Reviews

    Halo 2 was one of the most anticipated games for the Xbox console.  As the successor to the instant classic, Halo, which put Master Chief

    The graphics in Halo 2 are absolutely amazing.  When you first see an in-game cutscene you will probably think that it is FMV, when in fact, the cutscenes are all being rendered in real time.  Halo 2 clearly looks better than the original, and the game runs at a steady 30 FPS with little to no slowdown.  The world as a whole looks more realistic, the water effects and reflections are better than the original game, and everything just looks sharper.  Halo 2 uses Normal mapping and Bump mapping techniques, similar to those used in Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay for added texture realism at minimal CPU cost.  The vehicles clearly look better and damage shows up on each one as they take damage.

    The sound and music in Halo 2 is incredible.  The game features Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound support, and there are a lot of humorous voice lines added for your allies in the game that just make it more fun.  The sound effects are great, with realistic sounding guns and explosions and great use of the 5.1 support.

    The gameplay in Halo 2 is a big improvement over the first game, in both the single player and multiplayer aspects of the game.  One of the biggest improvements are dual wielding, allowing Master Chief to carry two weapons at the same time, therefore doing a lot more damage.  Most weapons in the game are capable of being dual wielded, with the exception of weapons such as the rocket launcher and sniper rifle.  Another new element in the gameplay is the ability to take over vehicles.  Remember in the original Halo how if you were playing a multiplayer map and somebody else had a vehicle it was fairly difficult to stop them without getting a vehicle of your own, or finding a rocket launcher?  Well, now you can sneak up on the vehicle, knock the other player off and take it for yourself!  In single player this also works if an enemy is controlling a vehicle.  For larger vehicles, such as the Scorpion Tank, you can climb on it, drop a grenade inside, drop down and watch it explode.  In single player this makes it a lot more fun, and in multiplayer it helps to balance the playing field so that a person or team with vehicles can't dominate the map quite so easily.  The level design is at least at the quality of the original Halo, if not better, but another improvement is that you don't have to go through all the levels backwards as you did in the original Halo.  In multiplayer, Halo 2 supports XBox live, which wasn't available in the original game.  You can also set up clans and play against the same people for a while, then disband the clan when everybody's tired of playing.  There is also a cooperative mode, where you can play through the game with a friend in either split screen mode or through system link, but unfortunately XBox live was not incorporated into this mode.

    Halo 2 is probably the best game available for XBox right now.  As the sequel to an already classic game, Halo 2 fires on all cylinders and takes a great game and makes it even better.  If you're a fan of the Halo series, first person shooters, or just want a great gaming experience, Halo 2 is definitely the game for you!