Halo 2

The Basics:
Platform: Xbox
Developer: Microsoft/Bungie
Price: $49.99 (November 2004)
ESRB rating: M

Summary: A popular but mediocre first-person shooter.

Note: A moderately challenging first-person shooter game, with the typical levels of blood, gore and scariness. A storyline that is only slightly above average, and decent graphics don't justify this game on any level. Avoid it.
 
Further Breakdown:

Overall rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Best for ages: 18+
Playability: Excellent
Graphics: Excellent
Entertainment value: Moderate
Educational value: None
Reading Level: 5+
KidScore Rating

Ages 3-7: Red
Ages 8-12: Red
Ages 13-17: Red
Violence Amount: Red
Fear: Red
Illegal/harmful: Green
Language: Yellow
Nudity: Green
Sex: Green

Review:
In some ways it is amazing that Halo 2 is as popular as it is-and it is popular indeed-selling more than five million copies in two weeks (it took the original Halo two years to achieve this). Although the game does some things well-technically the game is very sound, the game is primarily just a B-grade sci-fi storyline attached to a typical first-person shooter.

Essentially, Halo 2 continues the storyline and action from where the first Halo left off. To start, the player continues the battle as the "master chief", earth's best killing machine-a mammoth super-soldier standing seven feet tall and wielding a variety of weapons. The primary enemy is "the covenant", a group of aliens bound by a cultish religion and a universal hatred of anything human. This time they are attacking earth directly and it is up to the player to defend the human race from extermination.

Later, the story shifts, and the player takes the role of "the arbiter", a suicide soldier for the covenant, who is tasked to destroy a heretic that is dissenting from the will of the covenant. A converging storyline brings the arbiter and the master chief together as allies on Halo-a super weapon/space station revered as a sacred icon by the covenant and capable of destroying the entire galaxy. Along the way they battle an even more deadly enemy-"the flood", a parasitic alien life-form that possesses humans and covenant alike with a voracious appetite.

In either role, the battles are vicious, deadly and expansive. Players can snipe at enemies, toss grenades, blaze away with duel sub-machine guns or even use a high-powered energy sword to decimate their foe. Drivable vehicles are included in the action, adding potent firepower to defeat the enemy. Blood is prevalent through much of the game-although it should be mentioned that the covenant's blood tends to look like bright colored paint. Human blood looks exactly like that-human blood, and stains the pavement after a marine is shot down. The battles are very large-in many of the scenes, the player will be playing with a squad of computer controlled allies, making the battles immersive and sometimes confusing.

A few other factors to consider are the scariness of the cut scenes and the aliens themselves-both the covenant and the flood characters would be scary for younger children. Some of the cut scenes also contain material that would be inappropriate for younger players-for example the arbiter is tortured before being sent on his mission. In addition, parents can expect to find a sprinkling of minor curse words throughout the game-primarily in the animated cut scenes that tell the story.

One last consideration is the multi-player abilities of the game. For one, and this is enjoyable to a point, is the ability to partner up with a buddy to play the missions cooperatively on a split-screen. However, and perhaps more importantly, is Microsoft's push to get people onto Xbox live-their new online multiplayer service. With this, players can challenge anyone with the game and a subscription to Xbox live to a multi-player free-for-all. Of course this adds additional concerns for parents concerned with the type of gameplay their kids are involved in.

In the end, the game doesn't introduce anything spectacularly different from the first game-just better graphics, and some new weapons and enemies, and it doesn't add much to the already full ranks of first-person shooter games. Although well-made from a technical perspective, Halo 2 offers little of value for kids.