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[Fatghost]

Gamespot did a comparison of BC games on Xbox and Xbox 360, and there were some noticeable improvements in rendering for draw distance...seems like more is done than just upscaling a 480p output.


http://www.gamespot.com/features/6140654/index.html

 

[Kevtones]

Halo 2 singleplayer is super uneven in terms of fun factor/design.

Multiplayer rules though.

 

[Bearillusion]

Halo 2 is an amazing game. If you're not playing it on legendary then you're not really playing it.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Halo 2 is an amazing game. If you're not playing it on legendary then you're not really playing it.

I'd play it more if it weren't for the jackal snipers.

 

[Prine]

Delta Halo is such an amazing level

 

[Bearillusion]

I'd play it more if it weren't for the jackal snipers.

If you keep changing your position they aren't a problem.

 

[GhaleonEB]

If you keep changing your position they aren't a problem.

I've been sniped out of a warthog going full-speed while swerving from a good 100 yards out.

 

[Bearillusion]

I've been sniped out of a warthog going full-speed while swerving from a good 100 yards out.

That's not what I mean. If you take cover behind and object and pop out from the left and they see you if you pop out again they will instantly hit you. If you go to the right though they will still be looking to the left for a (very) short time. Driving in a warthog is just asking to be shot.

 

[GhaleonEB]

That's not what I mean. If you take cover behind and object and pop out from the left and they see you if you pop out again they will instantly hit you. If you go to the right though they will still be looking to the left for a (very) short time. Driving in a warthog is just asking to be shot.

And that's my point. They have reaction speeds and accuracy that is excessive, period. I've put a LOT of time into legendary campaign, I'm aware of how to handle the jackal snipers. They're not fun to play against, they're cheap it feels like I'm trying to outsmart computer AI and not an actual sniper. They just were not properly tested; the one-shot kills were a bad idea, IMO.

Jesus, I can't believe I'm the one doing all the bitching in this thread. Who'd have thought? :lol

I'll stop now.

 

[border]

Legendary isn't that hard after you've made it through the 1st level gauntlet (which was only hard at the time if you didn't know to use plasma pistol + BR). The snipers sucked but don't they mostly disappear after you leave earth?

 

[GhaleonEB]

Legendary isn't that hard after you've made it through the 1st level gauntlet (which was only hard at the time if you didn't know to use plasma pistol + BR). The snipers sucked but don't they mostly disappear after you leave earth?

They're all over Delta Halo and some of the later stages, fighting against the Brutes.

 

[AltogetherAndrews]

Spoiler

The absolutely worst thing about Halo 2 was the whole Covenant split thing. Not only did it feel like an altogether clumsy cop-out deal (the Covenant were basically religious extremist fools, gotcha), but it leaves me wondering what exactly I'm going to be up against in Halo 3. The three enemy types in Halo that I enjoyed fighting were the Elites, the Hunters and surprisingly, the Grunts. With all of those supposedly banding together on my side of the conflict, I'm left fighting what, big apes, sharpshooting birdrats and flying bugs? That is unless of course Bungie decides to split the game between me playing as Master Chief and me playing as a Brute. Yuurgh.

That's a bloody mess of a plotline that the company made for itself by releasing Halo 2, and while I sincerely hope Halo 3 is every bit as awesome an experience as Halo was, my interest in this game is at this point primarily based on observing exactly how Bungie will dig its way out the hole.

And for God's sake, don't have the whole game take place on Earth. I spent a lot of time just gazing at the awesomeness of having this whole world tower above, and I'd really like that feeling to be brought back with Halo 3. That, and there needs to be snow. Lots and lots of snow.

 

[border]

They're all over Delta Halo and some of the later stages, fighting against the Brutes.

I only remember them being a huge problem on Earth though, in the back alleys on New Mombassa. In the other places it wasn't that hard to see them and take them out from a distance.

 

[Tieno]

Spoiler

The absolutely worst thing about Halo 2 was the whole Covenant split thing. Not only did it feel like an altogether clumsy cop-out deal (the Covenant were basically religious extremist fools, gotcha), but it leaves me wondering what exactly I'm going to be up against in Halo 3. The three enemy types in Halo that I enjoyed fighting were the Elites, the Hunters and surprisingly, the Grunts. With all of those supposedly banding together on my side of the conflict, I'm left fighting what, big apes, sharpshooting birdrats and flying bugs? That is unless of course Bungie decides to split the game between me playing as Master Chief and me playing as a Brute. Yuurgh.

That's a bloody mess of a plotline that the company made for itself by releasing Halo 2, and while I sincerely hope Halo 3 is every bit as awesome an experience as Halo was, my interest in this game is at this point primarily based on observing exactly how Bungie will dig its way out the hole.

And for God's sake, don't have the whole game take place on Earth. I spent a lot of time just gazing at the awesomeness of having this whole world tower above, and I'd really like that feeling to be brought back with Halo 3. That, and there needs to be snow. Lots and lots of snow.

Who says the elites will be on your side?

In Halo 2 you had a 4-5 way war
Human vs Convenant (Elites vs Brutes) vs Flood vs Halobots lazer stuff. It's awesome just seeing this fight, or joining it or letting it play out.

 

[Fallout-NL]

There is not such concensus; the topic is still hotly debated.

I'm of the opinion that Halo 2 is superior to Halo in both campaign and MP. There are specific things Halo does better than Halo 2, such weapon feedback and freedom to explore some of the levels. However, the sheer number of additions to the game in Halo 2 overpower those, IMO. (Superior story and cinematics, dual-wielding, vehicle boarding, friendly AI-controlled vechicles, using the sword, the Arbiter's recharging cloak, more challenging flood, non-repeating level design, vastly superior visuals, hugely expanded game universe, etc. etc. etc.)

But to each their own.

Well those are all valid points you make, except for the level design and story thing. While in the first Halo the only level I hated was the library one (obviously), I felt that after the first 2-3 hours in Halo 2 things got a lot worse than they ever got in Halo 1. The whole arbiter thing was so immensely boring and repetitive. Im going to play it again though in a little while, its been 2 years now and I might have been a little too quick to judge. And dual wielding never really added anything, it was just a bit imbalanced imho. Multiplayer often degenerates into simple spray fests. The game works better in lan-enviroments somehow.

Story wise I think number one is better. Mainly because I think they should have never shown the Covenant point of view. It would have done the atmosphere a lot better if the Covenant would have remained unknown, incredibly powerful and menacing. Another problem might be that Ive never really taken to the whole flood thing.

And of course:

assault rifle >>> smg/battle rifle

I hope Halo 3 is so sweet that that argument immediately becomes irrelevant.

Ah, as do I.

All things considered, Halo 2 is still a great game, it's just that maybe I expected more of it back in '04. It ended up just being more of the same, slightly better, but nonetheless familiar territory. I hope number 3 will be something special again (and that they read the goddamn Nylund novels).

 

[border]

assault rifle >>> battle rifle

You complain about spray fests, and then say you favor the assault rifle? Whether you are in multiplayer or singleplayer it's probably the most sloppy weapon in the Halo: CE (well, short of the needler which qualifies more as a "stupid toy" than it does a weapon).

 

[jetjevons]

Halo 2 is an amazing game. If you're not playing it on legendary then you're not really playing it.

This statement is incorrect. Halo 2 legendary is not fun (and yes I completed it). It is an excercise in frustration.

 

[pollo]

That Halo 3 trailer was so badass..I cant wait for the next installment =D

 

[Bearillusion]

This statement is incorrect. Halo 2 legendary is not fun (and yes I completed it). It is an excercise in frustration.

I disagree.

 

[jetjevons]

Legendary isn't that hard after you've made it through the 1st level gauntlet (which was only hard at the time if you didn't know to use plasma pistol + BR). The snipers sucked but don't they mostly disappear after you leave earth?

It's not about it being too hard. I don't mind hard. I mind unflexible. Rigid. I hate forced repetition.

Once you memorize the location of all the Jackal snipers in the alleyway on the second level it is possible to do it without dying. But the very fact that Halo 2 is making me memorize distant enemy placement through repeatedly dying tells me something is very, very broken with the design.

I wouldn't of minded if there was a difficulty level above Legendary in Halo 2 called "Memory & Patience Test" for those that really wanted to go through that craw,l but that, to me, isn't what Halo Legendary is about. And Heroic was too easy.

I STILL boot up Halo for a run through on Truth & Reconcilliation on Legendary. I haven't TOUCHED Halo 2 single player since I finish Legendary, went back to try it again on Heroic and just plain didn't have any fun.

 

[Frenck]

Spoiler

The absolutely worst thing about Halo 2 was the whole Covenant split thing. Not only did it feel like an altogether clumsy cop-out deal (the Covenant were basically religious extremist fools, gotcha), but it leaves me wondering what exactly I'm going to be up against in Halo 3. The three enemy types in Halo that I enjoyed fighting were the Elites, the Hunters and surprisingly, the Grunts. With all of those supposedly banding together on my side of the conflict, I'm left fighting what, big apes, sharpshooting birdrats and flying bugs? That is unless of course Bungie decides to split the game between me playing as Master Chief and me playing as a Brute. Yuurgh.

Who says that the Elites are on our side now? By that logic the flood would be on our side too because the Gravemind helped the Arbiter to find the Index. At the end of Halo 2 cooperation is the only option for the Flood, the UNSC and the Elites to stop the activation of the Halos.

That's a bloody mess of a plotline that the company made for itself by releasing Halo 2, and while I sincerely hope Halo 3 is every bit as awesome an experience as Halo was, my interest in this game is at this point primarily based on observing exactly how Bungie will dig its way out the hole.

There is no hole for them to dig themselves out of. It's TESB all over again. The cliffhanger, the Darth Vader twist, the enemy splitting up to fight each other, alliances broken and new alliances formed, a major defeat for the good guys, the loss of an important character and the different feel and flow of the story. The civil war was something that came as a big surprise to me and I really appreciate that Bungie took the risk and made the first FPS to feature such a complex enemy.

And for God's sake, don't have the whole game take place on Earth. I spent a lot of time just gazing at the awesomeness of having this whole world tower above, and I'd really like that feeling to be brought back with Halo 3. That, and there needs to be snow. Lots and lots of snow.

I really appreciate the risk that Bungie took by changing the formula of the first game so much for the second game, it's a very brave thing to do in this industry and I hope that Halo 3 will prove them right. We could have gotten something like Metroid Prime 2 instead, an almost carbon copy of the original. But instead Halo 2 shocked and surprised everyone and I love that. The Civil War, Cortana in the hands of the Flood, the Arbiter and the inner workings of the Covenant, these are such interesting concepts, I can't believe that someone would want a standard FPS story instead.

 

[darksquirrel]

This statement is incorrect. Halo 2 legendary is not fun (and yes I completed it). It is an excercise in frustration.

Agreed. Halo 1 on the other hand was amazing on legendary, this was due of course to the pistol, which as everyone always notes is friggin missing from Halo2.

 

[Bearillusion]

I STILL boot up Halo for a run through on Truth & Reconcilliation on Legendary. I haven't TOUCHED Halo 2 single player since I finish Legendary, went back to try it again on Heroic and just plain didn't have any fun.

Cairo Station doesn't have any snipers.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Agreed. Halo 1 on the other hand was amazing on legendary, this was due of course to the pistol, which as everyone always notes is friggin missing from Halo2.

It wasn't due to the pistol, it was because Legendary in Halo wasn't hard because the Chief could only take a couple of shots before dying. It was hard becase the covenant were more numerous and smarter than in other difficulties, which made them more challenging and also more fun.

 

[jetjevons]

Cairo Station doesn't have any snipers.

Did you play a lot of Halo 1 Legendary? Because I'm genuinely curious as to why someone would prefer Halo 2 Legendary? I haven't met many people that do. I'm not saying your lying but I'd like to know your reasoning.

The few Halo-2-legandary fans I do know are either the "super-133t I'm 2 pnwage for j00" types who just get off on the fact that they are skilled enough to beat it when most others can't, or the Halo zealots who have played each level so many times they remember where every single enemy and item is.

 

[darksquirrel]

It wasn't due to the pistol, it was because Legendary in Halo wasn't hard because the Chief could only take a couple of shots before dying. It was hard becase the covenant were more numerous and smarter than in other difficulties, which made them more challenging and also more fun.

Sort of. When I mentioned the pistol i meant the fact that the game became a sort of shooting gallery and felt very skill based. i was focused heavily on getting headshots and firing just enough to kill the enemy without wasting bullets. Running out of ammo merely meant more of a challenge fumbling with less accurate and effective weapons until you re-encountered ammo for your handy pistol. The pistol was pretty much the game for me and my friends..online and offline. I don't know why this works so well in Halo, but in halo 2 all the weapons and the dual wielding just made everything feel muddled.

 

[Bearillusion]

Did you play a lot of Halo 1 Legendary? Because I'm genuinely curious as to why someone would prefer Halo 2 Legendary? I haven't met many people that do. I'm not saying your lying but I'd like to know your reasoning.

I don't remember saying that I prefer Halo 2 legendary to Halo 1 legendary.

 

[Brandon F]

Halo 1 Legendary and even Heroic >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Halo 2.

I reached the gravemind level last night, so I'm getting close to the end. The flood level with the arbiter in the library is total meh. Just bolt right past everything as fighting is neither necessary or warranted. Lame.

 

[Fallout-NL]

You complain about spray fests, and then say you favor the assault rifle?

:lol Oh shit, so Rainbow Six is a dumb spray fest because it has weapons that allow for full automatic fire?