Ok, here is a compare/contrast I wrote for a friends gaming site about half life 2/halo 2 "Well to start off, I would like to say I already have a biased opinion to when it comes to Halo 2, I simply love the game. I can sit and play the multiplayer for days on end, and then the main game is also fun. So I was skeptical when I was asked to compare these two titles, since I thought "How could anything compare to halo 2?" Well I was severely wrong. Half-Life 2 picks up halos faults, and eats them alive. Don?t get me wrong, Halo 2's faults are minor issues, mainly left after Halo 1 that Bungie didn't have time to fix. But Half-Life 2 has destroyed most of the faults that the first installment to Half-Life had created. Plus the crew at Half-Life 2 worked closely with the mod community when remaking Half-Life, mainly to get there input and help. While the people at Bungie kept there doors shut tighter than a Dolphins butt-hole. Now as for graphics. Now we all know how amazing the Halo 2 graphics are, but at times they become jumpy, and also there are times in the In Game generated scenes, you see it still loading the polygons as the scene starts. While Half-Life 2, other than having un-godly load times on slower PCs, shows simply stunning graphics, with none of the strange slow downs that you experience in Halo2. Not to mention some of the graphical detail in Half-Life 2 far surpasses what they did in Halo2. Now of course we have to talk about the single player games. In this area, Half Life 2 dominates. In single player mode, you experience, ever varying, and ever terrifying scenes and places. The levels and monsters keep you on the edge of your seat for hours. Even after beating it the first time around, you want to play through it again and again. While Halo 2 on the other hand, keeps you busy with the same repetitive level design constantly. Don?t get me wrong, H2 does have some awesome AI in single player, and the AI voices are funny, but after playing through it one time it gets hard to sit through it again. Don?t get me wrong, HL2 has its faults as well in single player. The monsters are quite stupid most of the time, and the battles are easily won. Allot of times it?s either to easy, or too hard, not a delicate mix that propels you to try harder, but also keeps the frustration down. As for sound, Halo 2 pulls out a clear victory. The music in Halo 2 keeps you interested as well as keeps your attention drawn to the game. And also the AI has funny phrase, and is done by familiar voices. The sound effects in H2 are amazing as well. As for Half Life 2, the soundtrack is not bad, but the some of the AI characters are a little bland, and the music is not as awe-inspiring as in H2. But the sound effects in HL2 defiantly beat those in H2. Every little sound of hitting a wall with the crowbar, to the sound of each gun shot, Half Life 2 has very detailed and realistic sounding environmental sounds. Finally, the biggest of all categories, Multiplayer. Both games shine in this category. Halo 2 comes out with Xbox Live support, and the system Bungie has created for online play is simply beautiful and far surpasses the system of the past in any game, once again Bungie has set a new standard, this time in online play. But Half Life 2's Death Match is almost at par in terms of playability with Halo 2's online play. Now don?t get me wrong, HL2 does not have the online system at the level of what Bungie created. I have to say HL2 and H2 both can keep you busy for hours on end playing online with people. Well after hours and hours of playing through both games. I must say I am no longer skeptical that Half Life 2 is on the same level of greatness as Halo 2. I?m still one of the biggest fans of Halo 2, but Half Life 2 has come and stolen the show, with unique level design, and amazing graphics, I must say it is more than difficult picking the greatest FPS of all time with these two blockbuster hits out on the market these days."Well there you go
