(November 23, 2004) — Ahhh, Halo. The game that started it all. A simple first person shooter, with extensive levels, beautiful graphics and of course a variety of weapons and vehicles to keep one entertained for hours. It truly lived up to its claim as combat evolved. But what on earth could possibly be better than Halo ? Halo 2 right? Well, maybe. Halo 2 returns more beautiful than last time, using a totally new gaming engine that allows for more detailed and realistic graphics. Beautiful as it is, there is a slight lag during cut scenes where the bare shell of the character is shown for a split second, and then all the detailed layers show up. At least there isn’t much of a lag during game play both in crowded battle areas full of opponents and explosions, or in co-op mode. All the favorite weapons and vehicles also make a comeback and are accompanied by a couple new ones including a sub machine gun (which is dual wieldable) and a Covenant energy sword (you know, the weapon the invisible dude always killed you with in Halo). The sword is fun for slicing and dicing enemies but oddly can only be used a certain amount of times because it receives damage and eventually breaks. The developers at Bungie and Microsoft not only added more weapons, but now allow two weapons to be held at a time, making alien roasting even more fun, but at the expense of not being able to throw grenades. Of course, everyone’s favorite indestructible jeep, the Warthog, makes a return, this time in two models, one with a gatling gun and the other with a Gauss Cannon. The AI has also been improved and this results in the player being back seat gunner while computer-controlled teammates drive around. Halo 2 features battle damage on vehicles ranging from tires blown off to whole wings torn off. Also new in Halo 2 is the ability to fly a Banshee, which looks like a Barney-the-dinosaur endorsed jet hang glider. These new vehicles do make the game more fun, but driving each vehicle seems excruciatingly slow compared to the original Halo, even when using the new boost feature available on the Ghost and Banshee. The major flaw in the game is that after 11 hours of intense action, switching back and forth from playing as Master Chief and a Covenant warrior named the Arbiter, the game comes to a very anticlimactic end. I won’t spoil anything for fans who haven’t beat it yet, but this ending is nothing compared to the heart racing last level and ending of the original Halo. Halo 2’s ending leaves one wondering if they beat the game. I don’t know whether Microsoft did this to give room for a sequel or they just ran out of ideas. Graphics and game play wise, it’s a superb game that’s well worth fifty bucks, but Microsoft forgot that all good stories need a good ending and thus Halo 2 can be summed up into four words: Great game, horrible ending.