HALO 2 REVIEW

Bungie could have just carried on where they left off, giving us another 20 hours blasting time as the Master Chief, but they chose a different tact. Halo 2 is very much a story that is being told to the player, and the choice was made to tell the story of Halo 1, but from the covenant perspective. of course, Halo 2 isn't just a rerun of it's predecessor from a different angle - it does continue the story, but fills you in on the history of the game as you're going. From this point of view, it's very cleverly written.

And yes, this means you get to play with the Covenant. The first cutscene shows us what happened to the Covenant after Halo was destroyed (final mission, The Maw, on Halo 1). The Covenant chief put in charge of stopping the human assault on Halo obviously failed, and is to be punished with death. Instead the covenant leaders, a group of Prophets, the enlightened leaders, give the alien a second chance to sort of make amends - he has to go out again and sort out the Covenant's problems.

The Covenant quickly make their way to earth, so this is where gameplay starts - on one of the UNSC (human's) cruisers in orbit around Earth. Although you, as the Master Chief, are quickly sent down to Earth, you only actually stay there for 2 levels. I found this a little disappointing - the game has been marketed very much as the Covenant assault on Earth, which is a little misleading, cause you then spend the rest of the game elsewhere.

However, the effort put into the Earth missions is astounding - it is by far the most beautiful part of what is, overall, a visually unpresedented game. The Earth maps are of the city of Mombassa, and old architecture blends with new architecture beautifully. The gameplay here is enjoyable, and you get a decent amount of time trying out the vehicles and new weapons to play with. Note, you can carry a pair of any small firearms - pistols, sub-machineguns, Plasma pistols, Plasma rifles or Needlers, or any combination of those. Dual Plasma rifles are an excellent tool, especially if you're carrying a sniper weapon on your back. Earth is also where you'll get to meet one of the most irritating opponents in the game - the Covenant Snipers. The chances are, they'll kill quite a few times!

In my opinion, there is a bit of a lull in the middle part of the game, where the maps are awkward, confusing and frustrating. They are very good and very well built and decorated, but to the point that they detract from the enjoyment. The gameplay during the middle part of the game is equally difficult, especially if you make the mistake I did, whch is to start out on Heroic difficulty level.....it's too hard for the first time through!

However, later in the game, in the last 3 or 4 levels, everything really picks up again - the enviroments are stunning, and very enjoyable to play. The gameplay still keeps you on your toes, but you get a chance to enjoy your new abilities and flexibilities more, and you get a better idea of where the story is taking you. It is also the latter half of the game that really introduces you to the new characters you have to fight, which forces you into a position of trying out the various new weapons, if you want any chance of surviving.

And then it suddenly ends! The ending really took me by surprise, but it has left me in absolutely no doubt that Halo 2 is the middle part of one of the best trilogies ever written.

From the point of view of the game itself, I would say it is absolutely excellent, but I didn't quite find it as mind-numbingly brilliant as Halo 1. But it still rocks!

I definitely recommend geting the "Limited Edition". The metal tin packaging is very, very nice indeed (one of the best things about it) and the Special Features disc is kind of interesting. I would have liked to have know why Bungie chose Steve Vai to record some guitar parts but then failed to say anything about him, and the behind-the-scenes/making-of documentaries could have been more interesting, but they're still good.

Despite the negative things I have said about it, I'd still rate it as a 5-star game - it's far superior to most games I've played, and with it's astounding cutscene movies, it's better than some films too. I haven't played multiplayer on it so I can't comment on that, but I should think it's excellent!