This is pretty much my review (gushing) of the sequel.
I started out with Halo 1 when I was a kid, I think Halo 2 had launched relatively near that time but it was like a mythical game to me. "2 guns at once?!" "You can play as one of the Elite?!" I was baffled and then someone told me that it was only with certain guns, like pistols, to which I felt disappointed. The person who showed me Halo, got Halo 2 and showed me basically what amounted to a teaser of it but I never got my hands on the actual gameplay. Then the 3rd generation console wars came with PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. I didn't really see anything on PS3 at the time but I knew that Xbox 360 had Halo 3 and Viva Pinata...but then I played Mario Galaxy in a Gamestop and that sold me on a Wii. I took my hiatus and went to my friend's house when Reach was already out and we played the multiplayer like no other. Me and my friend boarded the hype train for Halo 4 and Anniversary but we didn't really play them together too often, what we did have though were the Halo Mega Blox, which I still have by the way.
I would sit in my room, thinking about what my gamertag and dogtag would be and customizing my suit based on the Mega Blox. Well, here I am. Over a decade later with these Halo games now available on PC, something I've only dreamed of, so let me visit that mythical Halo 2.
It's back! As much as I enjoyed Anniversary, this one is making me reconsider which game I love more. This has a lot of the things that made an impression on me in the first game, like the interactive suit testing but it's not aiming to make the same impression, it's just taking you through the motions, reminding you of Halo 1 and then revealing what else it has up its sleeve. I was immediately thrown off by the interface because it looks "different" and more simplistic. I'm not one for cluttered HUDs, in fact I've avoided some games for that very reason, and this is far from cluttered but I just preferred the original one partially because I got used to it and partially because it looks more stylized. But anyway, I found myself playing the game a bit differently anyway. I liked pulling the Covenant and UNSC combo with an SMG in one hand and a Type-25 in the other. I've found that Elites seem to hurt more when I use their weapons, while with grunts, it's just whatever, so I used the SMG on them to avoid overheating my rifle. It is kind of a hassle to drop your second gun every time you throw a grenade but you can just pick it right back up, it's no big deal and I suppose it makes sense (practically and all).
I was afraid about the "only certain guns" thing and while I didn't feel limited initially, it started to settle in a little bit more. But just the fact that you can do it, is still very cool. (I thought I remembered a flamethrower though...guess I was mistaken?) Now, playing as the Arbiter also had me hyped because I believe that's the first time you get to wield the sword which made the whole story just stunning because it starts out with Chief getting recognized for taking down Halo while on the flip side, the Arbiter is being punished for losing Halo. Dare I call this sequel the Shrek 2 of game sequels.
I like how your melee actually brings you to your enemy, rather than smacking and missing all the time, it's a wonder how much these games revolutionized not just the genre, but gaming in general, I can feel its influence. Now I do have a small complaint however, I found that after playing both Reach and OG, this one had the most problems running. It's not awful or anything but there were noticeable moments where it would freeze up which is odd that it would be this one specifically. All in all, I couldn't imagine playing this and then having to wait until Halo 3 with that cliffhanger.
I started out with Halo 1 when I was a kid, I think Halo 2 had launched relatively near that time but it was like a mythical game to me. "2 guns at once?!" "You can play as one of the Elite?!" I was baffled and then someone told me that it was only with certain guns, like pistols, to which I felt disappointed. The person who showed me Halo, got Halo 2 and showed me basically what amounted to a teaser of it but I never got my hands on the actual gameplay. Then the 3rd generation console wars came with PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. I didn't really see anything on PS3 at the time but I knew that Xbox 360 had Halo 3 and Viva Pinata...but then I played Mario Galaxy in a Gamestop and that sold me on a Wii. I took my hiatus and went to my friend's house when Reach was already out and we played the multiplayer like no other. Me and my friend boarded the hype train for Halo 4 and Anniversary but we didn't really play them together too often, what we did have though were the Halo Mega Blox, which I still have by the way.
I would sit in my room, thinking about what my gamertag and dogtag would be and customizing my suit based on the Mega Blox. Well, here I am. Over a decade later with these Halo games now available on PC, something I've only dreamed of, so let me visit that mythical Halo 2.
It's back! As much as I enjoyed Anniversary, this one is making me reconsider which game I love more. This has a lot of the things that made an impression on me in the first game, like the interactive suit testing but it's not aiming to make the same impression, it's just taking you through the motions, reminding you of Halo 1 and then revealing what else it has up its sleeve. I was immediately thrown off by the interface because it looks "different" and more simplistic. I'm not one for cluttered HUDs, in fact I've avoided some games for that very reason, and this is far from cluttered but I just preferred the original one partially because I got used to it and partially because it looks more stylized. But anyway, I found myself playing the game a bit differently anyway. I liked pulling the Covenant and UNSC combo with an SMG in one hand and a Type-25 in the other. I've found that Elites seem to hurt more when I use their weapons, while with grunts, it's just whatever, so I used the SMG on them to avoid overheating my rifle. It is kind of a hassle to drop your second gun every time you throw a grenade but you can just pick it right back up, it's no big deal and I suppose it makes sense (practically and all).
I was afraid about the "only certain guns" thing and while I didn't feel limited initially, it started to settle in a little bit more. But just the fact that you can do it, is still very cool. (I thought I remembered a flamethrower though...guess I was mistaken?) Now, playing as the Arbiter also had me hyped because I believe that's the first time you get to wield the sword which made the whole story just stunning because it starts out with Chief getting recognized for taking down Halo while on the flip side, the Arbiter is being punished for losing Halo. Dare I call this sequel the Shrek 2 of game sequels.
I like how your melee actually brings you to your enemy, rather than smacking and missing all the time, it's a wonder how much these games revolutionized not just the genre, but gaming in general, I can feel its influence. Now I do have a small complaint however, I found that after playing both Reach and OG, this one had the most problems running. It's not awful or anything but there were noticeable moments where it would freeze up which is odd that it would be this one specifically. All in all, I couldn't imagine playing this and then having to wait until Halo 3 with that cliffhanger.