The Halo 2 Thread

[cheadberg]

Not too impressed

For a game that took 3 years I must say it was not worth the wait. The Graphics for the Cut Scenes are horrible. I do think the game is fun, but they could have revamped the graphics a little. I just hope they put more effort into HALO 3. I know Half-life won't dissapoint me.

 

[Arnwyn]

Gotta disagree about it being a "Halo killer" D), Joe... as JD puts it, it really is just more of the same (which isn't a bad thing, of course).

I read the instruction book, but I must have missed a few things, and one of them is a significant issue:

1) Big issue: the Flashlight. What's up with the flashlight? I see no battery gauge for it, and it only lasts for a very short time before fading away and I have to turn it on again. It's very unpleasant when I'm in a firefight in a dark passage... Not good.

2) Health bar. Does this exist? All I see is the "faster regenerating" (yeah, right) shield bar for my Mark VI armor. Where is the health bar?

Also, I'm a tad nervous about the ending. It's pretty much been universally reviled. Something about

Spoiler

a lame-ass muliple cliffhanger deal that's considered a major cop-out

.

Finally, there's been some complaints about it not working very well on 480p (not working in widescreen properly and cutting off the edge of the ammo gauge and motion tracker), but thankfully I haven't had that problem on my HDTV. Whew!

The game is still fun as hell, though. I play on Heroic difficulty, and those AI marines are great - they've really helped me out during a few hairy situations. Cool.

 

[Captain Howdy]

For a game that took 3 years I must say it was not worth the wait. The Graphics for the Cut Scenes are horrible. I do think the game is fun, but they could have revamped the graphics a little. I just hope they put more effort into HALO 3. I know Half-life won't dissapoint me.

I think the graphics in the cutscenes are choppy because it has to load the bump mapping (or whatever it is) on every shot. I got used to it after a few cutscenes. It really bugged me at first though.
Still doesn't make the game any less awsome for me though, every other new aspect is really well done.

 

[jasamcarl]

Hey, just a question here, if some of you has XBL, how about making a EnWorlder(X-Box) Clan?

I'd be all over and Enworld Clan if anyone else is interested. Not sure how many posters actually have Live though.

 

[driver8]

Gotta disagree about it being a "Halo killer" D), Joe... as JD puts it, it really is just more of the same (which isn't a bad thing, of course).

I read the instruction book, but I must have missed a few things, and one of them is a significant issue:

1) Big issue: the Flashlight. What's up with the flashlight? I see no battery gauge for it, and it only lasts for a very short time before fading away and I have to turn it on again. It's very unpleasant when I'm in a firefight in a dark passage... Not good.

2) Health bar. Does this exist? All I see is the "faster regenerating" (yeah, right) shield bar for my Mark VI armor. Where is the health bar?

Also, I'm a tad nervous about the ending. It's pretty much been universally reviled. Something about

Spoiler

a lame-ass muliple cliffhanger deal that's considered a major cop-out

.

Finally, there's been some complaints about it not working very well on 480p (not working in widescreen properly and cutting off the edge of the ammo gauge and motion tracker), but thankfully I haven't had that problem on my HDTV. Whew!

The game is still fun as hell, though. I play on Heroic difficulty, and those AI marines are great - they've really helped me out during a few hairy situations. Cool.

There is no health bar. If your shield goes down get cover- a few hits and youll die. When I frst read this I was wary, but it does make you be a bit more careful. PLus the shield recharges alot faster. On the plus side you dont take damage from long jumps (except for the suicidal ones).

Im puzzled by the flashlight too it seems to burn out faster.

All in all, Im pretty impressed. I have my fingers crossed on the games length, I dont want it to end too soon. The cut scenes are my only peeve, but the in game frame rate seems to be a bit more stable than the first game. The game may have been a bit overhyped, but I think its delivered...even more than GTA San Andreas.

 

[shadowlight]

For a game that took 3 years I must say it was not worth the wait. The Graphics for the Cut Scenes are horrible. I do think the game is fun, but they could have revamped the graphics a little. I just hope they put more effort into HALO 3. I know Half-life won't dissapoint me.

uhhh... "horrible"??!! It's the best graphis I've ever seen on a console. I think you need to get your graphics evaluator recalibrated.

 

[shadowlight]

1) Big issue: the Flashlight. What's up with the flashlight? I see no battery gauge for it, and it only lasts for a very short time before fading away and I have to turn it on again. It's very unpleasant when I'm in a firefight in a dark passage... Not good.

It only went off on it's own for me when it wasn't dark. On the dark multiplayer levels it stayed on the whole time.

2) Health bar. Does this exist? All I see is the "faster regenerating" (yeah, right) shield bar for my Mark VI armor. Where is the health bar?

Yep. No health meter and I love it!! First of all, this is sci-fi, and there shouldn't be any Healthpaks of cure serious wounds... come on! Second, it make the game a lot more fun. Instead of running around looking for healthpaks, you're either dead, or alive -- you spend more time playing the game. It's great for the single player and seems to work well on multiplayer too.

Also, I'm a tad nervous about the ending. It's pretty much been universally reviled. Something about

Spoiler

a lame-ass muliple cliffhanger deal that's considered a major cop-out

.

Well, I agree and disagree:

Spoiler

this is totally the "Empire Strikes Back" of the Halo series. It expands the plot, throws in some really cool stuff, but definitely has a MAJOR cliffhanger ending. So while I hate that I don't get the entire story now, I love that there's going to be more and it will be a very full story.

Even with that, there were still a TON of really cool surprises and some fun story depth that I didn't expect.

Finally, there's been some complaints about it not working very well on 480p (not working in widescreen properly and cutting off the edge of the ammo gauge and motion tracker), but thankfully I haven't had that problem on my HDTV. Whew!

Well, I played through the whole campaign in 480p (72" screen, muahahahah ) and it worked just fine for me... And I have to say this is one GORGEOUS game!

 

[trancejeremy]

Seems awfully short. Came out Tuesday, most people seem to be finished on Weds.

Good for people who have Xbox live or can play multiplayer, but those that can't, well, seems pretty weak.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Guess it depends on how many hours you put into it.

I bought it on Tuesday. Got home at 4:00 PM, played it till about 9:00 PM.

Got home yesterday at about 8:00 PM, played it till about 10:00 PM.

I've got a while to go.

 

[Captain Tagon]

Yeah, me and my hallmates are play co-op together and it is taking us a while. we just finished up the fourth actual level of I think fifteen total. But we are taking things slow and each of the last two levels has taken well over an hour each. And the point of the original Halo was multiplayer as anyway, so it is nothing new.