Halo 2 Anticipation Thread: Hype Vs. Reality

[demon9k]

I am getting the PAL standard game. The place where I keep all my games probably wouldn't have enough space for the limited edition so it would just go to waste stored away some place. Plus its more the game that I am worried about

I didn't expect the PAL release to be a tuesday tbh anyway and I am still a little surprised its a Thursday. Doesn't really matter though cos amazon always get the game to me on release day anyway, touch wood!!!

[Uli]

teamxbox.com features an in-depth Halo 2 preview.

http://community.teamxbox.com/xbox/841/Halo-2-Preview/p1

i still have to finish reading it, but it seems to summarize all known facts on the game and also features some lesser known infos, e.g. on new vehicles:

"Halo 2 is set to introduce a whole truckload of new vehicles. There?s the human ATV, a slick four-wheel vehicle which resembles a slimmed-down warthog. It?s lightly-armored but extremely fast, and allows the player to sling any one-handed weapon over the handlebars to wield while driving. On the Covenant front, we?ll see a new passenger vehicle known as the Shadow, with room for four and what appears to be a Shade turret placed on its rear. Plus, each side will be introducing new troop transports. The marines now have shield-ships, large cargo carriers said to be the size of a city block. Bungie?s shown off private footage of the shield-ship descending on a Covenant bunker, with dozens of marines and a score of vehicles in tow. The Covenant answer back with the Phantom, a faster, more compact dropship equipped with front-end plasma cannon and a rear hatch for split-second troop deployment. Also seen were slower, ground-based ?Creeps? that followed one another in succession and appeared to be piloted by grunts. And we should note that this is in no way a complete list ? Bungie is working on numerous other vehicles that may or may not make the final cut."

[nips]

Please don't over complicate things... This all sounds wonderful, but if the game isn't balanced then much of the fun will go.

I still have faith!

[demon9k]

Your enemies are now much more intelligent thanks to some significantly enhanced A.I. coding. They?ll gather into attack formations, follow tactical orders, and utilize the environment by blowing up combustibles and destroying temporary cover used by their enemies. The more agile Elites and Brutes can now hop over obstacles and climb walls. Enemies will react realistically in low-light situations, listening for sounds and using flashlights to scope out their surroundings. The Chief, in turn, can use the shadows to his advantage and employ a dash of stealth as an alternative to heads-on combat.

The A.I. of your marine companions has been improved as well. They now work more efficiently as a team, calling for backup and pointing out enemy sniper positions. They?ll independently flip over tables and other debris to use for cover. They interact with the Chief by handing him weapons, and can even pilot the tank and warthog. For the player, this means you can now man the turret or fight alongside other marine-controlled vehicles, since you?re no longer stuck being designated driver.

That sounds fantastic! Halo had a slight bit of stealth in it, if you could be bothered sneaking around knocking out all your enemies, although the majority of the game was full on combat. I think the stealth element in Halo 2 will open all sorts of wonderful fun, especially if the A.I. is as clever as it is made out to be.

Although I have found the one word in that preview that I have been dreading!!

low-gravity

[Uli]

i also found of interest that the writer speaks of a return to "locations including the wreckage of the original Halo ..."

i always thought i should be a new Halo ring. but to go back to the remains of the old one sounds much more fun and intriguing, doesn't it!?

[demon9k]

At least we are going to see a wide varity of settings, that should be cool. I don't really care where they take me as long as I can kill some grunts. They are just so killable.

One thing I have not heard mention which was a big part of Halo is that little droid thing, I really can't rememeber the name. Its got to be in this game some place as it was following master chief home at the end of Halo.

[nips]

Guilty Spark?

I can't remember if he was in the most recent book or not, but if the flood is involved, I'd imagine he would be!

[Alf-Life]

Of course, why would he escape at the end if they didn't reuse him?

Check out all the story theories at the HBO story page... when I found it a couple of years back I spent like all night reading through it all.

Anyone seen the rebreather-less Grunts? OMG, they're crap

[demon9k]

I have not read any of the books, I might do in the future though.

Yeah the rebreather-less Grunts don't look as cool as the orginal ones, but at least there is both which is a good thing in my book.

[Alf-Life]

i also found of interest that the writer speaks of a return to "locations including the wreckage of the original Halo ..."

i always thought i should be a new Halo ring. but to go back to the remains of the old one sounds much more fun and intriguing, doesn't it!?

It does... it'll probably highlight an area we were all familiar with and show us what it's really there for... moreso than Jason Jones' thing in Edge that he can't wait until people go back through Halo with fresh eyes.

[nips]

I've decided that it doesn't mean much that 343 decideds that he'd do the same, or that he acknowledges that MC has been there before, or the implication that the Master Chief has been to the Halo before.

The MCs MJOLNIR armour is based on Covenant design, which itself is taken from forerunner technology... 343GS could easily mistake chief for a forerunner becuase his armour so closely links what he's seen before.

[nips]

hehehehe

[Alf-Life]

So you think it's mistaken identity over time travel?

An interesting theory is that the slip-space jump that takes place just before the game's start was a jump in time...


Also, I don't trust Cortana... she changes after spending time in the core (rampancy?)... she makes you blow up the POA/Halo and you just listen (2Betrayals)... she overrides the Captain's cries of 'leave me' by shouting "He's delirious" (Keyes)... and her message to Foehammer at the end sounds deliberately misleading "The engines sustained more damage than we thought" - implying damage from the crash rather than because she makes you blow up the reactors (The Maw).

[nips]

I don't see why that would be. I mean they make these jumps all the time. And in the books, they explain the reason for the covenant getting there first as simply they are faster.

The Pillar of Autumn is just following the Cole Protocol, like hundreds of ships before... I see no reason for them to have magically gone back in time.

[Alf-Life]

Ah... I didn't think they got there faster, I thought they were already there, inspecting Halo.