9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Halo, Kitty
Date of Review: Sep 28, 2004
The Bottom Line: Buy it. Find friends who have it. Network your boxes together and kill each other. Amazing amounts of fun.
Perfect. Just perfect.
Until Halo2 comes out later this year, that is.
Everyone has properly raved about the interactive campaign mode. The detail of the story is amazing. Everything becomes a weapon of mass destruction in the hands of the powerful Master Chief. And there's that little voice inside your head guiding you through almost the entire way (ok, that's just Kortana, but she's all right).
How can I kill, thee? Let me count the ways:
1. Bashing - works best from behind. One blow to the head and you're dead.
2. Frag grenades - clink, clink, boom.
3. Sticky grenades - what's that blue glow? uh-oh.
4. Pistol - 2x zoom makes this little baby a force.
5. Assault Rifle - I can't aim, but I can hold the trigger and watch you die.
6. Shotgun - Ok, maybe I can aim. One shot to the head and you go bye-bye.
7. Sniper Rifle - 2x zoom and 10x zoom with a nightvision scope. Nice knowing ya.
8. Rocket Launcher - boom, boom, out go the lights.
9. Plasma Pistol - freeze tag, anyone?
10. Plasma Rifle - works amazingly well on the Elite.
11. Needler - if you don't move, you go boom.
I think that covers the weapons. Most people seem to underrate the plasma pistol until they become very good at playing. Then they realize it buys you time by making the enemy move more slowly while you kill him. This is useful in multiplayer combat, too (hint, hint).
Dear, I feel like killing today; but how will I ever get there? Which vehicle should I take:
1. Warthog - it takes two to tango; one to drive and one to gun. Unlimited ammo!
2. Scorpion - tanks are fun. Unlimited ammo!
3. Ghost - sorta like a motorcycle without the tires but with guns.
4. Banshee - flying death.
I love the ghost. That's a fun little ride. You can take out the scorpions pretty easily when you know what you're doing on a ghost.
Play the campaign mode through on easy the first time. Then, go back and play it through on normal. Then on heroic. Then on legendary. When you do all 10 levels on legendary, you'll wonder what the point of life is b/c everything else will pale. Ok, maybe not, but it's a cool feeling. Of course, things get MUCH tougher when you play on legendary. Health packs are suddenly not in places they were in easier levels. Ammo runs out and you can't find more. And there are hoards of tougher aliens around every corner.
My suggestion on legendary is to learn to like hiding in doorways, sniping, and then running. Hey, it's a living; and living's what it's all about.
Anyway, the campaign mode is lots of fun for one or two people at a time (max of two in campaign mode). But the real fun comes in networking some xboxes together and having at it in some multiplayer combat (you cannot network the boxes and play campaign mode). You can have up to 4 people per box. That means network 4 and you have up to 16 people fighting each other on various maps. He who knows the powerups often wins.
There are various multiplayer games you can choose, from Slayer to Capture the Flag to Skull to King of the Hill. Each adds it's own stamp to the rampant mayhem. And with this many varieties, who could get bored? Plus, you can play every man for himself or divide into two (no more than two) teams.
Even within the game types, you can edit the various features. For instance, you can change the respawn time, select specific weapons or vehicles or let them be determined by which map you use. You can change the number of kills to get wins. You can have unlimited grenades. You can have no shields or even no (shudder) radar. This is particularly interesting if everyone starts and stays invisible.
And that's really the fun part. There is so much you can do to tinker with the play settings in the multiplayer combat mode, that I haven't even figured them all out.
How could it be better? Well, the load times for levels in the campaign mode is a bit annoying. It'd be nice to be able to battle bots in the combat mode or to have more than two teams. And it would be cool to be able to use two weapons at the same time.
These things, and more (including new weapons) are coming soon in Halo2. For now, though, check your ammo and step up, Master Chief. It's your time to shine.
Respectfully,
Agent 23
