Ajinryu
CAG Veteran
Title: Halo 2
Developer: Bungie
Genre: First Person Shooter
Platform: Xbox
Players: 1-4
A cyborg and his Hologram
The Halo series has a huge fan base worldwide, the games story, concept, presentation and gameplay has forced many a gamer to stand up and notice it. Halo was in fact, the game that converted many gamers from their PS2's and onto the Xbox instead. Making a sequel to such a dearly loved game isn't an easy task, news of a sequel would obviously build up a lot of hype, which can be often dangerous at times, but Bungie decided to bring the Chief out of hibernation for Halo 2, which was released back in November of last year. How does the game put up now, after almost a year?
I need a weapon
Shortly after the events of Combat Evolved, the Master Chief, Sgt. Johnson, and Capt. Keyes daughter, have been awarded honours for their recent achievements in the battlefield, shortly after receiving their medals, Cortana identifies a flock of covenant troops approaching the ship, the captain orders Cortana to take control of the ships outer guns, and the Master Chief, Johnson and Ms Keyes are assigned to protect the ships at all costs. In the heat of battle Cortana informs the Master Cheif and the Captain about the threat that lays in the lower section of the ship, a bomb. Master Chief disposes of the bomb, albeit in a slightly stylish and cinematic fashion, and heads to Earth with Johnson and company, were the covenant have set their flight patch to...
Killtacular
Bungie modified the games engine significally since the first Halo game. The Master Chief has a much more robust jump, it's at least twice as high as the first games, as far as gameplay goes this is a great addition, you can gain access to higher ground and structures a lot faster than you could in the original game, but lets face it, Combat Evolved wasn't exactly a game that had you jumping up or over too many structures now was it? The environments in Halo 2 feel more complex, allowing you to use placements around you to gain extra height. This gives you the opportunity to experiment and interact with what's around you much more than you could with the first game, which is all good, but with the new structure comes a price.
The game doesn't feel as fluid as Halo CE. A lot of the levels feel much more linear than it's older brother. You'll find yourself navigating through narrow areas that don't allow nearly as much exploration as Halo: CE. The Master Chief levels that take place on the Halo weapon itself are a very good example of this. Progression through each of these levels feels very linear and fixed. There's hardly any other things to set out and do, just follow the pre-determined path, there is very rarely a change of pace. Halo: CE had you sneaking around, fighting with allies, and constantly watching your back for any lurking enemies that evaded your radar, Halo 2 on the other hand, hands you enemies on a plate giving them a rather obvious attack pattern and enemy placements.
You'll soon learn the exact location of each enemy, and the exact moment they'll attack, it's very frustrating that Bungie didn't expand on enemy AI, there's very rarely a moment where the AI outdoes itself, they just usually stand still shooting then take cover when their shields are low, or the AI will just simply charge at you regardless of the situation. With the advancement of technology since Halo: CE they could've implemented more actions for each enemy, such as flanking, using cover and peeping round to fire, you know, that type of stuff. Games that have come out up to 11 months after Halo 2 has implemented this sort of behaviour into their AI, and that isn't much time for technology to advance.
As with most games, Halo 2 has expanded it's weaponry selection, their are loads of familiar weapons such as the Plasma Rifle, Plasma Pistol, RPG, & Shotgun, but there are new additions too such as the brute shot, brute rifle, and the sword. Having a bigger selection of weaponry is a good thing, but some of the changes that Bungie made to the weapons are kinda stupid. Take for instance, the plasma pistol, the homing range of the gun has been increased to an insane rate, you can lock on to any target easily, perhaps too easily, now this may be good when fighting AI but against human opponents it just feels cheap and feels like it doesn't take any effort what so ever, increased rocket power, and Shotgun power feels like an attempt to increase their potency for the sake of making a few changes from the original. The new health system if far from impressive either, no health bar means all someone has to do is hide to recover completely, it's annoying when playing against others, a player should die when their health bar depletes completely not when a small bar fills up again.
Don't get me wrong, Halo 2 is still a good, fun game to play, but some of the additions Bungie made to it just feel like an excuse to put more stuff on the back of the box. The accelerated jumping is of course an improvement but some of the tweaks made to the old weapons, and the insane power of the new weapons just feels unbalanced. This, and the new level design and layout makes it feel like an inferior title when compared to the epic, grand, and more solid feel of Combat Evolved.
Anything positive Ajin?
Yes I do! The multiplayer is rather fun. The maps are all a good blast to play on, they're so much more expanded than the campaign levels and allow you to dig around and find little niche secrets that can help you in attaining victory, the unbalanced weaponry rears it's ugly head but if you can get over that and somehow exclude all the cheap weaponry from the match you'll have a really good time. The xbox live play is really good too and, if you hook up with good players that you trust, you can play for hours. Halo 2 focuses on being more of a social title than Halo: CE and shifts all of it's attention to the Multiplayer, just be sure not to get too frustrated about ranks and cheaters.
Graphically the game is rather nice, the architecture looks sweet despite the linear path that the game takes you along, and the Halo levels themselves look rather nice. Much like Halo: CE it emulates a sci-fi atmosphere, just not as good and Combat Evolved in my opinion. There are times when the game looks stunning, but samey geometry rears its head once and a while and occasional pop up too.
The sound is a real treat, voice acting isn't half bad, all the main characters have voices that really gives them a believable attitude, especially the sarcastic Sgt Johnson who spouts out the odd obscenity from time to time, and the orchestral score sounds just as effective as Halo: CE, albeit having a more dramatic feel to it.
Good Spartan/Bad Spartan
Halo 2 really does feel like a mix of good and bad, the multiplayer is great, although it has it's annoyances you won't fail to get some enjoyment out of it because the game is fun for get togethers and the great LIVE play, but the Single Player is a mixed bad in my opinion, as there are a lot of moments where the game either drags on (later stages) or doesn't feel expanded enough. You'll enjoy H2 if your expectations aren't too high, and to be honest if you have never played Combat Evolve you'll most likely love it, but for someone who has played the original it may feel somewhat under whelming...
Graphics: 8.5
Looks nice, and sets the tone nicely, but the sometimes bland repetitive design of some stages, and pop up stops it from gaining a higher mark.
Sound: 8.6
A slightly different style to Combat Evolved but it sets the mood and feels a lot more loud and brash than Halo:CE. Throw in a few familiar tunes too.
Gameplay: 8.1
Tries to be perhaps a bit too ambitious and falls on it's face a bit, unbalanced weaponry and different play style kind of dumbens down the experience. Still solid though.
Lifespan: 8.5
Live will last for yonks, but the somewhat off putting solo campaign may but others off from venturing offline, Multiplayer is fun and saves the game though.
Overall: 8.2
Despite it's flaws it's far from bad, in fact it's rather good when you take the multiplayer and live play into consideration, but some of the gameplay changes just don't feel like they should belong there, but in another game. It'd a different experience from Combat Evolved, but for me it just felt too different in a sense. Multiplay stops it from dropping into the low 7's.
Developer: Bungie
Genre: First Person Shooter
Platform: Xbox
Players: 1-4
A cyborg and his Hologram
The Halo series has a huge fan base worldwide, the games story, concept, presentation and gameplay has forced many a gamer to stand up and notice it. Halo was in fact, the game that converted many gamers from their PS2's and onto the Xbox instead. Making a sequel to such a dearly loved game isn't an easy task, news of a sequel would obviously build up a lot of hype, which can be often dangerous at times, but Bungie decided to bring the Chief out of hibernation for Halo 2, which was released back in November of last year. How does the game put up now, after almost a year?
I need a weapon
Shortly after the events of Combat Evolved, the Master Chief, Sgt. Johnson, and Capt. Keyes daughter, have been awarded honours for their recent achievements in the battlefield, shortly after receiving their medals, Cortana identifies a flock of covenant troops approaching the ship, the captain orders Cortana to take control of the ships outer guns, and the Master Chief, Johnson and Ms Keyes are assigned to protect the ships at all costs. In the heat of battle Cortana informs the Master Cheif and the Captain about the threat that lays in the lower section of the ship, a bomb. Master Chief disposes of the bomb, albeit in a slightly stylish and cinematic fashion, and heads to Earth with Johnson and company, were the covenant have set their flight patch to...
Killtacular
Bungie modified the games engine significally since the first Halo game. The Master Chief has a much more robust jump, it's at least twice as high as the first games, as far as gameplay goes this is a great addition, you can gain access to higher ground and structures a lot faster than you could in the original game, but lets face it, Combat Evolved wasn't exactly a game that had you jumping up or over too many structures now was it? The environments in Halo 2 feel more complex, allowing you to use placements around you to gain extra height. This gives you the opportunity to experiment and interact with what's around you much more than you could with the first game, which is all good, but with the new structure comes a price.
The game doesn't feel as fluid as Halo CE. A lot of the levels feel much more linear than it's older brother. You'll find yourself navigating through narrow areas that don't allow nearly as much exploration as Halo: CE. The Master Chief levels that take place on the Halo weapon itself are a very good example of this. Progression through each of these levels feels very linear and fixed. There's hardly any other things to set out and do, just follow the pre-determined path, there is very rarely a change of pace. Halo: CE had you sneaking around, fighting with allies, and constantly watching your back for any lurking enemies that evaded your radar, Halo 2 on the other hand, hands you enemies on a plate giving them a rather obvious attack pattern and enemy placements.
You'll soon learn the exact location of each enemy, and the exact moment they'll attack, it's very frustrating that Bungie didn't expand on enemy AI, there's very rarely a moment where the AI outdoes itself, they just usually stand still shooting then take cover when their shields are low, or the AI will just simply charge at you regardless of the situation. With the advancement of technology since Halo: CE they could've implemented more actions for each enemy, such as flanking, using cover and peeping round to fire, you know, that type of stuff. Games that have come out up to 11 months after Halo 2 has implemented this sort of behaviour into their AI, and that isn't much time for technology to advance.
As with most games, Halo 2 has expanded it's weaponry selection, their are loads of familiar weapons such as the Plasma Rifle, Plasma Pistol, RPG, & Shotgun, but there are new additions too such as the brute shot, brute rifle, and the sword. Having a bigger selection of weaponry is a good thing, but some of the changes that Bungie made to the weapons are kinda stupid. Take for instance, the plasma pistol, the homing range of the gun has been increased to an insane rate, you can lock on to any target easily, perhaps too easily, now this may be good when fighting AI but against human opponents it just feels cheap and feels like it doesn't take any effort what so ever, increased rocket power, and Shotgun power feels like an attempt to increase their potency for the sake of making a few changes from the original. The new health system if far from impressive either, no health bar means all someone has to do is hide to recover completely, it's annoying when playing against others, a player should die when their health bar depletes completely not when a small bar fills up again.
Don't get me wrong, Halo 2 is still a good, fun game to play, but some of the additions Bungie made to it just feel like an excuse to put more stuff on the back of the box. The accelerated jumping is of course an improvement but some of the tweaks made to the old weapons, and the insane power of the new weapons just feels unbalanced. This, and the new level design and layout makes it feel like an inferior title when compared to the epic, grand, and more solid feel of Combat Evolved.
Anything positive Ajin?
Yes I do! The multiplayer is rather fun. The maps are all a good blast to play on, they're so much more expanded than the campaign levels and allow you to dig around and find little niche secrets that can help you in attaining victory, the unbalanced weaponry rears it's ugly head but if you can get over that and somehow exclude all the cheap weaponry from the match you'll have a really good time. The xbox live play is really good too and, if you hook up with good players that you trust, you can play for hours. Halo 2 focuses on being more of a social title than Halo: CE and shifts all of it's attention to the Multiplayer, just be sure not to get too frustrated about ranks and cheaters.
Graphically the game is rather nice, the architecture looks sweet despite the linear path that the game takes you along, and the Halo levels themselves look rather nice. Much like Halo: CE it emulates a sci-fi atmosphere, just not as good and Combat Evolved in my opinion. There are times when the game looks stunning, but samey geometry rears its head once and a while and occasional pop up too.
The sound is a real treat, voice acting isn't half bad, all the main characters have voices that really gives them a believable attitude, especially the sarcastic Sgt Johnson who spouts out the odd obscenity from time to time, and the orchestral score sounds just as effective as Halo: CE, albeit having a more dramatic feel to it.
Good Spartan/Bad Spartan
Halo 2 really does feel like a mix of good and bad, the multiplayer is great, although it has it's annoyances you won't fail to get some enjoyment out of it because the game is fun for get togethers and the great LIVE play, but the Single Player is a mixed bad in my opinion, as there are a lot of moments where the game either drags on (later stages) or doesn't feel expanded enough. You'll enjoy H2 if your expectations aren't too high, and to be honest if you have never played Combat Evolve you'll most likely love it, but for someone who has played the original it may feel somewhat under whelming...
Graphics: 8.5
Looks nice, and sets the tone nicely, but the sometimes bland repetitive design of some stages, and pop up stops it from gaining a higher mark.
Sound: 8.6
A slightly different style to Combat Evolved but it sets the mood and feels a lot more loud and brash than Halo:CE. Throw in a few familiar tunes too.
Gameplay: 8.1
Tries to be perhaps a bit too ambitious and falls on it's face a bit, unbalanced weaponry and different play style kind of dumbens down the experience. Still solid though.
Lifespan: 8.5
Live will last for yonks, but the somewhat off putting solo campaign may but others off from venturing offline, Multiplayer is fun and saves the game though.
Overall: 8.2
Despite it's flaws it's far from bad, in fact it's rather good when you take the multiplayer and live play into consideration, but some of the gameplay changes just don't feel like they should belong there, but in another game. It'd a different experience from Combat Evolved, but for me it just felt too different in a sense. Multiplay stops it from dropping into the low 7's.
but nice review tho! good job
