Gameplay: 10
Sound: 10
Value: 10
Tilt: 10
Overall: 9.9
The bad: The campaign is a tad short, minor graphical problems, addictive multiplayer means we no longer have social lives.
Verdict: Best shooter of the year. Halo 2 is every bit as good as I had hoped.
WARNING: EXTREME SPOILERS ARE FOUND IN THIS REVIEW. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE FINISHED THE CAMPAIGN! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
The Hype Machine
After months of speculation, a ton of hype and one genius advertising campaign, was Halo 2 worth the wait? Absolutely. Does Halo 2 live up to the gargantuan amount of hype that it has been creating over the last few years? Some say yes, others say no. All you need to know is that Halo 2 is here, and it has enough stuff to keep you entertained for a long time, possibly until Halo 3. Bungie delivers the goods. Halo 2 is probably the most complete shooter available, featuring an ingenious Xbox Live experience that accompanies its outstanding single player campaign. It has left me with a lot of great memories that only make the wait for Halo 3 even more ridiculous.
The Campaign--Spoilers!
The game begins with an award ceremony for Sgt. Johnson, one of the few returning characters from the first game. It would seem that this would be a peaceful affair, but naturally all hell breaks loose as some unwanted guests decide to enter the show--the covenant. From this point out, you basically defend the ship in a level that is all too similar to the first game's beginning stage. Eventually you come across a bomb, and "return it" to a nearby covenant ship. Now it's time to visit Earth! Remember that video from 2002 with Master Chief floating in space, with Earth directly in front of him? Well ever since I saw that, I absolutely needed to play Halo 2. I think a lot of us were interested in the idea of going to Earth, and obviously some of our expectations for this were huge.
Of course, nothing ever is what it seems in the gaming universe. Everyone remembers the huge surprise in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty in which about 90% of the game featured the blond-haired beach boy Raiden instead of the badass Solid Snake. Gamers had mixed opinions about this, and MGS2 really did feature probably the most surprising twist in any game. Jason Jones, the project lead for Halo 2, must have learned a thing or two from Hideo Kojima, because Halo 2 travels in a similar direction.
Of the fifteen levels, only two of them take place on Earth. And only about half of the game features Master Chief. During the other half, you play as the Arbiter, a covenant elite. There isn't much of a difference when you're playing as an elite, to be honest. A lot of weapons you'll stumble across are strictly covenant weapons (as if most of them weren't anyway) and your HUD will be purple. The most interesting part is fighting alongside other covenant aliens, such as jackals, grunts and other elites. There is one awesome point in the game where you befriend some hunters; it's just too bad that they are really weak. This offers a change of pace in the game, and it is interesting to hear about the hardships that the covenant have faced over the years. The Arbiter also gets some of the game�s best missions late in the game.
The story really takes you across the universe, it seems. By the time you finish the game you will have ran outside a space station, blasted covenant through the war-torn city streets of Earth and fought your way through a holy part of a covenant city. And without spoiling anything, that�s just the beginning. Some of my favorite moments from the campaign include rescuing Marines from a covenant imprisonment in a level similar to Truth and Reconciliation from the first Halo, boarding a massive covenant �vehicle,� to blasting your way through pitch black hallways and a flashlight in a level that�s clearly inspired by Doom 3. These events are just the tip of the iceberg. There are so many great moments in the game�s campaign that it would be rude of me to ruin them here.
Basically, if you enjoyed Halo�s campaign, you should find comfort in knowing that Halo 2�s is not very different. It follows the same formula and even features a few levels that pay homage to the original Halo. If you hated fighting the Flood, you�ll hate fighting them again in Halo 2. A few of these Flood levels drag on a bit too much, but the level High Charity makes up for it. I also found that the second half of the campaign is better than the first half, even though the first half has all of the Earth levels. I simply found the game�s second half to be much more enjoyable due to its more open levels (Gravemind) and vehicular sections (Quarantine Zone). Regardless, the entire campaign is awesome if you don�t mind the cliffhanger ending.