Developed by: Bungie | Published By: Microsoft | Played: 12/10/04

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By far some of the best graphics in terms of technology and especially composition. This game looks cooler than anything else, thanks to a powerful engine and talented artists that know how to use it. Also excellent level of detail in the level designs.

Excellent gameplay balancing.

Top quality soundtrack. The soundtrack is probably the best aspect of this game. It adds a lot of drama to the experience in a way that is superior to almost all other games. I have never played a game that has used the soundtrack as effectively as in this game.

Also good gameplay variety. You can fly jets, go on foot, and handle other vehicles. The controls for the vehicles are extremely intuitive and easy to handle.

There is a seamless transition from one thing to the next. Going from one stage to the next and passing checkpoints happens without any menus coming up or having to save at a check point statue, or something like that. When playing this game, it is easy to forget that you are in your living room playing a game. This game does an excellent job of pulling you into another world.

The quality of the voice acting is perfect. No character feels out of place or phony, and their tone of voice and mannerisms fit the look and feel perfectly.

The comments that the characters make are often funny in a fun way, and make the experience more enjoyable.

Always having an AI squad accompany you makes for an experience that feels more like a party, instead of just you alone against the aliens.

The realistic-looking physics are by far the one detail to the environment that is the coolest and makes the world you are in believable more than any other feature.

The level designs are fantastic. There is lots of ascention and descention, gondolas, elevators, multiple paths to the same objective, and a look and feel that makes the experience very memorable.

The pacing is very nicely done. The player can start with a chaotic, intense battle area, then have a light area with some fodder enemies as a breather, then a vehicle battles area that's intense and crazy, then some empty areas... and you never know which one you're in. It could look like a silent empty area and then tons of enemies will start rushing in. There's never too many of the intense areas in a row, or too many of the empty areas in a row, or too many vehicle areas in a row. The musical score also goes along with this pacing to make the mood fit with the intensity of the battle. The flow of the music goes along with the flow of the pacing.

Having the enemies fight each other shows that there is more to than this game than just you against an army of aliens. Instead its you against the aliens and biofreaks, and the aliens against the biofreaks, and also the aliens against the rebel aliens.

All the enemies have their different attack patterns, and the player must approach each one in a slightly different way. This adds some variety to the gameplay, and makes it more than just one dimensional blasting anything that moves.

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Not much seems different since the last Halo. All the vehicles are the same, there are only a few new weapons, most of the enemies are the same, and going through the game doesn't feel like much of a new experience. It's just an improvement since the last one with better graphics and a slightly more refined design. I can't think of anything about this game the truly makes it uniquely different from Halo 1.

Just like Halo 1, this is a game of you taking out an endless army of aliens. There is almost no plot at all. While the cutscenes are composed very well with quality voice acting, the script lacks emotional drama that makes you care about what's going on.

It is often very difficult to tell which is your team and which is the enemy, especially when playing as the aliens against other aliens.

The game gets pretty repeditive towards the end. How many of these aliens and biofreaks are there? Isn't there some other way to deal with them besides just blasting the crap out of them?