halo 2: first impression

i am still bathed in the afterglow of my first few hours playing, and i haven’t even started the campaign. yes, it’s just another FPS, but it looks to me like the most perfect multi-player FPS yet made. oh don’t get me wrong, i still think of microsoft as the evil empire. but their efforts to keep the xbox proprietary and closed to user-modification have created an incomparably level online playing-field. (except for the fact that the younger kids have wetware advantages). i do miss the humor of mods. halo 2 allows duel-wielding guns, and every time i take someone down with them i i wish i could see the quake 2 mod message: “so-and-so was john woo’d by hellesa”.
i rode my bike up to el cerrito at midnight to wait in line for my copy. gamers, while still pretty much one of the least attractive groups on average, are also some of the funniest and irreverant people around. the store employees walked the line handing out corn chips and water bottles. i was really psyched NOT to have received a copy early, just for having had the experience of waiting and anticipation. the camraderie in line was heart-warming. there was, however, a uniformed security guard as gatekeeper. and yes, he was packing. ok, fuck all this typing. saving up my RSI capital for the controller.