Halo 2

nick1presta

2004-11-10 02:19:25 am

Halo 2 is kicking ass.

I'm on level 4 of 15 in only 2.5 hours =(

Thread title:

Mafus

2004-11-10 08:09:55 am

10 hours of gameplay for the first time through seems really short for a FPS, to me anyway.

Rox

2004-11-10 04:24:18 pm

Meh. Think about The Library, Two Betrayals and Keyes in the first game. They were in the latter half, and easily the most frustrating (at least in some places).

It'll get bigger, harder, and even more evil. Unless you're being a wuss and playing on anything easier than Heroic, I mean.

sdwoodchuck

2004-11-11 01:24:17 pm

After spending most of the last 48 hours playing Halo 2, here are my impressions:

In multiplayer: not quite the balance that Halo 1 had in terms of a straight fight, but pretty darn close, which is not bad at all considering vehicles and weaponry have been improved in balance. The dual-wielding is limited enough that it doesn't dominate the multiplayer scene.

Campaign: The ending is bad, but I never judge a game by its ending. So ignoring that, here is where the game falls short of its predecessor, in my opinion. Halo 1 had a campaign that had a real flow of events, and built steadily to the game's climax. Halo 2's campaign feels choppy.

Part of the choppiness comes from jumping back and forth between two characters for the entirety of the campaign. If the two campaigns had been separate, and playable individually from each other, then that would have fixed a big portion of what was wrong with the campaign. Beyond that though, the flow of the original is gone, and replaced with a story that jumps around far too much: "Oh no! The Covenant are attacking earth! Fight fight fight fight, Oh no! They're running away! What's that? Another Halo! Fight fight fight fight, Oh no! Giant flood infested Big Mac with tentacles is telling me to go somewhere! Fight fight fight fight."

Beyond just choppiness though, the campaign just has bad layout. Most players of Halo 1 remember and hate The Library level with a passion, because it was boring and poorly laid out. You fight through a river of enemies, reach a point, and then wait there and stay alive until you're allowed to progress. Much of Halo 2 has this same layout. Far too often you'll find yourself in a landing bay, on an elevator, on a gondola, or something similar just waiting for the next wave of enemies or the signal letting you know that you can finally advance.

The campaign falls short of Halo 1 for these reasons, but that isn't to say that the campaign is actually "bad." The gameplay is fun enough for those fight-fests, and the environments are varied enough that you don't really become bored of it too quickly.

The biggest problem was the hype. Three years, and during this three years we were promised tons of improvements, including an epic and engaging story. I don't buy into hype, so my disappointment with the shortcomings wasn't too great. As it stands, Halo 2 is still a great game, just not the be-all and end-all of games it was hyped to be.

After spending most of the last 48 hours playing Halo 2, here are my impressions:

In multiplayer: not quite the balance that Halo 1 had in terms of a straight fight, but pretty darn close, which is not bad at all considering vehicles and weaponry have been improved in balance.  The dual-wielding is limited enough that it doesn't dominate the multiplayer scene.

Campaign:  The ending is bad, but I never judge a game by its ending.  So ignoring that, here is where the game falls short of its predecessor, in my opinion.  Halo 1 had a campaign that had a real flow of events, and built steadily to the game's climax.  Halo 2's campaign feels choppy.

[spoiler]Part of the choppiness comes from jumping back and forth between two characters for the entirety of the campaign.  If the two campaigns had been separate, and playable individually from each other, then that would have fixed a big portion of what was wrong with the campaign.  Beyond that though, the flow of the original is gone, and replaced with a story that jumps around far too much:  "Oh no!  The Covenant are attacking earth!  Fight fight fight fight, Oh no!  They're running away!  What's that?  Another Halo!  Fight fight fight fight, Oh no!  Giant flood infested Big Mac with tentacles is telling me to go somewhere!  Fight fight fight fight."[/spoiler]

Beyond just choppiness though, the campaign just has bad layout.  Most players of Halo 1 remember and hate The Library level with a passion, because it was boring and poorly laid out.  You fight through a river of enemies, reach a point, and then wait there and stay alive until you're allowed to progress.  Much of Halo 2 has this same layout.  Far too often you'll find yourself in a landing bay, on an elevator, on a gondola, or something similar just waiting for the next wave of enemies or the signal letting you know that you can finally advance.

The campaign falls short of Halo 1 for these reasons, but that isn't to say that the campaign is actually "bad."  The gameplay is fun enough for those fight-fests, and the environments are varied enough that you don't really become bored of it too quickly.

The biggest problem was the hype.  Three years, and during this three years we were promised tons of improvements, including an epic and engaging story.  I don't buy into hype, so my disappointment with the shortcomings wasn't too great.  As it stands, Halo 2 is still a great game, just not the be-all and end-all of games it was hyped to be.

Eruditious

2004-11-11 05:50:23 pm

Quote from sdwoodchuck:

The biggest problem was the hype. Three years, and during this three years we were promised tons of improvements, including an epic and engaging story. I don't buy into hype, so my disappointment with the shortcomings wasn't too great. As it stands, Halo 2 is still a great game, just not the be-all and end-all of games it was hyped to be.

So a lot like what Fable turned out to be. I bought Halo 2 for multiplayer and that was it.

Rox

2004-11-11 05:52:59 pm

And here I am, with facts in hand. My friend got his copy today, and we've been spending the entire evening playing co-op. He seems disappointed, but I know why. He's been constantly hyping himself ever since we finished completing H1 on Legendary, gradually convincing himself that Halo 2 will be even BETTER than last time he thought the same thing. He's disappointed. It shows.

Me? I was actually expecting a gameplay experience pretty much the same as the first game (maybe only barely as good), only with flashier stuff to make it fresh. It's more than what I expected, in content and in story, so I absolutely LOVE it.

Time to get lots of cash, buy it, then get myself all the books... They're also worth it, I hear.

sdwoodchuck

2004-11-11 07:34:52 pm

The books are a good read, though the first and third are far better than the second.

Morcant

2004-11-12 11:20:18 pm

Oh, it's that guy

i'll try and not reveal spoilers but... ah screw it, i'm gonna talk entirely in spoilers! enjoy!

ok, so this game goes between the arbiter and everyone's favorite spartan, but i think that the whole bad lay out thing wasn't THAT bad, but i enjoyed it becuase i didn't hype myslef to death, but they did fail a couple of promises, like fully destructable envoirments (MEGA FROWNIE!!! ), but the whole hijacking vehicles did come, and was better then i expected (cause i didn't over hype myself!), and turned out to be a good element to add, being able to jack someones tank or ghost (and also a good laugh! :D )! But i can't rate the multi player, cause i can't play with most of my friends, cause they never let me play, and the friends that do play with me are in a condo in Brekenridge right now so...yeah

also, I just realized that i can't seem to find any melee combos right now, ANOTHER FREAKING DISSAPOINTMENT!!! also, some of the levels are rather fluidly together, linking them with what looks like a simple mid-level movie, where it turns out the next level was loading during the movie. Another thing that was interesting was the auto-invert spec. What it did was that when your first told to look up, pushing either up or down made you look up, and then it saved your preferance, it wroks, trust me on that one, i tried it out myslef. But I HATE THE FREAKING CLIFFHANGER!!!!! they better damn well either make a new game or a book to finish up the story!!!

Now, enough of the bad stuff, and on toward my favorite parts of the level(s)!

first of all, the Ciaro battle was a rather good level to try out the duel-weilding (which i found to be kick-ass) and get used to the updated graphics, plus the whole banshee part with the first set of the arbiter levels! (its like a dream come true! ^_^) same goes with the scarab in the "Metropolis" level...for the longest time, i didn't know to accualy jump onto it, so i was fireing rockets at it untill it came to a stop when i thought of some dumb movie with trains in it and then it hit me to try doing a jump onto it like in the movies. oh, the enrgy swords kick ass! except for the battery...but i guess it was to prevent legendary lossing its toughness or something...

and i lastly say...

MOST OF THE MUSIC IN THIS GAME IS A CHICKIN SHIAT RIP-OFF OF THE ORIGINAL HALO SONGS!! AND THEY SUCK!

but the original songs in halo 2 as well as the songs that were in the prewvies didn't suck though...

i'll try and not reveal spoilers but... ah screw it, i'm gonna talk entirely in spoilers! enjoy!

[spoiler]ok, so this game goes between the arbiter and everyone's favorite spartan, but i think that the whole bad lay out thing wasn't THAT bad, but i enjoyed it becuase i didn't hype myslef to death, but they did fail a couple of promises, like fully destructable envoirments (MEGA FROWNIE!!! ), but the whole hijacking vehicles did come, and was better then i expected (cause i didn't over hype myself!), and turned out to be a good element to add, being able to jack someones tank or ghost (and also a good laugh!  :D )! But i can't rate the multi player, cause i can't play with most of my friends, cause they never let me play, and the friends that do play with me are in a condo in Brekenridge right now so...yeah

also, I just realized that i can't seem to find any melee combos right now, ANOTHER FREAKING DISSAPOINTMENT!!!  also, some of the levels are rather fluidly together, linking them with what looks like a simple mid-level movie, where it turns out the next level was loading during the movie.  Another thing that was interesting was the auto-invert spec.  What it did was that when your first told to look up, pushing either up or down made you look up, and then it saved your preferance, it wroks, trust me on that one, i tried it out myslef.  But I HATE THE FREAKING CLIFFHANGER!!!!! they better damn well either make a new game or a book to finish up the story!!![/spoiler]

Now, enough of the bad stuff, and on toward my favorite parts of the level(s)!

[spoiler]first of all, the Ciaro battle was a rather good level to try out the duel-weilding (which i found to be kick-ass) and get used to the updated graphics, plus the whole banshee part with the first set of the arbiter levels! (its like a dream come true! ^_^) same goes with the scarab in the "Metropolis" level...for the longest time, i didn't know to accualy jump onto it, so i was fireing rockets at it untill it came to a stop when i thought of some dumb movie with trains in it and then it hit me to try doing a jump onto it like in the movies.  oh, the enrgy swords kick ass! except for the battery...but i guess it was to prevent legendary lossing its toughness or something...[/spoiler]

and i lastly say...

MOST OF THE MUSIC IN THIS GAME IS A CHICKIN SHIAT RIP-OFF OF THE ORIGINAL HALO SONGS!! [size=24px]AND THEY SUCK![/size]

but the original songs in halo 2 as well as the songs that were in the prewvies didn't suck though...

Eruditious

2004-11-13 03:20:12 am

If anyone goes on live to play, look me up... my gamertag is the same as my name here (wee! I love original names... they are never taken).

nick1presta

2004-11-14 10:34:59 pm

Add me too.

GT: elitEchelon

MegaMyke

2004-11-15 03:38:32 pm

Because Xbox Live doesn't appreciate people who cannot procure a high speed connection, I don't have Xbox live, but so far I've planned 3 Halo 2 parties... I have 4 Tv's, one for each corner of the room... It's great, especially playing the outlook with only beam swords and no grenades...*Flashbacks of hundreds of bodies and swords on main platform* hehe, of course, I always win... Wink

sdwoodchuck

2004-11-17 11:20:28 pm

Swordmatches on Lockout are fun, though they don't require much skill at all. They're mostly just carnage games that are fun when you're drunk, or sleepy. If you can get a large group together, then CTF games are where its at, strategically. Zanzibar is a great map for single flag CTF.

Zeke

2004-11-17 11:35:48 pm

Time bomb set get out fast!

The best part of Halo 2 is the part where I don't have an X-Box.

Kharay1977

2004-11-18 04:44:01 am

Well, sounds like I did a good thing in deciding not to get it. Didn't like Halo 1 a single bit and it sounds like I wouldn't like Halo 2 much either. And now that Killzone has proven to be a failure and not the Halo 2 killer it was tipped as, I'm back to my original choice - Doom 3.

Now... IF ONLY idSoftware WOULD HURRY UP WITH THEIR XBOX VERSION!

;)

SpecialK

2004-11-18 01:46:18 pm

All I know about this overrated game is that Incubus supplied a killer song for this soundtrack that is TOTALLY too good for it

Chet Rippo

2004-11-18 06:23:56 pm

HAlo 2 is okay, a little too much like the first for my taste.

WaveTrooperPlushie

2004-11-28 06:26:04 pm

I love this game. Got it on releasdate in the U.K and played it on Legendary right away. Altough the game itself is way to easy I still love the Singleplayer campaign and play it all the time.
Played it online with Xbox live three days after I got it and I gotta say its the best Multiplayer experience I have ever had, then again I dont really play online games since I dont play anything on the PC but still everyone who likes FPS games and has an Xbox should get Xbox live and play online, its awsome.

neurozone

2004-11-28 09:49:43 pm

A lot of people I know were really hyped about this game, so I've ended up playing quite a bit of it. Honestly, I wish they had spent more time on it, and just released it when it was finished, rather than what they did. Not to say that it's a bad game, but it could have been a much better product had they tested it more.

It seemed as though most of the Covenant weapons were throwaways, with the exceptions being the brute plasma rifle, beam rifle, and energy sword. I'm still trying to figure out what the carbine is good for. If you know, please tell me. I guess this is alright (hey, it works for other games - look at counterstrike), but it really means you tend to use the same weapons you were in the first game.

The single player was pretty good, but the ending seemed too abrupt to me. It felt like there should have been another mission after the final one. Still, this was a pretty good single player for a first person shooter, I thought.

If you'd like an example of the game being unfinished, try sword canceling in multiplayer. All you have to do is attack with the sword (either right trigger or b, either works), then cancel with the X button. You'll know if you're doing it right if you start swinging super fast (and do no damage if you're standing by someone). This in itself is pretty harmless. However, if you target an enemy when they jump and sword cancel, you'll go soaring through the air.

Another example is if you're in the passenger seat of a warthog with the sword, then lock on to someone, when you get out, you'll end up flying at them (even if they are in a banshee and flying themselves).

How do things like this get through testing Question

The multiplayer is still quite fun, but it has a major problem in my mind. All the maps feel too big for anything smaller than a 6 player game. This is great for people who play over XBL, but if you're playing with friends, as I do, you feel like the maps are just too large for the kind of action you got from the first one. I would feel a lot better if they had ported over some of the maps from the first game to the second one, in addition to the new ones, so people who were playing all in the same room would be able to get the quick action that they got from the first, while still allowing for great games over XBL.

All in all, I felt the game was overhyped. It isn't necessarily a bad game, but when I'm playing the game, I feel like I'm playing Halo 1.5, and not Halo 2, and that just doesn't sit right with me. Still, this game is the best console FPS game we'll see for a while anyway, so if you're a fan of the genre, you'll probably end up picking it up eventually anyway.

A lot of people I know were really hyped about this game, so I've ended up playing quite a bit of it.  Honestly, I wish they had spent more time on it, and just released it when it was finished, rather than what they did.  Not to say that it's a bad game, but it could have been a much better product had they tested it more.

It seemed as though most of the Covenant weapons were throwaways, with the exceptions being the brute plasma rifle, beam rifle, and energy sword.  I'm still trying to figure out what the carbine is good for.  If you know, please tell me.  I guess this is alright (hey, it works for other games - look at counterstrike), but it really means you tend to use the same weapons you were in the first game.

The single player was pretty good, but the ending seemed too abrupt to me.  It felt like there should have been another mission after the final one.  Still, this was a pretty good single player for a first person shooter, I thought.

If you'd like an example of the game being unfinished, try sword canceling in multiplayer.  All you have to do is attack with the sword (either right trigger or b, either works), then cancel with the X button.  You'll know if you're doing it right if you start swinging super fast (and do no damage if you're standing by someone).  This in itself is pretty harmless.  However, if you target an enemy when they jump and sword cancel, you'll go soaring through the air.

Another example is if you're in the passenger seat of a warthog with the sword, then lock on to someone, when you get out, you'll end up flying at them (even if they are in a banshee and flying themselves).

How do things like this get through testing :?:

The multiplayer is still quite fun, but it has a major problem in my mind.  All the maps feel too big for anything smaller than a 6 player game.  This is great for people who play over XBL, but if you're playing with friends, as I do, you feel like the maps are just too large for the kind of action you got from the first one.  I would feel a lot better if they had ported over some of the maps from the first game to the second one, in addition to the new ones, so people who were playing all in the same room would be able to get the quick action that they got from the first, while still allowing for great games over XBL.

All in all, I felt the game was overhyped.  It isn't necessarily a bad game,  but when I'm playing the game, I feel like I'm playing Halo 1.5, and not Halo 2, and that just doesn't sit right with me.  Still, this game is the best console FPS game we'll see for a while anyway, so if you're a fan of the genre, you'll probably end up picking it up eventually anyway.

Morcant

2004-11-28 10:27:41 pm

Oh, it's that guy

Quote from neurozone:

It seemed as though most of the Covenant weapons were throwaways, with the exceptions being the brute plasma rifle, beam rifle, and energy sword. I'm still trying to figure out what the carbine is good for. If you know, please tell me.

the carbine can kill a brute in a mere 5 hits to the head in heroic...and is the all-round wepon for me...(except for energy sheilds)

Quote from neurozone:

The single player was pretty good, but the ending seemed too abrupt to me.

AMEN!

Quote from neurozone:

If you'd like an example of the game being unfinished, try sword canceling in multiplayer. All you have to do is attack with the sword (either right trigger or b, either works), then cancel with the X button. You'll know if you're doing it right if you start swinging super fast (and do no damage if you're standing by someone). This in itself is pretty harmless. However, if you target an enemy when they jump and sword cancel, you'll go soaring through the air.

sword canceling? never heard of it, but the one where you lunge attack in the warthog and then you can fly is pretty common knowledge...

say, have you un-locked the extra multiplayer map?

[quote="neurozone"]
It seemed as though most of the Covenant weapons were throwaways, with the exceptions being the brute plasma rifle, beam rifle, and energy sword.  I'm still trying to figure out what the carbine is good for.  If you know, please tell me.[/quote]

the carbine can kill a brute in a mere 5 hits to the head in heroic...and is the all-round wepon for me...(except for energy sheilds)
[quote="neurozone"]The single player was pretty good, but the ending seemed too abrupt to me.[/quote]

AMEN!

[quote="neurozone"]If you'd like an example of the game being unfinished, try sword canceling in multiplayer.  All you have to do is attack with the sword (either right trigger or b, either works), then cancel with the X button.  You'll know if you're doing it right if you start swinging super fast (and do no damage if you're standing by someone).  This in itself is pretty harmless.  However, if you target an enemy when they jump and sword cancel, you'll go soaring through the air.[/quote]

sword canceling? never heard of it, but the one where you lunge attack in the warthog and then you can fly is pretty common knowledge...

[spoiler]say, have you un-locked the extra multiplayer map?[/spoiler]

Eruditious

2004-11-28 10:40:04 pm

I disagree on the maps, they seem to be pretty balanced for size.

If you want some small maps, try lockout, ascension, beaver creek, or midship.
Those can easily support head to head battles and up...

You could also try foundation, if you've unlocked it.

MegaMyke

2004-12-01 03:24:03 pm

In my opinion, I prefer Halo 2 over the first. I liked multiplayer, it seemed to have a tad of MOH in it I thought. I liked how you can turn off shields, THAT was extreme I do not approve of how hard the first level is on legendary when the rest are just a run through. Every weekend I've been going to my one friend who lives half a state away to play 16 player on teams of 2 no shields, no vehicles, no nothing, and all you get is a beam sword. Now if that's not what you consider a good multiplayer, I dunno what is! Oh and First player seemed rather repetative.

nick1presta

2004-12-01 06:21:54 pm

About Sword Cancelling...

It was overlooked. It's a fault of Bungie's part.

And Foundation was given to everyone in a patch via XBL.

Morcant

2004-12-01 08:24:53 pm

Oh, it's that guy

Quote from nick1presta:

And Foundation was given to everyone in a patch via XBL.

Yeah, but SOME peaople, not naming anyone here, might not be allowed to get it untill christmas (again, not naming anybody here...)

EDIT: i'm not gonna go around saying this but...

i was fooling around, trying to do things that you guys would do in MP, and i found an oddball skull in single player, when i picked it up, the word "blind" shows up where the ammo picked up messages would be. and EVERYTHING on my hud, including the guns, dissappeared, so if you shooted, there would be bullets\plasma coming out of no where. The downside? no aiming reticule, and the alien bastards still see you...