Halo2 is by far one of the greatest shooters on the Xbox. When you play this game you will forget where you are. There are so many things that make this game so addictive. Now that you can board enemy crafts, the game can be in anyones favor. We also can't forget about the much bigger variety of weapons and vehicles that are now in the grasp of our hands. This game is nothing like the first, game-play wise. I mean, it's got a whole new feeling. Now you can be an alien, better known as an elite.
Story:
This Sci-Fi shooter takes place in the year 2552. The covenant have just discovered the human home world, Earth. A super soldier aka. Master Chief has to defend the Earth from this covenant onslaught. The covenant refer to him as "Demon" The covenant themselves are having problems of there own, trying to establish peace within the several different races.
Game-play:
A FPS (First Person Shooter) is a game that is in first person view. On the HUD (Heads-up-Display) you will see your hands holding guns, a radar, a shield indicator, cross-hair, and the amount of ammo left in your weapons.
In a FPS you want to match up the cross-hairs with your opponent and a way you can tell who your opponent is if the cross-hair turns red, BUT if it's green it's an ally, so don't shoot O.K., they hate it when that happens.You can also tell if there are enemies lurking around the corner by looking at your radar. Once you get shot you will see that your shield on your shield indicator starts to deplete, and when it is completely gone find cover so it can recharge, don't worry it recharges pretty quickly. Your guns need ammo to operate. For some guns you can pick up ammo for when you run low, and others you can't and you will have to keep finding a replacement.
When I first played Halo2 it felt awkward. The vehicles handled a bit differently. In the first Halo the pistol was the most dominant and popular weapon. Now I've noticed that my friends don't even want to look at a pistol. I think that the reason it feels different is because Bungie tried to balance the weapons so we wouldn't be attached just to one. Now there really is no dominant weapon because all the weapons have there own weaknesses
Controls:
The controls are pretty basic and you should be able to get used get used to them very quickly. There are 2 thumb-sticks that allow you yo move and look around. The thumb-stick on the left side of the controller has 2 functions, movement (forward, backward, and sideways), and to crouch when the thumb-stick is clicked. Underneath the thumb-stick are 2 buttons, start, and back button. The start button is used to pause during game-play and to change setting during multi-player such as controller layouts. Now we see another thumb-stick on the right side of the controller and it's purposes are to look around (up, down, rotate left to right) and to zoom in by clicking it in. You would also see six buttons,Y, X, B, A, white, and black. Y is used to switch between weapons you have and to pick up a dual-wieldable weapon to dual wield (NOTE: both weapons must be dual-wieldable). The B button is used to use a melee attack, where you use your weapon to whack. The A button is used to jump. The X button is used for a few different things. One is to go into driver seats of a vehicle, or the gunner seat. It is also used to grab onto an enemy vehicle an take over it, if you have good timing that is. You will also need to use it to activate switches that you will encounter during game-play, and to reload your weapon. The white button is used to activate active camo and flash light. The black button is used to switch between the 2 different grenades. Let's not forget about the 2 most important buttons L and R triggers. L is used to throw grenades and fire your left-handed weapon. R is used to fire the weapon on your right hand.
Multi-player:
Halo2 has the greatest multi-player of any FPS. the maximum of players is 16. The only 2 ways you can play 16 player Halo2 is system-link, Xbox Live and Xbox Connect. I myself would rather play system-link because I would know everyone I'm playing against. If you play on Xbox Live you can make a clan and fight others. This could also be a good way to get a name in the online community. You could also go bungie.net and check out your stats.
System-Link is when you take up to four Xboxs and connect them with an ether net cable. You also need a t.v. for each Xbox. Me and some of my friends do this once in a while, but more often during the summer. Another Way of connecting is through Xbox Connect. In a way it's like playing System-Link, but world wide. The thing is it's hard sometimes to find a decent game that doesn't lag. It's too bad that all it takes is one person and the whole game gets messed up. A greater way to hook up with friends is to get Xbox Live. I myself don't have live but have played enough at my friends house. You can join, fight or make your own clan. The thing I can't stand is the cheaters that play. All they care about is going up in ranks. I heard one way they do it is they press a stand-by button, but I have no idea how that works. I also thought if you did press stand-by you would just sign off.
The multi-player in this game is so much fun. The greatest of game types would have to be CTF( Capture the Flag ). In this game type you have two or maybe more flags depending on the map and how many teams. They also added this all new assault and defend thing. One team will defend a base for a certain amount of time and then it switches off. There is also this all new game type called assault. In this game type the attaching team has to plant a bomb in the enemy base, and to activate it you have to hold still for a short amount of time. There is also the classic death match they call Slayer. What is great about the game types is that you can create new ones and have more options than the original. You can even go down to how long it takes the weapons and vehicles have to respawn. What is just so great is just having a big 16 player CTF and being in the middle of all the major battling. Then when some one has captured the flag every thing changes and the target is one little person with the flag who can't even fight back. One thing that I'm sick of is the sniper because it is much easier to use. In the first you had to have skill or your killed.
All new vehicles, weapons, and alien races, oh my:
With an all new game experience you would hope expect new weapons and vehicles, and that's what you get and more. Not only that ,but you get new alien races to fight.
There are a total of 8 vehicles, among these 8 there are 3 that are newly introduced into the Halo universe, Spectre, Shadow,and the M12G1 Warthog , which unlike the original, it has a mounted cannon. In Halo2 not only do you take damage but so does your vehicle, which means no more super hog jumping. The vehicles in the game handle differently then the original. You can now board the covenant tank as the wraith, which is some thing you couldn't do in Halo no matter how many times you tried.
Now, if you are ever forced to walk don't feel bad, there are plenty of hand-held weapons around. Why, now that you can dual-wield, there are so many possibilities in store for you. In Halo2 the weapons are balanced, which makes it hard to find a dominant weapon. In the original most of the friends I played against used the Human Pistol, because a couple of head-shots would have you laying on the floor. Now when I play Halo2 multi-player I see people using and always changing there weapons. The weapon I enjoy using the most is the Energy Sword. With this weapon I lock on to an opponent and kill them with a one-hit kill. My personal favorite is the Covenant Carbine, it has a fast rate of fire and has a lot of bullets in one clip.
The Prophets are one of the 3 newer aliens that were introduced into game-play. These aliens are the brains of the operation. There are also these primitive ape-like beasts known as Brutes. During game-play I was fighting 2 of these, when they went bes-serk and charged at me. I was thinking that they wouldn't charge at me but I was wrong, they just ran over me. There are also these insect-like buggers which are hard to aim at some times, and if you don't get cover fast, don't expect to survive, they have a fast rate of fire on Legandary.
Graphics:
The cut-scenes in this game are just incredible, it's as if you are in a theater. Sometimes while playing Halo2 you might stop and look at the environment just because it's so dynamic. Explosions are the greatest visual effects in the game how ever, whether it's from a grenade or a vehicle that has taken enough fire to blow-up it's still cool looking. The water couldn't look any better. During the game you will see some oceans and some waterfalls that you can interact with, like walking on it and seeing splashes.
Music and Sound:
Aside from the graphics, the music in the game is pretty good. There is this battle scene when you hear this song called "Blow Me A Way" in the background which is what I felt when I was in the middle of this fight. The sound I think could have been better but it's not really a problem. I would sometimes hear metal clattering but nothing would be moving. Another is when a fellow soldier would jump of a ledge and scream, and when he would hit the floor they would still be screaming as if still falling. If you listened to the foot steps you could hear a sound for every step you took, whether it was on dirt or water.
Halo2's Cons:
Although I hate to admit Halo2 does have it's cons. When playing the campaign mode there are some tunnels so dark that you will not be able to see when your the elite. One thing I was hoping for was that there would be bots to play against but there weren't. I also would have liked it if there were more than 2 skins, but maybe there will be some to download in the near future. One thing that will tick everyone off is how hard the campaign on Legandary has gotten. You now only have a shield, and if not careful, you will die before you know it. The aliens also shoot a lot faster, and are more numerous.
The Recommendation:
This is a very good game. It took time to make it, and it was worth the wait. The multi-player is what they promised and game-play feels new so you won't feel that your being fed the same thing. Plenty of new things that they added into the game like these skulls that do crazy things like give you unlimited cammo or clear you HUD of health bars and weapons. if you like sitting around and playing against friends then this will bring you guys closer together. I do recommend that you play the first Halo before the second, so that you can enjoy how great they both are and to know what's happening story wise.
Random Information:
1 Player Campaign
1-16 Player
2 Player co-op
Xbox Live compatible
Download content from Live
System-Link: $10.00 - $20.00
Developed By: Bungie
Xbox Live Starter Kit: $70.00 ( Includes a Game )
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