For the faithful, they have been rewarded. It is a game of magnificent competition, with a plethora of new weapons and some very elegant levels and gameplay. New vehicles, new stages, new plots and of course the Covenant’s arrival on Earth.
“Never tell me I don’t look good in green!” 
But the most interesting point about Halo 2 is that it could very well take the record for the largest ever release in worldwide entertainment. Halo 2 may very well take more money than Titanic. Bungie Software, the publisher of the game, expect Halo 2 to take up to $US100m in it’s first full day of release.
Bungie started off as a small Chicago based Mac software developer, making the Marathon series. Marathon is regarded as the original (and some say still the best) first person shootemup game. Predating Doom, Duke Nukem and all of the others, Marathon innovated in that the plot of the game was equal to the game play itself. A brilliant, groundbreaking, innovative game (especially considering its 1994 release), Marathon was eseentially “touched up” and modified to become the juggernaut that is the Halo Series. Funnily enough, even ten years after the release of Marathon, people are still playing it, talking about it and dissecting the plot. Further, there are concerted efforts to keep Marathon “alive” by modifying it for newer operating systems and game consoles.
The original Marathon game – not bad for 1994!
There are numerous references to Marathon in the Halo games, not the least being the weapons, uniforms and certain “in jokes” in the levels.
For more information on Marathon, please visit marathon.bungie.org or The Marathon Story.
For more info on Halo 2 – buy it!
UPDATE: The picture above is not from Marathon – it is most likely from Marathon Resurrection. Here is a screnshot from the original game:
Marathon – Pfhor Your Eyes Only
I must say, that screenshot doesn’t look anything like the original Marathon. Particularly seeing as the original (far as I recall) didn’t have status messages at the top-left, nor did the assault rifle (MA-75?) look anything like that (it looked like a big cylindrical thing in the original, and became more like the one pictured in the sequel). Plus it was sprite-based – being mid-90s – so the polygon look of the spent cartridges doesn’t fit.
Nonetheless, Marathon was a fabulous series (the original, M2:D and M:I) with a fascinatingly in-depth plot, not to mention the multiplayer modes! (king of the hill, kill the guy with the ball, among others! … it made for a change from regular deathmatching, that’s for sure…)
BTW the level names were ultra cool – defend this, bigger guns nearby, and of course the first level, arrival… ah memories…