It's not often that I go back to older xbox games (original xbox) to play a game that doesn't exist on the 360, but Halo 2 was an exception. I had started off with Halo 3, which was a little confusing (given that I didn't have the storyline established), moved on ODST and then to the prequel (Halo: Reach), which gave me some more information, and then to the Anniversary remaster. For reviews of those (or just quick thoughts) see other video game posts on this blog.

In the meantime, I have also been listening to the Halo novels on audiobook. I usually go through a summer binge of these before I return to academic reading in the fall semester.  That said, Halo 2 seems like a natural thing to complete the mental collection I have going :) For a plot summary see here.

So, the graphics weren't that impressive, but that's to be expected. I wasn't really expecting to be wowed.  The game played well and it was nice to be able to play as the Arbiter for about half the game to get that part of the story arc in first person mode.  Another great thing that I loved having back: dual wielding  guns.  Going from Halo 3 to Halo Anniversary was a little jarring given that I was used to one type of combat. That said, I have realized that the least favorite part of any Halo game for me are the Flood levels. The two things I hate the most are the reanimation of corpses, and the change of gears from fighting one enemy AI to another. The second I can get used to, but the re-animation of corpses is annoying ;-)

One thing I did notice in Halo 2 was the ending: There was no "get in warthog and run for your life, so you can catch a ship from an exploring planet/halo/facility." I had completely forgotten that this seemed a trend in the Halo series for their endings, until I started writing this.  I wonder how Halo 4 ends... I guess I will find out soon enough :)