My recent reviews have begun to sound like admissions of a secret guilt, listing all my vices and my unwitting dependence on them. Well this one will prove (if proof was needed) just how easily I become entrapped within the icy claws of addiction. You see I don’t even have an x-box, I don’t have any kind of console in fact, the closest I get to a games machine is my personal computer, which unfortunately is in the process of dying slowly. So by now you have either stopped reading or are completely confused as to where this review is going to end up. It may seem odd to most people how I can love an x-box game, when I have no personal access to the one method of playing it, well I shall explain.

The games release date was delayed and delayed and delayed, my friend was becoming far more frustrated, and little did I know but this irritation was contagious. Finally one magic day he came to see me with a ticket in his hands and an excited look on his face. ‘What’s that I enquired’ he replied something like ‘this is a voucher to go to the early release sale of Halo 2’ excitedly I wondered when is it ‘tommorow he said’ so soon after so long, now it was finally here. Whilst the idea of mingling with reprobates and game freaks appeared a little unnecessary for a weekday evening I tagged along for the ride, fortunately after a lengthy trip to a local bar I was intoxicated enough to stand waiting at midnight for the games release. I have never seen such a commotion over a single item, people were literally clambering for it, it was a scene of geekish chaos. I was beginning to get concerned for my life and my sanity. It suddenly dawned on me that I was no more different than any of these other poor morsels of human existence; I was there for the same reason. Although I tried to imply as loudly as possible that I was only there to keep my friend company, everybody knew that I was an addict, the symptoms can be seen from a mile off. The excited rocking on my feet, the tentative looks at the watch the unnerving knowledge of the game, what had I become?

The levels are immense, drifting throughout numerous far-fetched space-like landscapes. Most levels you take control of a biomechanical fighting machine as in the first Halo episode. But due to an ingenious plot twist you get to play as the Arbiter, which is a hideous space monster, who was initially the enemy but somehow becomes part of the same team, but who cares about plot anyway? All I know is that whoever I am I want to blow up, kill and maim as much as possibly can. The game has a beautiful brutality to it, driving the most timid f characters into becoming a killing machine.

Now my ignorance is going to show even more prominently, the characters are a little more advanced than the last outing of the game. There is the main character which you play as which is a Master Chief or something similar, I wouldn’t usually call him this but as young impressionable may be reading I’ll keep it clean. He fights against millions of bad guys, all hideous all with their own strengths and weaknesses, but each terrifying the life out of the ignorant gamer like myself. There are the elites, a deadly fighting alien that will shoot to kill and in my case it usually succeeds, now they form part of a roving band of aliens called the covenant. In this group there are any number of aliens raging from the huge warriors to the small irritating grunts (usually called sh**lets in my house). They are backed up by all kinds of aliens, some which can fly some with sniper guns some with rocket launchers. Then there are the monstrosities which come under the banner term of the ‘flood’. Just like a real flood, they are a never ending torrent of bad guys, one appears and it is followed by dozens of similarly garish counterparts. Very irritating baddies because some explode, some have very strong whips instead of arms and some are just loaded up to the eyeballs with an arsenal of weapons.

The intrigue and constant fascination with this game and its predecessor derives from it’s instant playability. It is just a fascinating romp through the alien worlds of the weirdest computer minds in America. The graphics are something else, it clearly utilises all the modern landscaping and character forming devices available in modern technology. It is a lasting testament to just how far gaming has come over the years, and stands up as the greatest example of graphical expertise in this era of gaming. Whilst my knowledge may be restricted to just a few examples, I can honestly say that I've never seen or played anything this technical and this complete. It has the gameplay to rival any other publication and the aesthetics to back it up. It is as entertaining as it is visually stunning and it is this that makes it such a draw to millions across the world.