Date played: January 25th
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 8/10
I finished Halo 2 Anniversary from the Master Chief Collection!
The last two levels were both pretty good, but nothing spectacular. High Charity is all about Master Chief trying to stop the prophet of Truth. Most of it the level is spent fighting both Flood and Covenant enemies, including many Brutes. At the end, after some intense fighting through corridors and elevators, Chief must jump through a gate before the Flood get to him, but must leave Cortana behind...
The last level was a bit better, as it starred the Arbiter and an extended Banshee segment. The small aircraft is pretty cool to use, though Halo's unusual vehicle controls don't really mesh well with flying. There was also a section where I drove a Wraith tank that was pretty fun. I had many allies in this mission, including some Hunters and sword wielding Elites.
Of course, the big reveal in Halo 2 is that the Arbiter and his allies end up joining forces with Johnson and Miranda, humans. In fact, the Banshee section was all about escorting Johnson and his hijacked Scarab walker. The final battle is awesome because it's the Arbiter and Johnson fighting Tartarus as they attempt to retrieve the Icon before it activates Halo and destroys any form of life in the known universe. The battle against Tartarus is kind of lame... He wields his giant hammer and I must wait for his shields to be down from Johnson's sniper fire to attack him. Boss fights are always difficult to get right in first person shooters and Bungie didn't really get it right with this one.
After killing Tartarus, Miranda retrieves the Icon in time. Unfortunately, this activates an emergency signal that put all the other halos in standby mode, ready to be activated remotely from a facility called the Ark. Master Chief will (famously), finish the fight in Halo 3 as he hunts for the Ark.
Halo 2 is a pretty awesome game overall and it doesn't show it's age too much, especially with these amazing new graphics. However, it's clear that first person shooters have changed since the days of Halo 2. Today, levels are shorter, checkpoints and ammo are more generous and the penalty for death is almost nil...
Platform: Xbox One
Session fun rating: 8/10
I finished Halo 2 Anniversary from the Master Chief Collection!
The last two levels were both pretty good, but nothing spectacular. High Charity is all about Master Chief trying to stop the prophet of Truth. Most of it the level is spent fighting both Flood and Covenant enemies, including many Brutes. At the end, after some intense fighting through corridors and elevators, Chief must jump through a gate before the Flood get to him, but must leave Cortana behind...
Of course, the big reveal in Halo 2 is that the Arbiter and his allies end up joining forces with Johnson and Miranda, humans. In fact, the Banshee section was all about escorting Johnson and his hijacked Scarab walker. The final battle is awesome because it's the Arbiter and Johnson fighting Tartarus as they attempt to retrieve the Icon before it activates Halo and destroys any form of life in the known universe. The battle against Tartarus is kind of lame... He wields his giant hammer and I must wait for his shields to be down from Johnson's sniper fire to attack him. Boss fights are always difficult to get right in first person shooters and Bungie didn't really get it right with this one.
After killing Tartarus, Miranda retrieves the Icon in time. Unfortunately, this activates an emergency signal that put all the other halos in standby mode, ready to be activated remotely from a facility called the Ark. Master Chief will (famously), finish the fight in Halo 3 as he hunts for the Ark.
Halo 2 is a pretty awesome game overall and it doesn't show it's age too much, especially with these amazing new graphics. However, it's clear that first person shooters have changed since the days of Halo 2. Today, levels are shorter, checkpoints and ammo are more generous and the penalty for death is almost nil...
