This is where the multiplayer started getting hype. Thanks to Bungie doing an almost perfect game, no other game have made an addictive multiplayer game. Halo 2 kicked ass back then, and it still does.

I can't tell you how great the moment i got this game and looking at the graphics. After playing NOTHING but Halo 1 for three years, seeing this games graphics stuned me. I spent hours just looking at the games graphics in awe. a great game in everyway

Probably my favorite war shooter multiplayer game. Had so much fun with this one. One of the best multiplayers ever.

It's hard to believe you could improve in anyway on the first, but they did! recommend playing this one after playing the first though. The game continues on the story of the original game and adds cool key things in the game like new weapons and the feature of dual wielding which was a great feature added in. Definitely a BUY.

Absolute perfection!

This game is so tight.

It is awesome.

I would like to state that this game is not broken. You H2-haters are. You are broken because you are blind, and comfortable in being that way. I hate people that are ignorant because they want to be. Any real Halo fan would know this. I lost many hours of my life at lan-parties for years because of the first game, and many things that made me say: "bullsh.t" were taken out. Face it. The pistol took too little skill to be effective. I could kill you in 2-3 shot all the time, everytime. Even noobs could kill you in 5-7 shots. Were's the skill in that old-school fans? Hell, you could snipe a Spartan from a Scorpion tank. Yeah right. They fixed the Devil-pistol. In Multiplayer you cannot go Lone-Ranger as much anymore. You can be good, but any team that works well together will make short work of you. They will hunt you in packs. Have all the weapons. They will own you. I owned people by myself in the first game. I can't do that as much now. I need tactics, not just brawn to win. As for match making, it's good. You play against people of your lv. They system works. People also complain about online problems, like swearing and glitching. Bungie fixes these problems. People can also report you if you are bad! YOU WILL BE EXPLELLED OR WORSE! Trust me, I see it everyday. I also haven't had much problems with lag, which surprised me. Also old-school fan's bitch about duel weilding. Old-school fans can be idiots and not try things, because they are afraid of change. Besides, duel-weilding isn't that effective! I own people that do that! A well place nad' and a single smg clean house all the time, everytime. You guys could also try a battle rifle with a plasm gun. So deadly it's scary! Owns the duel-weilding freaks so much it's scary! I don't understand people hatred for the single player mode. Halo had me going "holy shit" everytime. Halo 2 did that for me and more. I love the Arbiter too. I guess people expected a different game. I feel sorry for these pathetic masses of rage and hatred. They are broken relics. Note: Pc games and console are like judging fresh water from salt water. That's why I don't mention Half-Life 2 or World of Warcraft.… Expand

The game is an exellent sequel to halo, and both multiplayer modes are amazing.

This is the best game ever. The graphics are some of the best ever on X-Box. I see that Nathan complained about plants? Who cares about plants materializing 5 feet in front of you when every other part of the game looks simply amazing? Nathan didn't like the multi-player because he got his ass handed to him. If he won he would say it was great. I dont know how you could say something is wrong with the maps when they are beautiful. The gameplay sucked? The gameplay definitely doesn't suck. It is action packed and fluent. Even on x-box live there aren't problems with framerate or anything. Shoaib complained about not really saving earth. You saved earth by forcing the covenant to leave earth. Then you followed them to stop them from ever coming back to earth. Yes, being the arbiter sucked, but the gameplay with the arbiter was awesome. Being invisible was freaking sweet! When the arbiter talked then it was stupid, because i agree with you. I just want to kill elites, but you barely notice them when you are playing as the arbiter. in first person as along as you dont look straight down you dont even notice. To wrap it all up Halo 2 is the best game ever and everyone who doesn't agree with me and complains about the game are ...… Expand

Good game but one was the most original.

This game is a great, quality shooter that easily captures the attention of all gamers.

Multiplayer perfection.

Its great fun to pick up and play. What more do you want?

as the xbox official will agree this is quite possibly the best first person shooter game ever to be released on this generation of consoles.

Easily the most immersive multiplayer experience in existence on any platform.

Got this game one hour ago. This is better than Halo 1, and is one of the Xbox's very best.

AMAZING!!!!!

Fantastic only people who dislike it have never played it.

It's HALO. Enough said.

I don't see why there are so many people who dislike Halo 2. I will admit, that it is not as good as the 1st, but is it still a terrific game! I like that they put in new weapons, espically the plasma sword and the beam rifle. I also like being both the Arbitur and the Master Cheif. It is fun, fighting for both sides and then joining together, to kick the crap out of some brutes. I think Halo 2 was also more challenging, I found it harder to beat on heroic than Halo 1. (which is a good thing). I also liked the introduction of the Prophits. They made it very interesting, adding a sort of religious aspect to the game. ( am athiest btw). The only thing[s] I didn't like was that they got rid of the assult rifle!!! That thing whipped butt. I also sometimes found it difficult being the Arbitur and having to right against other Grunts and Jackals, it was sometimes hard to figure out who was good and who was bad.… Expand

Best game ever made.

The rating scale is maxed out at 10!! What the f**k!! Halo 2 has an all new graphics engine and basically all the problems from the first have been corrected and with the inclusion of xbox live Halo 2 = Winning every single game award imagineable!! What's this about Killzone on PS2 being the Halo killer?! Bring it on Sony.

Amazing game. Possibly the best of the Halo series. A huge step forward from the drool that was Halo 1. The storyline was great, the comparison is unfathomable... No storyline to spectacular storyline. The graphics, a huge step forward from Halo 1; the gameplay was immensely improved from the old bare-bones format. Overall, a masterpiece of a game. How did this come out of Halo 1's mediocrity? Oh, massive budget from previous game's advertising campaign. The people who didn't like this were just upset about a character change for 2 levels, and the fact that one of their favorite guns was 'nerfed'. I, for one, suggest the gamey gamers go back to Atari.… Expand

Halo 2 did what I thought was impossible it improved upon what Halo: Combat Evolved did, it improved on gameplay, story, sound, and graphics, and created the best multiplayer experience ever that set the pace for games like the Call of Duty and Battlefield series, in my personal opinion this is the best in the Halo series, the only reason this does not get a perfect 10 is that there is no more multiplayer, but this is still a absolute must play.… Expand

Halo2 has the best multiplayer features. there is one thing that absolutley sucks about it. th laziness put into the videos and the single player levels. If you are looking for a perfect campain mode in a shooting game then don't buy halo 2. if you are looking for probally the best multiplayer and xbox live game on the market then definitely buy halo2.

Halo 2 is the best multiplayer game ever.

Easily the best FPS on the xbox. Great story, even with the cliffhanger ending. Great enemies and weapons. A little too short, but multiplayer adds a hell of alot of life to this game.

As most of you know, HALO 2 was changed to adapt to the NEW story line with the New Halo Ring. HALO2 was SOOOO kick ass...the only problem with it was that thye cut it short. Rumors have it that it was cut short for the XBOX2 platform (yeah right) but in any case, the XBOX live is amazing. So far, i have not have had more fun then jumping on top of a banshee, firing a rocket into an enemy, kicking the guy off the banshe, then running his ass over in midair … Expand

What is wrong with people and this game. Was it the gameplay? The special effects? Sound? Presentation? The rankings for this game are some what adequate because yes it does have some flaws. For those who wanted to play it on online you will be disappointed with the online play because, and I stress on this, a lot and a lot of people will be playing online and your connection will be very poor, although it may be better than other games. Second the coop play is extordinary. What people are lacking in their reviews is subtance. They really don't know understand how to critize a game because one they are bias towards other games. Two many people do not play a variety of games. they play one game or juse one genre. People are naive when it comes down to the pure reality of video games. This game deserves the score no less than a 9.8. IGN gave it the best review than any other because it seemed to be the most involved with the true aspect of it. other game sites and magazines are bias. Please don't take the view of other games take your own and play the game advidly on your own. Don't rent a game and judge it without the time it takes to review a game.… Expand

If I could score it higher, I would. This game is so great it could be a reason to keep on living when you've had enough of life. Graphics, control, A.I. and atmoshere are just too good to put into words. If you are disappointed, you don't like games.

The game delivered on so many levels, and did an excellent job, the only downfall, is some comic humor,or awkardness in the weapons, but besides that,it tops the first in every area.

Superb, just what i was expecting. best game ever made.

This game is godly, and woulda been better if some of the multiplayer levels woulda been left in. coagulation is a way better upgrade, mostly because you can hide better from alotta snipers now. I love this game, and everybody who cant at least appreciate it... a mushroom slap to the face.

bob g.df? camera angles? mmmm, i thought this was a first person shooter

this game is the most kick ass ive ever played, and i cant get over the graphics. way to go bungie! Dont give my email to anyone!

November 9th is the most important date in gaming in 2004 and beyond, letalong being the most important date for the xbox. Halo 2 is strong on so many levels. It's single player campaign promises to deliver a powerful story and great gameplay. It's multiplayer component will be the best of the best. With people still avidly playing Halo, Halo 2 will drive people insane with its abundant capapbilities. Clan Support, Online Stats, Decals, and XBL guests only tip the iceberg. New features such as dual wielding, destructible environments, new weapons, new enemies will also make Halo 2 obsessively fun to play.… Collapse

I played this up in brisbane at electronic boutique on a demo, it is awesome, everything about it. This will get score 99 i think.

I don't usually buy into the hype of games, and Halo 2 was no exception. I enjoyed the first installment, but I have to admit I was a little suspicious of all the 100s the gaming magazines were giving it. Let me say this much: this is the best game on the Xbox. Many people trashed on the story and particularly the ending. I must disagree. I think the game definitely had an epic feel to it and even the ending left you pumped up for the third installment. In short, Halo 2 is the "Empire Strikes Back" of the Halo legacy. The graphics are amazing, the levels are cool and the ability to dual wield brings a whole new dimension to the game. Buy it, and you will never regret it.… Expand

WARNING: this game is not for the occasional gamer or less and definitely not for those nausiated by FPS games. I found this game to be a "sit at the edge of your seat while blasting your opponents away, then getting smacked from behind and cursing your head off!" kind of game. Then again, that's more like what happened to me earlier while I was playing. The fact is that this game is for those who want to play, enjoy playing, and look forward to palying it some more. If this doesn't suit your style of gaming, then let it be.… Expand

This is truly the one of the best first person shooters ever.It has great gameplay, an interesting story continuation from the original, although the ending was fairly disappointing.

This was the best game of the year, according to gamestop. I am tired of little n00bs, like half of you people, who don't know how to properly rate games.

Dis game rocks! I play it every day wether im shootin up those tiny grunts or tearin the monkey people to pieces.

Multi-player Gold.

Halo 2. There is not another game that gives you chills down your spine when you say the title. This was the most anticipated game ever in the videogame industrie. This game definatley lived up to its hype, and in my opion it passed that hype. Many people believe that GTA: St. Andraes is a much better game. I say GTA made 115 million dollars in a week......not bad. Halo 2 on the other hand sold 125 million dollars in a day.........amazing. I think the thing that attracts people most to Halo 2 and Halo 1 is not just the great guns, storyline, vechiles, enimes, online play,etc. It is the amazing entertainment of throwing a plasma grenade into a bunch of covenet then continuing to flank the others while your soliders are cleaning up the stragliers. Also there is no other game that can give "chills" down your spine while entering a battle, and there is no other noise like "oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh" The thing I love most about Halo 2 is that it brings all of the fun from Halo 1, but it times it by 10. There are also new features for Halo 2 such as duel wielding, the ability to steal a ghost or any other veichale from your enimes or your friends, heat seaking missiles, just to name a few. After you finish the campian mode (which really is amazing, but i dont want to say anything because it might spoil the game) there is a bunch of other things to do. Such as, the online play, it really is amazing, the fun of you and your buddies getting in warthogs, ghosts, and banshees and atacking your friends base then when you finally get there flag the challenge of running away while rockets and bullets are zooming by your head is pricless. Even if you dont have Xbox live you can play split screen with up to 4 players. Now while this is not as entertaing as Xbox live it still does have its advantages. They are, being able to see the person you are playing and knowing them personally, the ablillty to braging rights around the people you see everyday, but my personal favorite is the victory dance you can do when you end your friends killing spree with a rocket demolishing the wartghog hes been in for 3 hours. So, in conclusion me and the other 100 million people would probally agree that this is the greatest game to ever be made. There once was a line in the Offical Xbox Magazine that stated that Rockstar had said that Halo 2 will "never come" and "if the game does come out it will be the greatest game to ever be seen, but of course no such thing can be done" they also were stated saying that "Even if Halo 2 does come out Bungie could never put all of the things they say will be in the game by November 9" In Halo 2's comerical they show everything in the game and then at the end of the comerical they say "To all those that said this day would never come what are they to say now"… Expand

I would almost think Half-Life 2 was a better FPS, until I played Halo 2's X-Live. The mutiplayer is hands-down the best! I have never seen a better competetive feel/edge to a game ! The lan-parties of old are obsolete, since you can meet your friends online, and have the old beat down quests of old! The imbalances of old were fixed too. The pistol cannot kill you from across the level now. Also vehicle sniping w/ the pistol doesn't work too. You can also destroy vechiles, so no one can go forever in the ghost. No more health packs. The shotgun got a needed reduction, since it was used as a medium range weapon in the first game. Also, the Legendary mode in the old game was kinda weak. In Halo 2, you will get your ass-handed to you! Be prepared to sream in rage at the tv for hours on the new Legendary mode! More customizable options for multiplayer games. I could go on. Point is, it's not broken. Any style of weaponry can be countered with another! The only thing people bitched about was the story mode. People are weird, since nothing was broken about it, but then again this is Halo 2, and so much was expected from this game. People expected their own "fantisy" version of the game. A lot of people's complaints were directed towards playing as the Arbiter. Kinda ironic, since people bitched about not being able to play as Covies in the first game. And people are wrong about campaign too, it has the most EPIC feel of any game i've played. Halo was EPIC. Halo 2 delivers. Hands down the best console game this year! I'd almost say best game ever, but PC has World of Warcraft.… Expand

I like this game is the best! I love Xbox Live Halo2 is is so cool. I like how u can talk to other people and I like the way how you can save friends and all. The thing I like about Halo2 is that you can hold 2 weapons and i like the sword also!!! :) :) :) :)

I give the single player only an 9, but the multiplayer is above and beyond anything I've ever played. My friends and I (who usually play a different multiplayer game every month) will be playing H2 multiplayer for a couple of years at least. If they continue to add new maps, it'll be practically inexhaustible. Multiplayer is just that good.

Good Game..bad Levles..X Box Live..Perfect.

Everything was good. but they promised great maybe if they'd actually tried instead of loffing around on their asses it would have been a ten. still a good game but that one point i think is the most important one.

This is the best game ever!! This tops any other game that came out. This will kill any GTA or Metroid Prime. the suck!!!

Halo conquered the "universe", with good level designs, great sounds, fun gameplay and a glorious musical score. And so came time for the battle of planet Earth

This game was so awesome. the multiplayer was unreal and the x box live really whent well with halo 2. im a huge fan and i really think this is the best ever game created thats just me though but i hope i can change some of your minds.

I say this is the best game ever! Only downside is its short Campaign player but i still reccemend buying it and specially Xbox Live. Even though Halo 2 campaign was short, Online gives such a good time......For all i know this is the best online system game i have ever seen........Better than runescape, halo 1 online......Halo 2 online is the best Online system EVER!

I wanted to give this game an 8, but i just could'nt do it. This is a very good game, a VERY good game. The graphics are some of the best I've seen. The only drawback is the short campaign. But it's hard to complain when the campaign is still extremely fun, even if it is a little short.

This game is great, but not as much as I expected. The game was fun to play, but it was really short, and ither to easy or to hard to beat (depending on you difficulty leavel). And the ending sucked, but still it had a great multi-player. So 9 is my #

Online Ranking System is the greatest...i only wish there were no cheaters.

man this game is amaing. everythings all great. im glad the pistals got degraded, there were too many pistal *****s that gets me irritated. and the only shield thing is awesome, it makes the game more stressful and stuff so u dont go up to an hunter and start hitting him with ur pistal. the graphics are amazing. the dual wielding is awesome. the storyling is awesome too and leaves the story in a suspense. u can destroy vehicles now and thers no missles in the banshee thank goodness and the rocket lanuncher is great its homing!!! the dual wielding is great too halo 2 is a gotta buy that is until halo3 comes out, believe me i read the story and from what i figured theres a halo4 coming out.… Expand

Are you kidding me, the whole point of halo2 is the multiplayer, it is so much fun online, the game is pretty much pointless without xbox live or multiplayer but that is the entire point.

Although the single player campaign isn't quite as good as its prequel's - the story in particular veering wildly and ending far too abruptly - the improved physics and more tactile environment (principally the destructable vehicles) do make up for most of the shortcomings (as does one intriguing twist). However, what really gives it maximum scores is the simply spellbinding multiplayer.… Expand

VERY FUN GAME it is very fun and very interactive with the co-op, but still like hl2 better :P

best game of the year and for ever more best glithes and sweet game play and best grafics.

First of all if you walked into a store and you saw Halo 2 and Half-life 2 on shelf and you never had any of them get Half-life 2. There's nothging next-gen about it but one thing. The graphics not so good. The storyline is more off an ass wipe. But the way it's put together is quite next gen indeed. The multiplayer is quite sexy indeed. Counter Strike is still better...

Actually, my vote would be an 11, because this is my favourite videogame of all time.

This game kicks ass, the weapons, vehicles, levels, and multiplayer are all awesome, a must buy for any xbox owner.

The Best Game Ever. Not perfect (the campaign is very average and rubbish compared to halo 1) and a with slightly unoriginal plot Halo 2 does disappoint at times. Not in Multiplayer however, where it is actually perfect.

This game is the best game out there!! Some of you guys don't know what your talking about. Halo is the best. Awesome graphics, awesome games design, and its awesome online!!!

Took an amazing game and improved on it in every way. Excellent story mode, full of variety. Unbelieveable online game, perfect multiplayer maps.

I really like the storyline in this game. This game is the best I have ever seen!

Perhaps not as good as it's ground breaking predessecor, but it's still a lot of fun. The gameplay, graphics, and multiplayer are top notch but the story is a little shoddy compared to the orginal. Then again, it's tough being in the middle of the trilogy.

Greatest fps on a console...EVER. the single player was a little short and the ending was anticlimatic but MAN was it amazing while it lasted. then multiplayer...woo never got any sleep that year lol this game is a all time classic even better than the first.

it is high-detailed and has a really tremendous story. even the multiplayer mission mode is really good. and let's not forget all the bugs & bounces! this game is really worth playing!!!

It's easy to distinguish those who have played the game and those who have not - like Kevin C. Reviews should be based on your opinion of the game after having played it for a while, not on reading some reviews and concluding it's a disappointment because IGN or some other site gave it a 98 rather than 100. I've played the single player campaign only - and it is phenomenal. The action is unmatched, the graphics are top-notch and the sound is outstanding. I think the game is totally worth the price based solely on the single player campaign, the multiplayer component is added value. I've played Half-Life (excellent and I can't wait for the sequel) and Unreal Tournament (boring and repetitive - I traded the damn thing in), and I can honestly say, based on my gameplay experience, that Halo 2 is one of the best games I have ever played. … Expand

This is gonna be the best best game of the year because everything is more advanced.

Wow, ok if you all hate the game so much, ill buy them all off you, then sell them on e-bay for $200. This game made $80,000,000 in two hours, Lets see the cool people who gave the game 0-5 ratings, create somthing like that. People spent thousands of working hours to make this game, deadlines, bugs, research, project costs, its not easy. So every time you give this game 0-5 just rember some poor guy or girl was up all night 7 days a week to make this thing, and i dont think they appreciate your ignorant opinon.… Expand

Halo was a fun game. It balanced the elements well. The thing I feared most was that Bungie would try to make it "better" and make all kinds of changes. Halo 2 was an incremental step forward: nicer graphics, online play, and a couple of other enhancements. Initially I like it better than Halo (1) which I would have rated a 10. So a 10 it is for Halo 2. And for those of you malcontents who are comparing it the Half Life: at least we can play Halo 2. Can you play Half Life 2???… Expand

First of all, I can't believe they're 220 votes already up on this game which has been out for basically 24 hours. Secondly - I REALLY can't believe how utterly spoiled some y'all are for hating on this game. I've played this game for roughly 30 minutes, and I'm already dumbfounded how sick this game is. In the past 3 weeks I've picked up Mortal Kombat: Deception, Dead Or Alive Ultamite, NBA 2005, and now Halo 2. Golden time for games and you ingrates who are knockin should appreciate it. … Expand

I didin't do any reading up on the game so I was surprised to have the multi-character game play and the depth of the story line. I haven't finished it yet, so I can only anticipate where it can go from here. I'm impressed by everything except the inability to use the mellee attack while holding two weapons.

This game is a great game and it will be a hit until furthermore. [Ed: until when?]

This game kicks ass.

OK, first of all, all who believe this game is overrated is either a PS2 fanboy, or a complete dumba$$. this game is amazing, and the story, though short, is strong. xbox owners rejoice, there is finally a Halo killer.

This game is unbelivable! This game is a 10 no doubt. I have a playstation 2 and an xbox but no game on either system compares to halo 2. i recommend this game to everyone!

If you don't own an Xbox yet now would be reason to go out and get one. Even if it's the only game you'll ever buy it will be worth it. You better believe people will still be playing Halo 2 even with the Xuon (Xbox 2) having a few years into it's life cycle. Halo 2 is the first game ever to be deserving of a score higher than a 10.

To the people that are complaining about falling and not getting hurt he is in a futuristic suet and it properly has a suspense or some thing and so what if they took out the scope on the pistol you do not have scopes on pistol most of the time any way. And by giving up the scope on the pistol they but a scope on a futuristic m16. so if you have a problem with some thing I sad you can kiss my fat Italian ass.… Expand

This game is not perfect, but is the best game ever. New weapons, and vehicles are excellent. I will be playing it until Halo 3.

I honestly can say it lived up to the hype. I still think it hasn't hit me on how totally awsome this game is. It is truely overwhemling.

EXCELLENT GAME! Its like reading an award-winning novel, playing an awesome game and watching an awesome movie all at the same time. The dual weapons are fantastic and the graphics are awesome. Most graphics on PS2 games are nothing compared to Halo 2. It's da best FPS EVER MADE.

It's been worth the wait, it took me a hour just to open the plastic once i got it. hands down the best game in history. i could not have dreamed of a better game, xbox has clearly out boxed the other consoles with halo 2. it will be years before any consoles come with a game to match halo 2.

Perfect.

You kow for everyone who has said how crappy the story you havn't named a better fps story ITS NOT AN RPG PEOPLE ITS A FIRST PERSON SHOOTER!!! WHERE U SHOOT THINGS!!! plus the ending was not that bad it was a cliffhanger just because u people were so happy the game was out and u played it for 15 hours straight on normal doesnt mean the game is too short try the other difficulties they're different. Plus its the best Live game by far. If you dont like this game then u should just throw out ur xbox now.… Expand

WOW, the multiplayer alone blew me away.

This is the best xbox game yet!!!

A great game so far (haven't played alot of it), it's got this feel about it that immediately draws you in, I give this game 9.5 (closest score was 10)

Awesome game! I couldnt imagine it would be so good. Thumbs up for Bungie and Microsoft. best game on Xbox this far.

BEST GAMER EVER, it is l33t and pwns all n00bs. the game takes a whole new perspective and era into console first person shooters.

The game story line is awesome including al the new weapons enemys vehicles etc, etc, etc HAL@ 2 Beats All Games DOWN TO THE GROUND!

Easily the best Xbox First Person Shooter ever created. It has more of everything, with great graphics and brilliant gameplay!

Halo 2 is not just a game, it is a all consuming experiece, that grabs hold of you and never lets go. This game has delivered beyond all the hype--halo 2 is pop culture. ps. hey game reviewers--- your days are few and numbered. very soon the gamers will have a true voice. and you will be held accountable for you scores(game spot) The new mag and site are coming soon!!! [Ed: scary!]