Where's The Health Paks? - Health Paks? We don't need no stinking health paks! We are SPARTANS! And thus the tru7h was revealed that health was removed, replaced by a stronger shield which still retains its re-charging properties. One on one combat seems to last a bit longer and its great not having to go out of your way to ensure you're maxed out before making your rush.

Bye Bye Pistol - Our familiar friend the Pistol had been replaced by the more efficient Battle Rifle. This descendant of the familiar Assault Rifle now has a built in zoom similar to the pistol, but not quite as accurate. Although it lacks the precision of the pistol it is no slouch when it comes to combat.

What's This Button Do? - Triggers have now been incorporated into the multiplayer experience allowing the player to, among other undisclosed uses, open defensive gates and drop platforms allowing access to previously unattainable areas. This really adds to the strategy of a map in that one unit of your team assaults while the other sneaks in to open up the enemy base from within for easier future access. Remember how badly you wanted that damn grate in Sidewinder to have a switch? The developers at Bungie were listening.

The next few items deal more with non-gameplay aspects of Halo 2. We'll break down how the LAN feature will be implemented along with a nice piece of on-line technology and other assorted tid-bits.