Tips and Tricks

Editor's Note: This one's got a SPOILER or two! Read ahead at your own risk.

Finally, the wait is over. All the hype and excitement have come and gone (well, the hype has; the excitement is still there every time I pick up the controller), and every desperate fan that "needed" a copy upon release has one, and anyone who wants one now just needs to hit up their nearest game retailer. Halo® 2 is present, not future. The gaming world is a different place.

Heh heh heh.

Of course, we all have to now play the frigging thing, and, just like the original, Halo 2 (especially on Hard and Legendary difficulties), is flat out intensely difficult. Besting the Covenant and all they have to offer is no easy task, and that's why we've brought our heads together at Xbox.com to come up with a list of tips that may help you along the way. Some of these are very specific tips about certain situations. They won't be applicable at all times, but they should all be useful. Also, because these tips involve specific scenarios, minorSPOILERS will be inevitable. We'll try not to ruin anything for you, but if you're really sensitive to such things, you may want to hold off for a little bit.

Two Guns, One Target
As we all know from the 2003 E3 demo, Master Chief gets to dual-wield guns. This is not just an aesthetic upgrade, though. Dual-wielded weapons have their advantages and disadvantages. Here are the two major ones:

• If you use your melee attack while dual-wielding (press the B button), you'll immediately drop the weapon in your left hand, so keep this in mind before picking up a second weapon. Pressing the B button also works great for dropping that second weapon to throw a grenade.
• An energy weapon in one hand and a ballistic weapon in the other is a good strategic choice. This way, you can knock out the shields of an enemy quickly with the energy weapon and then follow it up with bullet fire for a quick dispatch.

Back at it again.

Getting Boarded
Master Chief can now board someone else's vehicle (and evict them in the process). Not only can he leap up and take over a vehicle, but he can do this while the enemy is barreling down on him. There are a few things to note here:

• Time your button press to board the vehicle to a half-second or so before the vehicle gets to you (if you're trying to board a vehicle that's bearing down on you, otherwise just run up alongside the vehicle and press the X button). Also, make sure you press the X button down for a second or so. Don't just tap it.
• Make sure your first target after commandeering a new ride is the Covenant freak you just took it from. Otherwise, they'll board you right back, which is no fun at all.
• (SPOILER ALERT) Here's a third bonus trick. When you fight the Covenant's prophet Regret, don't sweat trying to gun him down. Instead, jump up and use the X button to grab onto his little hovering mechanism. You won't be able to actually get him off of it, but while you're attached, you can use the B button to pound him into oblivion with your armored fists.
  

Damn Brutes!
The Brutes are savage enemies. They come at you as much with fists (and a well-placed shoulder charge) as they do with their guns, and it only takes a hit or two to take you out. You've got three best bets to take them out.

• Snipe them from afar with the human or Covenant sniper rifle. A couple shots to the head ought to do it.
• Get into melee combat with them when you have the energy sword. Wait till they charge you, and then jump over or around their charge and come at them from behind with a couple swipes of the energy sword.
• One plasma grenade stuck to their hide will kill them outright.

Damn drop-ships.

The Hunters
Many may have fond or not-so-fond memories of their first encounter with the huge green-armored Hunters in Halo®: Combat Evolved. Well, they're back, and the same rules for killing them apply. For the uninitiated, they are:

• You have to hit the exposed orange fleshy areas. You'll find them under their chin, along their ribcages, and on their back.
• If you can, use the sniper rifle from afar. If you can't, try to use the scope on the battle rifle.
• Like the Brutes, the Hunters can be killed by a well-placed plasma grenade, but it will take more than one.
• Don't bother with inaccurate weapons like the plasma rifle or the SMG. Also, don't use the energy sword on these fellows; it just won't work.

Hopefully these tips will ease your pain in the aforementioned situations. Now, stop reading and get back to playing. That's why you bought Halo 2 in the first place!

By Alex McLain