thehowe_v7.1

It has come to my attention that some people (coughSAMcough) have come to incorrect conclusions about Halo 2. As far as I can tell, they arrived at these conclusions based on lack of information and incorrect analysis of video clips. As part of my continuing efforts to educate the stupid masses, I consider it my civic duty to help inform these poor souls that they are wrong: Halo 2 is going to be awesome.

Note: throughout this entry I will be referring to the Major League Gaming Seattle Halo 2 tournament direct-feed video clip, which you can download here, assuming you have BitTorrent.

First of all, a general overview of the most controversial new feature - dual-wielding. The main concern here is that dual-wielding will ruin the balance of the game by being too powerful. I don't think this will be a problem for three major reasons:

1. Inability to dual-wield the more powerful weapons (battle rifle, rockets, sniper, etc.)
2. Inability to throw grenades while dual-wielding
3. Inability to melee while dual-wielding
4. Longer reload times while dual-wielding

The first three reasons are well-known, having been published by Bungie earlier in the summer. The last reason I noticed myself while viewing the video. If you'll pay attention the one time he uses the SMG by itself, you'll notice it reloads faster than it did while dual-wielding. I'm not sure how this will affect the covenant weapons, which may make a large difference, since without the pistol most of the single-hand weapons will be covenant.

Another feature I have heard complaints about is the game speed - some are saying the players move too fast through the level. This is based on faulty observation of the multiplayer video, especially when the player tried to use the sniper rifle. If it wasn't evident before, the player in this video is an idot - the level is far too small for sniping. I estimate that, in terms of open spaces at least, it is a good deal smaller than hang 'em high - probably more along the lines of damnation. A level of that size is far too small to snipe in. The result of trying - the targets appear to move too fast. Case closed. In general, the player in the video seemed to be moving at approximately the same speed as in Halo 1.

One of the changes I had the most problem with initially was the removal of the pistol from the game. In Halo 1, a good player with a pistol owned medium to short range. However, after reading some reviews by players who have had a chance to play Halo 2, I've come to realize that the new battle rifle basically replaces the pistol. While zoomed-in, it fires single shots less powerful than the pistol's but at a faster rate, making it approximately as powerful. While not zoomed in, it fires three-shot bursts. Assuming the shots are still not as powerful as the pistol's individually, a three-shot burst would be approximately as powerful as a pistol shot. So, basically, they've put all the capabilities of the pistol in a more realistic form. To further the comparison, the old assault rifle is not replaced by the battle rifle, but by the SMG. It's a short to medium-range, high spread gun that shoots lots of bullets, just like the assault rifle. As anybody can tell you, there are precious few times in Halo where the assault rifle is the preferred weapon. As far as I'm concerned, the ability to dual-wield it's successor in Halo 2 will only make it a good weapon, not an uber-powerful one.

Really, the only worry I still have lies in the improved rocket launcher. In Halo 2, the rocket launcher has the ability to lock on to vehicles and fire missiles that home in on them. I saw the player in the video try to do this, but it appeared ineffective at close range, which as far as I'm concerned is good. Making it too easy to kill a vehicle would ruin the balance. It should be damn hard to beat a guy in a vehicle when you're on the ground, it's just common sense. I'm still hoping the lock-on feature won't prove too powerful on larger maps.