for the most part it's excellent.

Secondly, the story is much improved. There actually is a narrative this time, and it's interesting, and quite cool. Seeing the Covenant point of view helps shed light and adds another dynamic to the gameplay.

The graphics are excellent. The textures are quite incredible; Bungie did a nice job bump mapping everything to make it look grungy, beaten up, snowy, etc. The ghetto texture rez drop isn't as evident as most of the people here would have you think. You can tell if you quickly run towards a dead enemy and are focusing on it, but honestly, it's not disconcerting. The game looks very similar to the first Halo, and while notthe best graphics ever, looks very nice.

Sound is a ten, with the music being amazing--first game soundtrack I'm contemplating buying, to be honest. Up there with the likes of the Final Fantasy series, for sure. Rocking guitars, whizzing bullets--I can only imagine how good this sounds on a 5.1 Dolby system.

Gameplay is much the same, but it's somehow much better. I did not enjoy the first Halo very much; good game, but hardly the killer app and best game ever people think it to be. The 2nd one adds a shitload more guns, which is absolutely huge--you can now play it as you like to. I never used the pistol in the first game, so I don't care about it being useless now.

The balance issues are the main problem with the game, as GSL said. You can chop an enemy (Elites/Brutes) with an Energy Sword, and they will simply stand there, hit you with a plasma rifle once, and you die. Ridiculous. Also, one of the "bosses," so to speak, is *insanely* cheap, and not in terms of smarts. He summons two "holograms" of himself, both of which have double plasma rifles that will kill you in about 3 seconds. I was literally screaming fuck like crazy.

Another balance issue occurs with the damage, and lack thereof for some, your weapons incur on enemy targets. The plasma rifle, especially dual ones is the main issue here; it seems to take 25 shots to bring an enemy down. On the other hand, they can easily mow you down with a few shots, around 10. Not cool. The plasma pistol seems kinda useless now, as it has the same problem as the plasma rifle, except its even weaker. Strange.

Dual wielding has its advantages, and is implemented well. I don't see why people bitch about it; with the abundance of weapons dropped, it shouldn't turn you into an invincible killing machine. Though I agree with GSL as to why the heck you drop your 2nd weapon when melee attacking; couldn't you just hit the enemy with both guns at once?

Your marines/Elite allies are much more useful too, as they are much stronger than in the original Halo, as well as being good shots.

I haven't played MP yet, though I will tomorrow.

In closing, I think Halo 2 kicks ass. Best game ever? No. Damn fine game? Yes. Potential game of the year? Yes. Buy it.

BTW, I'd drop the extra $5 for the LE. The case looks nice (I own both versions at the moment--don't ask), and the extra DVD looks sweet, though I haven't had a chance to check it out. The case is worth it alone though.

Also, Dual Needlers is a great combo. Props to Bungie for making them actually do something this time 'round.

9/10

Final word: Lives up to the hype, much better than the original Halo. This is the best console FPS ever, bar none.

 

Nah, no way anything can ever touch Goldeneye 007. :smt067

Well, one pepperoni pizza, 2 half-full bottles of soda later, we finally beat it... I'm trying really really hard not to vent and spoil anything, but suffice it to say that there is a 99.99% chance of Halo 3 in four more years.

I got this same feeling when I beat Soul Reaver 2 and realized the story wasn't done yet and I'd have to wait three or so more years for them to finish it. :angry :angry :smt022 :smt067 :smt014 :smt071 :-(

 

Nope, no more Halo. Ever.

 

Play through Halo 2 and tell me that Bungie won't absolutely lose a significant portion of their fanbase - and by extension, consumer base - by leaving it as is.

 

You can savely say that HALO 3 or whatever it will be called will propably be a near launch title for the new x-box 2 seeing as Halo sold tons of x-box units at launch.

 

nor perfect dark! :-D
but halo, for the best console fps ever , is in the top for sure.

goldeneye simply revolusionized the console fps . perfect dark took the classic and refined it .

 

Indeed Goldeneye is one of those games that's reached legendary status. Even my non-gaming/casual-gaming mates will go on about how fine 007 is.

And I'm sure Perfect Dark would have been be just as popular, but it's another 'forgotten' N64 game, along with Zelda MM, etc.

 

all you say here is tottaly true, couldn't said better!

 

Pah...I thought Perfect Dark was good at first, but the MP wasn't all that hot. I thought Goldeneye's was much better. My friends hated Perfect Dark. :smt009

Co-op was awesome though. Bloody damn frame rate and blurry graphics! :smt067

I just played Halo 2 system link w/ 5 players. Awesome, awesome, awesome game man. Damn, it was sweet.

King of the Hill on that covenant ship w/ 4 people is absolutely insane. :-D

 

Arghhh...what the fuck. The much touted "Legendary" mode is a sham.

Any damn game is hard if you make it so that a clip does not kill the enemy, 5 shots kills you, and oh yeah, you're outnumbered (by Elites, no less) 5 to 1. Oh, and they also have unlimited ammo.

A.I.? Who the heck needs that when you've got the amazing showing of intelligence those guys exhibit?

Christ, my fucking dog would win if that was the case. Ridiculous. :smt067 :smt067

 

¿Por qué granadas infinitas del isnt en el juego video!? ¡eso es tan alegre!!

 

traduction please

 

I heard some N00b say that in my Spanish class.

It means something like:
"No Infinite grenades in halo 2! That's gay!"

He used "gay" wrong, though.

Actually, it fits for me, because Im glad the option for multiplayer infinite grenades was taken off.

That's Happy! (for me)

 

On Xbox Live it's decent--though the lag is kinda bad at times--but the matchmaking system is annoying. You should be able to choose what type of game you want to play. I don't like certain maps, as they absolutely suck ass, so I'd prefer not to play on them. Also, I didn't enjoy playing slayer w/ all rocket launchers. That was dumb. Ah well, can't have everything... :-(