adventure

Halo 2, one of the most hyped up games in the history of the industry is finally here, and well worth the wait.<br /> 1. Music- some of the best in recent memory, and very original, from motivating guitar riffs to spine-tingling opera.<br /> 2. Graphics- absolutely beautiful, with no noticable glitches in the surroundings. Lighting due to bombs and energy bursts look amazing. Frame rate very good also.<br /> 3. Immersion- easily sucks you in for hours, something that I've never done with any game except this one<br /> 4. Gameplay- Here's where the Halo franchise is set apart from all other games, along with multiplayer. Bording vehicles is sweet. Jumping onto a Ghost, kicking off an Elite, then hitting turbo to smear him against a wall is all done in fluidity. Jumping onto a tank, breaking open a grill, tossing a gernade in to clear out the driver, then taking the tank for yourself is awesome. Driving around is pretty cool for an FPS, also. Controls are simple but the game allows for skill level to be the ultimate factor. <br /> 5. Multiplayer- arguably the best of all time with 16 man tournaments available, this game will be your party game of choice. Period.<br /> 6. First person campaign mode- its only drawback, although still very good. A bit choppy when checkpoints are reached, and a bit slow in the very begginning (although it picks up VERY soon). Otherwise still better then most games.<br /> 7. Replay value- again, arguably best of all time. With four difficulty modes, the widest variety of multiplayer games and infinite mini games you can make up, you'll be playing this until the 3rd.<br /> All in all, like I said, not perfect, but close.

Well, well, Halo 2. Very nice looking game with okay graphics, but not exceptional, for the Xbox but only a slight graphical improvement from the original (bump-mapping and other effects). Still not even close to being on-par with the graphical capabilities of PCs. Check out Unreal 3 for mind-blowing graphics.

Okay new feature with the dual wielding of weapons even though it is a little uninnovative and overhyped. Some new weapons and features help make this a good buy.

The storyline of the original Halo was great so expect lots. Half-Life was better than it though. The levels were too repetitive but still was extremely fun.

Multiplayer is ok for the Xbox, though 16 players is small compared to the PC where you can have up to 128 players in Battlefield 2. You also have to pay for Xbox LIve, but its worth it.

The replay value is also okay compared once again to the PC with only multiplayer to boot and no ability to mod it at all.

The community is pretty good and I had a nice time at their forums. The guys at Bungie really support their game, but it still doesn't match up to the community at Half-Life 2 which seems more adult and professional. Also, the guys at Valve have released Softimage|XSI for Half Life 2 for modders which is worth over a thousand dollars for free. Talk about community support.

Overall, Halo 2 is a nice buy for Christmas for kids (nevermind its stupid mature rating). However, it seems mainly geared for kids with its "tricks" (see previous reviews) and all even though they do get boring after awhile. If you want more serious/hardcore games get Half-Life 2 or Doom 3 which are supposedly coming out this summer. The mods for those games make it worth much more than Halo 2.

Halo 2, the new reason to own an xbox....

When I first got my xbox I, like many others got myself the popular Halo. At that time it was the best game imaginable with great graphics and steady and exciting gameplay. But Halo 2, Bungie and Microsoft outdid themselves. It was even better, in my opinion. Many people think that Halo is better than Halo 2 and I would understand why. Halo 2 has more options and much better graphics than Halo though. Halo 2 comes with the exciting Xbox Live though. Xbox Live makes Halo 2 really worth the money; it is smooth and clear. The storyline is not as good as Halo's but it is still pretty good. The thing that some may enjoy or hate the most is the option to switch from the covenant to the earthlings and the master chief. Personally I don't like this addition to the game, I'd prefer to stick with the master chief but others out there may disagree with that. Overall Halo 2 is definatly worth that money you saved up. It has excellent graphics, good storyline and gameplay, and superb for Xbox Live.