Halo 2 - It's ON! (impressions thread)

[dangerballs]

I plan on leaving in a hour or so.  I can hear my xbox downstairs moaning.  She's saying give it to me, baby.  Give me your Halo 2.  Put it inside.  Yes!  Play it, baby. Yes! YES! YESSSSS!!!!  :shock:

[Gratch]

I plan on leaving in a hour or so.  I can hear my xbox downstairs moaning.  She's saying give it to me, baby.  Give me your Halo 2.  Put it inside.  Yes!  Play it, baby. Yes! YES! YESSSSS!!!!  :shock:

OK, you people are now officially way too excited for this game.

/one of apparently 2 people that own an X-Box and has absolutely zero interest in Halo 2

[Jeff]

Ok, fuhgettaboutit...

I just drove up to EB, at 20 mins till 12, ... 150 GEEKS standing all up and down the sidewalk. There was no parking.

I got frightened and left!  

hehe, seriously, that would've taken 1-2 hours just to get checked out. Screw that, I can go in the morning and get there when all the geeks are in school, at work, or still asleep from having stayed up playing all night.

[malichai11]

Ok, fuhgettaboutit...

I just drove up to EB, at 20 mins till 12, ... 150 GEEKS standing all up and down the sidewalk. There was no parking.

I got frightened and left!  

hehe, seriously, that would've taken 1-2 hours just to get checked out. Screw that, I can go in the morning and get there when all the geeks are in school, at work, or still asleep from having stayed up playing all night.

That's unnerving. Hopefully our Ebgames won't be quite as crazy here. I despise lines, but I need to get our copies of the game tonight because I doubt I'll have time to get them tomorrow before we start our huge Halo2 blowout.

[Kevin Grey]

Jeff, did you prepay in full?

My Gamestop had 200 people waiting, approximately half of which prepaid in full (including myself).  Since they don't have to ring those people up it goes very fast.  I had my copy in hand by 12:10 am.

[rrmorton]

I was paid in full so I should have been in and out of there like Kevin. Unfortunately, due to my standing 15% off that-guy-buys-every-game-let's-give-him-a-break discount, there was some confusion and it took 45 minutes in line before they finally gave me the game. Apparently they stuck my copy in the not-paid-in-full stack because it was less than the normal sale price. Kind of annoying, but it's hard to complain.

But now I have it.

Yay.

I'm not even remotely excited. At this point I'm just going through the motions of hardcore gamer.  

[pr0ner]

Waiting in line is the suck.  I'll get the game tomorrow.

Who wants to create the CG game?  

Mike

[malichai11]

We went out there, the line was freakishly huge. I didn't pay in full foolishly, so we just returned home and will try again around 1:30.

[TheMissingLink]

There is no real gamestore in my area without driving 70 miles...and there's only one store doing the midnight thing in my area...which includes Washington State University and the University of Idaho in an 8 mile area.  Yup.  I'm expecting a line.

[rrmorton]

I just played for about an hour. The intro is very well done. Graphics are fantastic. Gameplay is the same old Halo with a few new tweaks like dual wielding.

It's challenging as hell on Heroic. I'm only 6 or 8 checkpoints in and I'm already having ammo shortages and frequent dying.

A+ so far. It's quite amazing actually. I wish I didn't have to go to bed.

[JuniorDan]

oh my god what have I been missing.
this game is awsome.
My game seems to be a few seconds behind when loading the people
Its like people talking and like 2-3 seconds they appear out of no where is
this normal?
My box is brand spanking new.
oh in line at 11:50 out ant 12:15 number 12 in line
Walmart rules.... :lol:  :lol:  :lol:
it only took that long because of the midnight switch over they do.
I drove by EB and oh my good I will try to send pictures off of my phone.

[Kevin Grey]

Have about 2 hours logged in.  Impressions are pretty favorable.

If you loved Halo, you'll love Halo 2.  If you thought the first game was overrated then this one won't change your mind (speaking strictly single player here).

The most impressive aspect is that I have yet to see a single loading screen apart from the initial game load.  Level transitions are very, very seamless.

Environments are very impressive in their scale and more varied than what we saw in the first game.  Story seems to be pretty interesting based on setup though little of significance has happened so far.

Some of my nits from Halo remain, chiefly too many enemy spawns.  I'm referring to when you clear out an area only to have several more groups of covenant warp in one after the other.  I find those encounters very tedious.  

Graphics are great but there are definitely issues with the implementation of Level of Detail.  Its not uncommon to see textures suddenly warp in right in front of you.  This seems to be a side effect of the extensive normal mapping going on.  

Audio- just average (playing on a DD 5.1 setup).  It actually seems worse than the first game (which I just replayed portions of in the last week).  Sound effects themselves are excellent but the whole audio experience has a strange muted feel.  The fire-fights just don't feel as rip-roaring intense as those in the original.  Music is excellent of course but so far none of the new music has been as memorable as the reprised themes from the first game.  

Oh, and the checkpoint saves are very, very generous.  Its saves after almost every enemy encounter.

[Turtle]

Yep, saves are much more generous, even in those rooms where enemies keep spawning in, they save after each wave.

[Kevin Grey]

Just got to the,um, twist (which I basically knew about).  Very interesting.

[Yossarian]

We went out there, the line was freakishly huge. I didn't pay in full foolishly, so we just returned home and will try again around 1:30.

same here, at 12:20 there were maybe 150 people in line.  I'll wait til tomorrow.

[dangerballs]

I picked up mine tonight.  Got there at 11:58pm and I was out by 1:12am.  Not too bad except for the geek factor was on overload.  At least noone dressed up as master chief or cortana.  The game is great so far.

[TheMissingLink]

So far, I only have played the single-player campaign, but damn, it's fantastic so far. The graphics are wonderful, imo. The whole immersion and presentation is great so far.

I ordered a pizza when I first played it...didn't TOUCH the pizza and two and a half hours rolled by just like that. Games don't seem to do that to me very often anymore, so that's a very good sign.

I REALLY want to play more, but I gotta get some sleep for my exam  

VERY impressed so far.

[denoginizer]

I picked it up last night and played online for about 2 hours.  The matchmaking and multiplayer options are the best of any online shooter I've played so far.  I experienced zero lag in the entire time I played.  Haven't even touched the single player yet and probably won't for a few days.   Early impressions of the online play are outstanding.  I've gotta go to work now (on 4 hours of sleep) so more impressions later.

[Soulchilde]

I plan on leaving in a hour or so.  I can hear my xbox downstairs moaning.  She's saying give it to me, baby.  Give me your Halo 2.  Put it inside.  Yes!  Play it, baby. Yes! YES! YESSSSS!!!!  :shock:

OK, you people are now officially way too excited for this game.

/one of apparently 2 people that own an X-Box and has absolutely zero interest in Halo 2

I must be the second.   I liked Halo 1, but I am in the field of I can wait for Halo 2.  Now if we was talking KOTOR 2   :o  That would be a different story for me

[Clanwolfer]

Got it.  I agree that there are definitely LOD issues that take away from the cutscenes a little, but when I'm playing I don't notice them at all.  Multiplayer is A+ brilliant.   KeySJU on Live, look me up.

[Purge]

I dunno how cold it is where you (the reader) are,  but DAMN was it freakin' cold here in Winnipeg last night.

I waited from 11:50 - ~1:30. I could have gone to a rental store to get it (my buddy works there, would have been NO problem coming in at the back) but I had traded games in to get 2 copies of Halo2 and an xbox cheaper (see below). The spare system and the other copy was a birthday present for my bro.

To get the discount : Trade 5 games for half-price Xbox, 3 more for free halo2, and 3 more+ 10CAD for Halo2LE.

I got the games to trade in at an avg of 7.10CAD each (x11) + 118CAD total cash forked over. It works out in the end to about 48% savings of the $380 ticket price (incl. tax) on all 3.

That, and I wanted my halo2 RFN.  

------------------------------------------------

Game impressions? It sucks...

...all of my time up like a sponge.

It's more hectic than Halo1; especially with the dual wield. I'm getting used to not throwing the wrong weapon down when dual-wielding. At this point I'm in the same place that the demo movie came out last year. Damn it's fun.

 :x stuck at work.  :evil:

[programmerbob]

So is this hugely better than halo 1, or is it the hype machine that has inflated ratings on gamerankings.com?
Or maybe microsoft bribes(j/k)

Damn you console gold, interest has risen to "I'll think about it"(shortly followed by I'm at the store buying it probably). But WoW is too good and coming out soon.. Also for my fps fix, half-life 2. And sadly mario tennis ;0 And I still have GTA to get farther into.

[Clanwolfer]

I guess I'm just lucky... the EB down the way had a few hundred show up, but the Gamestop right by the subway entrance, where I preordered, only had about 40, and I wes 8th in line.  Got my ass kicked in the tourney, and was out of the store by 12:15.

[Kevin Grey]

So is this hugely better than halo 1, or is it the hype machine that has inflated ratings on gamerankings.com?
Or maybe microsoft bribes(j/k)

 

It depends on how important mp is to you.  If its a big factor then I would say, yes, its hugely better than Halo 1 since it has such a fantastic array of mp options.

Single-player?  Better than Halo 1 but strictly evolutionary vice revolutionary.  

As far hype machine- Halo 1 is the 9th ranked title of all time on Game Rankings (soon to be 10th once HL2 comes out) so I don't think its outlandish that an improved sequel to score better than a game that already had pretty stellar reviews.

[ElijahPrice]

I just picked it up during my lunch break nad now its like the one ring..."prrrreeecious"... Ic an't wait to get homenad play it all night.  Sounds like a hit though.

[Jeff]

Orpheo suggested in IM that I play in Heroic mode, so I am.  :shock:  Heh, it's hard, but very satisfying combat. I'm dying alot, but it's still fun. I have to get used to the fact that this isn't a typical run n gun you're-10-times-harder-to-kill-than-they-are shooter. Some of the enemies are very strong, and they have weapons that can rip you apart in a hurry.

So I'm having to use cover constantly, and take breathers while my shields regen.

Very very cool game so far.

[Jimmy the Fish]

Anyone playing Halo 2 on an HDTV? There are reports on many messageboards that in 480p widescreen, parts of the HUD are cut off on the edges of the screen.

[Chaz]

Holy crud.  At my EB (which I manage), I had about 260 people in line for the midnight thing.  Took until about 2:30 am to get through the whole line, so by the time I left, I'd been there for 12 hours straight.  The best part was that that morning, my boss told us that we needed to have the store open at 8 am today.  Of the last 26 hours, I've worked 21.  Good sweet lord, I'm tired.  I'm so tired that I don't even care that I have several top-notch games sitting around, waiting to be played, I just want to sleep.

Just something to keep in mind the next time you go into your local game store.

Oh, I hear the game's supposed to be good too, and stuff.

[Sepiche]

Anyone playing Halo 2 on an HDTV? There are reports on many messageboards that in 480p widescreen, parts of the HUD are cut off on the edges of the screen.

I didn't notice any of the UI that was cut off, but the graphics themselves looked a tad jaggy for bing HD.  I'll have to double check my settings tonight.

s

[Jeff]

I'm getting pummelled on Heroic. I'm stuck now in the 2nd big room where you're supposed to destroy their craft "or they'll just keep sending in reinforcements". Boy do they ever. My squadmates all get killed, and then it's just me vs an endless spawn of baddies, and I keep running out of ammo.  What am supposed to be blowing up to stop them. The ship they appear to be warping in from seems indestructable.

Have I mentioned Heroic is hard?

[madpeon]

Heroic hard? psh!  .

I'm about 5 hours in on heroic and its really not too bad.

Then again, this is coming from someone who breezes through Halo1 on Legendary like a Sunday afternoon walk.... NOT using the lame coop 'cheat'

Can't wait to try H2 on legendary!

[TheMissingLink]

Put a few more hours into the single-player...so incredibly cool so far.  I'm loving it!

[Kevin Grey]

Alas, I'm already burning out on single player.  I've put in about 8 or 9 hours and its getting pretty repititious.  Story is pretty interesting and the environments themselves are gorgeous but gameplay is distinctly lacking in variety.

[Jeff]

Put a few more hours into the single-player...so incredibly cool so far.  I'm loving it!

I'm loving it too, but had to restart on Normal :oops:  I know, I'm a wuss. I just kept dying over and over in that same spot, and couldn't get through the area. I was taking cover, picking up weapons, etc, but they just kept coming. It was madness, madness I tell you!  

After restarting on normal, I got thru that area much quicker.  

[Calvin]

Wow, I am shocked at so few responses with impressions No, I still can't play until tomorrow...well, I could I guess, but I need to wait for the big screen TV

[Kevin Grey]

Wow, I am shocked at so few responses with impressions No, I still can't play until tomorrow...well, I could I guess, but I need to wait for the big screen TV

I'm guessing most are playing and avoiding the thread for fear of spoilers.

[Siljanus]

I love the soundtrack!  Only have been playing the single player campaign so far and have just arrived on Earth.  Only quibble is some of the game voices which are not coming in very well.  Whether that is by design I don't know.

Will try multiplayer sometime but right now I'm all over the campaign.

Game on!

[AJ McClain]

I love the soundtrack!
Game on!

Same here. I preordered the LE but it won't arrive for several more days. Lucky for me my buddy let me see his copy for the night while he's at work.

Quick points while the game is on pause:

-The graphics are incredible. But I've noticed a few of the little glitches many others have mentioned. Minor, but they do take away from the polished feel a bit. Overall, I'd say this and Riddick are about on the same level.

-The level design is awesome. Definitely a step up from the first, imo. In particular, the size and sheer scale of the locations have completely amazed me. I'm barely into the game, but judging by how I've progressed up until now the gameplay length isn't something I'll be worried about.

-Certain sound effects seem...off. The sound of the weapons in particular. Something about them just doesn't have that same "umph" compared to the ones in the first game. Or maybe that's just my ears messin' with me.

-The flashlight is buggin the frell out of me. I wish Bungie hadn't decided to have it automatically turn itself off after several seconds in most locations. I prefer how the flashlight worked in the first game.

Overall, I am *really* impressed. Halo 2 has lived up to my expectations, without a doubt. Once I get my own copy I look forward to playing on Live and checking out the MP. I can barely wait. !

[Kevin Grey]

-Certain sound effects seem...off. The sound of the weapons in particular. Something about them just doesn't have that same "umph" compared to the ones in the first game. Or maybe that's just my ears messin' with me.

Not just you.  I noticed it too.  The effects themselves are very good but they're missing some of the "umph" the first game had.

[Devil]

It's pretty damn good!