Improvements from the first: 1.) Level design: The first Halo was one of the most depressingly repetitive experiences I've ever had in a game. You would go through identical room after identical room, and none of them seemed to have any function outside of the game. In Halo 2, the environments are often rich, interesting and immersing. The best is a huge, beautifully detailed island that you maneuver through about halfway through the game, filled with complex fortresses and military structures.
2.) Combat: in the first game, combat was terribly integrated into the storyline. Battles were repetitive and annoying, and often felt like unnecessary impediments to your mission. Even worse, Halo often felt more like a puzzle game than an action shooter; there often seemed to be a single, precise "solution" that you had to find through trial-and-error for every battle. There's much more pure action in the second game and less insanity-inducing "play for two seconds--die, play for two seconds--die" kind of gameplay.
3.) Less impossible elements: There were many parts of the first game that were almost impossible on Normal mode--it was more or less pure luck that you managed to get through them eventually. These were generally due to 3 factors: ridiculously long reload times, ridiculously long recharge times, and almost nowhere to take cover. In the second game, Bungie has eased all three problems so that the game is much more endurable and fun.
4.) Better vehicle control: 'nuff said.
5.) And perhaps most important of all--BETTER CHECKPOINT FEATURE!!!! In H1, you would literally have to repeat epic twenty-five minute battles because that's not where the next checkpoint was programmed. This infuriating problem has thankfully been fixed in H2.
And now on to what HASN'T been fixed: 1.) Weapons hunting: There's still too much constant searching around for weapons due to limited ammo capacity. Also, while there are plenty of cool weapons in the Halo universe (the shotgun, the Brute Shot, the rocket launcher), most of the time you are stuck with lame weapons like the useless Covenant carbide. Furthermore, why can't I hold more grenades? Grenades are obviously the more important part of combat in both Halo games, yet for some reason I can only hold 8 at a time.
2.) Still WAY too linear. One of my favorite games of all time was Doom 2 for the PC, because each level was a large, sprawling landscape that had to be explored thoroughly before you move on. In H2, you basically make a single bee-line to the end of the level, with no real sense of exploration or freedom of movement.
And on to the new problems: 1.) Most of the new weapons are pretty lame--the carbide (mentioned above) is highly ineffective, as is the brute plasma gun, which you have recharge (literally) every three seconds.
2.) Why are there still so few different kinds of enemies? This always bothered me about the first game, and it bothers me with the second. All the enemies are cut from the same boring, generic sci-fi cloth, with little personality. There are few cool bosses to beat. Just the same moderately difficult drones from start to finish.
3.) Biggest gripe of all: PLAYING AS THE ARBITER IS ANNOYING! First of all, it's a pain trying to discern which aliens are your friends and which are your foes, since they look exactly alike. Secondly, instead of getting a flashlight (which would be very helpful during some of the darker moments in the game), you have a fairly pointless "cloaking" device, which makes you invisible for about two seconds.
All in all, I give it about 8/10.
2.) Combat: in the first game, combat was terribly integrated into the storyline. Battles were repetitive and annoying, and often felt like unnecessary impediments to your mission. Even worse, Halo often felt more like a puzzle game than an action shooter; there often seemed to be a single, precise "solution" that you had to find through trial-and-error for every battle. There's much more pure action in the second game and less insanity-inducing "play for two seconds--die, play for two seconds--die" kind of gameplay.
3.) Less impossible elements: There were many parts of the first game that were almost impossible on Normal mode--it was more or less pure luck that you managed to get through them eventually. These were generally due to 3 factors: ridiculously long reload times, ridiculously long recharge times, and almost nowhere to take cover. In the second game, Bungie has eased all three problems so that the game is much more endurable and fun.
4.) Better vehicle control: 'nuff said.
5.) And perhaps most important of all--BETTER CHECKPOINT FEATURE!!!! In H1, you would literally have to repeat epic twenty-five minute battles because that's not where the next checkpoint was programmed. This infuriating problem has thankfully been fixed in H2.
And now on to what HASN'T been fixed: 1.) Weapons hunting: There's still too much constant searching around for weapons due to limited ammo capacity. Also, while there are plenty of cool weapons in the Halo universe (the shotgun, the Brute Shot, the rocket launcher), most of the time you are stuck with lame weapons like the useless Covenant carbide. Furthermore, why can't I hold more grenades? Grenades are obviously the more important part of combat in both Halo games, yet for some reason I can only hold 8 at a time.
2.) Still WAY too linear. One of my favorite games of all time was Doom 2 for the PC, because each level was a large, sprawling landscape that had to be explored thoroughly before you move on. In H2, you basically make a single bee-line to the end of the level, with no real sense of exploration or freedom of movement.
And on to the new problems: 1.) Most of the new weapons are pretty lame--the carbide (mentioned above) is highly ineffective, as is the brute plasma gun, which you have recharge (literally) every three seconds.
2.) Why are there still so few different kinds of enemies? This always bothered me about the first game, and it bothers me with the second. All the enemies are cut from the same boring, generic sci-fi cloth, with little personality. There are few cool bosses to beat. Just the same moderately difficult drones from start to finish.
3.) Biggest gripe of all: PLAYING AS THE ARBITER IS ANNOYING! First of all, it's a pain trying to discern which aliens are your friends and which are your foes, since they look exactly alike. Secondly, instead of getting a flashlight (which would be very helpful during some of the darker moments in the game), you have a fairly pointless "cloaking" device, which makes you invisible for about two seconds.
All in all, I give it about 8/10.