Excellent game. Only 2 minor criticisms.
- 1) Game is very long, but seems to be unfinished
- 1a) last level is not w/Master Chief, which seems odd.
- 1b) the cut-scenes (which are of minimal importance anyway) seem to have glitches where some parts of the animation appear, then others (not all at once).
- 1c) multiplayer maps were released later for more money. these should have been released free. some of them were merely levels from the game.
- 2) no multiplayer bots. they can do this, they just won't, forcing you to go online to spend more money if you want to play at home against someone else and no friends are over.

Other than these minor gripes, the game is flawless and one of the best games for any system. arguably 2nd only to the original halo. I'd give this a 4.8 or 4.9 if it were possible.

I still wish MS had splintered off a Bungi team and had them develop Halo2 based on the original Halo engine so we wouldn't have to wait so long for the release, while simultaneously developing a new Halo game with the new engine.

Ok, I have to start off by saying that I wasn't at all interested in this game when it first came out, serveral reasons: first off; I could not afford an xbox at the time so I didn't even want to check it out for my fear of falling in love with it and HAVING to get an xbox somehow, second off ;) never really been a sci-fi-whatever lover; always loved and still love WW2 inspired games, third off ;) all the hype about halo 2 made me sick at first, everybody talking about it!!! god!! make it stop!!! I saw some screenshots and videos eventually and never really saw the big deal about it. Now; on to the good part, when I got my xbox (by the time I finally got my tax return) I bought dozens of games but never halo 2, one day I went to the mall and went into a games store and asked one of the guys: "what's a good game?" cuz I was already bored with what I had, boy, this guy said "ok, of course you've played halo 2 right?" and I'm like "no, and I'm not really looking for a sci-fi kinda game" he started going about how great and fun this game was and how I'm really missing on something special. well, the guy convinced me and got the damn game, I get home, popped the game in and started playing..............GOD DAMN HOW WRONG I WAS!!!! first: graphics, not the best certainly but some really nice touches bring out the effort that was put into it, from the shine on each weapon to the level design and character design, couldn't ask for better for the console, second: gameplay, this is it, this takes the cake, lots of games might be similar to halo 2, but the fun here is second to none, you never really realize when you've already learned the controls, it's that easy and intuitive, the speed of the game, the A.I, the weapons, the explosions, the control you have on you own arsenal, the dual wielding (which opened a whole new dimension of fun and possibilities), the cars, the carjackings, all this came together to blow me away, and I haven't even started on multiplayer, I finally beat the game on normal mode, I never touched the game again for about a year until I finally got my DSL internet and thought: "let's give halo 2 a try online", OMFG!!! this is NEVER ENDIND FUN, it really is, true, you have the same basic kind of games, capture the flag, slayer, etc, but it's the variety of ways and combat what'll keep you wanting to be better than everybody else and you can even create your own games, it doesn't get any better than that, it's the thrill of the chase, it's the satisfaction you get when you get a headshot with your sniper riffle and you see the body of the enemy slamming on the ground and you hear the other guy on your headset going "DAMN!!!", it's the excitement when you shoot your rocket launcher and you see the rocket whizzing through the air straight to a warthog with 3 guys in it and you get a "TRIPPLE KILL"
it's the fear you inflict on your enemy when you're three feet away from them with you energy sword out and you see them shooting like crazy or trying to escape, it's the fun of throwing granades with precision and you see the guy flying through the air from the explosion, it's the laugh it causes you when you stick somebody with a sticky bomb and they don't realize it and all you do is wait to see the BOOM and see them fly!!! it's the rush you feel when you're on your ghost running everybody over and you hear that scream: "AAHHHHH!!!!!!", it's the satisfaction, emotion you feel and fear you have to look behind when you're running away with the enemy flag and you depend on your teammates to defend you or when you meele someone with the flag itself..oh my god!! I wanna play right now!!!, GOD!! I can go on and on and on about this game but all I'm doing is wasting my time and yours when we both could be playing, go! go!! go get it, buy it, borrow it, steal it, do yourself a favor and get it somehow ok??? and if you don't like it or hate it, well, there's something obviously wrong with you...

Maybe you'll disagree, I rather save the extra 10 bucks and get a regular than a limited edition... they only give you an aluminum case with behind the scenes cd which i could be less interested in.

this was a very good follow up to the first, hopefully the 3 will be mind blowing

The title of this review says it all. I play this game on somewhat of a late-nightly-fighting-insomnia basis and I have NEVER played this game through XBOX live, just the damn "campaign" mode and it's become the needle in my arm I knew it would be, it's that good!

Where to begin? Let's start with the "cinematics" as they are so appropriately called. The game is worth it for just that! Their not quite TV movie quality, they just need a slight push to be that, but it does achieve the feeling of suddenly taking over in the middle of a scene rather a level within a game. An excellent voice cast: Robert Davi (My favorite choice.), Keith David as the excellent character Arbiter who actually has a strong character arc (movie lingo for a charcter that changes in one way or the other.), Miguel Ferrer, and Michael Wincott (my other favorite as the Prophet of Truth. His voice just resonates with evil!) However, David Cross as Marine is like Fat Albert as a marathon runner, it's a bit of a stretch. Michelle Rodriguez as a marine fits like a magnum round in a chamber, it just works. By the way, an enemy that as Gravemind says is "flesh and faith and is the more deluded!" Does that sound familiar? Promises of a "Great journey" promised to them by their religous leaders! Wanting to eradicate another species, essentialy because of their non belief! I'm just saying.

The Gameplay? What I look for in a good game is not only the quality of the graphics and bodycount, the two most important things I look for is the number things to do and when you beat the game is repeating it worth it. On both counts, HALO 2 OVER acheives both of these things. The number of weapons to use and the number of ways to try the missions, just keeping your fellow soldiers alive is a challenge, it works on every level. You get to do everything you wanted to do in the first game in this one (drive a Covenant Wraith, jump on and knock people of Ghosts, dual weld weapons, use weapons that you couldn't use in the first game, and shoot while other characters drive.) As far as the graphics go, everything is eye-achingly detailed. The Covenant and the much better looking than HALO Flood are more detailed than the humans, but that's expected, it seems logical that it would be easier to create something that doesn't exist(i.e. alien worlds, aircraft and weapons that don't exist, etc.) that you have no real examples of verses something like a realistic human faces, but even their it's amazing to see their movements and expressions (I love the guys with the Austrailian and Spanish accents.). The Covenant is more of a formidable enemy, with the addition of the Brutes, ape-like creatures with rhino-esque hides. At one point during the game, as the Chief, it becomes a four-way battle between you, the Flood, the Elites, and the Brutes! Stunning! There's also a moment when encountering all this that it's nearly pitch black and only a few lights are one. You are moving around with your flashlight on, hacking and blasting away at everything in your path! It's a real rush.

The weapons are somewhat better than HALO's, this time I think their more realistic. The assault rifle from the first game was full automatic but you could waste ammo, this one is more accurate as well. Not to worry though. The submachine guns, which you can dual-weld ala John Woo are, true to advertising, bullet-hoses. I miss the scope on the pistol but within the game there's really no need for weapon that weak. I love the energy sword, it's the ultimate anti-Flood weapon, give me that and a shotgun (also with a more realistic ammo carrying capacity than HALO) and no Flood, or Brute for that matter, will remain standing.

As far as the vehicles go, they've gotten some much needed upgrades. The Warthog is still my favorite. It's been improved with a power-slide feature that is murder against the Ghosts. They also had the thought to put in a horn, just a marvelous attention to detail. The Scorpion tank has less of a loading time between shots and the machine gun is more accurate than before. They've added a Spectre, which is the Covenant equivalant to the Warthog, although the Warthog is a better vehicle in my opinion. A boost feature has been added to the Ghost as well as the Banshee. The Wraith Mortar Tank is a mixed blessing. It's rounds are strong but their's not much of a close quarter accuracy as opposed to the Scorpions main gun. The best improvement however is that all of these vehicles aren't as indestructible as they were in the first game. When using The Warthog, for example, you can shatter the windshield, have the engine catch fire, knock out the tail lights, and even destroy the thing if it gets enough damage. Same thing with the tank. It all ads to the realism.

Also as far as complaints about the suit and the life meter being gone, it merely adds to the realism. Your sheilds do charge up faster in this game verses the first, but it puts you on the same level with the Elites you encounter. In other words, it's know somewhat more of a fair fight which makes it more challenging!

As I said, I haven't played the Multi-player mode yet, and I don't think I will. If I wanted to do something like that, I'd get Battlefield 2. I'm still way to involved with the story and the gameplay of the campaign mode to care about that stuff.

A damn exhausting, miracle of a game in every way!

Just a personal note: Damn you people at Bungie for making HALO 3 only available on the XBOX 360! Why would want to dissapoint the people who have made the previous games such success by letting the final chapter come out on a console that very few people have? Why make us spend more money than we have to? Oops! I just answered my own question! :)

I bought this game nearly two years ago and I really enjoy this game as much as I did the first Halo. The graphics are outstanding the best I ever seen next to a PC game. The single player campaign was also great, great story but the ending left you on a cliff hanger and now we got to wait until 2007 for the ending (Hope they continue the series somehow though).

The Xbox Life multiplayer I loved for the first few months especially CTF (Capture the flag). Very enjoyable but what made me stop playing after awhile was the fact that you can't pick a server like normal the computer does it for you. Most of the time it also put me on the losing team so I stopped playing.

Overall a great game and I recommend it to any fan of shooter games. If you didn't play the first Halo I would say play that first so you would understand the story line. I would of gave this game a 3 star review because of the way the Xbox Live multiplayer works and the cliff hanger waiting where you got to wait three years for the ending.

The reason I ranked it so high is because of the graphics, the single player campaign (Even though it left me on a cliff hanger), and the multiplayer (Even though the computer picked for me which I hated and the fact that many times I would be put on the losing team without being able to move to the winning team). Even with the faults overall the multiplayer was good.

If you don't have it already get an Xbox 360 soon since within a year Halo 3 will be out and we will see how it ends.

If you like a game of skill stick with Halo 1. If you are a beginner Halo 2 is for you.

The first time I bought this game I traded it in coz it was so unlike my idiolized GR2-all the rays, plasmas, aliens-intolerable. Alas, I was shamefully wrong;i bought it again.

The campaign is 4 star good; the story line makes sense especially after visiting the addicts at halopedia.org. The cinematics help too. I have finished the game once on campaign mode will start over a level harder.

Halo 2 will awaken you when you continuously get killed by 10 year olds on XBOX Live. The 5.1 sound is flawless-5 stars! If you like FPS and have XBL, then you have to try this.

Halo 2 lives on XBL

If you like FPS, and want to play a game full of really cool details just stop reading this and buy it. The limited edition comes in a really nice case and a second dvd with some details of the game but you might end the game before watching or it would spoil the fun in the game and it's storyline. BUY THIS NOW!!

Halo2 is a great game with spectacular updates from Halo.

Vehicles -
Specter - 2 stars - pro, seats four people con, horrible turret

Phantom - 4 stars - pro, tough con, can't get in it!

Ghost - 5 stars - pro, more of them, easier to kill, and you can board them! con, become annoying after a while in campaign

Wraith - 5 stars - pro, can board them con, hate the mini guns on them in campaign and why can't you use them?

Warthog - 5 stars - pro, great phsycs when playig a demo durby, love the gaus gun!

Scorpion - 5 stars - pro, big boom! con, too slow

Online Play -

Best Matchmaking I've ever seen. Worth getting XBox Live for. Never gets old. Love custom game feature.

Weapons -

Brute Shot - 5 stars - pro, shoots grenades! con, what con?

Particle Beam Rifle - 4 stars - pro, head shot! con, overheats too fast

Carbine - 4 stars - not much to say, nice gun

Fuel Rod Cannon - 5 stars - pro, bigger than big boom, hunter weapon right in you hands! con, why isn't it in online play?

Battle Rifle - 4 stars - pro, love those head shots con, hate it when I get shot in the head!

SMG - 5 stars - Great dual weapon

( Great thing about smaller weaons is the dual feature; hold more than one gun at a time! )


I think that I've given you enough info for now. JUST GO BUY IT FOR PETE'S SAKE!!!!!

No need to buy the collectors edition - it's just the companys' way of making a few more bux off each sale. The extra DVD that came with it... I have no clue what's on it because I've never taken it out of the box. Once I started playing the game, I could have cared less what was on that extra disc.

Just buy the regular version. The game... AMAZING.

First of all, I really enjoyed the first game and am not about to choose which one is better. They both PWN.

Secondly, I have some news for you: SINGLE PLAYER IS PRETTY BAD, it held my interest for roughly an hour on normal... and about three on legendary

Thirdly....... MULTI-PLAYER IS THE MOST PERFECT GAMING EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD. A few words, get some friends, get Live, get multiplayer. Halo 2's multiplayer is perfectly balanced, the maps are awesome, and it will take you a loooong time to get bored, around 400 hours. The multiplayer in this game is so overwhelmingly amazing that I dont even care that the single player merits a two star rating. Teamwork is valued, weapons all have their roles, and gameplay is never repetitive also, very strategic.


BUY THIS GAME, IF YOU ARE PLAYING SOMETHING ELSE OTHER THAN HALO 1 YOU ARE MISSING OUT!!!

Best game on the xbox and any console they did so many improvements from the graphics to the weapons to the new vehicles and xbox live best multiplayer on any sytem limited edition dvd has some cool things like making of and a look at the evaluation of halo in all if you own an xbox you should own this game if you don't own an xbox this is the best reson to buy one.

I have good news for Halo fans out there: this is the best game ever. The story is REALLY, REALLY good, and although the game is pretty short, you'll have a lot of fun playing it. Not only is campaign mode great, but once you play Halo 2 on Xbox Live for the first time, you won't be able to stop. All the different maps, new weapons, better graphics, new vehicles and everything else make this the best game of all time.

Graphics: 9 out 10

Campaign Mode: 10 out of 10

Sound: 10 out of 10

Multiplayer: 10 out of 10

Overall: 10 out of 10

Halo 2 - Circa 2004

GOOD:
- Play over Xbox-Live (and has downloadable content)
- Really balanced gameplay
- Graphics look great (Doom 3/Half Life 2 quality)
- Use two handguns at once (action movie style)
- Make or edited your own multiple player matches, and even play them online
- Considered an instant Classic to many Video Gamers today
- A.I. is challenging but not overpowering
- Total upgrade over the original, which was considered a classic by many

BAD:
- "To be continued ending" did not play well with the fans
- Sometimes gameplay can get a little repetitive
- Lack of real variety in enemies
- Liner level design
- Gameplay wise not too much has changed since the original

IF IT FITS YOUR TASTE:
- Sci-Fi military FPS where you fight off an alien race who wants you dead, similar to Starship Troopers, Aliens (Alien 2).
- Play as an enemy trooper in some levels
- Only get to carry 2 weapons at a time (but if using two handguns, three at a time)
- Drive vehicles, such as tanks jeeps and alien spacecraft
- Online play over Xbox-Live also system link and spilt screen available
- Co-op play (only on system link or spilt screen)
- Cool looking metal disc case

GAME ITS MOST ASSOCATED TOO:
- Halo
- Doom 3
- Area 51
- Star Wars: Republic Commandos

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
- This Special edition comes with some behind the scenes stuff
- Note when you play online you never really get to pick and choose who you (or your team) versus in the matches, the Xbox dose almost all the setting up, some like this others hate it.

What can I say this game is just plainly awesome, and anything I could say wouldn't even describe the feeling of playing this game. If you loved Halo and FPS games you'll love this. Halo 2 takes place after the events on Halo.

CAMPAIGN MODE:

Campaign mode is really fun, with an awesome story; with all kinds of twists and turns. The campaign modes reveal new charters like the Prophets; leaders of the Covenant, as well as the Brutes, which is more of an enforcer that relies on Agression, and Buggers which are incests that use their speed and agility, and mass in numbers to try in their attacks. Also you you will encounter the Honor guard, which are Elites with tricked out body armor, and they have also given the Jackals a new look. Their are loads of new weapons and toys to play around with:

Weapons-Campaign

Like the new /Covenant Beam Rifile/- Which is the Covenant sniper Rifle mostly used by Jackals, super effective against every thing instant kill with head shot.

You also have the new/ Battle Rifile/- Which is a new good looking rifile with a zoom that can fire three round burst at a time, whihc is very effective mid-close range combat.


You also can now wield the/ Covenant Energy Sword/- Which is one heck of a weapon for people who like combat close and personal. Great for stealth I must say with two differet attacks basic mele and critical strike.

I also loved the new/ Covenant Carbine/- Which is a very effective plasma semi automatic rifle which is ver effective on mid to long range targets, ggreat toy, more of a fall back weapon though like the Battle Rifile.

They also have an new/ Sentile Beam/- Whihc is a weapon you will encounter latter in the game great against fllod along with the shotgun, and Plasma Sword. Shoots out beam similar to the flying sentlies you encounter.

You also have a new gernade launcher called the/- Brute Shot/- which can shoot out gernades at a rapid speed. Good for shelling a group of enemies. You can deflect the gernades off walls to hit targets to, a sweet trick that you can use in latter levels of the game.

In the game they have created the brand new, DUAL WIELD system, which makes it possible to wield two weapons at a time in different effictive combos, which opens the doors to all new possibiltes.

Weapons/Dual Wield-Campaign

/SMG/-A new sub machine gun that is very effective, especially when dual wield in different combos, an ideal weapon for close quaters combat. Probably the best weapon choice for efficient killing.

/Brute Plasma Rifle/-Just like the original, except it's red and called the Brute plama rifle no difference, except for Butes only use it.Just as great as the original.

/Magnum/- I really didn't like how they took the zoom, off the pistol, but it can be used in alot of effective combos like the the famous SMG and Magnum combo.

So you can basically throughout the game use combos with all the weapons for example:

Plasma Rifle and Needler
SMG and Pistol(Magnum)
Needler and SMG
Brute Plasma Rifile and Plasma Rifle
SMG and SMG
Needler and Needler
B.Plasma Rifle and Needler
Plasma Rifle and Plasma Rifle
Plasma Pistol and Plasma Rifle

Graphis/New Changes:

... well you get the point the new dual wield system really adds something to the combat. Oh, yeah The Rocket Launcher is now more of an heat seeker, than randomly firing at stuff, way more effective, and they have gave the game a whole new look with graphics ten times better than the original.They have also added destroyable environments like vechile damage, and such. A way better physics engine as well. To be honest the graphics are the best I've see to date.

In campaign mode you also have new vechiles like:

Other Toys-Campaign:

/The Scarb/: Kind of like one of those Imperial Walkers from "Star Wars", That the Covenant has, very powerful with a powerful laser blast.

/The Wraith/: A new Covenant motar tank, that is a pretty sweet toy to play with, but is not as effective as the scorpion tank, but does have a speed boost, which the also added to the Ghosts

/The Spectre/: The Covenant version of a Warhog, can fit up to 3 passengers along with a driver and gunner fun, in multiplayer action, you don't use it as much in the campaign.

/The Guass Warhog/: A new vesion of the warhog with mor or a plasma type particle canon einstead of the basic machine gun. great new toy, but best used in multi player.

/Shadow/: A basic covenant troop transport vechile featured in the game can carry multible passanger as well as cargo, such as a ghost.

Instead of drop ships that the original game had, Halo 2 features/Phantoms/ which are kind of like the covenant version of the Pillar of Autumn, used for dropping off troops and supplies at tatical points as well as good for doing som serios carnage.

Campaign Overview:

As you can see they have added a lot in the the game. Campaign Mode has 15 level, with brilliant landscapes, and unbelivable graphics, with a twist. You play as the Master Chief for part of the game, but you will also play part of the game as a Covenat elite called the Arbiter, this will give you more of the Covenant's side of he story. The game has a lot more depth than the original, and is way more advanced as well!!! Overall Campaign mode is fairly easy until you try Heroic, but will keep you busy for about 15 hours.

Some people didn't like the ciff hanger ending so they said the game was rushed, how naive can some people be, the end just leads into Halo 3 which will be coming out with the new Xbox 360. I honestly wanted more after the end of the game, but really I don't like people who try to find something wrong with the game and make such a big deal about it. Halo 2 is a materpiece no doubt about it. The game is what all sci fi movies should be like. Hey I even heard they are coming out with a Halo movie, so watch out in the future.

Multi- Player

Yes, Campaign mode is fun, but thee multi player fun is what really makes this game shine, whether it's from split screen action, to co op adventure, or playing against the world on Xbox Live whihc is darn fun. I got new for you the multi player will have you playing this game for hours for example.

For example after school one day after I fininshed my homework, at 5:00 PM I started to have some fun playing on Xbox live, so I played and played, so when When I looked at the clock it was 2:00 AM, The game was so fun I played for another hour than I decide to go to bed. So, ipractilly become addicted to it. Lan parties are nice too link up with 15 other people and have some a good time and show your fiends what true marksmanship is all about.

Halo 2 has a whole bunch of new maps, that ae very detailed and are so darn fun, with all the new weapons and such. The possiblites are endless. You can form your own tournments and so on and so forth. Multi player is what makes this game really fun. It's just darn addictive. You can eve customize your profile, which makes the game really cool.

WHAT MAKES THE SPECIAL EDITION SO SPECIAL:

If you are asking if you should go out and spend your money on the special edition, I say yeah go ahead. You get a second disc with "The Making of Halo 2" along with some great reading meterial from the Covenant's point of view, along with the cool silver case. Look, it is only a few bucks more so I say get your money's worth.

Well, you don't have too,... if you don't want too and you want to save about a few bucks, but on Amazon. com they have it on sale anyway for about $40.00, at the current moment, so I really suggest you if you're an amazon shopper and you did not buy this game go ahead to. Either way it's still the same game special edition or not.

OVERALL:

Overall, this is the best game of 2004-2005 in my opinion. Great game, a must buy for an FPS fan, great sequel to Halo. This game gets a 5/5.... outstanding game, bring on part 3!!!

-Rogue Fox"Rogue"

I was severly pissed off when I bought Halo 1.it was too easy short and boring.My favorite example of boring is the library wow marching around shooting things that looked like retarted trees.
In Halo 2 all my problems with the game where fixed.It was harder it had more action and not to mention the opening level is Badass.
Oh and for you jerks who say if you hated Halo1 why did you buy halo 2.I bought halo 2 because my friend told me it was harder so me and him made a bet.Unfortunatly I lost skeptical that halo 2 was just as horrible.
if you ask me though about FPS games Half life is king Doom follows close by and then Halo.

I don't care that much about videogames. I don't even own a PlayStation, Xbox or Gamecube. But I went over to my friend's house to play this game and was simply blown away. From the graphics to the plot to the advertising, everything about Halo 2 screams "I ROCK! I'm the BEST videogame of all time!"

When I first started this game, it was like slowly sinking into a warm bubblebath-warm and very, very enjoyable. Halo 2 opens with the commander of the alien forces that lost to the Master Chief in the first Halo videogame. He is being punished. Then, the game switches to shots of the Master Chief recieving medals back at Earth. Even little things like that make people really appreciate how much time and effort was put into making this game. But anyway, there's a problem at Earth. The Covenant aliens have invaded and it's up to the Master Chief-along with an A.I program and some really amazing weapons-to beat back the covenant and, once again, save Earth from total and certain destruction. Sounds cool to you? You have absolutely no idea of how awesome the plot gets. But a good plot is almost worthless without good gameplay, and Halo 2 is the cream of the crop in that department.

The control scheme is tight, elegant and simple enough to become second nature in an hour or so. The option of dual-wielding weapons adds a whole new dimension to the game, as dual-wielding can hinder as well as help. You have to drop a weapon to throw a grenade or use a melee attack. And you know what? It makes it even better to see explosions and kills in the terrific graphics that Halo 2 has.

Halo 2 isn't THE most gorgeous console game ever, but it's definitely within the top ten. The plasma sword glitters with amazing detail, shadows are picture perfect and the backgrounds as well as foregrounds are beautiful as well as 100 percent destructible. Eye candy? Check. Gameplay candy? Check. Plot candy? Check. But even with all those great things, you're still left wondering,"Why does Halo 2 sell so well?" The answer is in the ads.

Halo 2 had one of the best advertising schemes of any move or videogame ever. When you looked through a magazine you would see the small but brilliand adds. You know the hyper-stylised "O" from the title? The ds showed that O with a 2 inside it. Then underneath, the realease date. For those who didn't know what the O standed for, Microsoft couldn't care less.

But, all in all, Halo 2 isn't so much a game as a work of art. Hey, go grab a copy. Game on.

This game is so awesome. This has got to be the best game ever created. The special features on the other disk are pretty dang cool too. All the other games never even imagined being as great as this one. Multiplayer is awesome and something hilarious always happens if your playing with at least 4 people but any less than 4 is still awesome. This game is a must-have for anyone with an Xbox.

Like all the other people say this has got to be the best game ever created. The first level isn;t the greatest but the later levels are better. The scorpian tank pops up a lot more thab in the first one and the weapons are great except for the battlerifle it sucks. My favorite levels were outskirts, delta halo, and gravemind, the levels are long and full of twists and turns, the detail in everything is perfect, in delta halo there are so many ways to complete the level. The weapon called the enery sword is the best only it runs out of energy too much.Anyone who likes this game has to buy it, it is literlry the best game ever created

Halo 2 is an overall great game. Though, there are some things that are problems. The graphics in the game, and mostly in the cut scenes are pretty ugly. Also, as in the first Halo, the level designs are very very repetitive. Just like in Halo CE, you will find yourself confused as to where your gong and that Have I already been here? feeling. The other problem is that while the gameplay is truley fantastic, the single player campaign is very short. Expect to beat the game in 10 hours or less.
The multiplayer portion of the game is quite good. Many diferent types of gameplay and a variety of a few good maps makes this one FPS multiplayer game to get.
Aside from the graphics, level design, and longetivity of the campaign, Halo 2 is just as great in terms of gameplay and intersting storyline as the first. Making this a mandatory purchase for XBOX owners.

I got this the night is game out, and i am still hooked. If your a die hard halo and FPS fan i reccomend this game,i rarly get on xbox live but when i do its so much fun! the only thing we got that troubles most of the online people are modders. if u read this thank you for taking the time to read it.

I don't play it myself, but my son and his friends spend countless hours on it. They especially like playing it live. And I have to admit, it looks awesome!

halo 1 is one of the most amazing games, along with metroid prime 1 (and 2). halo 2 however is just an over polished, softened version of the first game. i'm really dissappointed, the thing is they had nearly everything so tight in the first game but went and screwed with it. you don't feel that bang!! that gritty feeling it almost feels as though you have mittens and a dress on while playing. i'm really pleased to see that nintendo always focuses on innovation and has realised that hype and graphics do not make a game great. i don't know how much work bungie did but after three years, i expected a much better game, honestly one can only care about the storyline so much , but this is a game not a movie-if by chance you get a look at the extended dvd you will see that bungie admmitted all their mistakes(while eating pizza) and do not even realise it. i hope halo3 is better but i have my eyes on metroid prime 3 for now..

this game is awesome. if you get it and have high speed internet, get Xbox Live. you will not regret it. i stay up all night, one night a week on the weekend with my friend and just have fun on live. its unbelievable how diffrent each game is. and the DVD is pretty cool too

Disc 1:The Game
Halo 2 is probably the best piece of work I have ever seen!!!!
Halo 2 is an all out action, sc-fi first person shooter!!! Dang I wish sc-fi movies were all like this!!! The story takes place right after the orignal Halo, if you didn't play the first game ... well... don't get me started; JUST BUY IT!!!!!!! The whole Covenant and Human conflict is still going on!!! In Halo 2 the game tells a lot more about the Halo universe *cough* the PROPHETS *cough*!!!! Halo 2 is a lot more stylish and has bascialy been refurbished!!! This game has improved in everything from graphics, to level structure, new and improved weapons, the dual wield feature, improved marine inteligence, vast landscapes and breathtaking scenery, awesome cut scenes which flavor the story!!! The new armor make gameplay at times a little easier with the shield able to charge up faster but, it can sometimes be bad if you can't find cover though!!! The new dual wield system makes the game much better with many deadly combos and so much opputuinty!!! I give credit to Bungie and Microsoft for making this possible, with all their hard work and dedication!!! The game itself has two different story lines: one being about the arbiter/ a covenant Elite/ which gives the game from the covenant point of view and of course Master Chief!!! The story in campaign mode spans out from 15 unique and just plainly unbelievable!!! In Normal mode the game takes about 10-14 hours of gameplay but, as you get into Heroic and Legendary modes it starts to get tough!!! As the Arbiter you play along as a member of a covenant Spec. Ops. group fighting against Heretics, from the Flood, to fighting alongside the humans the in an unlikely alliance against the Brutes. Well anybody who has played the first Halo knows who da' Master Chief is... so just give me a break!!! Fine, the Master Chief is a human cyborg (Spartan) who is known as Demon to the Covenant. With him you defend the Cario Space Station, chase them away from earth, take on a whole Covenant army on a second halo(a super weapon), pursue a Prophet, fight your way through the Covenant High Temple, and survive another encounter with the Flood!!!

Game Outline:
Levels:
The Heretic- cut scene kicking off the story of both the soon to be Arbiter and The Master Chief!!!
The Armory- A quick tutorial along wit another cut- scene!!!
Cario Station-/Master Chief/ Defend the stations MAC gun from destruction!!!
Outskirts-/Master Chief/ Rally scattered marines, in an counter- attack, clear hostiles out of outskirts of city!!!
Metropolis- Take Main Bridge, Drive Covenant out of Meteropolis. Defeat the Scarab.
The Arbiter-/Arbiter/ Infiltrate Space Station and eliminate all heretics and other complication *cough* THE FLOOD *cough*
The Oracle-/Arbiter/ Kill Heretic leader!!!
Delta Halo-/Master Chief/ Take out Covenant Army on second Halo , locate the Prophet of Regret!!!
Regret-/Master Chief/ Kill Prophet of Regret... at all cost!!!
*PERSONAL NOTE: I bet you that the Prophet of Regret probably regrets coming to earth, getting his fleet blown to pieces by the core, and managing to get himself killed!!!
Sacred Icon-/Arbiter/- Lower the shield protecting the sacred Icon!!!
Quarantine Zone-/Arbiter/- Retrive the icon at all cost... a short cut to h*ll if you ask me!!!
Gravemind-/Master Chief/- Stop the Prophets before it is too late!!! Is ther a gas leak in here because the covenant are shooting at each other!!! Well at least you don't have to do all the dirty work!!! Reminds me of the civil war if you ask me, dang history class!!!
Uprising-/Arbiter/ Join up in arms against the Brutes!!!
High Charity-/Master Chief/ Stop Truth, while Cortana deals with the index!!!
The Great Journey-/Arbiter/ form an alliance/ Human and Covenant/ keep Tartarus, leader of the Brutes, from activating Halo!!! Reveals cliff-hanger ending for the sequel Halo 3, rummored to be a starter game for the Xbox 360 next generation gaming system!!!

Besides all that typing I just did about the Campaign mode, there are many multi- player options and xbox live options!!! For regular multi- player it is the same stuff except for the new and improved maps, vechiles, and heck I guess everything like mentioned before!!! You can now play online and have 2 times the fun with people all over the world, which is so awesome!!! You also have profile opitions eithe being a spartan or elite!!! There is know reason to buy this game unless you are old enough because the game is rated Mature fro a reason, otherwise it is a must buy!!! 5/5 ***** stars Excellent!!! I will never forget this game!!!

Disc 2: Extras

By now you are probably tired of reading... so take my word on it and buy it!!! The second disc shows the making of the game, original artwork, and more!!! It also gives you some cool reading material from a covenant point of view!!! You could probably live without the extras but, for a fan like me it is worth it!!! It's only a few extra bucks so I just say get something worth your money like this!!!

The End

If you are a first-person shooter player, look no further! This game is all you could ever want, the story line has a different mode whereas you can play as Master Cheif on Halo 1, but in this game you are Master Cheif and The Arbiter(a covenant elite).This game has great multiplayer optoins especially on X-box Live. I could not wait to get this awesome game,but Bunjie and Microsoft have yet to show us their skills, in Halo 3!

I think this game needs a ladder to get above one level to Crap.

When i first played this game over Xbox live i was completely blown away by its great gamplay and graphix. i love every bit of it and couldnt stop playing it ever since then. i was like o my god halo 2 is the greatest game online. but now, after 5 months, im like, damn this game is boring i dont feel like playing it. it gets very very boring after you have had over 600 hours of playing time over halo.i am a playstation 2 owner and even now im not bored of SOCOM II but i am over halo. even my friends who usually play have there excuses for mot playing online. around the 12 people that played halo 2 when i first got it, only 4 of them are still on the game. i suggest that you take the free 2 month subscription and if your starting to get bored of halo, dont renew it, unless you are a diehard halo 2 fan and will never stop, then ok but i know most of you that have been playing this game since november are already bored now. in case you wanna play me on Halo 2 add me on either Detox Doc, Girlaphobia, Ben Coker

I have my complaints about Halo 2. That's not what this review is about though.

The bonus dvd is so lame. You get some weirdos talking about nothing really, and then there is the whole E3 bit. They showed how everyone thought it was awesome. They picked the people in the audience who were drooling pizza grease over the game and interviewed them. Up until this point, it's just boring. But, then the music video starts. It has footage of E3 and how everyone is in awe (come on). This is just the backdrop to some emotional song by one of the latest generic rock bands.

The case is cool though; I really liked it! The case was more fun to look at than playing the game was.

Go ahead and give me a 0 star rating you goofy Halo lovers!

Halo 2 is the most incredible gaming experience you can imagine. Breaking it down:
Graphics - Fantastic! Fluid, colorful, interesting
Story - Simply mind blowing! The plot in Halo 2 is so completely riveting it rivals ANY popular science fiction or fantasy movie plot! Yes, I'm talking as entrancing as Star Wars or Lord of the Rings!
Playability - Plenty of improvements including new weapons, access to Covenant weapons and vehicles, and shooting two-handed. PLUS... a fascinating playing twist early in the game, which I won't reveal..

Every owner of XBox should buy this game. Every owner of an alternative system should buy XBox so they can buy this game! This gets my highest recommendation possible.

Halo 2 is definetely my favorite game for the Xbox system currently. With amazing graphics, gameplay, sound, many weapons, vehicles and the best online play to ever hit the Xbox so far, halo 2 is is the most playable game ever created.

Halo 2 has a basic story, its just that Master Chief has returned and is once again trying to stop the covenant from taking over earth and all of the other planets. Master Chief is also trying to deny a weapon of massive power and one that would have a great effect on the world!

Even though this game has a simple story, the gameplay is unthinkable. I will break up my review into different categories listed below...

Graphics: One of the best parts of Halo 2 is definetely the graphics. The background detail is superb, the texture is smooth and clear. The water is also very well done compared to halo 1, but still not as good as some games have done. The cutscenes are worth bragging about, for example, when i was watching a halo 2 cutscene and my cousin came into the room he told me to "change the channel," as he obviousely thought i was watching television which i thought was kind of funny. The animations of your character reloading, moving and shooting are truely amazing as well, (you switch off from being the covenant and master chief throughout campaign) as it seems like a real movie like a previousely mentioned. Master Chief looks much cooler then he did in Halo 1, as he has a redesigned suit and many more guns with much better graphics. Although it seems like i am saying that the graphics are amazing, i do think that they could have done just a tiny bit of a better job on them just so that it could be one of the best games in terms of graphics to every hit the Xbox Console, that would be great! But all in all, the graphics are wonderful, and definetely not an aspect of the game to complain about, unless you are picky, wait, lemme refrase that, too picky!

Gameplay: There is one word, and only one word to describe the gameplay in this game. Fun! Thats it, this is arguably the best game on the xbox console, and there are many reasons to support that.

First of all, you are able to sprint at twice the speed that you could in Halo 1. For those of you who play Halo 2 you probobly do not see a difference really in the sprinting aspect. I didn't either when i first played the game, but after i played a lot of halo 2, and then played halo 1, you could definetely see the difference between the two in terms of the speed that you can sprint, which is much better then the first.

You are also able to highjack vehicles which gives the game a little "grand theft auto" them to it which is very fun to do. When your playing on Xbox Live, you get a medal each time you highjack a vehicle. (You get medals for each bonus thing you do such as highjacking, sniping, assasinating, etc.) Of course you could not do this in the previous halo 1 game so thats another difference between the two.

Another better thing in this game then there was before in the previous one is that the A.I is much smarter. For example, they can sometimes form a "short time alliance" with another enemy and they can swarm at you, or the grunts can hide behind corners and wait for you to come. The elites are also much better at dodging your shots which makes it much harder to hit them. Also, if you want your allies to drive a vehicle they can which you couldn't do in the first halo game. The only problem is that sometimes they don't show that they're smart by slamming into walls and you have to switch seats repetitively before they'll get there "nack" back.

But as a result of my gameplay review, it has changed a lot over the long and painful time that it took for the sequel to come out.

New Weapons: There are many new weapons in halo to and i will list them underneath. They include...(Keep in mind that the ratings are intirely my opinion)

BR55 Battle Rifle: 2x scope, burst shots, all in all its an ok weapon, not the best. Long range: 6/10, Medium range: 6/10, Close range: 6/10

Covenant Carbine: Basically the Covenant form of the Battle Rifle except that its not burst, its just a one shot fire. Pretty good though, as it can fire much faster then the battle rifle. Long range: 7/10, Medium range: 8/10, Close range: 8/10

Particle Beam Rifle: Covenant form of Sniper rifle, except that if you shoot two shots in a row it has to charge back up which takes a couple seconds, but i think its better then the sniper rifle seeing that if you have a good aim, you can finish your enemy off quickly! (Or ally, ha ha!) Long range: 10/10, Medium range: 8/10, Close range: 6/10. The reason why the ratings decrease is because the closer you are to your enemy, the harder it becomes to shoot considering that your aimer is unbearably small, so its hard to aim, even from a far distance, but it doesn't take that much skill to be able to snipe people from afar.

Brute Shot: In my opinion i hate this weapon. Only the brutes use it (in single player) and they can never kill me with it because it sucks. Its almost impossible to aim at anything moving from afar or even medium range. The only good thing is that the shots can bounce of walls, wooooopy! Long range: 1/10, Medium range: 3/10, Close range: 5/10

Covenant Energy Sword: Probobly the best weapon for close range is the sword. Even from medium range you can lock on to your target and unleash a super upercut attack which is a one hit kill unless your openent uses a cheap overshield, which i personally think they should take out of the game, seeing that whoever has the overshield cannot be stopped by one person unless the openent has a sword or a rocket launcher. Long range: 0/10, Medium range: 8/10, Close range: 10/10

Fuel Rod Gun: Ahhhh, i wish this gun was in multiplayer but i guess it would be way to cheap, considering the amount of ammo it has and that it is a one hit kill. But for single player it works mighty fine! Long range: 10/10, Medium range: 10/10, Close range: 10/10

Two other things i have to add is that you can dual weild certain weapons, but the only problem with this is that you cannot chuck grenades when you are dual weilding which kind of makes sense when you think about it. Also, the rocket launchers can lock on to vehicles which makes it much easier to destroy those cheap @$$ vehicle lovers!

Vehicles: I will now mention the new vehicles in Halo 2. They are...

M12G1 Warthog LAAV- Basically the same as the previous Warthog, except it uses a Gauss Cannon which is a one hit kill instead of the machine gun. (The previous Warthog is in Halo 2 as well.)9/10

Specter: Sort of like the Wraith, (Wraiths can be used in multiplayer now) except its faster and can hold three people, one for the plasma cannot turret at the back, one in the side seat, and one obviousely driving the vehicle. 9/10

Shadow: The vehicle that the covenant use, can hold up to 8 combatents depending on the species of convenant, an ok vehicle when your using it. It uses a plasma cannon like the rest of the other covenant vehicles. 7/10

Two more things i have to add about the vehicles are that the Banshee can now be used in multiplayer as well as the Wraith which makes multipayer much more fun.

Sound: A great game needs great audio right? Well halo 2 listened. From the classic halo chant, to the rather heavy halo 2 beat, comes wonderful sound and definetely good enough quality that you can just sit their drinking tea/coffee and listening to it. Well, i guess if your that obsessed with the audio, you can just by the soundrack right?

Online: Now comes the best part. The online multiplayer play. I have to say, i though crimson skies had the best online multiplayer play, but as soon as this hit came out i quickly regreted myself saying that. Basically, there are ranked games and unranked games, (unranked games are known as training games.) As you win ranked games you gain levels, you start out at level 1 and the last level is level 50, but i believe that the highest level right now is 27, so as you can see its extremely hard to work your way up once you get past level 20.

The different ranked games are as follows...

Rumble Pit: Up to 8 players all dualing it out against each other. Thit matchmake playlist can include normal slayer, all rockets, all swords, all shotguns, odball, or king of the hill. This is probobly my favorite kind of playlist to play.

Team Skirmish: Up to 8 players, 4 on 4, on a team obviousely. This playlist usually includes the different types of Capture the Flag, team odball, 3 plots or assault. Pretty fun playlist to play!

Team Slayer: 8 players, 4 on 4 against each other can include normal team slayer, team rockets, team swords, Fiesta Team slayer, team shotguns or team phantoms. Probobly runner up for my favorite playist to play halo 2 on.

Head to Head: Simple straight up slayer games 1 v 1 can inlcude normal slayer, all swords or all rifles. Very fun, and addicting especially when your winning.

Big team battle: Huge game, up to 16 players, 8 v 8 can include team slayer, different types of CTF, Assault, or land grab where you have to take over different areas of land. Very fun playlist as it sounds like, but can get very hard and boring considering that your dying a whole tun, especially when your playing on a smaller map.

Clan Battles: Basically, you can join a clan which in different words is like a club and you get your clan together and battle with them in different match types. Pretty fun, good for bragging rights. When your clan starts winning, it will level up.

In conclusion to my online review and whole halo 2 review, the online aspect is probobly the best part of this entire game. Its so much fun trash talking to your opponents and so addicting to play ranked games. You can also just play custom games where you can invite all your friends to play whatever type/map you want. You can also customize ever thinkable option which makes this game truely worth your time and money.

Halo 2 delivers excellent gameplayer/graphics/sound/online play which definetely makes the game a worthy $50. Halo 2 is definetely not one of those games that you are going to end up returning straight away after you get it, you'll be twice as addicted to it as you were to Halo 1! (Unless you don't have Xbox, and if you don't like halo, no offence, but theres something wrong with you.)

COLLECTORS EDITION:

With collectors edition, you get a ton of new features which includes a cooler looking game case, a "behind the scenes" footage of halo 2 and how this amazing game was made. It also includes Visualizing the story (Concept Art, Early Level Design From Script to Game, Narrated Storyboards and Character Tests. Also, the collectors edition includes bonus materials which has features such as trailers from halo 1 and 2, Cut scenes, commentaries, Inside Bungie, A bungie history, before halo, the making of halo 1 and Gameographies.

GET THE COLLECTORS EDITION, IT IS WORTH YOUR MONEY!

My first reference: www.halo2sucks.com

I will list the reasons why the game is worse than Halo 1 (in which case, Halo 1 > Halo 2)

1. New glitches are being found EACH DAY.
2. Cheating online
3. auto-headshots with the sniper rifle
Ex. If the reticle is above the opponents head and you fire, the game will count that as a headshot.
4. The shotgun is incredibly inconsistent and the range of it in game is incredibly unrealistic. With the inconsistency, you will find yourself shotting people point blank in the head and they don't die. However, when they fire back at you, you actually die.
5. The default weapon is an SMG, the worst weapon in the entire game (asides from the needler, which has been dumbed down instead of increased in power as promised in the E3 demo)
6. Single-player isn't fun anymore. You can't play through legendary without dying about 100 times on each level and the storyline has A HUGE cliffhanger. You won't even see it coming. I didn't.
7. The plasma pistol/battle rifle combo makes matchmaking (the online service that matches players up with other same skilled players) very unenjoyable. (Charge pistol, fire, switch to battle rifle quickly, when the charge hits your target, get a headshot, insta-kill) And guess what! There's no way to dodge the plasma shot unless you run behind a wall. But then again, that works in any situation. @_@
8. Bungie not listening to their audience or too much of it. This is why the game has been, dare I say, n00bified. It is so n00b friendly in multiplayer you wouldn't believe it. The skill potential in this game is much lower than in Halo 1.
9. There are only 2 Earth "levels". These are divided into "stages" mind you. Bungie thinks the stages are actual levels but they're really not. This game is shorter than Halo 1. No joke. You can beat it on Normal in about 3-4 hours. Maybe 2 if you know what you're doing. What happened to "Earth will never be the same."? I wanted to fight the Covenent on EARTH! But almost all of the missions are set OFF of Earth. Believe it ladies, Bungie screwed their own game by lying while advertising.
10. If this game version is so limited, why are there thousands of unsold copies for the consumers?

I won't tiptoe around the issue. This game is good. This game is very good. Is it something that's going to force me into changing religions, asking my fiancee to paint herself Cortana purple, or naming my firstborn children "Master" and "Chief"? Uh, no. And because it's not the life-shaping experience a lot of people were looking for, it's naturally going to be called a slight disappointment. Which is a shame, because... like I said, this is an outstanding game.

If you didn't like the way the first Halo played, you won't like the direction the sequel's gone, either. It's a natural progression from its predecessor, familiar enough to enable returning players to launch themselves right into the melee without missing more than a beat or two, but giving enough to appeal to gamers who didn't get a chance to try out the original. Throughout the first level, instructions and button assignments flash onto the screen from time to time if it looks like you're lost or out of sorts, and you're almost immediately given a chance to test out the new "dual wielding" weapon configuration, one of the game's biggest selling points. The longer you play, the more you'll start to understand which firearm combinations produce the best results and which are all but useless.

Unlike the original, where most of your adventures were one-man assaults against insurmountable odds, a good portion of Halo 2's action takes place alongside friendly troops who surprised me by actually serving a purpose beyond "human shield." These guys honestly know how to fight with the enemy and steer the game's various vehicles without abandoning you in a firefight, and while they still aren't quite on the same level as the Master Chief, it's nice to have a little intelligence by your side all the same. They'll tug at your conscience, screaming for help when they realize they're alone and outnumbered, boost your morale by immediately recognizing you and treating you as a celebrity, and lighten the mood by telling an off-color joke or two.

One thing that especially caught me off-guard with this release was the story of the single-player "campaign" mode, and the great strides it had taken from its forefather. I remember reading somewhere during the game's development that Bungie was taking every measure possible to ensure that this "top secret" story wouldn't be leaked to the public... and truthfully I scoffed, recalling the passable at best storytelling of the original. I liked a lot of things about the first part of this story, (I thought the Halo ring itself was an outstanding idea, as was the revelation that it was, in actuality, an enormous weapon) but a vast majority of it was fightin' for fightin's sake with no real motivations tossed your way beyond "Hey, those freaky alien guys are shooting at you. Go get 'em." In the sequel, not only has the storytelling been vastly improved, but the backstory has been fleshed out beyond anything I ever could've expected. While the first Halo embraced a sort of black or white, us vs. them theme of good and evil, the second moves dramatically into a world populated with shades of grey, of uncertainty and of realism.

The subjects that this game covers from start to finish are staggering; the frequency of political corruption, the basis and fallibility of religion, the necessity and motivations of war, the existence of sentient life elsewhere in the universe... it seems like the writers were almost inviting a lot of heavy-handed, boring, long-winded monologues, but really the story's pace is quite manageable and no event seems out of place or forced. The characters deal with the situations as they present themselves, adjust their position as new facts come to light and begin to question their own motivations and beliefs when something staggeringly important goes down. Basically, Halo 2 is on par with a really, really good action / adventure / sci-fi movie. The big explosions and fight scenes happen at just the right moments, the weighty conversations don't take the player out of the story, and the cutscenes only serve to motivate you in the hours of gameplay that immediately follow. To overuse a cliched phrase, Halo 2's story blew me away. My only major complaint was the brutal cliffhanger the game chose to end on, which leaves players without the slightest sense of accomplishment and feeling a bit ripped off. It was so strangely placed, caught me so off guard that I was still clutching my controller, waiting for the cutscene to end and the action to resume, when the credits began to roll.

The visual aspect of this game is a great triumph for the most part, really emphasizing the Xbox's strengths as a graphical powerhouse and delivering a product that would be technically impossible on the PS2. The creatively dynamic lighting isn't quite as impressive as it was in Splinter Cell, but the way that lighting affects the various textures in and around the field of battle more than make up for it. The Master Chief, all of his comrades, Cortana, the commanders, they all look worlds better than in the first Halo, even in its visually-tightened PC incarnation, and the dramatic improvements that have been made in the environments, objects and surrounding textures raise the bar even further. Warthogs and Ghosts are no longer impervious to gunfire, and slowly begin to show the signs of continued use before bursting into flames or sparks of electricity.

My sole qualm with the graphics department is the decision that was made to live-render every single cutscene, from start to finish. I understand the motivations behind this decision, to deliver the knockout blow that would settle any questions about the Box's visual superiority once and for all, but the end result is more like a weak jab to the solar plexus. The Xbox has notable difficulty with these scenes at times, especially at their very beginnings, as textures will drop out entirely for a few moments before blinking back on again.

I never had a problem with the audio in the first title, and actually considered it to be among the best at the time of its release, but the sequel managed to find areas for improvement even in that department. While Dolby Digital surround sound was available in the original, it pales in comparison to the completely immersive audio experience of its sequel. You can still hear which direction a rocket's coming from with your back turned, for all the good it'll do, but you can also pinpoint the location of a sniper based on the noise his scope makes and the crunches of his feet against the rocky terrain. The voice acting has been taken to the next level, even including a few celebrity guest-appearances, and the influx of talent seems to have inspired everyone from the culture-manipulating prophets to the meaningless grunts who seem to serve no purpose beyond dying a grisly death. I've really only experienced one game with voice acting that even came close to what you get with Halo 2... and that was in my favorite title of all time, the original Metal Gear Solid. And, keeping that comparison in mind, the symphonic score of the new Halo wipes the floor with that of MGS. The composition, effectively pairing a full orchestra with a hard rock / metal lead guitar, seems awkward in print but is a baffling success in context. It retains the credibility and drama of an epic war drama, while also introducing the futuristic, almost mechanical setting of the game itself, not to mention its target market. I've never even contemplated purchasing the full score to a video game in CD format, but Halo 2 changed my way of thinking.

And, finally, there's the multiplayer mode(s), the real deal-breaker for many players, myself included. If it's any indication as to the game's addictive online quality, I haven't had a chance to finish a review in months thanks to the amount of time I've spent playing this thing over the internet. Easily one of the greatest strengths of the first game was its unbelievable multiplayer modes, and their uncanny ability to bring people together for hours and hours at a time, huddled around the same TV with the common goal of unloading on one another. Surprisingly, the sense of community that made the original so special has been effectively transferred to the online mode of its sequel, thanks to the use of Xbox Live's headsets, an easy, effective clan-building utility, an unheralded level-based matchmaking system and the understatedly simple means of inviting friends to join you in-game.

In my review of the original Halo, I claimed it was "worth buying an Xbox over," and it remains to this day one of the two highest-rated games I've ever scored... it, along with Goldeneye on the N64, scored a near-perfect 9.8. If the first was worth buying an Xbox all by its lonesome, its successor is worth buying both an Xbox and a subscription to Xbox Live over. It's improved upon nearly every single area I had issues with in the original, it's taken the existing storyline and expanded upon it to undeniable success and it's delivered one of the deepest, most life-altering online multiplayer modes I've ever seen. Halo 2 is the sequel all games should strive to deliver, retaining the best aspects of its predecessor while giving fans a whole new set of possibilities to master in the wait for the next chapter. The only things holding this back from a perfect score are the abrupt ending and a few rough patches in the graphical terrain. As is, this is still the best game I've reviewed to date. If you own an Xbox and haven't picked it up yet, you must be punishing yourself for something.

When I first got Halo 2 on the day it came out I was hyped to play it. I thought that the graphics where very good. The sound tracks were amazing and the gameplay was as good as the first. I didn't like that the levels were really easy. Some of the weapons that were in the first were better than the one's in Halo 2. You are hardly the Master Cheif and you have to play as the Arbiter (the Elite). After you beat the game there is not much that you can do with it. But during the gameplay I thought that it was really fun at the time. I would prefer games like Doom 3 that is coming out on April 4. I have played the computer version of it and I am planning on getting it on X-Box. It is a really fun, scary, and challenging game. It will scare you out of your pants.