I just have to preface by saying that I feel bad for all the people who ordered from amazon who are apparently getting screwed. However, thats not what these review spaces are for. On to my review of the game:



Graphics---9.5/10



Far and away the best graphics of any xbox First Person Shooter, its kinda dissapointing that the in-engine cutscenes look so rushed. The cutscenes are usually a little choppy with a little bit og pop-in. When I first read this in reviews I didnt want to believe it, but its true.



Audio---10/10



The original Halo had great voice acting, great sound effects, and the best music and musical timing of any game EVER at the time. Halo 2 has the best voice acting, the best sound effects, and the best music and musical timing EVER in a console game. Listening to this game is an experience.



Gameplay---10/10



There are really 3 main gameplay additions-



-duel wielding- ability to hold two weapons at once



-swords- ability to fight with swords



-hijacking- ability to steal a vehicle from an opponent while they are riding on it.



Each new feature adds another element to the game. However, the most important gameplay change is speed: The action is much faster in halo 2. You run faster, you jump higher, your weapons do more damage, and the change in how health and shields works means that you're never camping in a corner for extended periods of time. For me, this is awesome, because I come from PC games where the action is typically very fast, and I always complained about how slow you moved and how long it could take to kill someone in the original halo. The ghost, banshee, warthog, and tank are all slower than they were in the previous game, or maybe they just seem slower compared to your new, faster running ability. In any case, it evens the playing field between people on foot and in vehicles.



Single Player---9.5/10



The game itself on normal difficulty isnt particularly long or hard. The awesome music, great gameplay, and great storyline all bring it together to make a great experience. Like the original halo, the best features for the SP game are the diferent difficulty levels and the co-operative play. Even tho playing through the game on normal difficulty isnt a trying experience, YOU ARE going to want to go back and play through it again on hard or legendary difficulty levels. Also, playing through the game with a friend is awesome. However, there are some dissapointments. Firstly, the save system is inflexible.



You only have one slave slot that maintains your exact position in a level, and if you want to go back and play a different level or play some co-op, you lose that save slot and have to start the level you were on from the beginning. Also, forget about 2 people who are sharing the xbox going through the campaign at the same time for the same reason. Secondly, Bungie decided not to include system link or XBOX Live co-op. That really stinks. Its great fun to play co-op as it is, sharing the screen, buts its really cramped, and would be much more fun if both people could have their own screen. Also, being able to play with a friend at seperate houses, maybe across the country, would have been nice.



Multiplayer---10/10



Simply put- amazing. More levels, many more features, plus Xbox Live and even some new features that arent available in other games. My favorite is the "party" system, which allows you to get together with some friends and travel between games as a group. Its unfortunate, but there usually is some lag on the bigger games. Lag seems to be the plague of XBL, and they just cant get rid of it. Oh well, theres always LAN parties, which are always lag-free.



Overall Score---9.8/10