E3 2003: Halo 2 Impressions

Halo 2 just ruined the next year of our lives. Quite simply, everything between now and the game's release will pale in comparison. Impressions and new screens inside.

After getting a full body massage from Halle Berry, we can imagine ourselves thinking, "That was good, but it was no Halo 2." Okay, maybe not, but you get the idea. We only saw 8 minutes of the game - 8 mind-numbing minutes of Master Chief busting open a tractor trailer of whoop ass - but we already know, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Halo 2 will be bigger than god.

Alright, there we go with the exaggeration again. But, believe us, it's hard not to be excited. The Bungie developer demonstrating the game tried to dampen that excitement by starting with a brief talk on "industry trends" and "sales projections," but we were saved by the computer-generated image of Sarge from the original Halo.

He told pencil neck to shut his pie-hole and just get on with the damn game, all of which, he informed us, was in real-time, "none of that pre-rendered bullshit."

And so it began. On two giant projection monitors, a military dropship carrying Master Chief approaches a war-torn city on earth. The dropship makes a daring landing, MC hops out, and immediately the differences between the sequel and its predecessor are clear.

Master Chief exits the drop ship into a temporary staging area with injured troops receiving medical treatment and beleaguered marines scrambling for reinforcements. We can hear medics treating the wounded and soldiers talking about the covenant onslaught.

The environment is incredibly dynamic. Master Chief is still the central character, but there's an entire military unit here, fighting alongside him or, even more impressively, waging their own battles against the enemy. The tense atmosphere - teeth-shattering explosions, yells of exertion, lush, beautiful visuals - put most of Hollywood's efforts to shame.

Master Chief moves through a building where two marines rip into covenant forces with mounted, high-caliber machine guns. We watch as MC heads out onto a terrace and begins pumping lead into the grunts below. His weapon looks somewhat like the standard issue assault rifle, but it can zoom in on targets.

As MC guns down hapless covenant forces on the streets below, he fires on abandoned vehicles, setting off tremendous explosions. The vehicles are rocked end-over-end by the blasts, demonstrating at once the destructible environments and impressive physics of Halo 2.

In the distance, a massive covenant cannon pummels the marines' base of operations. A sergeant calls in an airstrike, and moments later two marine bombers decimate the cannon in a blinding flash of light.

After lobbing a few grenades for good measure, MC takes an automatic weapon from a wounded soldier and heads down to the war-ravaged streets. Wielding a weapon in each hand, MC unleashes hell on covenant forces as they dive for cover.

Next, we see another innovation of Halo 2. Master Chief hops onto a warthog and mans the cannon while a marine navigates the streets. It's not entirely clear whether the warthog is on rails or if the marine actually makes decisions based on the presence of covenant troops, but the effect is mesmerizing.

Master Chief fires on and brings down covenant tanks and troop carriers as the warthog races between skyscrapers. A covenant drop ship approaches and unloads a new type of enemy not seen in the original Halo. One of the creatures lands on the warthog and tosses the marine from the driver seat. Master Chief exits the warthog and bludgeons the covenant beast with his assault rifle.

In the next sequence, a wave of banshees race onto the streets and begin gunning down marines. Master Chief snipes one of the drivers and then, in a move that brings cheers from the attending geeks, leaps onto the front of a banshee. He slings the covenant elite out of the seat and commandeers the vehicle.

In the closing sequence, with Banshees hot on his heels, Master Chief streaks down a highway and squeezes through massive blast doors just as they slam shut. The pursuing covenant aren't so lucky.

As MC climbs to his feet and dusts off his armor in all of its reflective glory, a number of pods streak from the sky and crash into the pavement. The pods open, and suddenly MC is surrounded by a half-dozen elites wielding energy swords. Sadly, this is where the demo ends.

The viewer is immediately left with two thoughts: 1) I didn't know I could hold my breath for 8 minutes and 2) if this pace is sustained for the entire game, we're all going to suffer cardiac arrest.

Obviously, Bungie has not been on vacation for the last two years. Perhaps the most startling aspect of the demo is the seamless integration of scripted events and unrelenting action.

Halo 2 looks astounding, but we expected that. What we really hope to see is the game running on high definition plasma monitors, not the somewhat dark and muddy projection screens used for the demo.

To say Halo 2 has promise would be like saying the Pacific Ocean has water. Honestly, this may have been the best demo we've ever seen.

The only problem, the only hitch in the whole plan, is that we have to wait upwards of a year for the release of the full game. It's going to be tough, but the massages from Halle should ease the pain.

We've got all the quality Halo 2 footage you could hope for coming this week.

Tony Scinta
Staff writer, Kikizo Games