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Official Halo 2 Thread
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This is what I have played so far (spoilers of course):
I have not gotten very far but that is a full on spoiler for what I have seen.
The game starts off with a cutscene showing the Covenant General being executed for losing the Halo and Master Chief and Keyes' daughter getting medals. Mixed in is a basic tutorial regarding movement. Then the covenant attacks. MC is on some sort of orbiting space platform above Earth. The covenant start boarding the ship, and Cheif is instructed to clear them out.
Suddenly the Covenant raiders retreat and Cortana tells you they have placed a bomb on the ship. You have to find it, defuse it, and then MC gets the bad ass idea to frag the bomb itself BACK INTO SPACE to put it on a Covenant ship. The mission is a called "Return to Sender."
A specific Prophet lands on an area of Earth, and MC and the marines go to follow. This is where I am at now; it is almost like "Master Chief Down" because it is a sandy environment with palm trees. The marine AI seems much better- they have helped me out on countless occasions so far.
I have seen quite a few of the weapons so far- submachine gun, battle rifle, pistol, plasma rifle, plasma pistol, and someone has shot a needler at me. I am playing on heroic, and to me it is quite hard. No vehicles yet, but there are mounted plasma guns and machine guns.
Suddenly the Covenant raiders retreat and Cortana tells you they have placed a bomb on the ship. You have to find it, defuse it, and then MC gets the bad ass idea to frag the bomb itself BACK INTO SPACE to put it on a Covenant ship. The mission is a called "Return to Sender."
A specific Prophet lands on an area of Earth, and MC and the marines go to follow. This is where I am at now; it is almost like "Master Chief Down" because it is a sandy environment with palm trees. The marine AI seems much better- they have helped me out on countless occasions so far.
I have seen quite a few of the weapons so far- submachine gun, battle rifle, pistol, plasma rifle, plasma pistol, and someone has shot a needler at me. I am playing on heroic, and to me it is quite hard. No vehicles yet, but there are mounted plasma guns and machine guns.
I have not gotten very far but that is a full on spoiler for what I have seen.
I posted this at another forum, details on the AI, and vehicles here:
Ginko said:On the Covenant side, I haven't noticed any drastic differences.
* Elites really take advantage of cover this time around, and seem to be a bit more careful when their shields are down. They press their backs to the wall when their shields are down sometimes, with their weapon facing the corner.
* Elites and Grunts(I think) can scale small objects like crates or fallen vehicles in order to get higher ground on you or surprise attack you if you're taking cover near them.
* Jackals dart out of the way if you're very close to them and pressuring them. You'll have to make sure you don't give them too much time to recover if you're close, or else they'll dash behind you and light you up with their Plasma Pistols.
* Grunts, unfortunately, are still stupid cannon fodder. No real change, except they seem to take more damage than before... But then again, all the Covenant enemies do. So nevermind.
And your helpful NPCs, Marines, they're actually worth keeping alive this time around. In all honesty, sometimes you won't have to work to keep them alive because they work much better with you in HALO 2.
* Marines also take cover much more often, pressing their backs to wall and dipping in and out very quickly to take quick shots at the enemy.
* They now have the ability to drive. Honestly, they aren't the smartest bunch when driving, the 'hog usually ends up smoking by the time we're done with a quick skirmish. They aren't really conscious of how much damage your vehicle has taken. But still, sometimes they can get the job done just fine.
* You can switch any weapon with your Marines. This proves very helpful in a mission involving the Prophet of Regret, you'll know what I'm talking about when you get there. I described this scenario at GAF, but I'll run it down again: I had these two Marines following me throughout this entire level. They can die, but because of the weapons I gave them, and the way we looked out for eachother(instead of me just protecting them and fighting the Covenant at the same time). The male Marine was given a Covenant Carbine, while the female Marine was given a Covenant Particle Beam Rifle. Male Marine went head-on with me to take on Elites, while the female Marine took out Jackal Snipers and sometimes wore down the shields of the Elites ahead. They were great support, and no matter what weapon I gave them in this scenario, they used them properly... Well, I haven't tried giving them the Energy Sword or Rocket Launcher yet, but I'm working on it.
The AI on both sides of the spectrum work together much better than before too. Running in when others take cover, and they communicate with eachother as well.
I'm not certain, but I think there are around 6 or 7 entire "levels", but these levels are broken up into campaign levels... Get me? No? Well... For example, the "Earth City" level is broken up into two seperate campaign levels. And the transition between levels isn't exactly made clear sometimes, you won't even know you've gotten to a new one. Heh.
Not many new ones...
* Warthog - There are two Warthog variants present in the final game; the LRV "Chaingun" Warthog, and the LAAV "Guass" Warthog. The former is the 'hog we all know and love, and the latter is the new powerful variant we saw in the E32k3 Demo. I haven't had much time with the LAAV, but it seems to work best against vehicles. It's hard to hit opponents on foot because the shot isn't entirely accurate, and there's no splash damage unless you nail a vehicle... Concerning the Warthog in general: The thing feels very different. It just doesn't seem to have as much weight as the original Warthog. At first I didn't like it, but I've gotten used to it. I don't know how the rest of you will feel about it
* Ghost - Not too much of a difference here. Unlike the 'hog, the new Ghost feels heavier. It rides lower, moves slower when not boosting, and when it does boost, you can't really adjust your path all that much. As you might have noticed in the videos from E32k3 and E32k4, the Ghost's weapons fire at a much faster rate than before. It can wear down people on foot quite easily, but the shots don't seem to freeze, and I think this goes for all plasma weapons, unfortunately...
* Spectre - The only real new vehicle in HALO 2. Think of it as the Covenant's answer to the Warthog. It moves a bit slower than the Warthog at first, but when it boosts it moves at just about the same speed or a bit faster. It seats 4: Driver, 2 Passengers, and a Gunner. The Spectre's weapon is a very accurate rapid-fire plasma weapon that does pretty decent damage.
* Banshee - It has received the most drastic change. The thing is just an aerial target now, IMO. It's so delicate, and the barrel rolls 'n' flips don't really serve much of a purpose besides avoiding the Rocket Launcher's Target Tracking feature. It's very fast when it boosts though... But that's it. You can no longer fly backwards up into the air, if you try to, the 'shee's engines will kind of turn off and you'll plummet to the ground. That causes damage too, by the way.
* Scorpion - Better. Moves slower than before, like less than half it's original speed, but you can take more punishment in it than before, and it's weapons have been improved-- it's main and secondary weapons both fire much faster and accurately than in the first game. Even with these improvements, because of it's slow speed, it can be easily boarded if somebody gets close enough.
* Wraith - The Covenant Mortar Tank that was unplayable in the first game. It fires it's mortar shots very fast, and the splash damage of these shots are incredible. While it moves about just the same speed as the Scorpion normally, it can boost for like 1-2 seconds. IMO, the superior of the two Heavy Vehicles.
There are also turrets that are considered vehicles in Multiplayer. There is a Human and Covenant variant. The Human one, most of you have already seen, but the Covenant basically fires projectiles just like the Ghost in an extremely fast constant stream. They both do the job just fine.
DJ Demon J
Banned
Sai said:DJ Demon J, Scoot, where are you guys?
I just got through playing a Slayer match with 7 people(I won.), but I still want mooore!...
There was a lil' bit of latency when pickin' up weapons and throwing grenades, by the way.
I'll probably be on tonight, if not all weekend.
Star Power
Member
OMG!! AERIS DIES!!
DJ Demon J
Banned
Ramirez said:Get all the practice you can ladies,cuz come Tuesday you will all be made my bitch
You may win in football, but you don't stand a chance in FPS!
Make your time.DopeyFish said:Because she really isn't all that annoying
Plus it's about timethey had some chick marines that would talk shit on the battlefield
No, she is really that annoying. I hate her fucking "tough chick" attitude and shtick. I seriously want to punch her in the throat.
I'm just glad I don't have to look at her while playing the game, because that little mean snarl thing she does all the time makes me want to shoot her in the face.
Holy Christ. Brutes.
The water is... Really pretty, by the way.
Precision weapons are a necessity for Brutes. Carbine, Battle Rifle, Sniper Rifle, or Beam Rifle. You need to get at their heads, usually takes about 4 or 5 good headshots to take them out. And once you've diminished their forces, one or two of them will go berserk on your ass. Running around mindlessly like apes until they catch a glimpse of you, then you'd best have an Energy Sword or Heavy Weapon on you, or that thing will beat you to death. It's harder to aim at their heads when they're charging at you like that too.
Brutes are evil, and there are a lot of them in the later levels. They really are more of a mix between Elites and Hunters. Fast and incredibly strong.
Brutes are evil, and there are a lot of them in the later levels. They really are more of a mix between Elites and Hunters. Fast and incredibly strong.
The water is... Really pretty, by the way.
Very much so.dark10x said:
Er, don't know how long it's been total since I've been replaying levels. It's taken me a good hour to an hour and 1/2 to beat each Campaign level. But then, I'm pretty thorough. I'm the type of guy who will revert back to the last checkpoint, re-doing the entire scenario over just because I thought I wasted 1 or 2 rounds.
I also like to experiment with the different weapons you can give your helpful NPCs. So yeah... For most, I'd say about 45 minutes to an hour for each campaign level. This is on Heroic, by the way.
I have yet to beat it, but I'm slowly approaching the end... A lot of you are probably wondering why I have yet to beat it. I'm just taking my sweet time, I don't want to see it end(for various reasons).
I watched 2 videos of the second and third levels. I guess its from someone who got it early since its in english.
The guy playing sucks, but its very obviously one of the nice things about Halo is there times ten, having tons of different ways to approach a situation. Whether it be with different weapon combos, a different vehicle, or even which seat you take in a vehicle.
I gotta say though the texture pop in during cutscenes is really bad, Sai and the rest of you guys, is this happening on your system?
The guy playing sucks, but its very obviously one of the nice things about Halo is there times ten, having tons of different ways to approach a situation. Whether it be with different weapon combos, a different vehicle, or even which seat you take in a vehicle.
I gotta say though the texture pop in during cutscenes is really bad, Sai and the rest of you guys, is this happening on your system?
Most definitely. It is at least as bas as Riddick, so if that bothered anyone it going ot bother them here.
In
The second level on the streets of Earth,
I think they made many aspects of Halo 2 worse. Not gonna give a lot of details now but the one TRUE thing I loved about Halo 1 was the vehicle physics, so soft and cuddly. Halo 2 just totally ruins it for me. The hog feels totally different, sorta tied down to the ground in comparison to 1, just not as fun to drive. And where's all those new vehicles they promised!? (Ò_Ó)9 One new vehicle that's basically not gonna be used in any online play as you have to specially select it for it to be in the game, it's not as a default vehicle on any of the MP maps.
Poor hog, got butchered like that. RIP.
Here's an important question: is the game multilingual (especially during gameplay)?
It's possible you can not set the language via any game menus and the game actually relies on the Xbox bios settings (there's a language option in there). This is how Outrun 2 or Prince of Persia works on Xbox.
It's possible you can not set the language via any game menus and the game actually relies on the Xbox bios settings (there's a language option in there). This is how Outrun 2 or Prince of Persia works on Xbox.
I was going to take a screenie from episode 28 in retort, but I'm too lazy right now.Drexon said:I think they made many aspects of Halo 2 worse. Not gonna give a lot of details now but the one TRUE thing I loved about Halo 1 was the vehicle physics, so soft and cuddly. Halo 2 just totally ruins it for me. The hog feels totally different, sorta tied down to the ground in comparison to 1, just not as fun to drive. And where's all those new vehicles they promised!? (Ò_Ó)9 One new vehicle that's basically not gonna be used in any online play as you have to specially select it for it to be in the game, it's not as a default vehicle on any of the MP maps.
Poor hog, got butchered like that. RIP.
The Warthog... Yeah, it's more grounded, but at the same time I feel absolutely no weight from it when driving. Well, not nearly as much weight compared to the first game.
Can't say I like the new old one better though, it's just different... I'm sure most people can adjust though, especially considering all the other improvements we've gotten.
No, unfortunately. I don't understand why Bungie didn't give us the option.Sander said:
You'll love the new one then.Ramirez said:
Drexon said:*Swing swing swing* Flickeeer! *punch punch* Hook! D-d-d-doooown!
I think they made many aspects of Halo 2 worse. Not gonna give a lot of details now but the one TRUE thing I loved about Halo 1 was the vehicle physics, so soft and cuddly. Halo 2 just totally ruins it for me. The hog feels totally different, sorta tied down to the ground in comparison to 1, just not as fun to drive. And where's all those new vehicles they promised!? (Ò_Ó)9 One new vehicle that's basically not gonna be used in any online play as you have to specially select it for it to be in the game, it's not as a default vehicle on any of the MP maps.
Poor hog, got butchered like that. RIP.
It could be viewed as Bungie Damage Control -- but on the Limited Edition DVD -- I think it's the first documentary, you see really just how far behind Bungie was on the game after E3 2k3. They mention alot of things they wanted to do but couldn't, whether it was on account of the limitations of the hardware, or the limits of their time, or just the scope of their vision. Right away they address the graphical stuff (not so much the pop-ins) but the difference between the Announce Trailer and the final product. To their credit they did what they could with a console that is aging -- their vision (graphically) may have just been too big.
shantyman said:
Difference in the characters models is night and day to be honest, especially the Covenant forces. SPOILER >>>
The Flood looked shit in the original...but look like your worst nightmare from John Carpenter's The Thing in Halo 2
Also the engine allows for a lot more stuff on screen with special FX, such as the cloaking effect on the Elites.
Is this acceptable to post? Soemone scanned the Halo 2 manual here
http://photobucket.com/albums/v505/EVOlutionMR
http://photobucket.com/albums/v505/EVOlutionMR