With breathtaking visuals, a ground-breaking plot, and depth-defying gameplay technicalities, Halo 1 was one of the most influential shooters of all time. With a monumental debut, how does Halo 2 rate stacked against the perfection of it’s predecessor?

After being in development for multiple years, Bungie has had time to improve upon many aspects of Halo 2. Although multiple delays left Halo fanboys disappointed at times, the overall improvements that were being implemented into the final version with such a large space cushion to work with was for the better.

Throughout development of Halo 2, Bungie would frequently reveal exciting new concepts that would later become part of the Halo phenomenon. For instance, new vehicles and weapons. When Bungie first revealed Halo 2, it was to our understanding that there would be multiple new Warthog vehicles (depending on what terrain each vehicle is needed for, i.e. snow, jungle or desert), along with an awe-inspiring new ATV-like vehicle named the Mongoose. Unfortunately, these vehicles never made it into the concluding version. As we watched more concepts fail to attain the final game’s supremacy (flamethrower, the ability to run, peek, etc.), can that dissuade us away from the overall experience that Halo 2 delivers? Absolutely not.

Halo 2 delivers an unimaginably great gameplay experience that’s simply unexplainable in many ways. First and foremost, having the ability to dual-weld dramatically changes gameplay into a more strategic environment whereas we didn’t have that choice in the first Halo. Choosing to dual-weld means that you lose the ability to throw grenades. Being able to throw grenades plays a significant role into gameplay, however when having two BR55’s (i.e. Battle Rifles) at hand simultaneously, that’s something I’d like to call “keepsake”.

Another interesting characteristic about Halo 2 is having the ability to play as the Covenant in both Single, and Multiplayer game modes. Playing as Arbiter [Elite] opens up a new world as far as the storyline goes. Although some may find it shocking to play as him at first (as I did), you’ll eventually grow to love him, after you make it past all of the shocking flood encounters.

The storyline is now seen from multiple viewpoints. The Covenant now have a background and we now know the reason as to [why] they decide to attack Earth. Although the main theme of Halo 2 is earth, you’ll only be playing one level on earth. Forget about the cool Mombassa earth level shown off at E3 2004, because Bungie decided that this level shouldn’t make the final cut as well. Instead there is a similar level; and although it doesn’t feel as satisfying as Mombassa looked, it was still fun overall. Unfortunately, Bungie lead us on to believe that most of the battles would take place on earth, while sadly only one level did. Although Halo 2 was still a great game, it was a big disappointment finding out that the storyline would be much different than what we were expecting.

Aside from having a solid single-player mode, there’s also an ingeniously crafted multiplayer mode as well. Although excellent, there are minor errors that tend to deter from the experience. Often “failed to load map” errors may sporadically occur, as well as a random crash of two, however the overall experience makes these little errors nonexistent. With the hopes of Bungie fixing these minor errors, you can rest assure that Halo 2 will give you an outstandingly good time while on Xbox Live. The best comparison for Halo 2’s multiplayer mode would most certainly be Splintercell: Pandora Tomorrow. Although Splintercell: Pandora Tomorrow’s online multiplayer mode may be good, it’s not quite up to par with Halo 2.

When the headset is away, and it’s just you and some friends, how does the split-screen multiplayer and co-op mode play out? Having the difficulty set on Legendary is simply unplayable unless you have a friend to help you through it via co-op. However, playing the co-op mode on Easy, or Normal is simply no fun at all. While the co-op mode isn’t the main feature for multiplayer, the four-player split-screen can be just as entertaining as Xbox Live. Why? Although you only get a fourth of the screen, there’s nothing like playing against friends. It takes smack-talking to a whole new level (try smack-fighting?).

Aside from gameplay, Halo 2 boasts excellent graphics (mind the cut-scenes). Since there’s no load times, you may occasionally see textures ‘appear’ sporadically during cut-scenes, so that’s what we get in exchange for no load times. Apparently Bungie thought that this was a smart method and was coherent for a game like Halo 2. However, it’s a huge distraction while watching cut-scenes.

With excellent graphics comes even better sound. Halo 2 maintains the most remarkable soundtrack in gaming history. Although some of the music may be recycled, the new revamped rock sound adds to the game’s overall atmosphere, creating a very exceptional artistic feel.

Overall, did Halo 2 live up to its hype (Ilovebees anyone)? Can it compete with it’s predecessor? I’d say it definitely can. Although the Single-player Campaign was rather short, and the ending was rather... non-explanatory, Halo 2 is a masterpiece, and has enough ‘Wow’ in it to make one yell out a big “10”! However, that’s not the score that it gets. While gameplay is outstanding, the story was something that made Halo feel more immersive, and the fact that the ending remains untold is a little disappointing for hardcore Halo fanboys. Overall, this is a game no Xbox-owner should do without. Over hyped... a little, monumental... hell yeah!