5/5 ★ – MechaniChris's review of Halo 2: Anniversary.

I know a lot of people play Halo primarily for the multiplayer, but I’ve always been a campaign guy, and this is my favorite campaign of all the games. It expands on everything that was great in the first game, delivering a captivating story split into two parts. I do love how streamlined the first game was, but this one just feels cinematic, and the anniversary edition cutscenes make it even more so. I also genuinely love the Arbiter and wish the later games didn’t sideline him so much. He doesn’t even serve a story function in 3 beyond hanging around the Chief. Let us not forget that this game also gave us the ability to use swords, which tantalized in the first game (and of course it still teases us with the hammer at the end). I still wish that they would let us use jackal shields for a sword dual wield combo, but alas. I remember spending hours exploring the books and cranny’s of this game. Glitching the banshee to fight Tartarus, finding the Scarab Gun and unleashing hell. God I love it all. All of this without talking about the multiplayer, which WAS really good!