Halo 2

[operator]

Halo's pretty cool, but next game I get will surely be San Andreas!

[Serve Traffic]

Didn't get it yet but I am sure I will, right now I am hooked on urban terror, it is a total conversion of quake 3 arena or (modification) and as allot of you say not much time to play with a family and internet business and such.

[macarthur]

I dont have an xbox but my friend and I were up at midnight at eb, then we realized that he didnt have a preorder there so we went crusing, we picked it up at toys r us just walked in no lines or anything they sold like 8 copys, we were going to go laugh at all the people at the eb's, we played it till 5 in the am, it was great!

[Winged Spider]

I waited for 7 hours at Times Square in NYC. There are pictures of me on Xbox.com and MTV.com.

I'm 'that' guy at 'that' event with the Flood form on his shoulder.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/149...109/index.jhtm
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/halo2/laun...evel1=enushome

The game is awesome. I'm probably the biggest Halo fan in here.

Halo 2 works buch better on XBC. They improved the netcode. I haven't played on XBC yet, just on XBL, but I don't know for sure.

$125 million on it's first day.
2.38 million units in 24 hours.

Biggest game launch ever.

[nerby]

seems like all of MS promotions will be paying off very well as expected

[macarthur]

To tell the truth I think IMHO it lived up to the hype.

[Mike]

I got it. XBL tag is naramation.

I just fragged Sketch, who's next?

[obbdj]

I just didn't have the patients to wait for a damn match and went back to NBA 2K5 and Ralisport. I did get into one online game, it was a blast. Gamertag is dommiel

[Thing]

my name is WRaTCH

[JimBolla]

It's well worth the subscription to Live. With Halo 2, it tracks every match you've ever played. You can go to www.bungie.net and see tons of stats for each match, including visualizations of each kill/death. For instance, go to http://www.bungie.net/Stats/PlayerSt...ayer=crowdozer and see my current stats. Click to the Games tab and see a list of each match. Then click one of those to see a detailed report of the match. Its quite impressive. Especially as a web developer you builds crap like this for much less interesting "business" software. In Bungie's own words, its "stat porn"

PS: Let me suggest the idea of a Halo 2 Sitepoint clan. Any takers?

[macarthur]

what do u mean visualizations?

[JimBolla]

what do u mean visualizations?

Check out the attached screenshot or go to the site and see for yourself. (Requires an MS Passport account)

[Gibb]

Since nobody here has complained about Halo 2, i guess that leaves the task to me

I have been a PC gamer since I was 10 years old (15 years ago). I spent around 6 years playing Tribes 1 online, and that alone is enough to explain my hatred towards Halo. The rediculously slow gameplay (better in Halo 2, but still slow) makes for a boring experience compared to most any PC FPS.

I believe that Halo 2 is a moderately better game than Halo 1, with very little in the way of innovation and/or improvement. There are some new weapons, but most of them are just covenant counterparts to already existing human weapons from Halo 1.

The graphics are for the most part the same as Halo 1 (tho the character models have been improved quite a bit, and the level design isnt quite as horrid).

Dual weilding weapons is a new feature, but it comes across incredibly unpolished, and more annoying than useful. Using two weapons covers up a considerable amount of the screen, and using a Plasma Rifle and a Submachine gun (which would otherwise be an awesome combination) covers up so much of the screen, that the benefits are overshadowed. If you want to switch to your secondary setup, you drop your dual wield weapon first. If you want to melee attack, you must drop the 2nd weapon. Want to throw a grenade?.. i think you see where this is going.

Alot of the storymode missions use the same boring idea as Halo 1. Go through the entire level, only to turn around and go through it backwards. I dont expect this kind of sloppy level usage in FPS games, only in racing games.

As if all of this wasnt bad enough, this one huge oversight was horrid enough to make me absolutely hate the game. My friend can start up a COOP game on his xbox and be sitting in the Pregame lobby. I can join his lobby from my xbox (system link), but the game will not let him start. A message keeps flashing saying that COOP must be played by 2 people on the same xbox.

Because I have several Halo fanboy friends, I have played a considerable amount of Halo 1 (maybe 50+ lan parties), and quite a bit of Halo 2 so far, so please dont assume I'm writing a biased review.

/rant

[JimBolla]

Since nobody here has complained about Halo 2, i guess that leaves the task to me

...

/rant

While I don't think you are wrong, some of your points are debatable. Does Halo 2 play "slower" than a PC FPS? Probably. But I think alot of that has to do w/ the nature of the beasts.

PC has several advantages in this area, most notably more precise control via the keyboard/mouse. Not only does a mouse offer significantly higher precision for aiming. But a keyboard has 100+ buttons that can be programmed for all the secondary functions, whereas a console controller has around 10. These factors mean a PC FPS can demand more from the player. Another factory is the display.

PC Video cards and monitors can display significantly more detail to the player than even a bigass HDTV. This also lets the PC game crank it up to 11.

As far as dual wielding goes... I think the disadvantages you listed are actually appropriate, given the difficulty that actually trying to fire two firearms simultaneously would actually present. I am by no means an expert on this topic (but I have watched on on TV... well the bonus features on The Rock anyways ) From what I've learned, all firearms are always held with two hands for stability purposes. They are also held at eye level for aiming, thus blocking part of one's field of vision. Even for a cyborg who probably has been enhanced to greatly improve his accuracy should have a significantly more difficult time with 2 guns at once. I think its appropriate that he drops the off hand gun for a melee attack. I only wish he was smart enough to pick it back up afterwards.

But backtracking through a level sucks donkey bawls, no matter how you slice it.

[Hal9k]

Video games sales must be skyrocketing this Christmas; what with Halo 2, San Andreas and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.

I have to admit that Halo 2 looks immense. You've got to hand it to Microsoft, gamers seem to be reaping the benefits of this new monopoly, me saying that is quite a big thing since I still hold a special place for the big N.

Looks like a lot of fun, I've never played on Halo myself but have seen some of the uses of its physics engine like the "Warthog Jump", and that was very convincing towards its quality. I'll have to get a go on it and see how it compares to Goldeneye (I judge games on a purely gameplay basis )

[Defender1]

I have to admit that Halo 2 looks immense. You've got to hand it to Microsoft, gamers seem to be reaping the benefits of this new monopoly, me saying that is quite a big thing since I still hold a special place for the big N.

Have to note a few corrections there:
1) MS didn't make the game, Bungie did. MS just owns Bungie.
2) Only XBOX gamers will be able to play this game. MS (IMO) would make quite a bit more if they ported it to PC, but we'll leave this horse alone.

[JimBolla]

Have to note a few corrections there:
1) MS didn't make the game, Bungie did. MS just owns Bungie.
2) Only XBOX gamers will be able to play this game. MS (IMO) would make quite a bit more if they ported it to PC, but we'll leave this horse alone.

While they could sell more copies of Halo 2 if there was a PC port, i think keeping it XBOX only is a good idea. Its a driving force to A) get people to buy an XBOX and B) get people to subscribe to XBOX Live.

I think Live is really MS's strongpoint, as no other platform has such a seamless online experience. Besides slightly better hardware, this is what really puts the XBOX above the other consoles. PS2 games all use whatever online functionality the publisher provides. No unified buddy list or unified experience. Nintendo has next to nothing, one lousy freakin game. Its apparent by MS advertising "Its good to play together" that this is their angle.

Halo 2 epitomizes this. Halo 2 IS the reason to get an XBOX and XBOX Live. Port Halo 2 to PC and now you've taken that ace away.

PS A buddy of mine who doesn't even own a computer let alone broadband internet is debating getting broadband and Live just for Halo after playing it at my place. How's that for selling power?

[PrintingGuru]

Well Microsoft Games are really cool ----- >>> Everybody will enjoy it for sure

[Defender1]

Jim: Yes, they do have a very good thing going there based on what action they've taken so far and they said they will/won't do.

But, that doesn't mean that they'd say there's no PC port coming, and make one secretly, only to release it in a year or 2.

Now, the only downside to this is again, Halo2 will look like crap at that time, but MS would win in the end as they'd have all the new xbox fanboys from the "XBOX only" release, while making even more money from the PC peeps who won't buy a $150 console and online service for 1 game (me. ).

[obbdj]

I just don't have the patients for PC gaming (or the PC for that matter, I have macs). I have owned (or own) every console since 1985 or so. I'd prefer to plop down my $200 for console and game, sit in the living room with friends/wife/family and game. Rather then spending $1000 to build a PC, make sure it's all up to spec for the newest game, and site alone in my office (that's work if you ask me). I know that when the newest xB0X game comest out, I won't have to upgrade my xbox to play it.

[Defender1]

And if all you'll ever use the PC for is gaming, then that's fine if you don't mind your games looking like crap compared to the latest PC games, as well as playing in 640x480 (or 1024x768 if you have HDTV and the console/game support HDTV).
Not to mention that FPSs on consoles are a pain with out a good keyboard and mouse for control. (Yes, I realize you can stick one of each in the USB slots, but thats not my point as I doubt you'll have the mouse on a flat surface like a desk as you would a PC.)

[Smarky]

I want, I want, I want, I want, I want!!

I have played Halo 1 demo on PC to death online this morning :P

[Young Twig]

I don't have an Xbox.

I do have a PS2 though and I bought Killzone.

[LinX]

I have an Xbox and Halo. I have played Halo 2 with a friend and thought it was great. The only thing I didnt like that they changed was the way It shows your health. I liked it better in the first Halo. I will probably by Halo 2 after Christmas.(Maybe get a deal on Boxing-Day )

[stoavio]

Getting it soon