11-17-2004, 06:21 PM
I agree with you on basically every point you just made. I just finished the single-player campaign last night and I loved every minute of it. There were a few places where I had a little difficulty getting through and had to do a bit of the "wash, rinse, die, repeat" thing, but never to the point of true gaming frustration.
On a side note, you and I must be on similar schedules, Mithrandir. I picked this game up at 12:45 am on November 9th and wondered when someone would post about it here on the Lounge. I was going to start a post today. :P
I think the level design greatly improved in the single player. The atmosphere in each area is just as great as in the first Halo (if not better), and it changes more often between levels. There are more new areas throughout the game that have their own distinct feel. The gameplay is very similar between the two, which isn't necessarily a bad thing because it was great in the first Halo, but I can see myself getting tired of the single player missions a bit more quickly now. But I'm sure I'll run through them quite a few more times if only just to see the cinematics again (especially after I replace my Xbox's DVD drive so that the movies don't skip :angry: stupid shoddy hardware... grumble grumble Microsoft...)
As far as the cliffhanger ending goes, I was also sitting and waiting for the next level to load at the end. I went to bed feeling somewhat unfulfilled, like I didn't really accomplish anything significant yet. And the worst part is, you know it's going to be another year or two or three until Halo 3 arrives... But thanks to Xbox Live, I'm sure I'll stay busy until then. Although, again I'll be able to enjoy that more fully once I get my drive replaced so I can stop getting the "failed to load map" error.
Anyway... All in all, Halo 2 is a beautiful game and I rate it a "Must Have" for any Xbox owner.
Any Lurkers out there who are on Xbox Live, send me a friends invite! I need more friends to beat up on :ph34r: My gamertag is Copadope. Tell me what your lurker name is in the message text so I know who you are.
On a side note, you and I must be on similar schedules, Mithrandir. I picked this game up at 12:45 am on November 9th and wondered when someone would post about it here on the Lounge. I was going to start a post today. :P
I think the level design greatly improved in the single player. The atmosphere in each area is just as great as in the first Halo (if not better), and it changes more often between levels. There are more new areas throughout the game that have their own distinct feel. The gameplay is very similar between the two, which isn't necessarily a bad thing because it was great in the first Halo, but I can see myself getting tired of the single player missions a bit more quickly now. But I'm sure I'll run through them quite a few more times if only just to see the cinematics again (especially after I replace my Xbox's DVD drive so that the movies don't skip :angry: stupid shoddy hardware... grumble grumble Microsoft...)
As far as the cliffhanger ending goes, I was also sitting and waiting for the next level to load at the end. I went to bed feeling somewhat unfulfilled, like I didn't really accomplish anything significant yet. And the worst part is, you know it's going to be another year or two or three until Halo 3 arrives... But thanks to Xbox Live, I'm sure I'll stay busy until then. Although, again I'll be able to enjoy that more fully once I get my drive replaced so I can stop getting the "failed to load map" error.
Anyway... All in all, Halo 2 is a beautiful game and I rate it a "Must Have" for any Xbox owner.
Any Lurkers out there who are on Xbox Live, send me a friends invite! I need more friends to beat up on :ph34r: My gamertag is Copadope. Tell me what your lurker name is in the message text so I know who you are.
--Copadope