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Review:

23rd November 2004:
Halo 2
The dust has settled and we have played nothing but Halo 2 - offline and online since its release, our verdict inside.
Posted by John Grothier - Xbox - UK and Europe

Three years ago Bungie developed a game that was worthy enough to go out and buy an Xbox. Halo: Combat Evolved, to give it its full title, took the first person shooter genre to another astonishing level. With a jaw-dropping graphics engine and a near epic story - Halo became an instant gaming classic. Now, after what seemed like an eternity, Halo 2 is finally with us.

After an simply beautiful introduction that explains what happened after Master Chief destroyed the first Halo, Halo 2 starts off on Cairo Station - a huge orbital MAC gun, where your job as Master Chief is to defend the station from a Covenant boarding party. This first level is very similar to The Pillar of Autumn opener from the first game, and sees Master Chief taking the fight to the Covenant - complete with a wildly, but hugely enjoyable, overdramatic climax. From here onwards the fight turns to Earth - to the outskirts of New Mombasa, a city under attack from strong Covenant forces. It's here that you will be re-introduced to the Warthog and Ghost vehicles from the first game, as well as the commanding Scorpion tank. After the first three levels the story shifts quite dramatically, and we learn more of the Covenant and the fall and rise of the Arbiter…

Halo 2 tells two tales this time around, and although we learn little more about the Master Chief, Halo 2's story instead dwells on the Covenant's perspective. Halo 2 actually seems to humanise the baddies and by the time you finish the game, players will learn much more of the Great Journey and the Halo rings. I'd like to talk about much more of the plot and some of the breathtaking later levels in the game, but this would give far too much away as the game's narrative will take players from one surprise to another. As for the ending - people have said that you will either love it or hate it, but I have yet to meet someone who actually loves it.

Much of the fantastic gameplay that made the original game is back, with a just a tweak or two. Most noticeable additions is the ability to duel wield weapons. Apart from the huge weapons like rocket launchers, most of the weapons in the game (including the Covenants arsenal), can be duel wielded - meaning that you can fire two different or two of the same weapons using both the left and right triggers. This does mean, however, that you won't have a hand free to toss a grenade into a small crowd of enemies - and we all know how effective that strategy can be. So there are times where duel-wielding weapons can be really effective, and other times where lobbing a grenade and ducking for cover is a more successful strategy. Gone now is the health bar, but your shield recharges at a much faster rate thanks to some recent additions at Cairo Station. This is a much easier way of concentrating on the action, rather that scrabbling around levels looking for health packs, which conveniently just happen to be lying around. If your shield is drained, you can only take a few hits before death occurs - depending of the difficulty level you're playing on.

Probably the best new feature in Halo 2 is the ability to hijack and board vehicles in the game. So if a Covenant baddie is coming towards you on a Ghost, a timely stab at the X button and you will knock him off and gain control of the vehicle yourself. Grand Theft Halo indeed. This even extends to the various tanks in the game, but firstly you have to perform a melee attack on the hatch and then toss in a grenade to free up the drivers seat. This new feature in Halo 2 works fantastically well in the Campaign mode allowing for many different strategies of completing the levels, and it also works extremely well in the many multi-player modes - including the wonder that is Xbox Live.

Halo 2 is fully Xbox Live enabled, meaning that you can play Slayer, Capture the Flag, Oddball, King of the Hill, and Assault - all online using Microsoft's Live service. Up to 16 players can battle it out over some wonderfully detailed and well thought out maps. Sadly there is no online cooperative mode, which is a real shame - playing through the various levels with an online pal would have been so much fun, and a great way to learn new strategies to beat each of the campaign levels, but Bungie have included split-screen co-op and multiplayer for up to four players in the comfort of your own living room. But, if you have a copy of Halo 2 and you are not currently subscribed to Xbox Live - you are missing the best online title yet seen on a gaming console. For all is minor faults and quibbles with the story in the main campaign, Halo 2 on Xbox Live is as good as it gets. Taking full advantage of all that is great and good with the Live service, Halo 2 allows players not only to tweak the game as much as they need or want to, but also to form clans, hold online party's, send text or voice messages to friends, even design emblems that can be customised by various means to make them your own. Already an automatic update has been released for the online experience that makes joining the games much faster - and the promise of more updates and perhaps best of all, downloadable content, means that Bungie - in the online experience at least, have really cracked it.

The graphics in Halo 2 are marginally better than the original game, which of course was absolutely breathtaking. The cut-scene that starts the story off is a stunning piece of work, with some wonderful direction and stunning sets. However, the rest of the cut-scenes that drive the story forward never live up to this first epic scene. Also it becomes quite apparent that in the approach the developers made to try and make Halo 2 as seamless an experience as watching a move is unfortunately spoit considerably by some textures that are loaded in as the scenes start. The Covenant has a few new recruits, all of whom are rendered beautifully, and as you play through the game you will be whisked from one truly stunning location to another. This time around the levels are more detailed, contain destructible items and are much bigger than the maps in the original game.

The original Halo had a fantastic score, with a strong and memorable main theme running throughout the game. Halo 2's score is just as strong, with some interesting variations of the main Halo theme, including some fantastic guitar playing that's growing on me more and more. This time around Master Chief gets a few more lines, but it's the Covenant who are treated to some complex dialogue with superb voice acting that is always measured and never overacted. Each and every weapon and gun in the game has its own distinct sound when it fires and all the sound effects are once again perfected - and everything is presented in the glory of Dolby 5.1 surround sound.

Overall Halo 2 is not perfect, but nonetheless it's a worthy sequel to the reason you own an Xbox. The shortcomings of the story in the main campaign are made up, in part, by the inclusion of the Xbox Live online experience - online gaming really does not get any better that this. Halo 3 anyone?

John Grothier

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Review Summary:

The sequel to the reason for buying an Xbox is here. Halo 2's story deepens and plays largely from the Covenants perspective. Minor graphical problems and a sharp ending to the story spoil the presentation of the main campaign, but Halo 2 is still a worthy sequel. New additions to the gameplay include duel-wielding weapons and hijacking vehicles. Multiplayer and online play using Xbox Live is superbly implemented and without doubt the best online console game yet.

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