Master Chief must defend Earth from invading Covenant forces. After the events on the Forerunner ringworld Halo, Master Chief SPARTAN-117 returns home to Earth with the AI construct Cortana. The war with the Covenant forces is still not going well, despite the destruction of an entire fleet at Halo, but the Master Chief needs a refit. Armed with the Mjolnir Armor Mark VI, he is on his way to a decorations ceremony with the thought-to-be-dead Sergeant Johnson, when Covenant forces emerge from the Slipstream into Earth space. But something is wrong: the fleet is much smaller than the one used to destroy Reach, humanity's former frontline stronghold. The Master Chief and Cortana, along with Commander Miranda Keyes and the crew of In Amber Clad, must fight off the Covenant and protect Earth, a battle that will take them across the galaxy to a new planet, which is disturbingly familiar…Meanwhile, the Prophets, leaders of the Covenant, are not pleased with the Elite Commander that allowed the Master Chief to destroy Halo, and he is branded a heretic. But even Heretics have their uses. He is to become the new Arbiter, a warrior for the Prophets' will, destined to die in glorious battle like all the other Arbiters before him. But deep in the Covenant, rumors are spreading about a Jiralhanae take-over. Can the Arbiter uncover this treachery in time to save the Elites? As seemingly the whole World knows, Halo 2 was going to big. Very big. And, well it was. Yet, despite the praise heaped on by critics and the less dedicated fans, much of the hard-core felt somewhat underwhelmed. In part this is understandable, but if you consider how they practically submerged themselves in the build-up, grasping every tiny clue and snippet as though it was vital to life, you can't help but feel that perhaps they set themselves up for a shock. This leads me to believe that such people may have been a little to quick to judge. Playing through Halo 2, it is very obvious that Bungie listened to what the fans liked and didn't like about the original and have clearly worked hard to integrate this into the sequel. The player is treated to a significantly greater number of vehicle moments and the much-loved periods of co-operation with allies. Level design is also something that has received much evaluation and you are no longer forced to repeat large sections of levels in reverse, although the sequel retains the linear layout of the original, which does seem appropriate for the style of shooter, lamentations of many aside. The weapons system again has been overhauled and rebalanced and their is no longer a weapon of complete dominance, although many pro-gamers have lodged tear-filled protests at their resulting demise. These people are quite pathetic really; considering themselves to be amongst the best and yet being unable to deal a change in playing style. You will also soon noticed the lack of a health bar which was removed so that the player was never in a position that they could not complete and area due to insufficient life-force. This has an unfortunate consequence in multi-player: In close combat it is difficult to take down multiple foes in close range battles without withdrawing after each kill. Many people have also complained that the final game bore little resemblance to the 8-minute level shown at E3, nor did it much reflect marketing promises of a huge battle on Earth. If you think about it from a narrative point of view however, it makes perfect sense not to start with a last stand for humanity, as this leaves the players changing down the gears in the later levels and makes for a very unsatisfying plot. For the shooter fan, Halo 2 is a solid shooter and although limited graphically by a now ageing Xbox, should still be an enjoyable experience with its seamless changes in combat style making for variable play with some potential for experimentation. What Halo 2 really is though is a fan's game and this is what those depressed hardcore's need to realise. I have found it difficult to think of anything was better in the original and feel that people played Halo so much that they sort of feel disappointed that their personal favourite bits just aren't in this game. I'm just re-commenting my horrible comment I did before. First, Halo 2 is AWESOME. Amazing game play and the graphics were OK. But anyway, I think I've made my point, now: For the following:<br/><br/>Gameplay-10/10 Simply amazing, it was so fun Presentation-9.0/10 All the basics Multiplayer-/10/10 Jaw-dropping multi player, very, very fun Graphics-8.0/10 Graphics aren't that good, the textures are pretty good, the shadowing is all right A.I.-8.8/10 They run, jump, duck, its pretty good, nothing mind-blowing Last Appeal-10/10 You'll want to redo the campaign billions of times, if you've got Xbox Live(TM) Your going to be playing this game until you, well, you'll never get off!
Wendephi replied
295 weeks ago