On Nov. 9, 2004 Microsoft released the sequel to the best selling X-box game. Halo 2 is the sequel to the original Halo.

The storyline follows the main characters defending the most valuable possession of the Earth colonies, Earth itself.

Developed by Bungie and released by Microsoft Game Studios, Halo 2 offers many features not found in the original including new weapons, destructible environments and a revised multiplayer feature.

Topping the original is a hard task for any game studio, especially for the most popular of their titles.

“I actually enjoyed the original Halo better than the second one,” said Nick VanDyke, senior history major.

“The guns were cool in the second one, but the game play is the same as the first.”

There are mixed reviews from students at Missouri Southern as to if Halo 2 can fill the shoes of the original, even though the fans of the game suggested many of the added features of the second Halo.

“It is much better than Halo 1,” said Josiah Terito freshman secondary education major. “It is more advanced, because you have different weapons, different graphics and different creatures to kill.”

The amount of time spent playing the game varies from player to player.

The amount of time is closely related to the feeling players have to the game.

“Since school started I, don’t play it a whole lot, but before about three hours a day,” Goodman said.

VanDyke said he doesn’t play too often anymore

“I actually owned Halo 2,” he said. “And I sold my X-Box because I didn’t like it.”

Others still enjoy the play of the game.

“When I come home from a hard day of hitting the books all I can think about is killing the aliens,” Terito said.

Some Southern students found problems with the storyline of the second Halo.

“I love the original, but I hate the second one,” VanDyke said. “The ending was terrible; worst ending I have ever seen in a game.”

“It is shorter than the first one,” said John Goodman, sophomore computer forensics major.

“The ending was kind of weird.”

Despite the mixed reviews there are Southern students who do believe the game is an improvement upon the first Halo, and as such devote a lot of time to the game.

“It has got really cool graphics, and you can kill stuff,” Terito said.

“Which is kind of cool.”

In the opinion of many Southern students, Halo 2 appears to be less popular than the first.