After the events on the Forerunner ringworld Halo, Master Chief SPARTAN-117 returns home to Earth with the AI construct Cortana. The war with the Covenant forces is still not going well, despite the destruction of an entire fleet at Halo, but the Master Chief needs a refit. Armed with the Mjolnir Armor Mark VI, he is on his way to a decorations ceremony with the thought-to-be-dead Sergeant Johnson, when Covenant forces emerge from the Slipstream into Earth space. But something is wrong: the fleet is much smaller than the one used to destroy Reach, humanity's former frontline stronghold. The Master Chief and Cortana, along with Commander Miranda Keyes and the crew of In Amber Clad, must fight off the Covenant and protect Earth, a battle that will take them across the galaxy to a new planet, which is disturbingly familiar…Meanwhile, the Prophets, leaders of the Covenant, are not pleased with the Elite Commander that allowed the Master Chief to destroy Halo, and he is branded a heretic. But even Heretics have their uses. He is to become the new Arbiter, a warrior for the Prophets' will, destined to die in glorious battle like all the other Arbiters before him. But deep in the Covenant, rumors are spreading about a Jiralhanae take-over. Can the Arbiter uncover this treachery in time to save the Elites? The last protectorates of the outer colonies are destroyed; now Earth is all alone. After the destruction of Halo, the Master Chief and Cortana heads home for Earth. And the Covenant finds their way to earth to eliminate the human race. The Master Chief is their last hope. simply draw dropping multi-player, A-OK story-line, and a well built game engine.<br/><br/>First lets start with the new gameplay, dual wielding, recharging health, new weapons, vehicle damage, new characters, and the new thing ***SPOILER***, being able to play as a new character 'The Arbiter'. I don't really enjoy the 'The Arbiter' levels, i'd rather stick to MC levels. I was shocked at the ending, once he says "Finishing This Fight." I grabbed the controller and was ready to make my way onto the ship… but wow, it ends… but for BONUS material, let the credits roll, after about 10 minutes or how ever long they are, a scene with cortona and grave mind will appear, with him saying a strange poem.<br/><br/>Graphics - 8-10, Had flaws during cut scenes, many textures appeared from nowhere.<br/><br/>Gameplay -9-10, Loved it, except the fact for the few second cameo.<br/><br/>Audio- 12-10. Simply Amazing, loved it.<br/><br/>New Gameplay- 7-10, didn't like some things, such as when you let the AI drive the warthog, they tend to get hung on objects, and go very slow during a huge firefight.<br/><br/>Multiplayer- 1000-10, Wow, simply amazing, playing LAN is so great, and Xbox-Live is probably the greatest achievement from Microsoft. As I finished the original "Halo" game for the X-Box, I found myself completely unimpressed. With as much hype this game found upon its release, I thought that it could have had more depth to it. The characters, story, fight sequences, and weaponry all seemed stale. It became repetitive over time with an ending that left you feverish for more. It did not deserve the "cult"-like status that it received. Hesitantly, I began playing the sequel in hopes that I could continue to trash this series as being nothing more than premature over-hype by fanboys that didn't grow up in the "Goldeneye" generation. This sequel was by far, at least 100% better than the original, so much in fact, that I found myself asking why this wasn't the first in the series. It drew me in for continuous play with engaging characters, an extremely strong story, and voices that made you proud to be fighting as either Master Chief or one of the downtrodden Covenant.<br/><br/>"Halo 2" takes huge steps forward from nearly every facet of the original. After playing "Halo 2", the original seems like a modified version of Pong. One of the major complaints that I had with the original was that the arsenal of weapons seemed minimal at best, leaving a whole world of new weapons unopened. Well, in this game, these worlds were opened and fully explored. There were so many new and detailed weapons in this game; I had trouble finding my favorite. Thankfully, the team at Bungie understood that I couldn't pick just one, and finally encouraged Master Chief to use two weapons at once. That's right boys; we can double-fist the Needler like it is going out of business. This small change created so much more enjoyment for me because I could really wreak havoc from around the corner and there was plenty of havoc to reek. This sequel not just gave you a game where you could sit back and create the explosions at any given time, but also developed a structured story with amazing cut-sequences that transformed the world of "Halo" into more than just a one-dimensional game. While "Halo 2" boasts a shorter play time, what appealed to me was the depth of the characters and the spectrum of what was happening to Earth during this apparent "war". In the original game, I felt that my sole purpose was to destroy destroy destroy without any questions or answers. That is not the case here, where the missions seem intense, the purpose is forthright, and the unknown lurks deeper than imagined. There were places we traveled in this game that I didn't think existed on the "Halo" playing field.<br/><br/>In my eyes, Bungie took a small somewhat simple game, and grew the playing field immensely. The detail focused on the graphics were intense, the introduction to this "supernatural" world was exciting, and the deception of evil made me push further more than I did in the original. This sequel was a game that you could turn the volume up on your surround system and fully enjoy the explosions, the swooping of incoming enemy ships, as well as the appropriately placed voice moments. For anyone that loves to hear the illustrious voice of David Cross yelling quips and quandaries at you as you destroy any Elite, than this is the perfect game for you! It just felt like more icing on an already sweet cake. Weapons, voices, a compelling story this is exactly what I expected from the original game, but alas, did not see it. If this was the original release of the game than I would see the hype surrounding it, "Halo 2" was nearly flawless with the clear images, the veracity of the A.I., as well as the compelling and detailed storyline. Why couldn't you steal a vehicle from the enemy in the original? I experienced enjoyment with this game as I made it to the next level unlike in the original where I knew that it was just going to be a similar fight with aged weapons. This sequel compelled me to move forward into a deeper unknown.<br/><br/>While I will attest to everyone that "Halo 2" was a million times better than the pathetic original, there were still some small issues that need to be addressed. The ending was horrid. For a person that does not have, nor does he plan to get at this time the infamous 360, I will be left with an open-ended ending that really questions your loyalty to the finale. The same issue happened with the first game with so much dedication and integrity to the meat of the game, why not dedicate a spectacular ending? The choice of armor for Master Chief seemed weaker than the original. I dare not run into a fight this time, but instead had to make me think about my attacks. A bit annoying when you wanted to just run a suicide mission. I also hated the fact that you could not throw grenades when you were dual wielding your weapons. Master Chief is a strong man/machine I strongly believe that he could do both, which put me into some tougher situations sometimes. Finally, why was there a timed limit for the Arbiter to remain cloaked? These may seem like small things, but for me, they could have been strengthened to create a tighter game.<br/><br/>Overall, I cannot speak higher of this sequel. For those that yell that the original is always better than any sequels, then I would have to say "Halo 2" is the exception. Bungie took the opportunity to grow this empire and give us a view of this "war" from a dual angle, making the universal terror greater and more relevant. I highly suggest this game to those that were unimpressed with the first, and do somewhat look forward to what the trilogy will encounter.<br/><br/>Grade: **** out of *****
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295 weeks ago