I'm finishing this fight
Yes, I didn't think I'd be getting onto the next Halo quiet so quickly either, but I guess I've hit that bit of a rhythm where the first person shooter part of my brain (which had almost gone dormant from the sheer amount of mentally taxing RPGs I've dined on recently) demands to be fed with Sci-fi action. Halo: 'Combat Evolved' did a great job of standing up on it's own two feet even in 2022 (helped by it's anniversary glow-up) and knowing the reputation that Halo 2 had with the community, I expected that wave to be fully ridden by the team. (Oh, how little I knew) So does this mean I'm going to end up playing every single Halo game? No, even if I do keep up this series, for the simple fact that for some incomprehensible reason, 'Halo 5 Guardians' isn't on the PC and has no release plans within 343. Yes, despite that being one of the mainline Halo titles handled by the company now running Halo, that same company doesn't care about it enough to consider ports. ('Why' beats me) But I hope to get as far as I can. (especially since I now care a bit about the story.)
First off I would like to talk about the graphics, because this is an important aspect. So for Combat Evolved there was a visual glow-up to the game in order to modernise a lot of it's world and the effect was transformative. It pretty much shot that game two whole console generations forward and made it a title withstandable in today's day and age. Halo 2 was the game that the remake team loved more though, that much is obvious. This remake makes Halo 2 into a looker, from every facet of the visuals. Gun and vehicle models seem to be borrowed from Reach, environments are totally remodeled, characters are buffed up to look more alive and the cutscenes- god lord, the cutscenes! They remade every cutscene from scratch to carry the cinematic look that the originals were trying to shoot for, they made Master Chief and his journey just shine. In fact, they did such a good job, that some of the transitions between cutscene and gameplay really stand out for the inability to match those oppressive lighting shots or life-like skin textures. I was impressed to say the least. But that is the last part of this review I can comfortably cover with no spoilers, so skip ahead to the summary if you're worried about the spoilers of a 19 year old game. (And I am gonna talk about some big spoilers, don't you worry.)
Gameplay
So for the last game I remember commending the gameplay and way that it felt to shoot as being very good, almost toe-to-toe with Reach's Halo. Well now I feel like I need to be slapped in the mouth, because Halo 2's gunplay just sings. It's snappier, punchier, sounds better, less wavy. Every metric I use to differentiate between the two is marked by such small degrees they might be unnoticeable to the eye, but to the hand they are everything. What we have are two games with great shooting, to the point where only minor tweaks really count to elevate the game, but those miniscule little adjustments change the world for better or for worse each time they're made. That's the reason why Destiny 1's shooting feels perfect to me but Destiny 2 is just that bit off and never quite bought things back for me. They're improvements by small degrees, but each degree matters.
One of the more tangible additions to the gunplay comes in the picture shown on the front cover that I never really thought of too hard until I played the game: dual-wielding, duh! The ability to use two 'small' arms guns is meant to play into the trend of akimbo warriors that ruled this period of FPS games, and just like their contemporaries, the feature proves itself a lot of fun; but there are some definite balance concerns that are raised by their inclusion. At the start of the game they seem a little overpowered, with Elites simply melting under an SMG combo attack, especially since you can dual wield freakin' Plasma Rifles! (That seems like is shouldn't be a thing- they have rifle in the name!) By the late game, however, it becomes clear that scaling has been made to count for the power of dual wielding, rather than the individual side arms by themselves. Essentially by the endgame mark there isn't a single enemy that can comfortably killed without either a dual wielded gun or a proper two-hander, which makes individual sidearms functionally useless. Additionally, switching weapons, mounting emplacements, entering vehicles and even bashing the enemy causes any excess weapon to be dropped, disincentivizing some of the vast movement arsenal which makes Halo's core gameplay loop so appealing. Let's call this mechanic a mixed bag.
Although whilst we're on the topic of the late game, can we talk about Brutes and enemy crowding? One of the things that drove me nuts about 'Halo: Combat Evolved' where the amount of times you got dumped in a corridor and told to kill endless waves of enemies until your finger got tired, or got marched through hundreds of identical rooms until you go crazy and start eating your shoe. Halo 2 improves on that immensely for a raw design perspective, but also throws Brutes into the equation. Brutes are challenging, which is good, but oh-so annoying in groups. They're tough to the point where only precision high damage weapons are worth a damn on them, practically forcing you to ignore most endgame pickup weapons which aren't those guns, and everytime you see a room of them it's enough to make you sigh in exasperation. I like a challenge, and I'm typically the last person you'll hear complain about bullet sponges in video games, but if you're going to stick armies of Brutes in your game then at least up the max amount of ammo I can carry so I'm not always biting my nails over the ammo count. (That's just my two cents on the matter, at least.)
Narrative
Back for 'Halo: Combat Evolved', the core story was actually an issue I had with the game given that I felt it's front half didn't appropriately tee-up it's later half and that the world of the game was built but poorly conveyed. Let that feeling be instantly reinforced when Halo 2 kicked off with a trial by the leaders of the Covenant where we learnt that the Halo ring was apparently a sacred holy site to their religion. Oh was it? Because I got the impression those morons didn't even this thing was even there, let alone actually caught anyone setting up a shrine to the thing. From the getgo I knew this was going to be a better narrative experience and not just from the incredible recreated cinematic cutscenes I was lucky enough to enjoy thanks to the anniversary edition. The Halo-ring stuff took a backburner to a story with more personal stakes to it, the one of the battle between the Covenant and Humanity. Right away Bungie stuck us in the shoes of the commander who was in charge of the Covenant forces who failed from the first game, allowing us to create a bond across the battle lines that'll fuel whatever conflict is to come. A clear step up from the last title.
In fact, I practically giggled maniacally at the whole 'duality' set-up they were doing between the Master Chief and he-who-would-become-the-Arbiter, setting up how the success and celebration of one is the chastising and belittlement of the other; silently establishing a rivalry that, spoilers, doesn't even come to fruition in this game. (In fact, I get the sense that it never will.) What I didn't expect, but was presently surprised by, is the fact this gave us the chance to actually slip into the Arbiter's shiny silver armour and experience a bit of life on the Covenant side. A handy perspective to adopt given that this story would focus so much on deconstructing who the Covenant are, what they believe and how it relates to the struggle with Halo. This was the basic exposition I longed for out of the original, how belatedly generous of them.
I'm no slouch on 'galaxy affecting' storylines and threats, I love them; but they work so much better when you have some idea of the galaxy you're fighting to protect. (Which is part of the reason why Mass Effect Andromeda's stakes never felt like they struck home.) As such, getting the chance to visit Earth (albeit in a worn-torn state) and some inner Covenant locales (albeit, mostly stuffy, military or royal holdouts) made for a welcome change. And of course we got to a Halo ring eventually, what sequel would this have been without that? But even then the story of the internal struggles within the Covenant manifested and really took over the machinations of 343 Guilty Spark. That homicidal robot was more used as a blunt tool to challenge religious dogmatism rather for his base programming as a humble doomsday guide. My only gripe, and it's a stickler, is the fact that at no point in the Arbiter narrative are we ever allowed to kill humans. It feels condescending. I know they wanted to make our shiny silver man a good guy, but The Covenant are at war with humans, it's only natural that they should be killing humans. It makes me question how much Bungie respected their 2004 audience that they didn't believe them strong enough to root for a secondary protagonist who did his basic duty in war. 
Characters
Speaking of, it's probably time we get into the characters and how I felt about them. Master Chief seemed to have his dial turned up to full 'badass' mode over the 'cocksure' setting he was on in the first game, and I have to admit that it feels a tad premature. I just got to know this guy, and this game is set something like a week after the firs one, I'm not sure if he's earned total badass mode yet. Cortana was much more tolerable in this game, with her playfulness and quips sometimes being a little bit endearing and only mostly annoying. I jest. She was alright this game. I still didn't feel that emotional connection to her that I think I was supposed to, especially when she decided to confine herself to the Halo she was about to blow up for vague sci-fi techno-nonsense about 'remote detonation being unreliable'. (Oh, are you going to manifest yourself a body and go shoot-up the reactor like we did last time? Thought not.) I'm not even sure the Chief cares about her, and maybe that's because her entire presence throughout the game was fundamentally contrived. She just jumped in his visor to help him defuse a bomb right at the beginning and then refused to leave for the rest of the game. (Talk about rude)
The Arbiter was the Covenant side of our little story and his character I found very easy to get behind. A loyalist who was disgraced and disparaged due to the machinations of 'The Demon', (Master Chief) The Arbiter is awarded a somewhat sacrificial and heavily politicised ceremonial role by the obviously manipulative prophets and through the random power of circumstance manages to rise from an honor-stripped pariah to what seems to be building into folk-hero status. Held up by a genuinely great vocal performance, the Arbiter probably has the most in the way of an arc in this story as he comes to slowly learn the truth about the Halo and is forced to trust his natural enemies. It sounds more grand on paper than it plays out in the game, but the performance makes up for the bare writing here. Heck, I liked The Arbiter so much that I didn't even care that he got the final level in the game! (He pulled a Part 4 Jotaro) That shows you something right there.
As for the supporting cast: Sergeant Johnson is the obvious standout. His tough-nut drill sergeant routine feels a tad forced at first but it grew on me and I ended up really liking him. 343 Guilty Spark is still great, but we don't get as much of him this time around which was a bit of shame. I won't lie and look up the names, but instead come clean and admit I don't remember any of the Covenant character names apart from Tartarus, they were largely pretty 2D aside from the Arbiter himself. (Also, The Covenant apparently went off and learnt English in the week between games, just so that they can trash talk you on the battlefield. Seems like excessive effort for a race you want to wipe out.) The Prophets seemed intertangible, and not just in design. I couldn't remember who stabbed who in the back and I actually have no idea who the last survivor is right now. Miranda Keyes is someone I should really like, especially given her prominence in the narrative and relation to the personable Captain Keyes from the original, but her voice actress just under-read the emotion in every line and I couldn't get over it. (It really bugged me.) And if I'm forgetting anyone else then that alone should tell you how I feel about them. Oh! Except for the Gravemind. That thing seems cool but utterly unexplained. Which adds to the mystery. I want to know more, I like it.
Level Design
Ah, my nemesis in 'Halo: Combat Evolved'; the endless flood of tunnels. How does the game fare up this time around? Well as I touched on at the start of this, the anniversary touch-up does an incredible job making this world look as pretty as it can, and this time it remembers to throw in some dark spots where appropriate too. It helps make these levels stand out and highlights their colour to a greater extent which is great to celebrate their variety. You have your purple covenant ship again, although this time it's more of a megaplex city, your green Halo jungles and even another snow-swept arctic fight scene, but now you have a Space battle, (including a short-lived but super cool space walk section!) war-torn Earth, which facilitated some really cool urban combat scenes, and a whole prolonged Precursor ruin that was still hugely repetitive but wrapped itself up far more quickly than the dreaded Library level from Halo 1. Bungie really did step up their game on all fronts for this one.
Too bad they all suck. Okay, they're not god awful, but I can't identify a single one I'd actively want to play through again. The first, as the Arbiter, was probably the best, throwing illusionary targets to throw you off your game, but ultimately shaping up as rather easy. The second had a major problem with conveying information to the player, as I had no idea what to do and none of the visual or auditory information was telling me otherwise. Or at least, not until I'd nearly downed all my ammo in that Regret snake, only then did Cortana hint that I should get closer. Overall, a weird boss fight, definitely the toughest but arguably the worst. And then the final boss of the game was so trivial that I thought I was doing it wrong, that I'd glitched out the game or something. Surely there was supposed to be endlessly spawning adds in the duel against Tartarus? (Like with Regret) Instead it was just me and him, and endlessly spawning allies for me? Seriously, why was this final boss so stupidly easy? Was this a rush job boss from Bungie? I think he was a rush job.
Music
An element I intentionally skipped out on in my Combat Evolved review was the music, because whilst it has it's moment I didn't think it was grade-affecting worthy. This time there's a difference. Along with remastering the visuals, the score was also buffed up to orchestral beauty. I'm sure the original game has some great tracks, but this remaster totally transforms otherwise straightforward battle scenes with that raring Master Chief theme, or chills the bone with that incredible howling chorus for Precursor sections. Every single time the music took over during the action it was cause to get excited, because each individual track from the game synched amazingly well with the action in hand, with the sole exception of that track which plays when the Arbiter is having the Banshee chase. That one was cheesy, and kind of bad. But I only remember that tune because I'm a stickler, the rest was a fantastic mood-setting suite that simply cannot be ignored for the transformative synergy it achieved with the game design. Simply fantastic.
The Ending
Finally, and I typically don't do this, I want to talk about the ending. For years I've known the final line of Halo 2, because of the meme of how upset everyone was with it. And recently I've also come to learn the other Halo 2 meme. (although at the time I didn't know it related to Halo 2) Colour me shocked when I was playing the final mission as the Arbiter, and spending the whole time trying to convince myself that I counted the missions wrong and that there must be another last one from the Chief's perspective. I was also realising that, with Cortana saying she has the situation with the index covered, there wasn't really an immediate threat from the Chief's end, and it almost felt like the story was building to two climaxes. (I shouldn't have ignored that buzzing in my head.) Then the Arbiter finishes his act, the story moves onto the objective that Master Chief is actively pursuing and maybe a single mission away from completing. I get to hear the funny meme line, "Master Chief, care to tell me what you're doing aboard that ship?" To which his response sent me through an emotional rollercoaster. "Sir, I'm finishing this fight." "No!" I said, both in my head and actually out loud. Those were the infamous final words, there's no way the game coul- cut to credits. I haven't felt so blue balled since the Yakuza 2 ending, although with some research I was to find that this was much worse! I figured that maybe the team were working on Halo 2 and 3 simultaneously, maybe the next game would be a year away and the team wanted to work on it some more. Nope. Three years. Halo 3 took three years to come out after 2. To be a fan of Halo in the mid 2000's; I would have died. It took me about two hours to download Halo 3 after that, and even that wait felt like too long- I can't imagine the absolute sages the Halo community was forced to become after this little stunt. How cruel.
In summation
As any Halo fan will likely freely tell you; Halo 2 is a step for the franchise in ever single facet. The scale of the set pieces, the scope of the narrative, the quality of the writing, the intricacies of the gameplay, the execution of the soundtrack; all of it shines with that extra special spark that tells of an instant classic of a game. The only issues with the game arise from areas where the team stepped a little too far forward. The dual-wield system which heavily skewers late game balancing, the kind of bad and sometimes far-too-easy bosses, and the 'tough' Brutes who turn into little more than annoying bullet sponge time wasters by the late game. It's the strength of the game around it, however, that the game overcomes these flaws and manages to be the masterpiece it is today. I have little doubt that this game will set the par of my future Halo adventures, and I'll likely be coming back to this example quite a lot in reviews to come. With all that said, I give Halo 2 an -A Grade with a strong recommendation to anyone with a shooter bug, no matter how dormant. This game is an absolute blast to go through and thanks to much improved level design I don't even insist you bring a friend this time, you can rock this brilliant and iconic campaign by yourself and enjoy the heck out of it. Now all's that left is to try to come to terms with the fact that the next Halo game isn't a tremendously glowed up remake, but just the original Halo 3 running much smoother. That's going to take some getting used to, check back on me in a week or two.
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