Wuh? Blarrgh? Is it morning?  Holy smokes am I beat.  I wasn't up all night playing Halo 2, but I did stay up very late.  It was worth it...

Halo 2 is really terrific.  The guys at Bungie had a tall order following a game like Halo and so far I am not disappointed.  There are things you'll have to adjust to (power levels on weapons have changed, there are more to choose from, vehicles don't handle like they used to, etc.) and some things I'll miss (the grunts aren't nearly as funny as they used to be... their new voice isn't as goofy as the old one).

The biggest change is that you can play as either a Spartan like Master Chief, or as a Covenant Elite (an alien).  You will play as both in campaign mode.  I haven't finished the campaign yet, but I'm enjoying it thus far.  I haven't even *tried* Halo 2 on xbox live yet.  I'd like to finish campaign mode first.

They've developed the Covenant a lot, added some new alien units, including some who fly... dastardly! However in order to develop the Covenant characters one thing they've had to do is make the elites speak English.  I found this disappointing.  The elites were much cooler when you couldn't understand them.

To be honest I need more time playing Halo 2 before I can form a balanced opinion of the game.  It is very, very, cool, but the action is so intense I'm having trouble drinking in all the details.  In the end, I suppose that's the highest recommendation a game can get--full of great stuff and you'll be too busy fighting for your life to notice most of it.