Halo 2

Let me start by saying this – I own the original Halo – since it was bundled in with one of the Xboxes we use for reviewing – but have never had a chance to play it. With the “to be reviewed” stack generally piled at four or five games high, the addictiveness of the likes of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 and Project Gotham Racing 2 tying up my consoles and the added distraction of real life to contend with, there was never really time. And I regret it. Some people say that it damages my reputation a a reviewer to have not played Halo. Some say I’m missing out on a life-changing experience that will stay with me forever. I’ll get round to it. One day. I promise.

That, my friends, is as good as an introduction as I could come up with for a game that surely needs none. Halo 2 is here, and with the decision already made for most people by the pre-release hype, only one question remains. Is Halo 2 the best game available to buy for the Xbox right now’ Well, both Bungie and Microsoft are hoping so, as they have spent and continue to spend huge wads of cash to make sure that this title will get consoles out of the door and into the ever more cluttered space underneath people’s television sets.

And you know what’ Its money well spent. I’m not a huge fan of FPS titles – if I was, I’m sure the original would’ve been glued into my Xbox for a long time – but even I can see that Halo 2 is more than a little bit special. The exemplary soundtrack that builds tension and indicates impending doom is just the start of it. Bungie claim that there are more than 20,000 lines of dialogue included in the game, and from the lengthy, well-scripted and well-acted introductory sequences that occur before you can start blasting, its plain to see that it isn’t just an empty claim to add to yet another cookie-cutter press release. The in-game dialogue also means that you can’t be playing Halo 2 with the sound turned down, or off, since the game provides a lot of hints, tips and cues via your radio.

Progression through Halo 2’s levels is refreshing, since every time you start a new level, that feeling of “I have to do all that again’” never comes into play. You’re just happy that you haven’t completed the game yet and there are still more areas to explore, more aliens to shoot and more funky plasma grenades to throw. Even when you have completed the game (around the 12 hour mark), you’ll still be able to revisit your old stomping grounds a few times and not feel like the game has become stale, all thanks to the quality of the AI. They make mistakes and leave themselves open to a winged shot or two, and the game is the better for it. Also, the ability to complete a level in several different ways is refreshing, since you never feel that the game limits your more innovative side so that you have to stay within the game’s boundaries.

Halo 2’s more vehicular moments were bound to come under scrutiny, and the ability to hijack enemy vehicles (as well as using allied equipment) is a boon that gives you even more options when it comes to level completion. Some of the vehicles can be a complete pain to get used to, but once you do, you’ll find that some of the most enthralling parts of the game occur when you’re in the cockpit of an alien vehicle or a tank of some sort. The new “Dual Wielding” option allows you to pick up two guns at once and use them together, which provides a feeling that again, other shooters just don’t come anywhere near. The plot twists and writhes like a rattlesnake with a boot on its tail, and each time you complete another firefight successfully and head into a cutscene, you’ll learn that things are not ever what they seem.

The game comes bundled with a two-month trial Xbox Live subscription and if you have a broadband internet connection, I suggest that you use it. Halo 2 joins the realms of Counterstrike, Quake and Unreal Tournament as one of the finest, purest, most exciting online games currently available. The ability to link your Gamertag to your Microsoft .Net Passport and see your player statistics and game history (complete with match results) over at Bungie.net is a joy to behold, and the number of different game styles, rulesets and maps that are available means that Halo 2 is a game you won’t be putting down for a long, long time. One minor qualm is the length of time it takes to find a suitable matchup with the OptiMatch system, but once your match is found, you’ll be glad you waited.

The ability to ensure that you and your friends aren’t split up online is another bonus that will surely be copied by other games. Between one and four players can join a “party” before entering the game lobby, before one of you heads to the OptiMatch system and fires up the game. This way, when the game engine finds you a match to play in, it will make sure that the game has the amount of slots free for all of you to join, before joining you all to the match so you can take on the world. In addition to this, clans can be created via the game interface, and the recruiting and delisting of clan members can also be controlled without putting your Xbox controller down. All-in-all, Bungie have provided a complete online package.

A review of Halo 2 was always going to be a challenge. There is little that can be said when a game that has promised so much ends up delivering exactly what was promised. Halo 2 is one of the finest looking videogames I’ve ever seen, and certainly outclasses everything that has gone before it on the Xbox. The simple fact of the matter is that if you own an Xbox, you should own this game. If you don’t own an Xbox, well, there’s never been a better time to take the plunge.