Back to the shooters. The entire Halo series has been in my backlog for a while, and a few months ago when I was finally ready to return to it, I found that Halo: Combat Evolved was missing. It turns out, it was never actually mine in the first place- my brother had returned it to a friend. I searched a few Gamestops and asked a few friends if I could borrow their copies, but it just seemed like I couldn't get my hands on the game. Eventually, I decided it was time to move on. The series is a soldier shooting aliens, how much could continuity really matter? So I started Halo 2 with no intent to criticize the plot at all, as it was my choice to play like this. One could also argue that I hardly played the game. I didn't really feel like spending a lot of time on it, so I through the difficulty on easy and really just flew through the first half of the game like a strong breeze. Seriously, I'm sure I skipped tons of epic fights, but my strategy was to constantly keep moving forward and sprint through levels in as little time as possible. The second half of the game got more difficult with some instant-kill enemies, but I was still only focused on fighting when I was forced to. The second half of the game also had a couple glitches that I've never heard of before. First, one segment requires you to ride an elevator underwater and into another building. I got into the elevator and rode it for a few seconds, and then it simply disappeared and I was stuck walking around on the ocean floor. I looked around for some exit, but couldn't find one. When I restarted, the elevator worked normally and I made it to the building just fine. The second glitch came in the last two levels- certain times a screen would freeze for a second and leave a silhouette imprinted on the screen until the next movie or death. My brother seemed to be aware of this, but wasn't sure if this was a well-known glitch or just one unique to our copy. Either way, these didn't slow me down too much and I was able to finish the game somewhat easily. I guess I can see why it's such a beloved game, but it really didn't impress me- the fact that I was running more than shooting really emphasized how many times the only goal is to run from point A to point B or kill a room full of aliens before you could move on. I really remember maybe once or twice where some thinking was involved other than "shoot." At least the graphics and shooting were done well. Hopefully Halo 3 will be a little more interesting; expect my review soon.January 31, 2010
Halo 2
Back to the shooters. The entire Halo series has been in my backlog for a while, and a few months ago when I was finally ready to return to it, I found that Halo: Combat Evolved was missing. It turns out, it was never actually mine in the first place- my brother had returned it to a friend. I searched a few Gamestops and asked a few friends if I could borrow their copies, but it just seemed like I couldn't get my hands on the game. Eventually, I decided it was time to move on. The series is a soldier shooting aliens, how much could continuity really matter? So I started Halo 2 with no intent to criticize the plot at all, as it was my choice to play like this. One could also argue that I hardly played the game. I didn't really feel like spending a lot of time on it, so I through the difficulty on easy and really just flew through the first half of the game like a strong breeze. Seriously, I'm sure I skipped tons of epic fights, but my strategy was to constantly keep moving forward and sprint through levels in as little time as possible. The second half of the game got more difficult with some instant-kill enemies, but I was still only focused on fighting when I was forced to. The second half of the game also had a couple glitches that I've never heard of before. First, one segment requires you to ride an elevator underwater and into another building. I got into the elevator and rode it for a few seconds, and then it simply disappeared and I was stuck walking around on the ocean floor. I looked around for some exit, but couldn't find one. When I restarted, the elevator worked normally and I made it to the building just fine. The second glitch came in the last two levels- certain times a screen would freeze for a second and leave a silhouette imprinted on the screen until the next movie or death. My brother seemed to be aware of this, but wasn't sure if this was a well-known glitch or just one unique to our copy. Either way, these didn't slow me down too much and I was able to finish the game somewhat easily. I guess I can see why it's such a beloved game, but it really didn't impress me- the fact that I was running more than shooting really emphasized how many times the only goal is to run from point A to point B or kill a room full of aliens before you could move on. I really remember maybe once or twice where some thinking was involved other than "shoot." At least the graphics and shooting were done well. Hopefully Halo 3 will be a little more interesting; expect my review soon.
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Yeah, Halo 2 is the unofficial shitfest of the trilogy. Halo was a new experience and Halo 3 brought the game to a new platform and expanded in several areas, but Halo 2 was just, as you said, a whole lot of running from point A to point B. In a way the game itself is a simple bridge from A (1) to B (3). Prepare for a much more interesting game in 3, but also a much more annoying one. And those glitches do seem unique to your copy. I rode the elevator several times without that happening and the silhouette thing just sounds weird. Oh well. The disc served its purpose, and that purpose was to be beaten. Nice job.
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