Halo Triple Pack

"The legendary Halo CE, Halo2, and Halo2 Map-pack all rolled into one"

Two great games, plus extra levels

It's no secret that Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo2 are great games. But why are they so great? Here we go with the dual review. Keep in mind I wont be mentioning the Multi Player Map Pack, since it's an add on and not another game in itself.

Graphics: 9 (Halo CE) 10 (Halo2)

They couldn't have done much better. Halo CE had good graphics for its day, and they still aren't bad. And Halo2 about as good as the current generation game systems will do. If you need better eye candy, you're going to need a “next gen” system.

Sound: 10 (both)

The sound is perfect. There is no music in multi player. That lets you hear what's going on in the battle. The battle sounds on both games are great. Nothing more to say about that.

Story: 7 (Both)

Nothing special. If you want the story of Halo, you might be better off reading the books. They just keep enough story around to be interesting without not taking away from the action.

Single player gameplay: 7.5 (Halo CE)

Halo games aren't usually bought for the single player, but it's still fun to go through. Halo CE's single player has four difficulties (as does Halo2). The difficulty level not only sets how hard that the enemies try to kill you, but how hard they hit. So they get an increase in damage and “wit.” One of the main reason people go through campaign is not only to be able so say “I beat the game on legendary!” (the hardest mode) but people also go through the game to train for multi player. When you put the difficulty up high, the enemies will be stronger than you are. That, combined with the fact that you are always outnumbered, makes for a good challenge at times. One thing that Halo (CE and 2) lack is any sort of medal, trophy, unlockable, ANYTHING telling you how good you did. When you beat the game, it gives you a sort of mark telling what difficulty you beat it on. But it doesn't matter how good you do. It doesn't matter how many aliens you kill, bullets you fire, headshots you get, etc. It doesn't keep track of anything except if you have beaten it or not.

Multi player gameplay: 9 (Halo CE)

I am not rating the multi player 9 because it is really almost perfect, but simply because games don't get much more fun. When Halo CE first came out, there was no other game as fun to play with a LAN party (in my opinion). Halo CE is fun for anyone who likes FPS (First Person Shooters). It is the simplicity that makes it so fun to play. You don't worry about things like wind while sniping (like in a military FPS), or how to use each gun since they are pretty basic. To make the game suit you and your friends, you can make custom games with plenty of options.
One downfall is that you can't choose the weapon set up that well. Most people either play with normal weapons or all long range setting.
Bottom line, if you don't have Xbox live, but you have enough controllers for a party, then Halo CE is the game for you.

Single Player gameplay: 4 (Halo 2)

Halo 2 single player is less fun than the Halo CE single player by far, and Halo CE single player was only decent. You still don't have anything kept track of. No kill counter, no headshot counter, not even a time counter for how long it took to beat the game. And to make it worse, there is another race of aliens to fight. No, it doesn't make it harder. I'll explain. In Halo CE There were three races besides you. To avoid spoilers, I won't name them. On some levels you'll see them fight each other, but not so much that it makes it easy, at least, not in Halo CE. In Halo2 there is a sort of civil war going on with the main race that is trying to fight you. Add that in with the other two races that fight and you have a huge free for all on many levels. You can sit around letting the enemies kill each other off on many levels, and sometimes you almost have to. There is a part of the game where you are actually told by a helper of yours to let enemies fight each other.
But that's not all. Even though many parts are easily avoided rather than beaten, some parts are ridiculously hard. There are enemies that can kill you in one shot from anywhere on the map, even when hitting your player in the foot, hand, etc. After dieing in the blink of an eye, you might have to go back quite a ways. Which brings me to the next problem…

Another thing that bothers me is the saving. You get checkpoints that just save randomly. Usually they happen around the same time, but there are unsaid conditions that you have to find. For example, you might have to walk through the left path when the right path won't save, and if you missed an enemy it might not save, etc. It's the same system that Halo 1 used, it's just worse. Also, since it saves randomly, sometimes it saves just before you die. Then, you'll auto load, and die again. You can try to get out of the “death loop” by jumping around the second it loads, or by pure luck. Other wise, you have to start the level all over again.

The only reasons to go through single play on Halo2 are: 1, Get better at the game so you'll be better in multi player and, 2, get the story.

Multi player gameplay: 9 (Halo2)

Halo2, like Halo CE, is a load of fun to play. Not only can you play this on LAN parties, but also on Xbox Live. There really isn't a limit to how much fun you can have. Just like Halo CE, Halo2 has a simple weapon list, controls that make sense, and even smoother graphics. The reason I couldn't bring my self to rate it any higher than Halo CE is because of some flaws that simply can't be overlooked, no matter how fun Halo2 is.
First off, as you may know, Halo2 didn't really make anything new, but rather combined many good features from other games. This makes for a fun multiplayer experience. But one thing they have not yet added is the weapon selection. You can set weapon list like “sniping only” or “duals only” etc. You cannot simply pick and choose what weapons you want to play with. It's not a new concept, and it would make this a 10/10 game for me and many Halo2 players. The reason it would help so much is because powerful weapons can be overbearing at many times. The rocket launcher, to name one, is very powerful on just about every level. But because you cannot simply choose not to play with rockets, you would have to find a setting that doesn't use rockets like “only alien weapons” since rocket is a human weapon. Most people dislike taking out all human weapons, so the only real option is to try and get everyone to agree on not using the rockets, or whatever weapon is thought to be unfair. That doesn't usually work well, so usually you just have to deal with whatever weapons seems “cheap.” In fact, things like this are such a problem that without the fun and replay of Xbox live, this game really would only get a 7/10 rating from me. Mainly because Xbox Live is the biggest improvement from Halo CE to Halo2… but it really is a big one.

Replay: 9 (Halo CE)

It doesn't get old. In fact, as far as splitscreen/LAN parties go, you won't find a game with better replay.

Replay: 10 (Halo2 with Xbox Live) 8 (without Xbox live)

Xbox live is where Halo2 shines. Sure, it's not always fun. You have games where annoying people get on your nerves; there are cheaters around (hacking, modding, etc.) but I've never gotten as much play out of a game as I have with Halo2. Most people probably don't even realize how long they play. You can sit around playing as the day just flies by. It's never dull on Xbox Live.
However; if you do not have Xbox Live, then this game is just a shiny version of Halo CE with some changes (some people dislike, some people like). Without Xbox Live, there are not enough new things to make it stupendous in any way.

Overall I give this pack a 9

I can't bring myself to give it a 10, although you won't find a better set of games for multiplayer fun. Certain things like the lack of weapon selection and glitches in game make it just short of a perfect 10. The glitches aren't something to worry usually, but when abused by advanced players, some glitches can ruin the whole battle for anyone opposing the players that are good at abusing the glitches.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/12/07