Bump Map It - One of the first things I noticed while running across the dirt path leading to the opposition was the bump mapping of the ground. I was amazed that the entire surface had the appearance of real depth even down to the smallest pebble. To traverse across Halo 2's terrain is like walking on a fine piece of art. No longer is a photo-realistic image enough to create the illusion of grass and dirt. Now, the new standard is bump mapping all that terrain and having light and shadow dance with you as you move from point A to point B. Its just one of those subtle things that sucks you in to Bungie's world.

Racial Profiling - We were able to select our character's race: Master Chief or Covenant Elite. Its great to see the elites running around in multiplayer and finding one holding an energy sword immediately took me back to the single player of the original Halo. Another aspect of multiplayer (which we were unable to access in our build) will be the customization of your character including clan insignias and unique color schemes.

Remote Control(ler) - My first hands on with Halo 2 had me trying to run around inverted. This was very frustrating because I didn't want to back out and lose game time, but I couldn't move worth a damn. My frustration was alleviated when it was pointed out that players could access several options in-game, one of which being the controller set-up. This is truly a blessing in those trying situations. Another option is on-the-fly team switching allowing gamers to bounce over to their clan with ease.