HALO 2 - USE OF WEAPONS

Part three of our ultimate online hands-on with Bungie' s masterpiece

17:19 Our essential Halo 2 special continues as we get trigger-happy with every new and improved weapon.

Guns don' t kill people, Master Chiefs do - but all the new and improved weapons in Halo 2 certainly make the job easier. We' ve told you how Halo 2' s multiplayer worked (if you missed it catch up here) and given you the full low-down on the five multiplayer maps we thrashed (check them out here). Now it' s time to get to grips with the heavy weaponry.

We tried out dual wielding at E3 and played around with the new assault rifle and plasma swords, but there are a lot of other changes even more far-reaching than we expected. The guys at Bungie told us that they weren' t too happy with the balance of the guns in the first game, so they' ve done loads of work ensuring every single weapon is a potent killing tool. Here' s the rundown on all the upgrades and the new additions we got a chance to play around with:

Improved/Amended Weapons

Magnum: Remember the Pistol? The little handgun with the scope that quickly became the weapon of choice for true masters of Halo multiplayer? Well, now it' s called a Magnum. It' s actually been made weaker than Halo' s Pistol because Bungie thought that for such a small weapon it was punching way above its weight. The scope has been stripped making one-shot-kill headshots much more difficult, the firing rate' s slower, and it doesn' t have as much power. It' s kind of annoying at first and a bit disappointing that the Pistol has been relegated to being a puny last resort, but you' ll get used to it quickly.

Assault Rifle: In Bungie' s opinion the Assault Rifle was the most disappointing weapon in the original Halo. Remixed for the sequel, the weak and inaccurate spread fire of the original has been replaced with a far more direct and powerful semi-automatic three shot volley. You can' t just hold down the trigger and spray an enemy with bullets, but taking time to properly aim your shots will pay greater dividends. A scope with double magnification has been added too, so you can zoom in and nail the headshot. The result is a Rifle that' s not ideal in close quarters combat, but great for precision defence of strategic points.

Needler: In the original Halo the Needler was the ugly acne-addled minger of the weapons selection - you' d only touch it if you were really desperate. In Halo 2 it' s far more potent. While the needles subtly homed in on their prey before, they now descend onto their victim like a swarm of angry wasps. They' re faster and more accurate, and they make a much more audible fizzing noise as they close in on you, which, coupled with Halo 2' s amazing new surround sound coding, can be quite terrifying if they' re heading your way. Not only that, they drain your shields much more effectively when they stick you and if you get punctured by more than a couple, death is almost guaranteed when they pop.

Shotgun: Everyone' s favourite rib-splitter is back and it' s even more evil than ever. From about ten to twenty metres the Shotgun will spread deadly buckshot across an opponent' s body and cause much more damage than before, and at point blank range it won' t just kill them with one shot - it' ll spread their guts across the level in a beautiful shower of misty blood. Lovely.

Rocket Launcher: Love ' em or hate ' em, you' re going to have to master the art of rocket launching if you want to rule Halo 2 online. It' s still a one-hit-kill weapon, but this time around, as we' ve reported before, the rockets have a slight homing tweak, so the projectile will subtly follow its prey. This is especially useful against vehicles; Bungie wanted to stop players squashing everyone like a turbo-charged steamroller, and homing rockets certainly help.

New Toys

SMG: Bungie told us that the SMG is the gun Halo' s Assault Rifle should have been. It' s small, but it spits out bullets at such a phenomenal rate that it' s extremely satisfying to use and undoubtedly effective. It also makes a seriously cool ' BRAAAAAAAP' sound effect and floods most of the screen with muzzle flash when you squeeze the trigger, which we like. Powerful and accurate, the SMG' s a serious little blood-spiller. Use two at once and you' ll spray guts all over the place!

Covenant Carbine: The Covenant force' s answer to the human Assault Rifle, the Carbine is a high-powered, semi-automatic rifle and a double magnification scope for sniping. It makes a brilliant ' CRACK' noise when you fire and the bolts of energy seem even more powerful than the Assault Rifle' s bullets. The Carbine doesn' t fire as quickly as the Plasma Rifle, but never overheats and comes with unlimited ammo.

Brute Shot: The name suggests this massive beast of a gun will be wielded by one of Master Chief' s new enemies, the gorilla-like Brute we saw in last year' s E3 demo movie. It' s bloody huge and it' ll slow your movement considerably, but you' ll be rewarded with the chance to launch explosive charges that nail anyone in their path. Think of it as a high velocity grenade launcher. We managed to inflict one-hit-kills on enemies by shooting a projectile through their body and then watched in delight as it exploded, throwing their corpse in the air and damaging anyone in the vicinity. Oh, and it' s got a ruddy great axe on the back for killer melee moves!

Beam Rifle: A Covenant-engineered sniper rifle, this long-range weapon brings death from afar with unstoppable bolts of energy. Another weapon of choice for players with eagle eyes, the Beam Rifle is equipped with staggering levels of super-zoom and a faster rate of fire than the human Sniper Rifle. When you fire it the beam leaves a glowing trail of energy in its wake, kind of like the Sniper Rifle' s tracer, so it looks cool when you' re trading shots with someone halfway across the map and the sky is streaked with energy. Seems to come with unlimited ammo, too.

Plasma Sword: It' s going to be terrifying coming up against a troop of Elites armed with these. The Plasma Sword is shockingly effective when used to slice and dice up close, but if you lock onto an enemy from a distance of about five metres one squeeze of the right trigger busts out a one-hit-kill uppercut! Trust us, Plasma Sword-only Slayer matches are going to become a cult event.

Death Multiplied

Dual-wielding weapons was one of the promised features we were most excited about and it' s amazing. All you need to do is pick up a second weapon by pressing X. Each weapon is now assigned to the corresponding shoulder button, so if you pull the left trigger you' ll fire the gun in your left hand and vice versa. Of course, if you squeeze both triggers you' ll open up both weapons. It' s a violently sublime sensation that makes you feel like a total guru of gunplay.

It also adds a whole new dimension of tactics. If you dual-wield you can' t chuck grenades, you' ll move slower depending on the size and weight of the weapons, and your melee attacks are less effective. On the plus side you' ll spew out pain on your opponents far quicker and can mix-and-match weapons to maximise damage.

Part of the fun' s working out effective combos, but we got a kick out of a Plasma Rifle and a Needler for some instant sizzle and slow-burning fizzle - the plasma dropped our target' s shields then the Needles exploded to take him out!

Can I Get a Recoil?

You' ll have to think about how much recoil you can handle, though. Unload a weapon like a mentalist in Halo 2 and it' ll kick harder than a mule with an elastic band round its balls. You can actually feel your aim being pushed up by a rattling gun, but it' s not irritating - you instinctively start to push down on the right stick when you fire to combat the kickback.

Of course, when you' re handling two weapons you' ll have to deal with double the recoil. We unleashed two SMGs simultaneously and when we stopped firing we were gazing straight up at the sky!

Hail Melee

Every true Halo multiplayer master knows up close melee attacks are the ultimate beat down. In Halo 2 they' re even more important - as Bungie studio manager Pete Parsons told us right after he smashed an Assault Rifle into our face.

The one-hit-kills remain if you catch an enemy up close, and now every weapon has more than one melee attack depending on how close you are to your enemy. The standard butt-smash is still going strong, but we also saw some cool moves where you lash out with your weapon in a two-handed pushing motion.

Some weapons even have awesome new signature attacks like the Plasma Rifle - little blades pop up from the muzzle as you stuff the weapon into an enemy' s face so hard you can see your arm quivering with the force!

Okay that should be enough weaponry to satisfy even the most gung-ho Halo 2 arms merchant but check back tomorrow for the final part of our unmissable Halo 2 coverage: an exclusive Q&A session with Bungie' s studio manager, Pete Parsons!


Graeme Boyd