E3 2004: Halo 2 Hands-On, Screens, Vids

We played a variation on capture the flag in which a four-man attack team attempts to steal a flag from a fortified base and return it to their spawn point. The attackers started on a beach separated from the defenders' base by a natural rock wall. They had two vehicles at their disposal - a warthog equipped with a rocket launcher and a revamped Ghost able to reach speeds double those of the original.

In a simple but utterly amazing twist on the old CTF theme, the defending team could not return the flag once it had been removed from their base. If you iced the offending flag-stealer, the flag stayed where it was dropped. The defenders would basically set up a new defense perimeter and the attackers would try to break the lines and move the flag incrementally forward. It may sound strange, but it worked remarkably well.

You probably already know how gorgeous Halo 2 looks and, like the original game, how wonderfully it plays. What stunned me was its impeccable balance.

Inside the Halo 2 gameplay theatre at E3 2004

Our match consisted of five 3-minute rounds, with the teams switching roles after each round (i.e., attackers became defenders). The attackers successfully returned the flag to the spawn point twice (one victory for each team), and defenders thwarted their advance the other three times. Every game was punctuated by teeth-gnashing intensity, and in four of the five rounds the outcome was in doubt until the waning seconds of the contest. How's that for balance?

We saw more action in our 15 minute session than Paris Hilton sees in an entire weekend. I'll recount a few of my favorites moments:

We were starting our second attack run and the guy next to me jumped in a warthog and asked if I wanted to man the rocket launcher. He peeled off and no one attacked us as we made our way toward the enemy's base. When we approached their stronghold, they suddenly opened up with heavy machine guns mounted on the second level of the base. Our warthog was bouncing and sliding over the terrain, pieces of metal were getting sheared off the hull, and explosions were rattling our teeth, but I got a quick glimpse of the nearest turret and drilled it with a perfect rocket strike. The whole thing blew to hell in a shower of sparks and concrete. I was one shred of decency away from jumping up and pounding my chest like Tarzan.

I almost pulled the Tarzan act again the first time I brandished the dual weapons. I had a plasma rifle in one hand and a sub-machine gun in the other. Some pitiful fool tried to attack me with just a smg and I unleashed hell with both barrels. He went down in an eyeblink. It was awesome.

In the very last round they had our flag and were well on their way to victory. I was the only one nearby and I was armed with just the needler, but I still knew it would be enough to take him down (he couldn't fire back and lugging the flag slows you down). What I didn't know is that I only had five rounds left. Bastard. I'm 20 feet behind him, he's almost at the goal, and I don't have so much as a pea shooter.

So I hauled ass and busted him on the back of the head with a melee attack. He dropped like a ton of bricks about 10 feet from the goal. Then my teammates showed up. I jumped in the back of an abandoned warthog and everyone else opened fire as the attackers tried to move the flag the last few feet to victory. Somehow, we held them off. I was practically waiting for my teammates to put me on their shoulders and carry me around the room while Bungie blasted "We are the champions."

It doesn't count as a favorite "moment," but I have to say that the new vehicular damage is impressive, and the destructible environments add so much to the experience. Blasting chunks of metal off the warthog or shattering a concrete barricade with a well-placed rocket blast provide such a visceral, adrenaline-loaded rush. I practically felt more intent on destroying things than achieving our objectives.

The only drawback to the Halo 2 experience is that I won't be able to play it in full until November 9. Pure torture. I saw quite a few excellent console games at E3, but the gap in visuals, gameplay, and style between Halo 2 and many games on the floor is bigger than I could have imagined.

Put simply, if the demo is any indication, Halo 2 is going to be a license to print money.

Tony Scinta
Staff Writer, Kikizo.com