Reviewed: January 1, 2005
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
Microsoft Games

Developer
Bungie Studios

Released: November 9, 2004
Genre: FPS
Players: 4 / 16
ESRB: Mature

8
9
10
9
8.9

Supported Features:

Xbox Live Features

Don’t get me wrong. Halo 2 is a “good” game, even a “great” game, but some of the gushing I’ve been reading is just so over-the-top I have to wonder if everyone is losing their integrity or just easily manipulated by media hype. Hopefully I can set the record straight by telling you the “true story”.

I can sum Halo 2 up quite simply as an “expansion pack”. You have new missions and a new story and a few new gameplay gimmicks but there is nothing here that is truly revolutionary. Even the much-touted online gameplay is two years too late and I can rattle off a half-dozen other online games I’d rather be playing.

The story picks up pretty much where the last one left off. Master Chief has “temporarily” saved the planet and is the celebrated hero of the day. In a clever mirror-style cutscene that alternates between the humans and the Covenant we see the “winner” being praised and the “loser” being tortured. This sets up an ongoing dual storyline throughout the remainder of the game that has you playing as both human and Covenant Elite.

While the intermixing of races and locales is interesting from a diversity aspect, it really tears the continuity apart and you end up losing track (and possibly interest) in either side of the story. It’s really weird to be slaughtering Covenant in one mission then working with them in the next as their alien leader. And assuming you do manage to follow the scrambled narrative to its surprisingly quick conclusion you’ll find an ending that tries to pass itself off as a cliffhanger, when in reality it seems somebody lost the last few pages of the script.

Then again, who needs a story? Halo 2 is about killing things – lots of things. And whether you want to kill aliens, humans, or each other online, Halo 2 delivers the death and destruction in spades.

Nothing much has really changed with the gameplay mechanics other than the fact you can now wield dual weapons. Of course this means you can’t throw grenades unless you drop that extra weapon first, but there is no denying the usefulness of having a Needler in one hand and a Plasma Rifle in the other. Of course there are some larger weapons that require both hands and dual wielding is removed from the equation.

Level design, whether indoors or outside is sadly linear, despite the massive environments that would have you believe otherwise. You are corralled along the desired path by locked doors and scripted events to a seemingly endless series of trigger points where you are besieged by enemy forces. Clear them out and move on to the next trigger point. It gets repetitious real fast, despite the fact that you get to tool around in cool vehicles like the upgraded Warthog, Scorpion Battle Tank, and the Covenant Ghost.

Vehicles are now location-sensitive when it comes to damage so you can shoot off a wing or blast a wheel off a buggy. When a vehicle gets shot up enough it goes into a short countdown after which it blows up like a baby nuke complete with shockwave. Best not to be in the vicinity when that happens. Also new for vehicles is that you can now “jack” a ride. Yes, “Grand Theft Warthog” takes on a new meaning when a Covenant soldier jumps on the hood of your ride and yanks you out of the driver seat. Of course you can return the favor, but knowing the subtle difference between a safe speed to jack and getting run over is a fine line.

Bungie must be really proud of the their vehicles this time around because it seems that you are playing at least 30-40% of the campaign in one vehicle or another. Admittedly, this was often by choice but who in their right mind is going to walk through a level when you have a perfectly good Scorpion idling nearby. And about the time your current ride takes enough damage to force an evacuation a fresh one is usually within visual range.

As much as I loved the first Halo I found this sequel to be simply uninspired. The levels all seemed designed around tightly scripted events. I never really felt free to explore or develop my own strategies. I was merely taking part in a 3D shooting gallery. Even when a minor puzzle reared its head (like cutting some support cables with the Energy Sword) the solution was painfully obvious. My brain quickly checked out and instinct and reflexes took control.

The enemy AI is really good, but so was the first game. There are some noticeable improvements in Halo 2 and it isn’t uncommon to see enemies retreat and quickly return with reinforcements. They will almost always seek the nearest cover forcing you to flush them out with a strategically lobbed grenade. I even observed some advanced flanking maneuvers when the level design actually allowed such activity.

Your self-healing personal shield is back which means if you take too much damage you need only find a safe place to hide for 8-10 seconds to let it recharge. It’s pretty hard to die in Halo 2 unless you get caught in or near a vehicle when it explodes. Another nifty addition is the alien camo, basically a temporary (so temporary it’s almost useless) invisibility.

Game saves are automatic and erratic. The game saves too much in the earlier and easier levels then when the game gets tougher it throws you to the wolves. You’ll get a few checkpoints, but in the longer levels it just isn’t enough. It also becomes a problem when the checkpoint saves your position at (or near) the moment of death. One such checkpoint tripped just as my Scorpion took a final hit. It blew up killing me and sending me back to the moment of explosion where I died again and again. My only solution was to restart the level.

Of course the strongest selling point of Halo 2 has to be its multiplayer component, and while there are an impressive array of game modes, variants (rules), and multiplayer maps, I just haven’t found as much to like about the online portions of this game as everyone (media mostly) is trying to make me believe.

You can play the campaign solo or co-op it with a friend in split-screen mode (only split-screen mode – whassup wit dat Bungie?). You can link up to 16 Xbox systems together for network games or head over to Xbox Live, which has full support for all the new 3.0 Live features including Clans. Tweak your character design and create a custom logo and you are ready to engage in up to seven game types and plenty of variants for each.

Then track your progress and an insane amount of other pertinent and frivolous details over at Bungie.net. Halo 2 might not be the end-all of online gaming on the Xbox, but Bungie has certainly paved the way with a lot of great ideas that will hopefully become standard practice for other developers.

For the first few missions I would have been hard pressed to tell you this was anything more than the original Halo engine slightly tweaked. The lighting was a bit better and the textures were pumped up a notch. Most annoying, especially in the cutscenes, which were created with game-engine graphics, was the fact that textures would literally pop onto surfaces. It was like there was a low-res version and a high-res version and suddenly it would switch. It was particularly noticeable on Master Chief’s pitted armor.

Level design ranges from repetitive sequences of rooms and corridors to some truly inspired outdoor vistas. One of my “holy crap” moments was coming out of a tunnel and looking up into the pinkish sky to see a huge battleship getting shot down. It slowly sunk into the horizon beyond the distance mountain range. Another awe-inspired moment was when the largest battle fleet in history warped into the blue sky right around the third mission. Looking up and seeing the sky dotted with cruisers was really cool.

But for every stylish moment in the game there were just as many bland and colorless levels, uninspired architecture, and repetitive level design. Special effects help to liven up these areas. Weapons are colorful and nicely animated with reload and overheating animations. You can even watch the pink crystals vanish one by one as you fire the Needler. Explosions are massive, colorful, and quite spectacular, and you just have to love the secondary vehicle explosion complete with shockwave.

Sound effects are most impressive with a stunning Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that surrounds you in all of the glorious sounds of battle. Weapons all sound unique and powerful and the vehicles, both old and new have cool engine noises and powerful weapon effects. The climactic hum as a damaged vehicle reaches critical mass is a subtle and effective warning device.

There is even a proximity volume control so when you are chatting with others on Xbox Live their voices will increase or decrease in volume based on how far they are from your location. This is for ambient conversation only. If you use the white button to actually communicate with your team then you essentially get a direct com-link.

Voice acting is outstanding with impressive voice-acting from recognizable actors like Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Laura Prepon (That 70’s Show) and David Cross (Arrested Development) just to name a very few of the lengthy list of voice talent. Even if the story is disjointed, it certainly gets high marks for presentation.

The Limited Edition comes in an aluminum plated DVD case that houses a pair of DVD’s; one being the game disc and the other a “Making of” DVD that you can play in any DVD player or your Xbox if you have the DVD kit. I was mildly annoyed that both discs shared the same spindle, especially when lesser dual-disc games give you separate holders.

If bragging rights alone aren’t worth owning the special edition then you will certainly enjoy an in-depth tour of Bungie as they show you how they made the game, several featurettes on game design, animation, music, etc. plus an art gallery, deleted scenes, outtakes, and commentaries from the dev team. This is the treatment I’d expect from a major motion picture.

But you aren’t buying Halo 2 for the bonus goodies, so whether you get the Limited Edition or the regular game, you can expect a 10-12 hour campaign that offers numerous “wow” moments spread across some unimpressive and unoriginal gameplay. The multiplayer will undeniably add countless hours of gaming beyond the campaign assuming that is what you are into.

Halo 2 is a significant step forward from the original but hardly revolutionizes the genre or even the series. The game starts off playing and looking like the original and slowly evolves into something slightly new and improved. Gameplay and graphics have a few new tricks up their sleeve and the sound and music are as solid as ever, and you can’t deny the appeal of the online element.

Anyone who loved the original is going to love the sequel, but I fear they may also find themselves slightly disappointed if they believe half of the media hyperbole that is trying to pass for legitimate reviews. I can wholeheartedly recommend Halo 2 as long as you aren’t looking for a life-changing experience.