Official HALO 2: Discussion Thread (No Spoilers)

[Nick Nunziata]

Um, it's great. But it is not much different from one aside from the trinkets, look, and overall polish. Don't expect a life-changing single player game, though it is quite good.

[Dr. Jerkberg]

Cool.

All I want is more Halo, I don't need my perception of what a video game is radically altered.

I do have to questions.

1) Is the single player mode really as quick (10 hours) as I have been hearing?

2) How did you feel about the end. I have heard it is a love or hate it kinda thing.

[Dav3]

I've played through the single player campaign, and I must say that even though it is rather short, it never gets old and repetitive like the campaign in Halo 1. There is tons of variety on display, and every level has its fair share of incredible action set pieces. In short, there is nothing that even approaches the Library level in the first game.

And as far as the ending? It is abrupt, but it is appropriate for the story. I liked it, even though my first response was certainly a confused one.


I think that the hype that has enveloped the game might cause some people to be dissapointed, just like with any hyped up piece of entertainment. Its too bad, because the game is as close to perfect as any console shooter that I have played.

[Nelson]

From the 60 second TV ad:

There are those who said that this day would never come, what have they to say now?

Bring it on?

[Boomstick]

I've decided to go to GameStop to pick up my copy at midnight. It's really crazy around here. I was at the store earlier today, and a line had already formed (the first guy got there at 3). Gaming and electronics are huge around me. too. I have a total of 5 EBs or GameStops withing 4 miles of my house. Each place is having a massive event tonight, and I also know Best Buy and Toys R Us is opening, too.

I still can't believe how big video games have gotten.

[Count Floyd]

Have it reserved at the Gamestop literally down the block in our quiet Park Slope neighborhood.. checked around 11 and there were maybe a dozen people there, cool. At midnight my roommate and I decided to go scoop it up. Except now there were at least 75 people. I'm looking forward to playing it, but not that much. Tomorrow. Sleep now.

[Rivers Axl Rose Cuomo]

Just got back from Electronic's Boutique after waiting for 45 minutes. The line went from about 20 to 400 in 5 minutes. Happy I have my (extremely bulky) copy of the Limited Edition hot and ready to go tomorrow after some sleep.

Have fun people.

[The Sphinx]

Got it, number 34 in a line of 200 at our tiny EB Games. Starting it up now...

[TheFilmHobbit]

There were literally 400 people in line at my Gamestop in Dallas tonight. I turned right around, went home and will be back in the morning.

Insane.

[Slater]

So far, it's everything I was hoping for.

Wuv.

[The Sphinx]

What a rush. An absolute blast to play.

Impressive network code. Midnight release and thousands of fanboys are rushing to jump online, XBox Live was rock solid. And 16 player King of the Hill fragfest was practically lag free. Just incredible.

[Lead Salad]

Waited an hour and a half (never doing this for a game again). So my friend and I play a quick game o' slayer. One problem: Vertical split screen. We were too tired/lazy to look for a horizontal option. Hopefully we'll find one tomorrow. Either that or it's mandatory for people with widescreen monitors to play with narrow split screen when only two are in a game.

[JuddL]

I also waited in line for an hour and a half, but it was worth it to get a few games in. I fear that the internet connection here is going to kill me though, I fuckin logged the slowest connection every game. Whatever, it's everything we could've wanted so far.

[Nick Nunziata]

Waited an hour and a half (never doing this for a game again). So my friend and I play a quick game o' slayer. One problem: Vertical split screen. We were too tired/lazy to look for a horizontal option. Hopefully we'll find one tomorrow. Either that or it's mandatory for people with widescreen monitors to play with narrow split screen when only two are in a game.

We had thris problem. We ended up changing the settings on my xbox's widescreen thing and it was fine. Horizontal split screen makes me feel like vomiting the red parts of my body all over town.

[JankStar]

Picked it up last night without any trouble from my local GameRush where I'd had it preordered since June. Was in and out in less than 10 mins. What else to say except it lives up to and exceeded my expectations thus far. The single player campaign is sweet so far....although I'm not far into it.

The LIVE play is absolutely UNPARALLED. This game is THE model for all live games. It feels just like you're playing with some buddies over your house....I played like 5 games on LIVE...all completely LAG FREE. It's just amazing they pulled it off without a hitch....especially on the first night on LIVE which is usually when there are server hic-ups and lag. There was none here.

The stat tracking at Bungie.net is outstanding as well...I've been looking over the maps I played on and it shows me where I died as well as where I killed folks. Those CHUD HALO1 LAN parties at Nick's served me well...as I did pretty well in the games I played last night....top dog in a couple of them..... And the LIVE play feels just as fast and fluid as those LAN parties. GREAT STUFF !!!

[WonkyBritches]

Bought it at Target this morning and received the gigantic hintbook with it for free. Won't be using the hintbook but its still nice to have it. When you pay 50 dollars for a game that has 10 to 15 hours of gameplay you want to get all that you can out of it.

So far, this game owns. Time to put the Gamecube back in the closet. Halo 2 has finally arrived.

[billylove]

Did the midnight thing here. After smelling smoke from a thousand nerds trying to be cool, I got my copy and promptly hauled ass home and played co-op with my buddy till 3 in the morning.

Put me firmly in the group of people that won't ever do the wait in line thing for a game.


Ohh, Halo 2 OWNS you.

[Joe]

Just picked it up at a local EB. Walked in, and walked out. So much better than waiting in line last night.

Anyways, I'll be useless for a while now...

[Jacob Singer]

Just called my Gamestop, they have plenty of copies, so I'm gonna pick out some trade-ins and go pick this bastard up.

[Fazer]

had it reserved, once midnight hit i was in and out in 40 minutes, although i did show up around 11 to get in the "VIP" line.

Anyway, the campaign mode sucked me in even though I told myself I wouldn't let it. It is a totally different feel as of right now. The level down on earth is a really exciting mix of halo play and this sort of awesome urban combat feel. I was really really digging it. I can't explain it, but it felt very visceral and awesome.

And yes, LIVE was SOLID. It took a minute or two to for live to find a game, but once I did (i was only put in 8 player matches) it was super solid, only one hint of slowdown I believe we were host switching because someone dropped. But it was very smooth. I was impressed. But I suck man...I need to figure out what sensitivity is good for me again...7 is not the same 7 from halo 1 at least thats my feel.

[Embrodak]

I love this game! Dual wielding is the SHIT. I tried to get online, but I was waiting for like 5 minutes for it to find me a game to join, so I just started the single player mode for now. I'll try the LIVE thing again later today. Can't wait to try it out.

[Boomstick]

Slater, Evlar, etc...

Sorry I had to bail early last night. My newborn was crying, and I was on duty. I can't wait to play more with you guys, though.

[Brian Wehman]

Just got home with my copy.. (had to call off sick and everything)

Gonna fire it up within minutes...

[Angles]

For events like this, part of the fun of making the line is sharing the communal experience among like-minded geeks. I met a few local gamers when I went to Gamestop last night, and exchanged numbers with a guy that regularly runs 16 player Halo parties in his house.

Funny story. I drove by the corner Gamestop at around 11pm while running an errand for my wife, and there were about 20 people waiting outside. I drive home to watch MNF while taking care of the baby, and at 11:55, I kiss my wife goodbye, and swing by to Gamestop to try to snag a copy. I had previously pre-ordered it, but I ended up using that credit for another game. Anyways, I was greeted by a horde of about 200 people. About 70% were in the "fully prepaid" line, while the rest of us were lined up seperately. I thought about driving a few miles down to my local Wal-Mart (which has a FLAWLESS track record with midnight openings), but I decided to support my neighborhood gaming store instead.

After 40+ minutes of chatting with the local gamers, I make it into the store, where I'm told that store policy barred me from getting a copy of the game, since I didn't have it pre-ordered. Aside from my history of buying games there, I explained that I had used the credit on another game. They said they couldn't sell me a copy for the midnight release, but that I could buy it first thing in the morning.

My newly found friends fought in my defense, but to no avail. Hey, at least they tried to help, and warned me that even if I went to Wal-Mart, my chances of finding the game ANYWHERE were slim.

Since my fanboy juices were flowing, I drove over to Wal-Mart and walked the half-mile or so to the electronics section. It was completely, totally empty. I went up to this lady behind the register and stammered,

"Hi, there's this game that came out today, and I was wondering who I can talk to, to see if I can buy it tonight."

The lady gives me a blank, deer-in-the-headlights stare. I then remembered that I live in Hialeah and said, "Si señora, hay un juego de Xbox que salio hoy y queria saber si ustedes lo tenian disponible para poder comprarlo ahora."

Her response: "Álo tu?" That's exactly how she pronounced it since in Spanish, the letter "h" is silent.

She reached down under the counter, where she had a box filled with copies of both versions, and asks me which one I want. I pick the Collectors Edition, and mention that even though it's a couple of dollars more, it's worth it to me. She gave me another weird look and replied, "No, actually they're both the same price, $49.88"

Yup, after wasting my time with the assholes at my local Gamestop, I walked in and out of Walmart with Halo 2, AND I snagged the Collectors Edition for a few bucks less. Hey, I really tried avoiding the Evil Empire, but once again, they really kicked ass last night.

[Slater]

Wow. I have no idea where this storyline is going, but it's incredilby entertaining so far. I wish I could geek out about one particular set piece that's just the coolest thing ever, but I don't want to risk spoiling it.

This game is greatness.

[billylove]

For events like this, part of the fun of making the line is sharing the communal experience among like-minded geeks. I met a few local gamers when I went to Gamestop last night, and exchanged numbers with a guy that regularly runs 16 player Halo parties in his house.


The local EB Games was signing up for a tourney. I've never done such a thing so I signed up. It shall be amusing.

[Nelson]

Wow.

Halo 2 sales (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041109/tc_nm/media_microsoft_halo_dc)

Bill Gates, please enjoy the moment, because this is the only thing MS is selling nowadays:



Microsoft Sees $100 Million First Day for 'Halo 2'

44 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - First-day sales of Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) new video game "Halo 2" will reach $100 million, a senior Microsoft games executive said on Tuesday.

"I'm calling a $100 million day on 'Halo' today," Peter Moore, a corporate vice president in Microsoft's games division, said at a Harris Nesbitt investment conference in New York.

The game, in which a super-soldier called "Master Chief" must save the earth from aliens, went on sale around the world on Tuesday, with thousands of stores opening their doors to eager customers just after midnight last night.

In addition to 1.5 million pre-sold units, Moore said one retailer sold 8,500 units in the first 11 minutes of sales, while another sold 200,000 units by daybreak Tuesday.

Analysts expect "Halo 2" to sell a total of about 10 million units, with some projecting up to half of those sales coming in November. The original "Halo" sold 5 million units and remains the best seller on the Xbox (news - web sites) to date. (Additional reporting by Franklin Paul in New York)

[Carl Cunningham]

Greatness.

[T Carter]

Anyone else getting "cannot load map errors" when trying to get into a muliplayer game? I played all last night and just played three or four games now. All of a sudden, it won't let me on.

[otisthecat]

I couldn't believe how many people were out at the 12Am release last night. Probably a couple hundred at the Gamestop with me, another hundred or so across the street at Best Buy and Hastings looked to be packed as well. I had a drunk high school kid behind me letting everyone in front of him in line know they could suck his dick, and a 50ish college prof in front of me that thought he was hilarious.

I sure suck with the sword. I make up for it with my God like vehicle jacking abilities. Amazing game, I actually find myself wishing the action would slow a bit on occasion so I could take a look at the scenery more often. The sky and all the shit you can see in the distance is just awesome.

I was a little pissed to find that the guy who said the discs were just stacked on top of each other was right, that was a poor packaging decision.

[Alan "Nordling" Cerny]

Man, when you do the city urban Scarab thing, you feel like a frigging GOD.

It's awesome.

I pre-paid mine, but I slept rather than got in line, then I popped into Gamestop at 10:00 AM in the morning, and my HALO 2 was already pre-rung up (apparently they rang up all the pre-paid HALO 2 sales before you got there) so all I had to do was show my ID and in 2 seconds I was handed the Collector's Edition HALO 2 box. In at 10:00, out at 10:01.

Right now, my eyes hurt because I'm afraid to blink.

[prala is just for jk]

Is sitting on my desk. Unopened.

I'm keeping it unopened until 5 PM, when I'm letting the boys have it. Its fun because they keep trying to steal it. I sucked at Halo - I think its a console control thing, so I'm interested to see if I'll like it.

[billylove]

Right now, my eyes hurt because I'm afraid to blink.

Last night my roomie and I had to restart several missions just goofing off and checking out shit. Eye Crack is what Halo 2 is.

[Brian Wehman]

I'll be on a lot after 8:30pm EST.. looking for some games..

Wayward 1


Ohh and I'll be on until about 4:00pm EST..

I haven't even touched the single player mission and I am having trouble with the Live because all I want to do is explore... Gotta love it..

[Ockham]

So I just stepped out of the office and walked over to EB Electronics at the mall across the street....and the line was out the fucking door! Glad to see, though, that I wasn't the only one wearing a suit. Really amazing to see the mixed bag of people waiting in that line. Believe it or not, there were actually chicks in line (though it would take a few beers IF you know what I mean).

I was going to crack it open first thing Saturday morning and sit with my son all day and just have a Halo 2 fest (sending my daughter and wife out shopping for the day). I don't think I'm going to be able to make it.

[Nelson]

I had a drunk high school kid behind me letting everyone in front of him in line know they could suck his dick,.

So, how did you get in front?

[otisthecat]

Whatever gets me closer to the door.

[gravedigger]

The folks at Unfiction translated the Covenant letter from the "Conversations from the Universe" booklet in the LE. Here's the translated text:

Letter from Truth to Mercy about Regret

To thine own eyes Prophet of Mercy.

Dearest Brother,

I hope this finds you well. My sorrow and anger precede me with regard to the atrocity and heresy at Halo. We shall avenge those destroyed with some of our own. Work proceeds apace on our battle plan. The Elites will do what is asked of them, and the Brutes will show the humans what our strength looks like at close quarters.

But this message concerns neither the planning nor the discovery of the human homeworld. Rather I question Brother Regret's suitability for this great purpose.

I am aware of his tenacity and ambition, but I believe his youth and reckless reaching may prove to be grave risks to the perfection of this undertaking. You have noted his rashness in the past and yet neither of us has acted.

I suggest that we continue as planned, but we would both do well to mind to Brother Regret, and provide wisdom and guidance as needed. This matter is too important to be left to inexperienced hands. Piety is no substitute for wisdom.

Perhaps I worry you much. You know that I embrace caution, but we cannot have inexperience at this great juncture.

Be pure, be vigilant and never rest

By my own hand

Prophet of Truth

[Embrodak]

I didn't have to wait in line or anything. I pre-ordered my copy from the Best Buy I work at a couple of weeks ago, went in this morning at about 10:30, and had the game in my hands within 5 minutes. We had plenty of copies out on display, too. Must not be a lot of gamers shopping at that BBY.

This game is total crack. I'm already addicted to the online play. CTF was freakin' sweet. It's a total blast. I can't wait to get this clan stuff really going. I'm going to be up real late tonight with this baby. Can't wait to play some of you guys.

[Matt Goldberg]

The last five hours have been pure, unadulterated joy. Even when I took a break for lunch, the joy continued as I feasted on tacos and mind wandered in bliss in the thought of playing this wonderful game.

I need to kill some of you fuckers tonight.

[Slater]

Live, anybody? I need a break from campaign mode before I beat this fucker in one sitting.

[Jacob Singer]

Just got this home. Gonna plug it in now. I'll be on Live later. Gotta go play.

[Carl Cunningham]

Hey, if any of you gents see "Irish Jedi" on before 8:00PM EST tonight, please be kind. That would either be the wife or my 10 year old daughter playing.

Yes, they've caught the HALO bug as well.

[Tony Ryan]

I'm going to try out a friends copy before I commit, so we'll be on Live in about half an hour, hopefully.

[otisthecat]

Carl just set his wife and kid up to be massacred.

[Eyeball Kid]

Everyone add my gamertag ("eyeball kid") so I can be a lazy bastard and I don't have to add all of you. Hope to see some of you on there later tonight, after 9:00 central, I imagine. I'll probably run through a few early levels of the campaign in co-op with my wife before hitting Live.

Can't...wait...
Must leave work "sick" in the next hour or so. :)

[Embrodak]

Holy geez this game is way too much fun. This has made the $100 I spent on XBL for two years totally worth it. I played online for about an hour and half and there wasn't a single bit of lag at all. This is how online play needs to be done. SCHWEET.

[CTDeLude]

From the 60 second TV ad:



Bring it on?


I just love how that line is delievered in that commercial, especially since it's a dual meaning phrase...

[Eyeball Kid]

Anyone else see this?
http://www.xboxrules.com/newscomments.php?newsid=1068

Supposedly, it does indeed work with Halo2. Watch the movie that's linked on that site (it's Halo 1).

I have very mixed feelings, leaning to the negative, about this. I loathe playing FPS games with the joypad, but this seriously unbalances the playing field on Live.

[JuddL]

My connection is so slow that I think it fucks up everyone else's game. Horseshit.

[mongycore]

no scratches to be found. awesome.

now...to slipping the disc into the box and calling in sick for a week.....

[Brian Wehman]

Anyone else see this?
http://www.xboxrules.com/newscomments.php?newsid=1068

Supposedly, it does indeed work with Halo2. Watch the movie that's linked on that site (it's Halo 1).

I have very mixed feelings, leaning to the negative, about this. I loathe playing FPS games with the joypad, but this seriously unbalances the playing field on Live.

Part of the fun of playing a console is being able to sit back on the couch and play a game. Hence the reason I always love FPS and sports on console and RTS on computer. I say let them have their keyboard, I'll be more comfortable..

Plus I'll be on in about an hour...

[Gist]

Oh, sweet marinated Jesus. It's in my hands right now. Unfortunately I won't be able to get on Live until I can buy another 50-foot ethernet cable, which could be a week. By then I should be back in top, Jacob Singer-destroying form.

[billylove]

Oh My God! Live kicks the shit of of anything I have ever played on XBOX Live. And slicing someone with that sword just gives me the biggest grin.

[Boomstick]

WARNING: Slater's pretty damn good at this. And Adverb... thanks for fucking up my sniping locations.

[Slater]

Jumping back online shortly. Anybody with me?

[billylove]

So has anyone been able to do a team game yet? The only multiplayer stuff that seems to work is Slayer.

[CryOpenupthesky]

I'm In!!

[Count Floyd]

If there's anything more satisfying in video-gamedom than the sword lunge, I've never known it.

[mongycore]

great games eyeball & slater. absolute nirvana playing this game online...zero latency/bugs, hectic action once people starting popping in. next to slater's beam sword - my thumb is my worst enemy, but I fared much better compared to the ass rapings experienced in rainbow six.

[Embrodak]

Crack. Pure crack. Great games tonight, guys. I'll be online a lot tomorrow, so look for me or send me an invite.

Quick question: How do I get my level up? Do I need to play in some ranked games or something?

[Fazer]

that was a fucking AWESOME experience guys.

I don't know who was who but I know embrodak, Carl, Slater, and Darth Choc were there for sure.

BTW, i am Booty Baron in Xbox Live world.

God...I havent had so much fun playing an online shooter EVER. This includes counter-strike. It was actually very fun playing it.

And good god the vehicle physics are just awesome. Very awesome. I don't know who it was, but someone was sitting in the gunner seat of a warthog in headlong near the underpass, and i put a frag right under it, and that thing just FLIPPED dropping the gunner out to be met by SMG fire.

I love this game.


Also, ranking only goes up in the quick or optimatches. Its bungie's way of keeping a reign over ppl who in other games just fire upon noobs all day long.

Its a bit annoying having to wait for the server to link you up with a bunch of guys based on skill and connection speed only to play random levels and gametypes, but it works fine.

[CryOpenupthesky]

these live games have been great (I'm Pennyweight). So far...

-the sword rules
-I've "boarded" slater more times then a tijuana hooker
-I die too much, but still have a blast
-eyeball, goldberg, slater, Chocula, and Maijan, kick my ass on a regular basis.
-noone touches me when I have a tank in my possesion.

[Gemini]

Oh man that was fun. More banshee jackings tomorrow night?

[Angry Badger]

these live games have been great (I'm Pennyweight). So far...

-I've "boarded" slater more times then a tijuana hooker


Thats gotta be the best halo 2 quote so far...

Just caught last 2 minutes of coagulation ctf, and the final team slayer match. Looks like we got a good group here, can't wait to meet up with everyone again !!!!

[Johnny Daywalker]

Came into my local Gamestop around 4pm. Place was filled as i've ever seen it. Got my limited edition and have only played a few levels. Enjoying it so far. Duel wielding was a tad tricky at first and the controls and sensitivity certainly seem different. Wonderful game.

[Andrew Joe]

There's a problem for me and maybe you to, and I complained about this while playing, sometimes it won't load the maps, I learned this is [apprently] due to Xboxs from 2001- early 2002 using a "thompson" disc drive or something which cannot read the disc 100%, I think in part to it being duel layered.

So what are the side effects of it?

1) In game cutscenes lag, have no music or sound.
2) The above mentioned "Map Loading Failed
3) My games frozen on me.........more times then when I played Enter the Matrix......

Phoned EB, told me to take it back and they'd replace it, go there, big line guy says they sold out of extra Halo 2's and that I have to wait till early Tuesday for another.

I am NOT going to take this, i'm phoning them first thing tommorow to tell them what my problem is cause I don't wanna hear no damn excuse about their extended warrenty [EB warrenty or not a game not working when you get home demands an exchange] Also if I go there and they tell me I could only exchange in the first # of dsays it was released stand back cause i'll kill anything and everything in my path.

It makes Xbox live play so annoying, every round hangs on the ability for the Xbox to load the level, it's an awe inspiring game and yeah I can play Xbox live in short bursts.... but god dammit Microsoft, short bursts suck when you can stay in a party/play ranking games consistently.

- eyeball, goldberg, slater, Chocula, and Maijan, kick my ass on a regular basis.

Woooo....

[Eyeball Kid]

these live games have been great (I'm Pennyweight). So far...

-the sword rules
-I've "boarded" slater more times then a tijuana hooker
-I die too much, but still have a blast
-eyeball, goldberg, slater, Chocula, and Maijan, kick my ass on a regular basis.
-noone touches me when I have a tank in my possesion.


You were getting your share of revenge though. Especially through vehicular manslaughter. Bastard! :)

Jesus christ, that was fun. I wish I could talk to you guys, but I'd wake up my kid. I'm biting my tongue as it is even without the headset.

Can't wait to get off of work and do it all again tonight.

[sorro]

I picked this up yesterday afternoon, and the thing I like the most about it is dual-fisted shooting action. The control scheme is very nice. I love the combination plasma rifle/SMG - deplete the elite shields, then finish them off with good old fashioned bullets. The new assault rifle isn't nearly as useful as the old one was though - 3 shot bursts are fine unless you're trying to bring down shields, then it's not enough firepower. The scope is nice though.

[brittlebones]

I like this game. It is a very good game. I'm kind of wondering what took 3 years, though.

[Carl Cunningham]

Carl just set his wife and kid up to be massacred.

In the case of the wife, yes. She's newbie fodder. But the kid might very well destroy most of us.

[Joe]

Had a good time last night, for the little that I was able to get on. I was easy fodder for Eyeball, Slater, Mongy, etc. My Live handle is Poulsonator.

Damn it's fun.

[billylove]

God. I've never seen so many CHUD people on at once. Good clean fun last night.

I didn't run into any mouth breathers which kinda sucked, because if I can hear you I can kill you. :D

It has been six months at least since I have played Halo and I think I did pretty good.

[Slater]

Yeah, echoing the love for all you sweaty, sexy manbeasts. Great times last night. (And holy fuck, did I really spend sixteen of the last twenty-four hours playing the same video game? That can't be healthy. At all.)

Zanzibar CTF is going to be my new crack map. I can already tell.

[Carl Cunningham]

I can now testify that Zanzibar is hard as all fuck when you are drunk.

[Jacob Singer]

My goddam stupid motherfucking country-bumpkin cocksucking internet connection has been randomly dropping for the past 18 hours - possibly due to all this Halo traffic? - and I have yet to play ONE goddam online game.

I'm home all day today, if anyone wants to play, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to stay online.

By the way, I've been very impressed with the single player experience so far, I'd say it's easily better than Halo 1. I'm trying not to finish it all too fast.

[Brian Wehman]

Had an AWESOME time playing last night.. I wasn't playing very well but haven't played Halo in almost a year until last night so hopefully I get better (a couple of people were really kicking ass..)

I really enjoyed the team games, especially when we get 14 some people like last night. Would love to see more CTF and such...

Don't know about ninjanaught that was hard as hell trying to figure out where that invisible bastard was..

Thanks for welcoming a newbie aboard, looking forward to many, many more games (haven't even touched single player yet). Gotta go check out my stats now..

I'm wayward 1 or Waymen (yeah that's my name..) from Akron, Ohio

Later...

Ohh, love the clan aspect. Makes it easy to find a game, and saves time from inviting everybody onto your friends list

[Gemini]

Ninjanaut is a blast. Dreadnaut is pretty insane, where one player is super-overpowered, we need to try it with a bunch of people. I tried it in split screen and the non-dreadnaut players feel like Grunts or something. You just get slaughtered. But with more people, it might be a blast.

[Eyeball Kid]

Yeah, I kinda fucked up on Ninjanaut when I was setting that match up. I should have made us all have swords-only. It would have ratcheded up the fear and adrenaline nicely, methinks.

Anyway, I want to try assault tonight after reading the last bit in this FAQ from another board:

FAQs:


* NO, THERE WILL NOT BE A PC PORT
* You can have a single Live account and 3 guests all playing on the same box at once online. Guests are not allowed into ranked games, so your only choice is the Training Grounds, or to create your own arranged games.
* You can also have multiple Live accounts on one box and use those at the same time.
* The sword is not horribly overpowered. The <insert gun here> is not horribly underpowered and useless. Everything has strengths and weaknesses, yes even the magnum and needler. I played over two months of multiplayer, once you get used to things you will see them differently.
* FOR GODS SAKE, PUSH THE WHITE BUTTON TO TALK TO YOUR TEAMMATES. If you just talk, you only talk to people nearby (including enemies), just like real life. If you push the white button, you open a radio channel to your team. Push the white button once to open the channel, then start talking, and it will close by itself after you stop talking or 15 seconds.



More to come later I'm sure.


HOW TO PLAY GODDAMNED HALO 2 ONLINE

GODDAMNED MICROPHONE
Talk to your teammates. If you talk normally, only the people (friend or foe) close to you can hear you. If you push the white button, you will talk to your entire team via the radio. Just push the white button once and you hear a click, now you can talk for up to 15 seconds, and it will turn off by itself when you stop. If you are playing CTF or assault or just about anything with a mobile objective, keep your team informed when you see it.

GODDAMNED CTF
There are lots of different kinds of CTF now. 2-flag CTF is the more traditional type where each side has a flag. 1-flag CTF is a new type where one team is on offense and one is on defense. The offense has a time limit to capture the flag, the defense tries to stop them. If they capture it, they get a point. In either event, when the round ends, the two teams switch sides.

If your teams flag has been taken, you need to get it back (duh, but some people can't seem to figure that one out yet). In most gametypes, the team on offense can see where the flag is at all times, and the team on defense can see where the flag is only when it isn't being carried. Hint for defenders: If you don't know where your flag is, and it isn't marked on your screen, then the enemy has it.

When the flag is dropped, there will be a small bar beneath the on-screen indicator for the flag's location. When this bar completely empties, the flag will be returned. If the offense picks the flag up even for an instant, that timer will reset. If you are on offense, and the flag is halfway back, it could be worth getting yourself killed just to jump on the thing and pick it up for a second to reset the timer.

GODDAMNED ASSAULT
Assault is CTF in reverse. There is a bomb that must be picked up by the offense and taken into the enemies base and planted. There are different types of assault, including 1-bomb (offense/defense style), Neutral bomb (there is one bomb in the middle and either team can grab it), and 2-bomb (each side has their own bomb).

The bomb is indicated on your screen just like the flag in CTF. In this case, the offense always knows where the bomb is, and the defense usually only knows where it is when it gets dropped. When dropped, the bomb indicator has a timer beneath it just like flags in CTF do, and when it expires the bomb will return to the starting position.

The goal in assault is to take this bomb to the enemy base. The person carrying the bomb will see a navigation point showing him where to take it. When you get there, you will see a glowing circled area King-of-the-Hill style. All you need to do is stand in that circle with the bomb and watch the arming timer go up (the red bar that appears on your screen when you step into the circle). When that timer is completed, the bomb is planted and blows up. Everyone nearby will be killed, but you scored a point for the team.

[Eyeball Kid]

Man, I miss the edit function. ratcheded=ratcheted

[Gemini]

Note to eyeball kid: When you have active camo and you use the sword, the sword still shows.

[WonkyBritches]

Am I the only one that is having problems with controller sensitivity???

My settings from Halo just aren't working for me with Halo 2. Guess they changed some things around.

Oh well...other than controller fubar and a lackluster first level, the game kicks ass.

[Angry Badger]

Darth see if you can return it to another store..maybe another location has one...
Definately major fun last night !!! Tommorrow's a holiday for me so I'll be on most of the day...gotta try the ninja game....

[Brian Wehman]

Great info Eyeball.. It helped explain Assault a lot. (I had the basics but couldn't figure out how to "arm" the bomb)

Where was that from? I would love to know a little bit more (or tips and tricks) for KOH and the other games.. I always feel like a moron playing a game I am not sure of..

Oh and I really like the new one flag CTF. The offense/defense aspect is pretty sweet..

[Angry Badger]

Note to eyeball kid: When you have active camo and you use the sword, the sword still shows.
thats how he got me...I didn't know that either..son of a bitch...heh

[Brian Wehman]

And my favorite sight so far is seeing the flag carrier in passenger seat whisking away in a Warthog..

It just looks funny.. Like we are taking a victory lap... (gotta love Coagulation for CTF.. although Zanzibar is a very hetic map that results in lots of death...

[Boomstick]

Last night was great gaming.

For those of you who don't know, I'm Brain of JG.

[Eyeball Kid]

Pet peeve: having to hold "X" to pick up the flag instead of grabbing it by touching it. Took me a few times running back and forth over the flag before I saw the indicator to press "X" pop up. It was difficult to see the pop-up because of...

Pet peeve number two: The cutoff problem with certain HDTV sets running in 480p. This seems to happen more often with both 4:3 and 16:9 ratio CRT HDTV's, but some people with 16:9 DLP's and LCD's are also claiming to experiance it. Basically, the left and right edges of the image are getting cut off. Dropping your Xbox back to interlaced standard resolution gets rid of the problem, but it's really not a good fix, because it looks shitty in comparison. This explains why I couldn't always tell who the new Ninjanaut was last night...I thought my TV was just messed up.

Adjusting the widescreen/letterbox/standard setting in the Xbox dashboard doesn't seem to do anything. Only dropping out of HD or manually going into the service menu of your TV and adjusting the overscan settings - something that you could easily fuck up your TV doing - seems to eliminate the issue.

Thread on the Bungie forums about this: http://bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=1015179
Screenshots showing the issue: http://pages.videotron.com/lento/X/Compare.jpg
http://pages.videotron.com/lento/X/Cut-off-480P.jpg
http://pages.videotron.com/lento/X/Cut-off-480I.jpg



The upper left image is what I get. :(

[Slater]

Yeah, I'm running on a widescreen high-def TV, and it cuts the edges off too...although not as severely as in a few of those screenshots. I was still able to read the Ninjanaut announcements, etc.

It's an annoying bug, but I'm sure Bungie is already working on the patch. If that's the worst fuck-up Halo 2 has to offer, that's fine with me.

I'm itching to try Assault mode tonight.

[cabal]

Anyone else getting "cannot load map errors" when trying to get into a muliplayer game? I played all last night and just played three or four games now. All of a sudden, it won't let me on.

Yep, I had that problem too. Also, the group I was playing with, we could only figure out how to adjust settings on each individual profile with the first controller, pretty annoying.

I also found a fucking THUMB PRINT on my game disc!! Why did those assholes think it was a good idea to put the game disc on top of a dvd disc? Incompetent morons... Good game though.

[Carl Cunningham]

The wife is absolutely tanking my stats and rankings.

Word of caution: never let your no-better half have your Xbox Live password.

[Brian Wehman]

I just took my lunch at Borders reading every review I could find of the game..

Just got me even more pumped up to play tonight. Very ready to play soem CTF and Assault. Although Oddball looks like a fun silly game to break up the normal game. Imagine trying to run away from 12 people without being able to fire back. Although if you found a good place to hide...

I also did find out that even when you press the white button to talk the proximity sond is still on. So if an opponed is close to you they will hear you...

[Dan Vinton]

Man, I'm going to be the only one voicing any slight diappointment here. From the beginning, through all naysaying and projections of disappointment, "This game is going to be like your favorite bands Sophomore effort- it may feel weird, but it'll become your favorite." Well, I have yet to feel that.

I feel like I'm playing Unreal's version of Halo mixed with Brute Force. With it's pointlessly massive yet claustrophobic environments (nothing yet to equal the Control Room Level Canyon in 1), meet as you go enemies (whereas 1 had a more fluid feel), weird rag doll physics and, I swear it seems like, dumber enemy AI... I'm not feeling the heart beating that I did in the original.

Granted, there are some pretty spectacular set pieces and I'm guessing I'm about about half way through- so I'm holding out hope. This is just taking longer for me to embrace. But, it looks like I'm the only one. Anyone else out there picking up on any of this?

[Master Shake]

Pet peeve: having to hold "X" to pick up the flag instead of grabbing it by touching it.

You hate that? God, I love it. You have no idea how many times I had the flag in Halo 1, encountered an enemy, dropped the flag to go to guns only to pick the flag back up when I accidentally strafe by it and die.

[Count Floyd]

Man, I'm going to be the only one voicing any slight diappointment here. From the beginning, through all naysaying and projections of disappointment, "This game is going to be like your favorite bands Sophomore effort- it may feel weird, but it'll become your favorite." Well, I have yet to feel that.

I feel like I'm playing Unreal's version of Halo mixed with Brute Force. With it's pointlessly massive yet claustrophobic environments (nothing yet to equal the Control Room Level Canyon in 1), meet as you go enemies (whereas 1 had a more fluid feel), weird rag doll physics and, I swear it seems like, dumber enemy AI... I'm not feeling the heart beating that I did in the original.

Granted, there are some pretty spectacular set pieces and I'm guessing I'm about about half way through- so I'm holding out hope. This is just taking longer for me to embrace. But, it looks like I'm the only one. Anyone else out there picking up on any of this?
Actually I'm not sure how many of us have invested much time in single-player yet. :) I played through The Heretic and the beginning of Earth so I can't comment much other than to say that I thought the original game's single-player was far from perfect anyway.. what difficulty are you playing on? I've heard Normal is somewhat easier than Normal in the original while Heroic and Legendary are harder (!) than their original counterparts. I'm on Normal and it does seem easier than the original, so maybe you should try cranking it up a notch if that's what you're on.

[JimBeam]

I don't own an x-box, and I never played the first Halo. Would you say that it is worth buying an X-box just to play Halo 2. Judging from what I've read, people seem pretty enthralled with the game. I only wonder if maybe I should just wait for the next generation consoles to jump on the x-box bandwagon. They're only a couple of years away.

What do you think?

[Joe]

No wonder I didn't hear anyone talking last night. I suppose when someone got close, it was death city, so not much time for words. However, when I played on some Red vs Blue teams last night, there was a lot of team chatter, mixed with "Die, Bitch, Die" type of chat.

Can't wait to get it on again tonight!

[mongycore]

holy jesus. those were some great games...especially that last round of juggernaut. overstayed a bit - about 3-hours too long playing, or something...and still are going as I type this. but it was a blast.

dual wielding smg's is my new drug of choice.

[Jacob Singer]

That was a lot of fun, folks. I'll be on again later tonight after Lost.

[Andrew Joe]

I sorta fear them saying that they're out of LE to replace mine with, if that's so I wonder if I could get them to crack open a Normal one and just put the disc in mine cause it's really starting to freeze in campaign, and not even loading maps sometimes OFFLINE? It sucks.

Aside from complaints i'm much better than I thought i would be, I feared sucking after I played Return of to Castle Woflenstein and just gettin the crap kicked out of me.

[Boomstick]

Another great time, gents.

Someone must have shot Bukake Bob when they were a team members, but I got a good laugh when someone said, "Sorry Bukake."

[V.T.]

I am having a ball with Halo 2 - much better of a game experience than say Doom 3 (just IMO); this game was really made with 16:9 TVs in mind....I do feel a bit claustrophobic on the standard set I have, especially with the dual wield action.

[Jacob Singer]

Yeah, dual-wielding certain weapons can take up a lot of screen real estate, even on a big screen. Like an idiot, though, I was avoiding dual-wielding online today because I wasn't sure if it was thought of as just a gimmick or what - that, and I like grenades.

Hope some of you will be back later tonight. I can honestly say I did not expect Halo 2 multiplayer to be this much fun.

[Andrew Joe]

I'm 2-0 on Head to head battles, first oine the guy complained I kept using a energy sword so I put it away and straight up shotgunned his ass.

Phoned around and EB said theyd get more copies to exchange ine with tommorow and I can check out otehr EBs and exchane there.

But it's fucking cold here so i'll wait till tommorow, and slapping a plasma grenade on Chud buddies is fun.

We should round up and play a Clan match against some clans.

Day 2: Bungies website no longer accurately lists the number of friends I have playing online, Dang.

Bungie: 0 Friends
Dashboard: 15 friends

[CryOpenupthesky]

I really need to practice my dual wielding...I keep getting owned by people with two SMGs. although a charged energy pistol burst and an smg is friggin aces.


Ninjanaut is better the second time you play...a little easier to get going.

and man do I love that sword.

[Fazer]

i am going live in about 30 minutes.

Meet the Booty Baron for some Chewer Killin

[GentleJesus]

The game itself is figging amazing, Campaign mode is the sexiest thing i have ever seen and maybe the most fun. However, in Multiplayer, there is NO skill required, all you need to do is run straight at somebody with two guns and they're fucked, the sniping is nothing like Halo, and why the FUCK does falling not hurt you? And why do you have no health? it's stupid, bungie designed it for nubes, and they succeeded, assholes.

[billylove]

The game itself is figging amazing, Campaign mode is the sexiest thing i have ever seen and maybe the most fun. However, in Multiplayer, there is NO skill required, all you need to do is run straight at somebody with two guns and they're fucked,

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I can run at someone with two guns all day while they take me with a pistol. It's all about aiming and controlled bursts.


the sniping is nothing like Halo,

If you get good at sniping, you can hit guys with one shot anywhere, anyway. It works wonders against tank and Jeep drivers.


and why the FUCK does falling not hurt you?

Falling? Endless Pits?

And why do you have no health?

You have health. It's just not blocked out like in Halo 1.


it's stupid, bungie designed it for nubes, and they succeeded, assholes.


What's your gamer tag so I can put you on my ignore list?

[Master Shake]

The game itself is figging amazing, Campaign mode is the sexiest thing i have ever seen and maybe the most fun.

See, you should've stopped right there before you plunged into the abyss and unleashed the wrong.

However, in Multiplayer, there is NO skill required, all you need to do is run straight at somebody with two guns and they're fucked,

Right, and I wasn't getting the fuck blasted out of me by the guy with the shotgun/carbine/battle rifle because they could aim. Uh-huh, sure.

the sniping is nothing like Halo,

Right, because it's not easy anymore. If you tank the headshot, you might have fucked yourself. Sounds far to me.

and why the FUCK does falling not hurt you?

Because you're a cyborg badass who can fall several thousand feet and live. Getting wounded and being halted in your path don't fit the bill.

And why do you have no health? it's stupid, bungie designed it for nubes, and they succeeded, assholes.

To eliminate a useless pickup, that's why.

[imported_T_M]

Speaking of which, what's with the whole bastardization of "newbies" here? "Bungie didn't include health becase it's for stoopid nubes. Grrrrr....my life is ruined....blah blah blah..."

It gets tired after awhile.

[Master Shake]

In other news, it was great playing against you guys this afternoon. I look forward to being the mute bastard in the party again tomorrow.

[Rich Straceski]

One of my favorite little details is the sound a ghost makes right when its core pops and it blows up for good. It's almost like a little guitar riff. Sweet...

[Slater]

One of my favorite little details is the sound a ghost makes right when its core pops and it blows up for good. It's almost like a little guitar riff. Sweet...

Hell yes. I love hearing that twang right beside you and crapping your pants as a thermonuclear ghost shell comes skipping towards you.

And the removal of the health bar was the best thing Bungie ever did. It *totally* changes the focus of multiplayer from defensive to offensive. It means that people with enough skill can theoretically survive an entire match without ever hunting for damn medpacks, and it means that every confrontation is always perfectly balanced. Plus, it just makes everything faster. Such a good idea.

[Brian Wehman]

What's your gamer tag so I can put you on my ignore list?

This is a hilarious quote...

Being a fairly new player or "n00bie" to those uber-geeks I enjoy the way the game plays. Not to mention most of the multi-player vets seem pretty happy with the set-up. And as someone who has taken the plunge on Ascension to my murky death I can say.... falling hurts! (it subtracts one kill from my minimal amount damnit)

I also enjoy being able to take a leap from the top of a building and keep running. I am supposed to be an interstellar ass-kicker right? If you want realism check out a WWII or Vietnam game, you aren't wearing a interstellar ass-kicking spacesuit in those...

On the subject of duel-wield I read in a couple of publications yesterday that the key to duel-wield (especially with SMG's) is to alternate your trigger key with a series of quick fires. Thus eliminating the kickback the gun delivers (can you say game physics?)

Oh and the vehicle aspects rocks (well the Wraith is okay...) but damn the Warthog physics are awesome. And sometimes you have a machine gun Hog and sometimes you have a rocket Hog... We had a scenario yesterday in one game with two Hog's barreling down on the other base for a flag run and it was just bad ass looking...

See you all tonight... I'll be the one you just killed (but I have white armor so you can think you killed Slater. Maybe it is time to change colors..)

Oh and a some clan matches would be sweet. I'm not great at Slayer but I have had good luck at CTF..

[Dan Vinton]

Actually I'm not sure how many of us have invested much time in single-player yet. :) I played through The Heretic and the beginning of Earth so I can't comment much other than to say that I thought the original game's single-player was far from perfect anyway.. what difficulty are you playing on? I've heard Normal is somewhat easier than Normal in the original while Heroic and Legendary are harder (!) than their original counterparts. I'm on Normal and it does seem easier than the original, so maybe you should try cranking it up a notch if that's what you're on.

Thanks for the response. I actually have been playing Halo 2 on Heroic, as Normal was waaaaay too easy. Though I do enjoy multiplayer, the campaign mode is what I was most looking forward to playing. I loved the story of the first (despite a few borrowed concepts), but this story is turning out to be pretty weird. It feels like Bungie has fallen into the Wachowski Matrix sequels syndrome (Prophecy! Spiritual Undertones!) and after a few levels last night, I definately feel like Bungie picked up a few too many map ideas from "Brute Force". The huge but claustrophibic environments are, while gorgeous, disappointing in that there's an obstacle everywhere-- limiting you to a somewhat linear gameplay experience.

But, looks like it's just me. I still haven't finished the game, so I'm holding out for things to make sense and tie together. As per the whole "Earth will never be the same" Chief fighting off the invasion, so far that's a load of crap. Multiplayer, however, from what I've played, is pretty sweet.

I noticed Nick (and a few others) had trouble with the Vertical split screen on HD. Any way to avoid that and get back to horizontal without switching from 4:3 in your XBOX?

[Alan "Nordling" Cerny]

Because I'm in that one weird pocket of town that doesn't get broadband, I have been playing single player mostly exclusively, and I really like the story this time.

[JimBeam]

Is there anyway to set the split screen in coop mode to be side by side rather than bottom/top? I looked all over but couldn't find anyway to do it.

[Ravi]

Maybe somebody's asked already but what's on the limited edition of Halo 2? Is it worth buying in that edition?

[V.T.]

Maybe somebody's asked already but what's on the limited edition of Halo 2? Is it worth buying in that edition?


Well, my local Walmart has this version for the same price...maybe just the morons at my location, but for the normal five extra bucks you get a second (making of) disc, as well as a Covenant styled book that apparently is not in the 'standard' version. Hell, the badass case was worth the $5 to me.

Ok, just finished Halo (didn't see the end coming - which is not a good thing) and I did enjoy the hell out of it, but I have one major question....where the heck was the incredible city level as seen in the Sept issue of the OXBOX Mag (disk 22)...in that, you saw tons of injured Marine trying to stop the Covenant in this awsome city type leve that had almost a freeway feel to it...as good as Halo 2 was, I kept waiting for that level, and when it did not come, I have to say, I am kinda pissed (but more puzzled)...did they cut that out? If so, why?


That demo had me on the edge of my seat in a way I did not quite get with the actual product.

[Dan Vinton]

I've wondered the same thing. What was that E3 Game demo all about? The whole thing about the Covenant invading Earth and stuff was a total ruse. Am really digging the last levels, but that juke has me a little chapped.

[Count Floyd]

Slater, got a message from you late last night (and Darth Chocula the other night), sorry I haven't been able to jump into CHUD games yet, I haven't been able to stay on for too long and don't want to ditch early. I do hope to get my ass handed to me by youse guys soon. I've somehow managed to reach level 3, but I'm pretty sure you can get to 3 just by, say, not eating the controller.

[Rich Straceski]

I've wondered the same thing. What was that E3 Game demo all about? The whole thing about the Covenant invading Earth and stuff was a total ruse. Am really digging the last levels, but that juke has me a little chapped.

I was watching through the dvd that came with the collector's edition and apparently that was just a demo to show off some of the new gameplay and ideas. It wasn't a build of an actual level from the game and seemed to be for E3 purposes only. It was met with much joy but Bungie was somewhat dismayed at the end of it all because they realized how far they still need to go to get the ACTUAL game done... maybe that's some reason for some of the delays. A lot of the stuff from the demo made it to the game, but the context is different. The story has a different focus.

[Slater]

So am I the only slobbering fanboy who bought the soundtrack as well?

It's pretty great. I'm listening to the Mjolner mix of the main theme as I type this, and I feel like grabbing something sharp and bumrushing my coworkers until my reticle turns red.

[Jacob Singer]

I didn't buy the soundtrack, but I'm very impressed with the in-game music, I must say.

And wipe off your chin already.

[Matt Halbauer]

... bumrushing my coworkers until my reticle turns red.

Y' know, there's a joke in there about certain trades legal only in Nevada, but I'm too busy/lazy to find it.

I'm digging the music as well, but I've yet to snag the disc.

[Brian Wehman]

So am I the only slobbering fanboy who bought the soundtrack as well?.

The real question Slater, is how much of a fanboy are you? Are you listening to your CD while reading the strategy guide?

Fresh off the AP: Master Chief" entered the record books close behind the former Commander-in-Chief this week, as book publisher Random House said first-day sales of the strategy guide for video game "Halo 2" were its biggest since the launch of Bill Clinton's book "My Life."

"The Official Halo 2 Guide" sold 270,000 copies on Tuesday, the same day the game launched with retail sales of more than $125 million, or more than 2 million units.

For the rest of the story: Click here (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=599&e=3&u=/nm/20041112/media_nm/media_halo_dc)

[billylove]

"The Official Halo 2 Guide" sold 270,000 copies on Tuesday, the same day the game launched with retail sales of more than $125 million, or more than 2 million units.


That's because the stores were pimping that shit out. I think I got pitched to at least 15 times before I finally got my copy of Halo 2.

[Slater]

Strategy guides are for pussies.

That "Art of Halo 2" book looked mighty sweet, though....

[Brian Wehman]

That "Art of Halo 2" book looked mighty sweet, though....

In theory the "Art of Halo 2" book could break records if see you see how many SE were sold compared to regular versions. Anyone seen those figures? While I know the regular sold more, I'm curious as to how many people coughed up the extra $5.00 for a shiny metal case (I know of one - I say while looking in the mirror..LOL)

[Rich Straceski]

I really enjoyed the music while playing the game so I'm thinking of stopping in to try and buy the soundtrack later today on my way to my fiances place, and I'm enough of a geek about it to rip the soundtrack to my Xbox and use it in other games... say, Burnout 3, or even Outlaw Golf 2. In fact, I'm looking forward to it.

[DJ Dylan]

Got Halo 2 and XBOX Live for my birthday this weekend. Look forward to starting it up tomorrow when I get back to school. Look out Live, here I come!

[Rich Straceski]

I was playing some split screen multiplayer with my fiances' brother over the weekend and the biggest rush I've had yet is taking him out while dual wielding magnums, John Woo style, left right left right BLAM BLAM BLAM! I've always hada thing for pistols in FPS games ever since Goldeneye for the N64. Scope or no scope, I love the magnums and squeezing off a single round with every press of the trigger.

[Slater]

This game is SO much better on Heroic difficulty. The difference is insane.

On Normal, I bumrushed the scarab and blasted my way through its innards in about ninety seconds. Cool, but nothing memorable. On Heroic, the battle was something right out of Starship Troopers. Sprinting along the walkway parralel to the Scarab, firing rockets as fast as I could load them, dodging enough plasma bolts to turn the sky green, making a last-second lunge out into space to catch the tail end of the Scarab...I wish this game had instant replay. And I wish I had played on this difficulty mode to start with.

For people bitching about repetative and simplistic battles, bump the difficulty up a notch. It completely changes the game.

[Brian Wehman]

This game is SO much better on Heroic difficulty. The difference is insane.
Let me ask this (and since I typed that, I think I will.... LOL) Anyway, I haven't touched the single player campaign yet and I am about to on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (attempting to pull an all-nighter and beat the game in one sitting). My younger brother and I beat the first Halo together on co-op and he has been dying to get his hands on Halo 2 (but since he is a poor college student and can't "afford" an XBOX - but I understand, in college you need beer money, plus when I was in college we had Tecmo Bowl tournaments -Tecmo Bo Rules! - so it wasn't as expensive and now I am bitter 30 year old divorcee - damn thought filter, I thought I turned that thing on..) I told him I'd wait to play it with him, but not past next week (I must play it sometime). Plus I've been staying away from spoilers so I can soak in as much as possible.

Okay all that to get to my original question.... If playing it for the first time (and it will be co-op) should I go Normal or Heroic? I am thinking Heroic because I really don't want to blow right through the game, I want to become engulfed in all things Halo..

[Slater]

Depends on your skill levels. Did you guys play the original Halo's co-op on Normal or Heroic?

If you're an expereienced Halo player, Normal probably won't give you much trouble on single player, and it would be a breeze on co-op. If you want to blow through the game in a day, do Normal. If you want the best gaming experience and you can handle the chaos, go straight to Heroic.

[Brian Wehman]

Depends on your skill levels. Did you guys play the original Halo's co-op on Normal or Heroic?

If you're an expereienced Halo player, Normal probably won't give you much trouble on single player, and it would be a breeze on co-op. If you want to blow through the game in a day, do Normal. If you want the best gaming experience and you can handle the chaos, go straight to Heroic.
I'm leaning towards Heroic (I beat the first one on both Normal (co-op) and Heroic (alone) but after that new games caught my intrest and I never really went back (and never got to enjoy and LAN battles.. so sad!)

[Slater]

Well, you can always start on Heroic and then drop the difficulty if you and your brother run into trouble.

But the game's a lot more fun on Heroic. I'd start there.

[Kyle Corkum]

Slater, have you read the article on ign about the difference between the difficulty settings? It's a pretty decent short article talking about how each successive increase in difficulty is substanially better. Just wait until you start playing on Legendary. Here's the article (http://xbox.ign.com/articles/565/565726p1.html)

Heroic is definitely preferable over Normal, but if you are planning on beating the game in one night you may not be able to do it in one night especially if you haven't played through it yet. My roommate and I have been playing co-op on Heroic and it's been taking a long time. We keep getting lost and not knowing what you are supposed to do. I'd suggest following Slater's advice. Beat the first level on Heroic then you can go to Normal if you feel the need.

[Slater]

Yeah, I tried Legendary and promptly got schooled. It'll be awesome once I have the maps memorized a little better, but it's just too painful at the moment. Nothing like getting murdered by the very first wave of enemies, huh?

I spent most of my time in the original playing on Heroic, just because it was the best balance between challenge and fun. I've got a feeling the sequel will be the same way.

[gravedigger]

I look forward to finally playing this on Christmas.

What if I was a bitch who did fine with Easy but gets routinely crushed on Normal difficulty by the time "Truth and Reconciliation" rolls around? Will Normal on HALO 2 be okay for me?

[Slater]

Normal is a little tougher this time around, but it's nothing daunting. For chrissakes, don't play it on Easy.

[billylove]

I look forward to finally playing this on Christmas.

What if I was a bitch who did fine with Easy but gets routinely crushed on Normal difficulty by the time "Truth and Reconciliation" rolls around? Will Normal on HALO 2 be okay for me?

Fuck that. Go straight to Heroic and then Legendary. It will get you prepared for an eventual ass kicking online.

[Eyeball Kid]

I was getting creamed on normal so I had to drop to easy. I'll probably just attempt the last level on Normal or Heroic to unlock Foundation.

Yes, I do suck. I've cheated my way on God mode through every PC FPS I've ever played. I'm more interested in enjoying the journey and the story than in spending hours replaying the same level due to my lack of skill.

I enjoy online play far more than single play in general though. I've never beaten Half-life, for example.

[otisthecat]

This game is SO much better on Heroic difficulty. The difference is insane. Did you get hung up at any part on heroic? Only asking to see where my skill level is at compared with the multi-player people. I'm about halfway through the second to last level, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't tough getting there. I actually needed the stealth camo on a few parts, as opposed to normal where I usually forgot I even had it.

[Slater]

Did you get hung up at any part on heroic? Only asking to see where my skill level is at compared with the multi-player people. I'm about halfway through the second to last level, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't tough getting there. I actually needed the stealth camo on a few parts, as opposed to normal where I usually forgot I even had it.

Oh yeah. Extremely tough, I thought. (As opposed to Normal, where I only died once or twice.) But unlike Legendary mode, Heroic at least felt *fair.* Like Ninja Gaiden, if I got killed it was because I fucked up, not because of random difficulty spikes. I like that.

Legendary mode is just annoying. Heroic is the only way to play.

[Saucy]

Legendary would be a beautiful thing if not for the snipers. I don't mind dying in the same place ten times in a row because I haven't yet worked out a solid strategy, but those... fucking... one-hit... jackals...