It's here. The long wait is finally over, as Xbox owners will be able to stroll into their local game shop on Tuesday to pick up what might be the most highly anticipated game of all time. For the last three years, speculation and rumors have been all over the internet, every screenshot and video has been obsessively analyzed, and still people want to know more about Halo 2. The game's developer, Bungie, has done a masterful job of teasing the audience, offering up just enough information to keep them clambering for more. Now that it's finally here, there's one final question: was it worth the wait? In a word, yes. In two words, hell yeah!

For those of you who have just awoken from your coma, Halo 2 is the sequel to the most popular Xbox game of all time, which launched with the system and went on to redefine what gamers should expect from a console shooter. In some ways, though, calling Halo 2 a sequel lessens the importance of the game, which will undoubtedly stand as the greatest Xbox game of all time. Like the films "The Godfather 2" and "Aliens", Halo 2 is superior to its predecessor in many ways, impressively building on the universe introduced in the first game. Although most of the talk on game forums is about dual wielding, vehicle jacking, and other additions to the gameplay, nothing is more impressive than the game's story.


From the opening cutscene, all the way through to the end of the game, the folks at Bungie have crafted a tale that grabs you by throat and never lets go. In the first game, the story took a backseat to the fantastic action sequences, and although there were some interesting elements, the tale was essentially one of survival. It was effective, but I usually felt like the cutscenes were only in place to give you a break between battles. However, in Halo 2, the storyline is the centerpiece of the game, and you'll find that your fighting will serve as a vehicle to advance the plot, which has enough twists, turns, and surprises to keep you riveted from start to finish.

The game begins shortly after the final events of Halo, and everyone's favorite Spartan is finally getting a chance to relax onboard one of the human ships. During a medal ceremony, however, the dreaded Covenant begin to attack Earth, and Master Chief springs back into action. After performing some amazing feats of derring-do, the Chief ends up on Earth, only to find that ... wait, what am I doing? I'm sorry, but I just can't tell you any more. The less you know about the plot of the game, the better your experience will be. When I played through for the first time, I was completely engrossed as the story slowly unfolded before me. There's a reason that Bungie has taken such care in keeping the plot a secret, and I'm certainly not going to be the one to ruin it for everyone. You can be sure, however, that the writing is top-notch, from the story itself to the chatter on the battlefield. There are an estimated 17,000 lines of dialogue in the game, so you're guaranteed to hear something different every time you play.