Well, my friends, another great game has arrived and been sitting on store shelves for 6 months come May 9th. I suppose my point is that if you haven't purchased the game by now, you're neglecting one of the best, if not the best release of 2004. If you don't own an Xbox, buy one. More to the point, Halo 2 is a game that shines with a light rarely witnessed in other titles.
The gameplay is, in a word, a masterpiece. The sweet satisfaction of destroying an entire covenant force with a few well timed strikes and a praiseworthy selection of weaponry puts this game above the ever larger field of mediocrity. The excellently designed story line proves a worthy sequel to the equally compelling story offered in the original. However, where this game truly accends above its prequel is variety. There are more vehicles, weapons, and enemies, all with many different features. Each weapon's effect is different, allowing you, the gamer, to select the best (and most enjoyable) way to charge, guns blazing, into a group of Covenant forces or Flood monstrosities.
The musical score of the game ranks among some of the best in video games, providing a suitable variety of orchestrated, rock and funk music. In addition, the sounds of battle may as well be happening right in front of you, because the audio is just that good. You won't be playing with your volume down.
The graphics are excellent, and by far exceed those of the first Halo installment. The lighting, texturing, and shadowing have all noticably improved since the first game, and help Halo 2 to rank among the best graphical masterpieces that Xbox has to offer. The character design overhaul can be gathered from the appearance of every character from the marines to the aliens, and is detailed and believable. The particle effects of the gun emmisions and explosions spread realism across the screen.
The playability of this game is excellent. The new dual-wielding feature has been successfully integrated into the already impressive Halo control scheme to allow for complete and flawless control of the Master Chief's on screen action.
Halo 2 has certainly shaped up to be one of the most engrossing and fun games of 2004, and is certainly a frontrunner for future gamer's choice awards. Once again, I strongly urge you to buy this game.
~ REVIEWED BY > Lord Deluge
FINAL WORD: 10
Halo 2 > Second Opinion
Released for the Xbox, the first Halo combined awesome weapons with nearly invincible Covenant to make a truly great game. With the release of Halo 2, it has made the Halo series one of the most defining shooters of all time. The graphics on Halo have always been great, but with the tweaks that were made for Halo 2, you could see the dust fly from underneath a ghost, and much more.
Halo has always had an excellent storyline, and with the war against the alien races known as the Covenant on Earth, you would keep playing just to find out what was going to happen. With the addition of Yayap, the Flood's return, and slowly understanding the history of John (Master Chief), it kept you going for more.
Unfortunately, Halo 2 has a few flaws that sinks it score down. It has little replay value. Once you've defeated the game, only putting it on a higher difficulty setting would make it exciting again. But sadly, Halo 2 is just to easy to beat. I was able to blow right through it on the Legendary mode, without much difficulty. The only real way to make it difficult were to be to use the weaker weapons.
Multiplayer is by far the best I've ever seen. Now with the addition of controlling an Elite, it has never been more fun to blow eachother up. Plus, with vehicle damage, I can blow up specific parts of any vehicle if I choose too. Great fun when you have a Battle Rifle and an unwilling victime......
With so many mupliplayer maps, a larger amount of weapons, and cool new vehicle, Halo 2 should be bpught for the multiplayer mode alone. In all, its a great game that deserves a place in your collection. I give this game an 8 out of 10 ( but if Halo 2 never comes for the PC I'll lower my score to a 6/10 and biyatch slap Microsoft....)
~ REVIEWED BY > Stryke
2ND OPINION: 8
PREVIEWS OF UPCOMING VIDEO GAMES AND RELATED ITEMS
FINAL FANTASY ADVENT CHILDREN
PLATFORM: Playstation Portable (Movie) RELEASE: Fall 2005 DEVELOPER: Square Enix PUBLISHER: Sony
Well, this is certainly a movie to look forward to for final fantasy and computer generated movie fans alike. The great pictures and fansites keep one occupied as one waits for this spectacle to come to the Sony PSP. There are also excellent trailers available as an appetizer, so take a look here: <http://www.square-enix.co.jp/dvd/ff7ac/> Unfortunately, for all of those who do not own a PSP, the DVD release for this movie will come some time later. This movie is a continuation of Final Fantasy VII.
With its spectacular graphics, animation, characters, story and musical score, Final Fantasy Advent Children is shaping up to be one of the best movies of our time.
~ PREVIEWED BY > Lord Deluge
