I finally have an Xbox 360, and what do I play most? Halo 2, of course! This game works just as well on the 360 as it ever did on the original Xbox, and the controller works even better.
The single-player story is good, though I found it a little confusing. I'm hoping that Halo 3 will tie up the loose ends. For a first-person shooter, the single-player will last you plenty of time. Oh, and you can also play the whole thing cooperatively with a buddy.
Level design is decent, but can sometimes get repetitive. Often you'll find yourself going through something that you could've sworn you just went through. It's also very linear. You don't get to choose what path you'll take. You shoot and keep running forward. But there's plenty to change things up, such as vehicles to trample through the streets on, creepy looking sniper-lizard things trying to pop you in the head, and overwhelming waves of undead bodies. Fortunately (in my opinion), there are no searches for red keys that open red doors, etc., and no real puzzles to speak of. It already takes plenty of strategy to survive against hordes of aliens.
There's a strong variety of weapons. There are two kinds of them: Human and Covenant (alien). Basically, for every Human weapon is a Covenant counterpart. Both have your basic rifle, your pistol, a sniper rifle, the good ol' rocket launcher, and your close-range weapon (shotgun and sword). Both also have grenades. The Human one is a fragmenting grenade that you can bounce around corners. The Covenant grenade sprays plasma and looks pretty cool. You can't really bounce it off walls, as it stops dead, but if you throw it on somebody it attaches onto them and hisses until it blows them up. Never good when it happens to you.
For me, personally, I find the main draw of this game to be the multiplayer. I've played it a lot, and it's never gotten boring. Playing split screen with one tv is fun, and having geeky LAN-parties with a dozen of my friends has never failed to be both intense and a blast.
I've never found a better console game to play online. It just works. There are almost never errors. Every now and then you run into hackers and modders, but it's always satisfying to leave them negative feedback so the developers can keep an eye on them and cancel their subscription if the circumstances call for it. And from what I hear, they really do cancel accounts. Even without cheating, most people online are much better than me, but it's still fun to gather a bunch of my friends in a party and shoot other people together. Or die together.
While not as good as Xbox 360 games, this game has some of the best graphics you'll find on the Xbox. Textures are sharp and I noticed no popup or fade-in. Landscapes are beautiful. On many of the single-player levels you can see for miles. Unfortunately, many of the characters' faces look pasty and unalive. When they talk their mouths open and close mechanically. This can distract from the story. Of course, Master Chief looks awesome, which is a relief, given that he's the main character.
The sound is very good. You can hear if anything is sneaky up behind you. The undead bodies gargle at you and sound revolting. The Humans and Covenant are quieter, but the Covenant seldom die quietly. It adds to the whole effect. The surround sound is excellent. You can always tell where the sounds are coming from. The music is quite good, and seldom fails to add to the mood. There are a few little songs that sound almost midi, but they're few and far between.
It's ironic that I have an Xbox 360 and a couple of games to go with it, but all I usually play is Halo 2. It goes to show that this is one of those essential games that everyone should have.
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