Halo 2

The Good
Many of the things that were great about Halo are featured here again and some welcome new additions: Dual wielding is cool with lots of new strategic options, lots of new Covenent weapons, new vehicles, new baddies, some great set pieces (like the scarab assault) - and of course the amazing Xbox live multiplayer option

The Bad
I'm a big, big fan of the original and along with many was eagerly anticipating this release and I must overall I found it a disappointing experience. Many of the levels are too long and repetitive , and just don't have the replay factor and the weapons have been unnecessarily tinkered with. But really for me the games main problem is the single player story which was so great in the original has become an overblown and confusing "epic" that for me just ends up cliched and boring. For me this has kind of ruined the mystique the original game built up and dare I say it... it's become a bit nerdy!

The Bottom Line
If we think of Halo as "The Matrix" then Halo 2 is "Matrix Reloaded"....... technically better yes - but it ain't half as cool ;-)