- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
In no way did I feel cheated by halo 2.
I only recently got into the Halo scene around last May I abosoloutly fell head over heels in love with the game!
The charm, the mechanics, the gunplay, the sheer immense amounts of gameplay all bundled into a 30 seconds of fun philosophy! It works and it works well, in no way did I ever imagine a game could offer such an orgy of gameplay expeiriences!
Then a week later I learn about the sequel. I was psyched. Hell Blammin' YEAH! I was pumped up, I preordered online. Watched videos ate up every little detail I could on the game!
On November 13th the game arrived in the mail, I humped the metal case for 6 straight minutes, I then popped it into my Xbox, I make my little profile and I hop into the campaign!
**Warning Listen n00bs! The rest of this Post contains SPOILERS! Read at your own risk!**
I was treated to something special, something alot of video games don't allow you to do, Bungie allowed me to peer deep into the misguided hearts of my enemies and understand their weird political structure, I was introduced to a character I grown to love even MORE than John-117 Master Cheif, The Arbiter!
I then arrive to the M.C.'s leg of the story, listen to some funny quips between M.C., Cortana, and Johnson, who of all the minor characters in video game history, is my favorite!
Right now any graphics-blam!- would be complaining about the Pop-in during cutscenes, who cares if you don't like it go play Madden, or some other EA lisenced trash! We got pop-in as a result of no loadtimes EVER, pretty fair trade-in if you ask me ^_^
Well back to my post about the beginning!
I was treated to the most quoted words from ANY given video game trailer ever!
"I need a weapon!"
From here everything was pure Halo fare, shoot, get hit possibly, hide let your sheilds recharge. Basic 30 seconds of fun Philosophy (BTW I love you Bungie for not fixing something that wasn't broken!) Some nice scripted stuff, Master Guns dying made me sad! :'(
Then the crap hit the fan when it came time for the level to end.....
Master Chief stops the covenant bomb from exploding in the nick of time and saves the Cario you know, this would be enough for your average Protagonist, but not Master Cheif, he is kick-ass He jumps blindly out into space to plant the bomb on a Covenant Cruiser!
While I was watching this I Believe the speech center of my brain commited Hari-Kari Because i couldn't say CRAP for the next 60-75 seconds as I checked my pants for piss stains!
I arrive on Earth after that heated battle (Heroic is harder now you know =P)
The Earth section of the game is Exactly what I expected, nothing more nothing less! Well maybe a little more because as I was enjoying pure spiritual bliss I forgot that you could jack vehicles, Dual Weild, Outfit your marines with proper Guns for the tasks they needed to do! (There is no greater Expeirience than giving your fellow marine a sniper rifle and watching him goto town on every moving thing, or give your marine a rocket launcher and watching him take out a covenant wraith using the new homing ability!)
This doesn't even count the times I enjoyed making little forts out of the terrain using the physics! Its so much fun to hoard every single weapon you find inside of your fort Made of boxes on Co-oP and have little fort battles with your friends! (Yes we do stupid things like this, but we do them because we can because Bungie made the game this way!)
**Back to the spoilers**
I kicked major-ass on Earth I felt I left far too soon but this in no way hindered my enjoyment! Because I was the Arbiter! Boy do I love this guy! He is so cool! He is like the lone samurai fighting for his honour!
His eventual redemption, and overthrow of the brutes is stuff you only find in the greatest of stories! The mark of shame on his chest became his sole motivation for destroying Tartarus and restoring Honour not only to himself but to all of his race, as they were betrayed by the prophets!
(Insert Gravemind!)
Alot of people whined about gravemind! BLAM that! That guy was so scary and menacing, you knew nothing about him but you KNEW you should obey, you know he holds some kind of importance and he is the key to every question there is to be asked about the Halo universe! If you Recall this line!
"I am the outcome of ALL your sins!"
He then begins to describe our heroes in beatiful paraphrase!
"This one of Machine and nerve, His mind is Concluded! This one of Flesh and Faith his mind Deluded!"
This guy is obviously flood, Arbiter makes that abundantly clear from the get go!
"Release me parasite!" He mutters! As Gravemind twirls our 2 protagonists in his tentacles.
This guy stumps me he left a million questions unanswered, yet he has his own to ask! This makes me want Halo 3 even more! Oh how I wish I knew more about this dude he is so complex and interesting!
Halo2? Lacking in story? Right I believe you were talking about Rouge Agent!
Halo2? Lacking in Gameplay? Kiss my ass, the formula from the first game is intact and better than ever with more weapons, enemies, better AI, smoother more complex animations and features such as jacking keep me coming back to the campaign frothing at the mouth for more deliciousness!
The only thing that would possibly quench my thirst for singleplayer campaign goodness is a ReRelease of "The silent Cartographer" And "Assault on the Control Room" With A Halo 2 makeover! Hell the whole first game with a halo 2 make over would blow anyones mind away...possibly so much it would leave bloodstains on the furniture....
So yeah....if Halo 2 did disspoint me you would know...I never make Big posts like this if I am ever Dissatisfied with something!
My ONLY quelp with the game is in multiplayer, Start us with the Battle Rifle in ranked games the professional leagues would appriciate it...
Thank you Bungie for making the Best Game EVER!
[Edited on 12/1/2004 12:26:16 AM]