Normally I hate first person shooters, and I hated Halo just the same, right up until I actually played it. (I still hate WATCHING Halo, because it gives me a headache. But playing is, well...) The gameplay is simple, the sets are immersive, and the story is fun and interesting.

Halo 2 has better graphics and (best of all) a new story, which make up for the more confusing controls and disjointed level flow they've added. Emptying two full double-fisted needle clips into an Elite and watching him explode also helps make up for the confusing-ness of the game.

But I finally realized last night the one thing that's been sort of nagging me: The Covenant, with their Tolkeinian over-use of words like "must" and "shall", their thespian melodrama, their religious-themed psyonic ass-kickery, their clean-lined capital ships with blue guns, everything about them right down to their energy swords and mis-use of the word "arbiter", makes me realize that the Covenant are just re-badged StarCraft Protoss.

Oh well.