They'll talk to each other more and most of them will speak English this time and coordinate attacks. As tenacious as the first game's bad guys were, Halo 2's enemies will make you fight even harder for every inch of ground. Bump mapping--the rendering hocus pocus powering much of Halo 2's advanced new visual vibe--is a magic word with Bungie, because it's letting the team achieve an astonishing level of detail in the sequel's environments and on its characters and objects.
Bump mapping's tech-nerd definition is that it's an Xbox-friendly rendering process that overlays a map of three-dimensional details--treads on a tire, buckles on gear, gouges on body armor--onto a polygonal model's flat skin. If you think of a 3D model such as a vehicle or character as a simple shape hacked out of wood, then bump mapping is the process of sculpting out all the fine details. Bungie's artists are sculpting everything with bump maps in Halo 2, and it works beautifully.
Just look at the screens and watch the trailer. Everything in the game, including marines, weapons and retouched Halo 1 models, will be sculpted for maximum visual impact. It's much more believable.
And the whole point here is that such believability doesn't come at the expense of the game's performance. The bump mapping helps us make the game look so much better while not demanding anything more of the Xbox.
Many Bungie guys we talked to guesstimate that Halo 2's visuals are an order of magnitude better than the first game. That boost isn't just from the bump mapping's pumped-up detail: Half the pizazz comes from the sequel's advanced new real-time engine for creating light and shadow, which reacts more realistically to bump maps than to ordinary textures. Watch Master Chief descend in a wire-mesh elevator and you'll see shadows dance around everything in the scene as he passes each floor.
When the hangar airlock doors rumble open in the trailer, you see harsh sunlight, reflected from the Earth outside, bathe the scene and wash out weaker light sources. Bungie calls such splashes of overpowering light the "bloom effect. Bungie's artists are creating textures with this new lighting model in mind, whereas in Halo 1 the lighting engine came in fits and starts, and the artists never really got the hang of it.
Now it's letting them achieve the subtlest of details, such as the way every model in the game casts shadows on itself as well as its surroundings. It's so subtle, but it's so cool. You don't really appreciate the sequel's lighting effects until the lights go out completely.
It's a situation you could find yourself in frequently, since that Master Chief has the ability to shoot out lights and skulk in the shadows this time. Imagine hearing a bump in the dark, cutting loose with your battle rifle and seeing a dozen Covenant enemies strobe-lit by your muzzle flash, their shadows writhing on the walls as they scurry for cover.
By no means will most of Master Chief's new haunts be dim and creepy. Halo 2 is still alt about fighting and shooting and killing. But, yeah, players have this great resource of being able to hide in the shadows now, and we're going to use it in some interesting ways. Halo 1 was the first Bungie game in five years that didn't have Internet play. You can tell the team hates that--they hate it with all their might--especially because the game was originally designed for online.
Microsoft's gaming network just wasn't ready when Halo launched in late , so players had to settle for split-screen or linked-system multiplayer play. It was still ludicrously fun, just not the kind of experience Bungie wanted. Fast forward to Halo 2's launch a year from now. Xbox Live, Microsoft's broadband-gaming network, will be a year old with its kinks ironed out.
Bungie will be able to stop drooling and we can start: Halo 2 will feature online battles between Master Chief characters on one side and Covenant Elite soldiers on the other. The plan is for online to support at least 12 to 16 players. It'll be nothing less than the total online war Bungie originally envisioned. Bungie has other big plans for Halo 2 multiplayer that they're just not ready to chat about. They know they want to enhance the cooperative mode of the main campaign game, but they probably won't make it playable over the 'Net "That's really hard to do," Jones says.
And they've heard all your gripes about the first game's lack of computer-controlled 'bot opponents for multiplayer. We want to do something for them, but I don't know what it's going to be. We can't wait to try online dogfighting in soaring new vehicles.
We can't wait to try multiplayer battles in low gravity. We can't wait to play as a Covenant Elite wielding a human shotgun. We just can't wait for Halo 2. And the funny thing is, neither can Bungie. Ultimately, that's the numero-uno reason this sequel should turn out great. As fun and polished as the first Halo was, most of the game came together in the final month of development. Bungie has been working on Halo 2 since six weeks after they finished the first one, planning every little detail, making sure this sequel lives up to their original vision.
If that ain't good news, what is? Now what the hell are we going to do about that month wait again? To say that Halo 2 is already one of the most successful game titles of all time is an understatement. Hovering just around 2 million units in pre-order sales, the success of this impressive sequel is guaranteed. However, is the hype worth the price? How much has changed from that familiar formula that we know and love? Will rockets on prisoner ever be fair?
Let me try to answer these questions and more. The graphics are hotter than ever, and the bump-mapping technology, which gives even simple textures an illusion of depth and reality, looks even better than you could've imagined. With the ability to play in HDTV resolution, you can get one mean looking picture out of this game.
Additionally, if you've got a widescreen TV, you can split the screen vertically for co-op mode, giving each player a better view area. Backing up the visuals is Halo 2's sound, yet again top notch with a more kinetic, frenetic feel.
The music has gotten the same treatment, and you can even listen to two Halo 2 soundtracks outside of the game. Gameplay, it's all there, and it brought along a bag of chips. The action is more intense, more challenging.
Dual-wielding brings a new tactic to the table, and the removal of the pistol scope for sake of the battle rifle is a welcome change. No longer will the pistol be dominant in multiplayer maps. As before, you'll find an engaging storyline wrapped around this gameplay, and excellent design choices mean that there's nowhere near the same repetitiveness of the original.
Be prepared for even more story, and even more high quality voice acting, from such actors as Ron Perlman, Michelle Rodriguez, and Michael Wincott. I'll warn you though, the plot takes some twists that not everyone may like, and has an ending that may leave you feeling unfulfilled. Star above all else is Halo 2's multiplayer component. Featuring Xbox Live connectivity, downloadable content, online clan support through Bungie.
Gone are the days where you'd need to search through a server list, replaced by party formation and matchmaking systems that make this an instant winner in my book. This is the party game to beat. All in all, Halo 2 is a top notch game, through and through.
It does have some weaknesses, but they're few and far between, and in some cases, would've seemed like design strengths in other titles I've reviewed. This is an unashamedly good game, and is worth more than retail price. VLC Media Player. MacX YouTube Downloader. Microsoft Office YTD Video Downloader. Adobe Photoshop CC. VirtualDJ Avast Free Security. WhatsApp Messenger. Talking Tom Cat. Clash of Clans. Subway Surfers.
TubeMate 3. Google Play. Canon ink cartridge. Beanie Babies movie on Apple. Twee's return on TikTok. Atari published the game. On review Alien Breed 3: Descent is an action-shooter game developed by Team17 Digital. Team17 Digital published the game. Gears 5 is an action-shooter game developed by The Coalition. It was published by Xbox Game Studios. On review aggregator M Contact : [email protected] - Crackthisgame -.
Crack This Game. Please, disable adblock. Description The Covenant alien race threatens to destroy all humankind, and the only thing standing in its way is Master Chief, a genetically enhanced supersoldier. Your browser does not support the video tag.
0コメント