- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Here is my information on my playtime in Halo 2(I actually spoke with Frankie!!)
I am the luckiest man in the world. If you want to know why, read on. If you just want to hear about Halo 2 skip down to the part that says Halo 2 in Big letters.
Saturday 9:00 a.m.- I wait in line for about a half an hour to get into the totally unorganized expo. Once inside, my three friends and I head to the Console Room to compete in the Halo tournament. We won the first round by 7 and lost the second by three(it was to fifty). Then we headed to the Exhibition room where they had a variety of yet to be released games. I will review each of them below:
Mechassualt 2: Lone Wolf : This game is hecka fun. You have so many vehicles to choose from. My personal favorite is the flying pelican-like vehicle that can pick up comrades and carry them to different places or pick up enemies and drop them in a pool of lava(take that tank). The battle armor is also fun due to the fact that you can hack into mechs and other vehicles and steal 'em. The way you steal them is buy competing against the guy in the mech in a complicated button pressing minigame. It is very fast and very exhilerating. I plan on purchasing this game once it is released and it will be very fun over Xbox Live.
Conker: Live and Reloaded: Sorry to all the fans of the game but from what I played, the game sucks. In multiplayer, the third person shooting in boring and the maps are so large it is hard to find anyone for a while(even though we had 14 people connected). If you were one of the people who almost committed suicide when you heard the atv was axed from Halo 2, it is in Conker. I understand now why Bungie got rid of the ATV if it was anything like the one in Conker. I played a smidgin of single player on the saving private ryan level. It is the exact same or if not the exact same, a little less fun. I do not plan on buying this game.
Fable: I didn't bother playing this game since it will be released in a week or so but I did watch a few people play it. The graphics are amazing and the controll seemed easy to pick up and play. But due to the fact people were limited to about 15 minutes, no-one really got anywhere.
Ghost Recon 2: I swear Ghost Recon and Rainbow six three are eventually going to become one franchise. The game plays exactly like Rainbow Six but you see it from a second-person view. When I was playing I accidently missed an objective and the game went crazy. First, I went back to do the objective and the stupid bridge-exploding cutscene wouldn't go off for like 5 minutes. Then my view got stuck in first-person mode and guys were appearing out of thin air. I actually had to talk to one of the guys who makes the game and explain what happened. He said it had never happened before.
Splinter Cell 3: Buy this game at all costs. The co-op missions are sweet and the game is just beautiful. I will not say anything else....run...run to pre-order this game now!!!! Now!!!
Forza MotorSport: This game is okay. It is just so mediocre. I played it with three screens and a special driving control and it was still boring. The turning was horrible and it suffered from excessive pop-ups. Granted it was the E3 build so I assume it will be fixed by the end of the game. I do doubt, though, that it will be on par with Gran Turismo.
Men of Valor: This game is not for the light of heart. It is very gory and the language is very, very bad. Here is an example of a conversation: "We got kill those mother CENSORED! sons of -blam!-es to get our mother CENSORED base back. Lets go kill those mother CENSORED! bastards!!!" The enemies are very camoflauged, almost too much. The health system is very well done and I was impressed by this game very much. The only problem was the graphics were kinda sub-par.
-------------------HALO 2---------------------------HALO 2---------------------
This is where I was lucky. First off, I was there when they began to announce that tickets were being handed out for Halo 2 and that only 200 people were going to play. I got #40 so I didn't have to wait in line very long. I met the guy who got #117. He asked Frankie if he got something special for it and Frankie said a signed copy of Halo 2 by Marty O'Donnel!(my bad if I spelt it wrong). When I was in line I met the guy who had ticket #41. His father worked for Microsoft and got to Beta Test Halo 2. He said he got to play Zanzibar, Ivory Tower, Midship, and some others that are top secret. I did an interview with him and here it is:
Me: Was it fun?
Him: Hell yah
Me: In your opinion what is the best weapon in the game?
Him: The brute shot by far. It shoots grenades that bounce off everything and are super deadly.
Me: How's the carbine? I heard it was super sweet!
Him: Meh, it is okay. I prefer the battle rifle. The carbine seems a little more powerful but it is so hard to find it just isn't worth the trouble.
Me: Favorite level?
Him: Ivory tower.
Me: How's the pistol?
Him: -blam!-. It lost the zoom and is much less powerful. Dual-weilding is kind fun but I prefer smg's. Use the battle rifle, it's the new pistol.
Me: Is the wraith tank too powerful like OXM reports?
Him: No, it's not that powerful. The boost is kinda unfair but the aim of the mortar is so bad it kinda makes up for it.
Me: Have you ever stolen a tank?
Him: No, it is way too hard to do. Getting close to a tank is too dangerous so you do not have too many chances to pull it off.
Me: Human Sniper or Beam Rifle
Him: Human
And after that question it was our turn to play. When I played and watched the game for two hours I have an answer to all the nagging questions. You can see your feet but cannot shoot them. The ghost floats over the water but it is kinda glitchy. After about ten feet in the water you hit an invisible wall that blocks you from going further. I hope they fix that cause it makes the game feel unreal. I achieved two double kills, one of them with a plasma sword(which is da -blam!-!, and I mean that in a good way). My second best play was seeing a guy walking buy a ghost and I shot the ghost which then exploded killing him and giving me the kill. My best play was seeing three guys in a warthog and I boarded the passenger seat. I then turned and shot the driver while we were still moving!! It was -blam!-ing sw33t!!! The best weapons to dual-weild is two plasma rifles by far!
When I was watching, I saw a guy take a plasma sword and melee a warthog till it went up in flames and exploded!!!
I also got to have a small chat with the illustrious Frankie where we discussed a glitch I saw where a spartan was punched in the back three times and didn't die.
After the play time was over, a fellow nerd asked Frankie a few questions:
Nerd: Why did you take the ATV out?
Frankie: It was never in. We tried it for a while and it just wasn't fun. It is a poor man's warthog minus the rocket launcher or laag in the back. Only one level(I am assuming Burial Grounds) worked for the ATV but It still was just sorta meh.
Nerd: Can we expect Halo 2 to include some of the old maps like Blood Gulch?
Frankie: We know our fans and what they want.
Nerd: Will the "normal" weapon set be changed by the time Halo 2 is released?
Frankie: Yes, it will be changed. The pistol is definatly in this level.
The only complaint I have about Halo 2 is the fact that after it was over, Bungie just grabbed the xbox's and left leaving a huge mess to clean up after and delaying the Mario Kart tournament. It may have possibly been payback for the remarks the penny arcade forum members said in the one Bungie Weekly Update but who knows.
If you have any questions just ask 'em and I am sure I will be able to answer them.
[Edited on 8/30/2004 5:37:27 PM by Frankie]