All this and Halo 2

A little before nine this morning I uttered these immortal words - a small, dvd sized package had landed on the door mat. The label said it was from play.com - oh, be still my beating heart, but not, er, *too* still if that's ok with you. I placed it carefully on top of the cabinet in the hall way and went back to work.

Five O'Clock eventually rolled around and I eagerly opened my parcel like a child on Christmas morning. Hot diggerty - Halo 2, in just about the coolest looking box I have ever seen a game arrive in. A little longer to wait though - I took Barney for a walk and helped Jan unpack the shopping and then slipped that saucy little silver disc into my xbox.

Oh. My.

The game opened with a cut scene of stunning grandeur. Vast, alien vistas and the leader of the Covenant Elite Guard on trial for heresy, intercut with scenes of the Master Chief receiving his campaign medals. Powerful stuff, and not surprisingly the game kicks into gear with a scrappy fire fight aboard a space station in a similar vein to the first Halo, but with a couple of "What the fu-" moments to shake things up a little. The graphics have been given a noticable polish and the AI has been beefed up as well - this is not going to be a cakewalk. I finished my first jaunt on the single player campaign with a trip down to the surface of Earth to a stunningly realised African city in the midst of an fully fledged invasion. Burning jeeps littered the rubble strewn streets, palm trees swayed in the breeze and gargantuan alien fighting machines passed overhead.

Wow.

After a hastily consumed curry, I logged into Live for a go at the multi-player. The interface was a little confusing, but it didn't take me too long to find some people I knew playing a beach assault level. I gradually clawed my way up the leader board with each game, until the numbers were reduced to just four in a 2vs2 skirmish. I was teamed with a Dutch guy but the two players we were facing were really good and I struggled to get the 3 kills that I did, as opposed to the 25 that they handed to us. I called it a night, but I will be back for more.

Oh yes.