The Returning Champion: Halo 2 Review

We here at Game Chop love sequels. They're fun ways to further explore successful narratives, gameplay methods and worlds. Halo: Combat Evolved is one of the most celebrated video games of all time. It inspired the modern video game and established so many standards on anything from writing to level design. Sequels can be great, or they can stop a series dead. There are so many risks and stipulations with sequels that even the slightest error can result in disaster. With that out of the way, Halo 2 is the best sequel ever made.

While we like to remain unemotional and objective in our reviews of games, it's very difficult to downplay just what a triumph Halo 2 is. It's a triumph in writing, in game design and the entire medium of video games. It provides exactly what players of the original Halo wanted in a sequel. Uncharted 2, Gears of War 2 and many others are all up there, but this bad boy is on another level. Please note that this belated review includes many plot details from Halo: Combat Evolved, but will not spoil any important points from Halo 2. Let's begin.

The beginning is an excellent place to begin, and this is a particularly excellent beginning (say that ten times fast). Halo 2 begins with an opening cinematic (expertly remastered by Blur Studios in the Halo: The Master Chief Collection) which stars the most unlikely people - the enemy. The Covenant, the extremely hostile alien alliance and one of the primary enemies of the first game is now front and center as primary characters are introduced for the very first time.. We are introduced to an imprisoned Elite, one of the leading races of the Covenant. He is escorted through an alien chamber for what appears to be a trial. There are other familiar races such as Grunts, Jackals as well as some new members of the Covenant family. Brutes, large ape-like beats escort this well armored Elite through the room, and are looked on by the Prophets, smaller but intellectually renowned religious leaders. In a thrilling reveal, players witness an organized and very well-spoken alien menace speak of the tribulations that took place in the previous game. This Elite Shipmaster is being reprimanded for his failure to stop the "Demon" from destroying the Halo ring, which the Covenant view as a god.

Enter the Demon! Switching scenes from an alien city, we are taken to an orbital platform above Earth and see everyone's favorite super soldier - the Master Chief. The Chief is being celebrated for his efforts in protecting humanity (and the entire Milky Way) from the lighting of the Halo ring, which is designed to kill all sentient life to prevent the spread of the Flood which we'll discuss later. The Chief, and returning character Sergeant Johnson receive a warm welcome, while the disgraced Covenant Elite is branded a heretic by the Prophets of Truth, Mercy and Regret. The cutscene, which is a fantastic example of the cinematic value that games can present ends with the Human ceremony being cut short by a small Covenant invasion - they found Earth!

Now comes the fun. Players are quickly acquainted with the first-person shooter's simple but enjoyable mechanics. The Chief, and his trusty artificial intelligence Cortana, rush through the United Nations Space Command station defending Marines and killing the hostile Covenant. Firing and taking cover from plasma is easy to get used to, and players can properly control the Chief with a little practice. The introductory firefight concludes with a Covenant super carrier landing on Earth in New Mombasa, Africa. The Chief, Cortana and Miranda Keyes (daughter of the deceased Captain Keyes of the original game) blast off to Africa to route the enemy while Lord Hood of the UNSC defends the rest of the planet. Welcome to Halo 2.

With Halo 2's introduction to the Covenant perspective, the war becomes incredibly more substantial. Each interaction with an alien now includes spoken communication that isn't alien gibberish. When players fight Elites, the Elites talk back with words that give more context to this conflict, which is now easier to understand as a religious war of genocide. The Covenant are no longer just enemy combatants, they're motivated characters with complicated contexts and social backgrounds. Players are now pitted against the full might of a dangerously zionistic alien campaign led by the Prophet of Regret. As the Chief, players get to do more of what made Halo: Combat Evolved fun - driving a Warthog, fighting the Covenant alongside your trusty Marines and using advanced weapons to wreak havoc on alien soldiers and vehicles alike. It's a bigger and better game, and it aims to impress.

With the Prophet of Regret on the run and the planet partially reclaimed, the Chief and the crew of the UNSC In Amber Clad chase him to his newly found wonder - another Halo ring, on which a majority of the game takes place. With these few introductory chapters under our belt, the game then takes a very fascinating turn. In what is, in Game Chop's humble opinion, the most ambitious and fascinating narrative choice in years, gamers now play as the Elite from the beginning of the game. The disgraced alien is given the "honor" of taking the position of Arbiter, a warrior sent on suicide missions to uphold the sanctity of the Covenant. Players are now dispatched by the gerrymandering Prophet of Truth on a mission to kill, not Humans (thank goodness), but heretics. Those who would slander the name of the extremist religious leaders should not be allowed to live, right?

The Arbiter is a wonderful character, but is clearly used by the Prophets, as other noble and strong Elites have been before, according to the games now thriving lore. The very idea of his character is fantastic. A being honorably blinded by redemption, and fighting for his kin and friends rather than himself. He functions just as the Chief does and is strong and very capable of kicking ass on behalf of the player. His efforts introduces new good and bad characters, which establishes a narrative that is far more complicated than good vs. bad. It turns out that this is good vs. good manipulated by bad. These heretics may have more to them than meets the eye, and their mining platform, a relic of the ancient Forerunners hold a dark presence. The Arbiter, in his efforts to silence the rebels, discovers the unleashed Flood. The Flood, featured as the true enemy of the Galaxy in Halo: Combat Evolved, is a horrifying alien parasite which produces zombielike monsters from the bodies of dead sentient beings. Combating these terrifying infections pushes players to the limit, requiring them to utilize weapons more specific to zombie slaying - the shotgun, the battle rifle or the esteemed energy sword. Defeating this vicious plague is the true purpose of the Rings, as revealed in the previous game by the inquisitive Cortana.

So, with these new perspectives and characters in tow, Halo 2 pushes the overall plot line of the story begun with the original Halo with ease. How does it improve upon the gameplay and game design of the previous game? We mentioned it's bigger and better, and we meant it. Maps are more diverse and quite larger. Details such as plant life and lighting have improved, even with the Remastered Edition turned off. Gameplay allows for both the Master Chief and the Arbiter a lot of breathing room to enjoy many different options for engaging the enemy.

Wow, that's a lot to cover. A story line so infused with value and drama that it boggles the mind, an introduction to so many new villains (or allies) and new weapons and vehicles. Not bad for Bungie's second go at the franchise. Honestly, this game is phenomenal. Halo 2, like many other excellent sequels, delivers on the promises that Halo: Combat Evolved inadvertently made. It embodies the wonder and pure joy that games can be, and shines in terms of writing and gameplay. Halo: The Master Chief Collection has made it easy to revisit the amazing Halo 2, in fantastic remastered fashion, and we highly recommend you take it. This is the game that helped to define a generation and then some.

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