Reviews of Halo 2: The Official Game Guide

Customer Ratings:

The two negative reviewers seem to have forgotten that there is no law about using cheats or guides when gaming each to his own. Some people will slave away at a game for weeks refusing to get help, others rush through a game in a few hours by following a walkthrough to the letter. NEITHER WAY IS WRONG. It's no-one else's business how you choose to play your games. Personally, I like to try to make it through on my own first, but if I get really stuck I'd rather have the answer to hand than spend ages getting nowhere. And despite all the advantages of the internet, some of us still take pleasure in a well-produced book.

Piggyback are a small company who have been producing guides for a number of top games (including the Silent Hill and Metal Gear Solid series) in Europe for a few years now. Their guides are always beautifully produced, vastly superior to either Prima or Brady's efforts in terms of art design, and packed with clear information and this Halo 2 guide is no exception. I'm really pleased to see their work is now available to USA gamers as well. Take it from me; if you want help with Halo 2, this is the guide to have

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

The Halo 2 campaign mode is simple enough that most players won't need a guide to negotiate it. The campaign is pretty straightforward in design; unlike some games (such as GTA), detailed level maps aren't really needed. However, the guide offers many extras that make it a worthwhile purchase.

For one, the detailed maps of the campaign mode offer weapon and vehicle locations and enemy weaknesses, useful when one's plasma rifle or SMG is running low on ammo and a pair of Hunters are closing fast. The detailed information on weapons allows newbies to acquaint themselves with Halo 2's large array of available armament and vehicles. Veterans of the original game will quickly become familiar with the new weapons of Halo 2. (Of course, there's something to be said for learning as you go). The guide also offers detailed information on the various creatures of the Covenant, adding to the ongoing story of Halo. A note of caution, however: If you don't want to spoil the ending, don't read the last chapter of the campaign mode. (I made that mistake...it was still cool, though).

The best reason to get the guide, however, is for the multiplayer maps, which include weapon and vehicle locations, strategic points for ambushes and sniping, detailed maps, and tips on setting up games and clans. Charging blindly into Halo 2's XBox Live levels can be suicidal; most of my friends who play on Live credit the strategy guide for giving them a heads-up on where to find what they need. So the guide does have its uses beyond the usual campaign walkthrough. Especially recommended to those who are new to the Halo universe.

I hope this review was helpful

--Christian Wheeler, gamer and games retailer.

Best Deals for Halo 2: The Official Game Guide

This guide was okay. Plain and simple. If you are stuck and don't know where to go don't use this book. One of the levels of Halo 2 the directions were so confusing I got lost for three hours, not knowing where to go (I know that your thinking "How can you get lost in a video game?"). However I would recommand this to you if you are one of those gamers with a good sense of direction. This would serve to you as a constant reminder of what you are going to do, not where. The multiplayer section is pretty cool but I don't really like the maps at the beginning of the level. They are incredibly confusing. My advice: Pick the guide up if you can't find a guide online. This guide although confusing has some helpful tips.

Honest reviews on Halo 2: The Official Game Guide

Let me start off addressing some things. Some people don't find a need for this guide, and that's fine, but that doesn't mean others won't need it. Secondly, those who keep saying "Go online, go online, go online," seem to have forgotten two things. One: There are people who want the information in their lap and don't have a computer right next to their gaming system. The second is simple, some people are more visual learners. They learn the game by using maps and screenshots. For some, text just doesn't cut it. Using online guides is fine, but remember when you review a strategy guide you should actually be REVIEWING THE GUIDE, not blabbering whether or not one should use an online guide (if they wanted an online guide, do you think they'd waste time coming to Amazon to buy it?).

Anyway, with that out of my system, let's move on. Piggyback Interactive, for those who don't know, is a guide company in the UK. The moment you pick up one of their guides you'll be blown away! If you thought VERSUS BOOKS was good (before they went out of business) allow Piggyback to correct you.

The guide begins with over 50 pages of game basics. This means getting you to learn the controls, weapons, vehicles and enemies before actually diving into the walkthrough. For newcomers to Halo 2, this is a lifesaver.

The walkthrough is pretty detailed as well. They actually tell you a couple of differences between difficulty levels. You really have to utilize the maps though (which are vastly detailed beyond anything Prima, Brady, Versus, or even Nintendo Power put out). It's a guide that is written in the sense of, find the corresponding number in the text. In other words, if a "1" is marked on the map, find section "1" in the text.

The secrets also tell you all you need to know, and should there be a spoiler, they alert you before moving on.

Of course, even this guide has it's problems. For one, the maps are ridiculously cluttered, and there are too many symbols to remember. It's a good thing they have a fold out legend. Second, while the secrets are in-depth they didn't pin-point out easter eggs. And lastly (and this isn't a big one) there is just too much artwork taking up space where valuble text could've been. I don't say this to be funny, I say this because this guide weighs a ton with it's thick paper and all.

A fantastic guide though. If you can, log on and import piggyback interactive guides. If you need a guide for Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy X (or better yet, get their FFIX guide, NO PLAYONLINE THERE!), Metal Gear Solid 3 and the like, get Piggyback. You won't be disappointed.

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Halo 2: The Official Game Guide

While I rarely condone the use of strategy guides or walkthroughs for a game simply on the basis of the plot being ruined, this guide however differentiates itself from the masses of other guides out there. It does not give away the plot of the game, and simply leads you along through it while not giving away the story line. However this guide is simply nothing more then a walkthrough it offers great tactical data about ur enemies, weapons, and vehicles during the first few pages but nothing strategical during the actual walkthrough just a simply go here, there are gonna be enemies here kill them, and then do this, not a very strategical approach about how to take them out more easily or where the best vantage point to lay fire down at if you ask me. This guide does offer great maps and overviews of the single player levels as well as the multiplayer levels. Simply enough only buy this book if u are having a tough time figuring out where to go throughout the maps, or want some different routes that go through levels that you couldn't figure out on your own (which is easy by the way) all and all just buy it for multiplayer map overview if you must. In conclusion this is just a guide with no strategy or tactics offered hardly at all, so only buy it if you must.