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This Week in Xbox:

3, 2, 1, LAUNCH!

By Ryan McCaffrey, Assistant Editor, Official Xbox Magazine

In my first week with Halo® 2, I must have easily put 30 hours of my free time into the game. About ten of them into the campaign (this was my second time through, having first played it at Bungie Studios for the Official Xbox Magazine exclusive review), and the rest spent on Xbox Live® in multiplayer. And, after really spending quality (*cough* obsessive *cough*) time online, I can confidently say that this is not only the best pure multiplayer gameplay the Xbox® has to offer, but is the greatest multiplayer experience in all of gaming.

Master Chiefs battle it out on Xbox Live.

First, there’s the game itself. From the dual-wielding to the boarding to the vehicle physics to the weapon balance, the entire effort is harmonically tuned. There are no pistol-esque overpowered sidearms as was the case in the first Halo—if anything, the visually-intimidating Brute Shot is a tad underpowered—but I’m not complaining. Indeed, Halo 2’s arsenal truly epitomizes the old saying, "A place for everything and everything in its place." The shotgun counters the energy sword up close; the vehicles can boost to evade a locked-on rocket; even the team items (the Oddball and the flag) can be used to beat down point-blank attackers.

Gotta love those gun turrets.

The second part of the amazing Halo 2 package is the game’s front end. Both the matchmaking system and party features are brilliant. The former has the game do all of the work for you; if you want to jump into a small team game, you just pick that mode and go. If you want a big team brawl, no problem. One-on-one? Sure. And, more options will be added by Bungie in the future.

Vehicles can make all the difference.

The party system is another genius innovation that should—nay, must—be copied by all Xbox Live games from this day forward. By simply creating a room, only those on your Friends List or Clan List can join. But, then their buddies can join, and so on. Before you know it, you’ve got an 8-, 12-, or 16-player packed house, and you can play anything you want. Coagulation with Wraiths? Easily done. Swords-only Oddball (a.k.a. Swordball) on Midship? Yes. And, you can take your entire party and dump it into the Matchmaker, allowing your crew to take on another group of equal strength. Even if there are only three of you, Halo 2 will do this—and it’s even smart enough to make sure that your party is put on the same team.

I already have dozens of memorable Halo 2 stories, and I’m sure you do too. That’s why this game is great.

Oh, and I haven’t even talked about how Bungie.net makes the experience even better. More on that next time.

Livin’ Live
Sure, there’s still plenty of great gaming available on XboxLive, but given the fact that Halo 2 pulled in over 350,000 unique players in one day during its first week, Bungie’s battlefields are clearly where all the action is.

Tip of the Week
When defending in a round-by-round mode (such as Assault or 1-Flag CTF) on Burial Mounds, make sure someone on your team gets to the energy sword right at the start of the match. It’s a handy base defense tool, but, more importantly, if you have it that means the other team doesn’t.

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