Let's face facts: Halo 2 is going to be the biggest Xbox game this year. Maybe the biggest game, period. The fan base that has emerged around Bungie's original trendsetting Xbox shooter is nothing short of staggering in its size and its fanatical devotion, and now that fan base is beginning to slaver like a hound before the feast of a stack of hams at Halo 2's imminent November release. Anticipation for the game is so strong that even a peripherally related, Web-based marketing campaign recently whipped legions of fans into a frenzy without ever mentioning the game's name.
Even now, just two months before Halo 2's release, Microsoft and Bungie have remained viciously protective of the game's vaunted single-player campaign. Not so with the online mode, however. The secretive developer invited us right into its own offices recently for an afternoon session with the same multiplayer beta version that 7,000 lucky Microsoft employees have been pounding on for weeks. After a few hours of battling it out across five maps with new weapons, vehicles, and game modes, we must say that Bungie seems to be going well above and beyond expectations with Halo 2's robust multiplayer offering. And we haven't come close to seeing all of that offering just yet.
But then, what we have seen is just as substantial as some other games' entire online modes right out of the box. Online functionality is still new to this hardware generation, and Bungie's baby may very well redefine what it's like to play console games over the Internet. The multiplayer interface is being designed from the ground up to be as streamlined as possible, offering extensive options for finding allies, finding games, tracking your performance, and generally being as customizable as possible. We've rarely seen this degree of options in the setup portion of a multiplayer game before, and this thing isn't even finished yet.
Once you get past all these menus, you'll find there's quite a bit of game in Halo 2's multiplayer mode (as if you expected anything less). We got our first hands-on look back at E3, and we've since formed a more complete picture of the game's online component now that we've tried a number of new maps, interesting new weapons, and new multiplayer game types. Bungie seems to be doing quite a respectable job of maintaining the unique identity and feel of Halo while adding a whole bunch of new content to the mix.
 Master Chief dons the armour one more time this November. |
Over the next several pages, you'll get a complete look at everything in Halo 2's now-discontinued multiplayer beta, from the new maps and weapons to the vehicle changes, updated graphics and physics, and a lot more.
Can you believe there's so much to talk about here, and we haven't even gotten a look at Halo 2's single-player campaign yet? See you on page two.
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that dude of which pwns all ur buts
07/08/2007, 07:30 AM
rating
10/10
Best Xbox Game until hallo 3 and hallo wars comes out
Pros: kick **** game play
Cons: strory line is to short
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halo2master117
28/07/2007, 02:36 AM
rating
10/10
it the best
Pros: too much lag online
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somebody
10/07/2007, 09:46 PM
rating
8/10
best game on the market right now, only thing to beat it will be halo 3!
Pros: multiplayer is the best ever, impressive graphics and extremely fun gameplay
Cons: campaign is short and rushed, it was good until we actually didnt get to finish the fight!
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meep_meep
21/04/2007, 07:59 PM
rating
10/10
greatest game ever created
Pros: kickass everthing
Cons: pretty much wat it said in the reveiw
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Billybob
25/03/2007, 02:24 PM
rating
7/10
All in all the game was good except the fact that you have to play as the bloody alians
Pros: multyplayer rocks
Cons: playing as an elete and not as a hunter STINKS
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Yo Momma
28/02/2007, 10:22 PM
rating
10/10
the game that saves games
Pros: all round
Cons: crappy storyline...
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Professor
25/02/2007, 05:11 AM
rating
10/10
best game ever made. leaves other games in the dust.
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poopoo.com
29/11/2006, 06:44 AM
rating
10/10
best game in the world untill halo3 comes out
Pros: good all round
Cons: none
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12/10/2006, 04:52 AM
rating
10/10
best game ive ever played period.
Pros: If you like any type of shooting game i guarantee halo2 has it all.
Cons: none. well maybe the storyline sucks but halo2 is mostly for player vs player gameplay.
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10/10/2006, 02:22 PM
rating
10/10
this game rocks. all of you people who say it is boring and dumb it is because you suck at the game.
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