So halo 2 was bought into the picture after the longest wait it seemed in history... ok so maybe I'm being a bit over the top there, but seriously, As soon as I heard that another halo was coming out I basically called into my nearest ATM for a withdrawal.
I might be a bit biased towards the halo series, but I can tell you that while I was playing it I couldn't help but be quite impressed, that is of course, until I realised it was all ending (much too quickly) and I would have to revert to multiplayer for my halo 2 kick.
So let's have a look at what is involved in this Halo 2 game (for those of you coming into this blind and not in the know).
Side Of The Game 1: PLAYER PROFILES
Player profiles within Halo 2 is the first step to beginning your halo journey. In this version, you now have the ability to choose yourself a different character. Instead of just being the master chief (the main "super" character helping the humans from alien races), you can now become apart of the Covenant (an alien race against the humans). Apart from character choice, there are a wide range of features that you can master before beginning your quest. Choose the colour of your outfit, choose a logo that you'll wear like a tattoo, and then get a bit more technical and choose things such as if you want your controller inverted, your controls different to the norm, and how quick you want to be able to sway your gun during battle. Lastly, save your profile under the name of your choice, making sure it's funny (or serious if that's how you go), and then load your gun, you're ready.
Side Of The Game 2: CAMPAIGN/WEAPONS
Campaign begins and we realise that in this second installment of the game we can do more things then ever before possible. There are many new weapons and many old still around, these include (may not include all):
Rocket Launcher: a powerful rocket launcher that has the capability of zooming to 2x, shooting out powerful rockets whilst having one in reserve, and the brand new feature of being able to "lock onto" vehicles to shoot them down with more ease
SMG: Classic machine gun that shoots out 180 bullets at a time and now has a better design compared it's halo 1 counterpart. Just like how a normal gun would shoot, the SMG pulls upwards whilst you are shooting. Not very effective damage wise unless you have two of them.
Battle Rifle: A nicely effective rifle that can zoom into 2x and shoots out 3 bullets with one pull of the trigger. Seems to cause more damage then the SMG and is quite effective from short to medium and even on occasion long distances.
Plasma Pistol: A small pistol that shoots out individual blasts of plasma with each press of the fire button. If the fire button is held, a large ball of plasma will build up, until it is released as a floating, glowing ball. Has energy "100", which is slowly used up with useage.
Plasma Rifle: A seemingly more advanced larger version of the plasma pistol, that shoots out plasma more quickly and at a raster rate then the pistol. This allows the plasma rifle to "overheat" and cause a "shock" (sort of like a reload for a gun, but makes it applicable for plasma weapons).
Sniper Rifle: Human sniper rifle, that has the ability to zoom in to 2x, and then 10x, making for a very powerful weapon and always great to have.
Needler: A weapon that shoots out pink "crystals" that stick to the body of your enemy and then explode, causing minor damage to them. Better off using this with another weapon, as it takes awhile to cause alot of damage.
Carbine: The alien version of the human battle rife, yet only shoots out one shot at a time (though seems to cause just as much damage). Also has 2x zoom, which helps with its range.
Particle Beam: Covenant version of the sniper rifle, which also has 2 and 10x zoom capabilities. Shoots out a very fast and powerful beam, causing alot of damage.
Brute Shot: Grenade launcher in other words. Not very effective as it takes a long time to reload and only shoots out 4 grenades at a time. Can help in a tight squeeze though.
Covenant Energy Sword: The most powerful close range weapon available, the energy sword has a one hit kill nearly every time...Now all you have to do is get close enough to use it.
Shotgun: As it says.. it is a shotgun, good for use at close range only, as the shot "spreads".
Fuel Rod Cannon: Has a zoom, and fires out a small blast of radioactive material capable of taking out small vehicles. Almost like a rocket launcher, but slightly less powerful.
Pistol: No zoom as per the original pistol in halo 1. Only very useful when you have two of them, one in each hand. Good as a last resort though.
And thus we begin. I will not go into length about all of the levels of halo 2 because this would in general ruin your gameplay and would be more a guide of how to play each level. I will rather review what Bungie put in, mainly the new features of the game, and then move straight into multiplayer.
The campaign section of the game features many new levels that will keep you playing the game for hours. Combine this with many different difficulty levels and it make for even more hours of gameplay. The main problem with the campaign is that compared with the first one it is much shorter. Even though bungie has put in a lot more storyline, it doesn't compare to actual gameplay, and the lack of it shows eventually when you finish and think, what the hell?
Many people in the gaming world have criticised Bungie (makers) of their ending of the game, and lack of play, as it is all about cliffhangers and where are going next. I applaud this, but I also feel there could of been more done if the fans of this game decided to wait it out a bit more.
With that aside, you'll still be able to play alot, with a lot more features, and you'll meet new "bosses", that will require more skill then ever before. The enemy characters in this game are much harder to kill then before (in Halo 1, which is what I always refer to as "before"), and you'll have to range your tactics and use different styles of weapon play to combat this. This is where one of bungie's new features comes up to the plate. The ability to be able to dual-wield weapons is one of the huge upgrades from before-hand, so you can now hold one weapon in each hand (only compatable with pistol, smg, plasma pistol, plasma rifle and needler), mixing it up with alien and human weapons to suit your style and ability.
Also within campaign mode is the new ability to ride and drive more vehicles, and steal them off of another if you get the chance. Steal the ghost (small alien motorcycle), banshee (alien flying machine) and then take them for a drive. Along with these two vehicles are the wraith (like an alien tank and can be stolen), Spectre (good for transport and weaponry) and the Shadow (transport vehicle). with all of the alien vehicles taken care of, you can also blast your way through with the human warthog (both bullet and strauss turret on the back of a jeep type vehicle) to defeat your enemy.
The last new major feature to hit is not having to look for health whilst playing, instead having a unique shield system that replenishes itself when hit with a barrage of bullets or plasma. This helps because instead of searching for health all of the game you can continue playing, but also hinders because you find yourself constantly "hiding" and waiting for your shields to replenish.
So you're playing campaign, and you realise that you've started a level as an alien? Yes, that's right, this time the levels intertwine with the alien enemy of the humans, the covenant (don't worry though, you'll never have to actually shoot humans), and you'll realise that the reason that bungie has done this is to help you understand the full nature of the story of halo, and of course the other enemy, the flood. The flood are an enemy of both humans and the covenant, and playing both characters lets bungie show you how the covenant are affected by both sides of the worlds, both the humans who are trying to stop them invading their planet, and the flood, who are zombie-like creatures and parasitic who eat off of the covenant (and the humans), and are taking them out.
So throughout the game you play as the covenant fighting the flood, and as the humans fighting the covenant and the flood, showing you the ultimate story line and finally coming to a climax where... oh no I'll leave that for you to watch when you finally get that sense of accomplishment that you've finished halo 2 and know exactly what the story was trying to tell you, whilst still wanting more.
Now I think that the above should help you get an understanding of how the game works, who you're playing for and against, and with what, without actually giving away too much of the storyline, the levels and what's really in store for you when you turn on that console. I don't want to ruin it for you.
Side Of The Game 3: MULTIPLAYER
Bungie has really gone out with the multiplayer side of things with this installment, only proving further that this game is in slate as one of the top-runners by continuing to have a giant presence within the Xbox-Live community. It is the most played multiplayer game in the world, and the multiplayer maps and the concept behind the game are the reason why.
If it weren't for the multiplayer side of this game, I have reason to believe that it wouldn't be a very popular game (well it would be, but not to this magnitude). Hell, after two years the multiplayer gaming has kept me more interested then I was when it first came out, which is truly saying something. I can definitely say that it won't leave you bored, because they've just put so much into it that it makes it impossible to learn it all, keeping the game fun for more then a few weeks. I can say that I've had this game for just under 2 years now and I still play multiplayer profusely when I get the chance... it hasn't gotten boring, and If it can't get boring for someone with a short attention span like me, then neither should it for you.
Now when I say, "You can't learn it all", What exactly do I mean? The only way to truly answer this is to explain each of the original halo 2 maps to you now, so that you can get an idea of what each of them look like, and why they are still interesting to millions.
Side Of The Game 4: MULTIPLAYER MAPS (ORIGINAL)
LOCKOUT: A mid-sized map that seems to be set in mid-air, making a series of floating levels, ramps and buildings. It has one large grav lift which leads from the very bottom floor to the top, and then gives a view of all four sides of the map, including a large central floor.
ASCENSION: This map offers two main towered areas, which make as good sniping vantage points over most of the map. In the very middle of the map we find a central "dish" of sorts, complete with rotating sections, which helps shield you if anything.
MIDSHIP: Based on one of the luxury Covenant ships, this map is quite symmetrical, based on a couple of floors, it has one open circular middle section, surrounded by many ramps, levels, and smaller open spaces around the outside viewing into the middle. This map is capped off by a large platform at the top of the map in the middle, which is held up by a grav lift.
IVORY TOWER: This map is described as being a park on top of a building, meaning that it is indoors, and has no outside areas. There is of course one central area, which is more of a small ampitheatre with complete rows. Surrounding this area is a small amount of halls, ramps and small rooms, and finished off with grav lifts, and a constant lift (platforms continually going up, resetting, going up etc.)
BURIAL MOUNDS: Burial mounds is supposedly set on a moon of one of the main halo worlds, and is littered with rubbish and shards of the halo 04 installation (one of the halo rings). It is a large map, with two ends connected by a bunker (runs from one end to another). In the middle of the map lays the only building like structure, with a ramp going over the bunker as one exit point.
COLOSSUS: This map is relatively mid-large, and has many levels. The main interesting point of this map is the very large grav lift which propels you up and forward to the very top level from the very bottom level. This map is especially good for sniping, and gaining a vantage point over others, as it is large enough for many areas of fighting to break out, and hiding to occur.
ZANZIBAR: Probably the map most people have heard something about. It is made up of a beach (base), and another building which makes up a much harder base to penetrate. In the middle of all this lies a wall to help out the beach team, but also give a vantage point over the beach, and a giant wheel structure, acting almost like a windmill, but adding to the structure of the map.
HEADLONG: A map based on a construction zone somewhere in human development, this map contains two main base areas, and of course an open area in the middle. This map is very large comparing with others in the original pack. The bases for the map include a two story building that at first glance looks to be under construction, and another empty double story building opposite. Apart from the bases, this map has many open areas, dirt patches, open roads, you name it and it's there. Lastly, there are some smaller enclosed areas, to help sway the map towards a snipers feel.
WATERWORKS: The largest map available with the original halo 2, this map has 2 large bases separated by a machinery product of the forerunners. All 3 main section of this map can be used as sniping vantage points, especially the middle machinery section, which contains the highest point on the map, and can give a view of both bases. I advise to be careful on this map as it is above a lake, which is quite easy to fall into. Combine all of this with vehicles, and you've got yourself a match!
FOUNDATION: This map contains a very basic design, made good. In this middle of this cylinder map is the main bunker area. This is surrounded by a higher circular path, with four bases/rooms diagonal to each other. All of this put into one map makes for one hell of a king of the hill or slayer on this small map.
Now of course, fans of the multiplayer and halo game will realise that I've left out COAGULATION and BEAVER CREEK, and I have done so mainly because they are re-makes from the very first Halo, so I have decided to leave the research for these ones up to you, the reader. Although many things have been added by bungie to make these 2 maps greater and better, I feel that both the origin and new ones, should be up to you to find out about (If you are interested).
So there you go, the multiplayer side of the game and the maps sorted for you.
All that I can add to this is to tell you to go out and experience an online game of multiplayer Halo 2 for yourself. This is the only real way to learn the excitement of it, the thrill and how much you perspire wondering where the other players are running to, and which player is currently zoomed in on your head awaiting the perfect shot with a sniper rifle... And when you hear the whistling of a rocket flying at you... what are you going to do?
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