G-pinions

Per the request of resident virgin hungry God Dan, I will update this site on the only topic anyone cares about: Halo 2. To think the game has been out for 34 hours now, and this is the first mention of it anywhere on G-Pinions. It's almost as if Nick and I were busying doing something else yesterday... If anything, one should look at our un-updated site, and assume, just from that, that Halo 2 is a good game. You know if it disappointed in any way I would have climbed upon my horse and shouted the weaknesses, in sequential order, to all who would listen. To alleviate any concern, Halo 2 is not just the best FPS released this generation, it is also my new favorite game from this generation as well. It's only real problem is the same thing Halo: Combat Evolved struggled with - it still isn't Perfect Dark. It still doesn't have bots, counter-op, challenges, weapon testing modes, and cheats that can be opened by quickly completing levels. But, what it does have is an amazing online mode and some purty graphics. Now that the obvious comparison is out of the way - On With The Show!

The first thing I did upon firing up this game for the first time in the comfort of my own home, was go online and see just how perfect Bungie made it. For those looking for a random match, there are a number of options available. Rumble Pit, for example, places you in a match with up to 7 other gamers in non team based rule sets. There are other modes with team options and even larger groups, but Rumble Pit is the way to go.

I lucked out, after only my 3rd match online (after suffering through an Assault match where I had no clue what I was doing and a Slayer Match with 10 year olds) I happened upon a group of awesome players. I joined forces with ShadowCat, Grolley, JrBaconCheese and a few others, utilizing the party feature. With this, you can play random matches with people you already know so you don't have to find a new group all the time. We eventually recruited 8 players and took part in some crazy matches all over the Halo-verse (second consecutive column I've used that term.. I like it!)

The highlight of our romp was a 3 round game of Capture the Flag in Coagulation (Blood Gulch 2). Each round lasted until 1 team captured the flag 3 times, which made the entire match last an hour. It was fantastic. After getting completely flattened in the first round, my teammates and I regrouped to devise an unstoppable strategy. I don't want to divulge our tasty little secrets, but just know that I was taken off the front line and placed on defensive detail where I belong. My favorite part of defending the flag was seeing an opponent try to fly a Banshee through the roof of my base. They would invariably get stuck, where I would proceed to pummel them until they could breathe no more. Then, I would push their mangled Banshee on top of the flag to offer one more level of defense. Good times? Nay. Great times.





After my first party broke up, I joined Nick for some chaotic 16 player games. A little too chaotic actually. Even though the levels are huge, I found it was a lot more fun playing them with less people. In fact, I had more fun playing a 4 player match with Lanyon and Brendan in Colossus (who knew it would be so big...?) than a 16 player match in the same level. I think a lot of that had to do with the sheer crapitude of the people I was playing with. Though Nick is clearly heads and shoulders above everyone else I played with yesterday, most other people in my Clan are neither organized nor especially skilled. Bungie had a good idea making random players join up with players of similar skill. Clearly, this game isn't nearly as much fun playing with people who aren't as good as you. I feel for you Nick, I honestly do.

The game still has a slight imbalance with the weapons. Though there isn't anything as powerful as the pistol from Halo: CE, there are a few that give the Klobb a run for its money. The Battle Rifle, for instance, is ass times 10. It's a combination of a sniper rifle without the extreme zoom and a rapid fire pea shooter. The thing shoots in 3 shot bursts like the crappy Mag Sec from Perfect Dark, and does the same nothing damage as the Mag Sec. A worthless weapon. There is also an alien variation of the shotgun which seems to have the impact of melted ice cream. There is a chance I just don't know how to use these guns, but I have a feeling they just suck. At least the Needler is awesome now, as is the plasma pistol.

Oh, and I don't know if you've heard, but there's a sword now. And none of that fancy pants steel crap real swords are made of. This sword is plasma. That means it not only kills in one strike, but also sounds like a light saber giving birth when you whip it out. The only thing better than wielding a sword would be wielding two swords. Hopefully, that will be in Halo 3.

The vehicles are also different in this game. Everyone knows about their destructible nature by now, so I won't even mention that, but I will mention their different controls. The Warthog, for instance, feels completely different. It still has the wacky physics (Thank God) but now it feels much tighter than before. I'm all about the change. It's a blast to drive. The best thing is the ability to take out Ghosts now. In the first Halo, if you were stuck in a Warthog against a Ghost, you could kiss your life goodbye. Now, if you can just crash into the Ghost, you can blow it up in one hit. Awesomocity. The Ghost is also super amazing. It has this sweet turbo charge that lets you fly across all of Blood Gulch in less than 10 seconds. Pure candy.

As my fingers grow tired and my class comes ever closer, I will cut this post short. Just know this game is good enough to buy an Xbox and Live just to play. It may not be Perfect (get it!?) but it's still the best damn game around.

I'm not sure if this Link will work for everyone, but those are the stats of the awesome CTF match I played. It actually lasted 54 minutes and 34 seconds. Amazing.