[bad soda]

[XBOX] Halo 2 – SCORE:  7.75
Highest Level Achieved:  Campaign mode only twice, once the day of its release and once the day before Halo 3’s release; I played only on Normal, and only Co-op.  But hours of online game time, days possibly.
Description:  Halo popularity, but this time it went online.  Xbox Live owes its life and current dominance to this game.  Still Co-op through the story, except this time with awkwardly glitchy graphics during every cut scene.

While not an entirely unique game for its time if including PC titles, Halo firmly established the standard for console shooters from the speed and feel of the controls to the selection of weapons and multiplayer modes.  And it’s not entirely surprising that it became such a standard, this is an amazing game had a drive to be the best.  From the custom consoles to the promised sequels, Halo was not an underdog.  Halo 2, however, was the payoff of all the set-up and marketing.

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[XBOX] Halo: Combat Evolved – SCORE: 9
Highest Level Achieved: Once through solo on Normal difficulty back in 2002, and then dozens of co-op completions with attempts on various Legendary levels; and, of course, years of occasional competitive multiplayer.
Description: THE iconic first-person-shooter for home consoles. Cooperative play through the campaign mode and local or system-link competitive play make it a game worth playing again and again.

The snobby elitist inside of me is shamed that Halo is being granted such a high score. But having just played it through again, I can’t honestly give it any lower. The epic scale of the campaign mode felt heavy handed, but it was still present and the levels repetitive design didn’t make them any less grandiose. Honestly, I was shooting alien jets out of the air with a futuristic tank, just because I did the same thing again in a similar looking area doesn’t take that away from me.

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