Daniel "Finn" Barbour of Halo Story Fame's review of Halo, entitled How I learned to stop worrying and criticize Halo 2, is getting passed around again in wider circles courtesy of a link from Joystiq; it's a good look from a critical fan, not an Xbox fanboi or a Halo Hater. If you missed this back in December, check it out now.

After three levels of action on Earth, Halo 2 does two unexpected things: it takes the Master Chief away from humanity's homeworld unexpectedly, and it places the player in the size 14 horseshoes of The Arbiter, the once-disgraced Covenant Elite commander blamed for the destruction of Installation 04 now tasked with impossible missions that his Prophet Hierarch leaders believe-- and perhaps even hope-- will claim his life.

Team 7hr33, consisting of Daniel "Finn" Barbour of the Halo Story Page, Richard "Shovelface" Nickel and Rob-Roy "M3" Schmidt have put up their review of Halo 2, titled Page of Woah|Woe, or, How I learned to stop worrying and criticize Halo 2.

K.R. Wicks of Rockslide Megabattle fame put up his own review of Halo 2, entitled Halo 2 Disappointment. Generally, it is a nice collation of most of the complaints that many players have had about the game, altough the postscript, added on November 29, is more harsh:

IGN has a four-page wrapup on how well Halo 2 lived up to its hype, how some expectations were so high they were bound to lead to disappointment, and how the game does, in fact, fall short in some areas. A nicely rounded description-- it almost sounds like it's from a Bungie fan and not an Xbox game reviewer. Thanks Louis Wu.

Rampancy's series of Halo 2 Impressions continues today with Outskirts, a level that is fun to play but despite major additions seems to somehow pale against the drama and promise of the New Mombassa trailer from E3 2003. You can find information on Halo 2's campaign and multiplayer levels in our Halo 2 Guide.

Looks like Lore Sjöberg at Wired was disappointed by Halo 2's ending. Thanks Louis Wu. In addition, there are fan reviews of Halo 2 by mothergoat and ragereset in the HBO forum that, while not always positive, are thought-provoking.

As I've not yet finished Halo 2, and with work and the holidays I'm not sure when I will, I've decided to review Halo 2 in pieces rather than as a whole, logging my impressions of the game as I play through it. The Halo 2 Impressions page will break the game down level by level; it won't be completely a review, nor completely a walkthrough, and one of the major points of emphasis will be comparison and contrast to Halo 1 and Marathon.