Bungie wisely understands a good sequel formula, and this new chapter in the war between the Covenant and the humans demonstrates how accurately they use it. Although he's very cool, HALO's main character, the Master Chief, could only be interesting for so long. We've already seen that the guy can do some serious damage and save the day, and we would expect he would be strenuously focused on in the next game.

Yet, we are given a new character to play, along with levels that are helmed again by the MC. This opens a mystery for the new character and at the same time leaves the mystery of the Master Chief intact (because we really don't want to see what's under his helmet, do we? People will just complain when they're finally shown anyway).

HALO 2 is another triumph for 1st-person shooters. Beating the game in strategic pieces, you can polish it off in a leisurely week, but the experience won't leave you wanting (well maybe for a few more levels). The only reason why I, personally, wouldn't rate this a perfect score is the lack of recognition for the difficulty levels.

In other, less pained words: if you beat a level on the infamous LEGENDARY difficulty, the game rolls on as though you've just beat the game on EASY. There is no payoff. At all. In the first HALO each level had an indication of what difficulties were mastered. On this one, nothing.

Oh well. Small criticism for a really exciting, well done game. My personal favorite moment was a level where you're aboard a free-falling city that seems to be falling infinitely down into oblivion. What an awesome, awesome level design.

One look at the voluptuous Rayne and I was hooked. The first game was fun to play. It had great guns, greater cheat codes, and everyone's favorite - lots of dead Nazis. So when I heard there was a sequel I just had to play it. Being that it was a game I'd already decided not to buy, I rented it for a weekend.

I knew my time with this game would be short so I made the decision to optimize my game play. That's right, I cheated. Once again, great codes! Not only can you enter god mode, you can dress Rayne in fantastically sexy clothes. Just what I always wanted - Slayer Barbie.

After you push those amazingly big tits aside, you may realize that Bloodrayne II actually tries to get serious. The first installment seemed to be about happily ending nazis by introducing them to Bloodrayne's blades or lips, it that's your thing. While the second focuses on the troubled Rayne as she seeks out her roots. I must say, the cut scenes are fun to watch. There's a wonderful play all movies feature that unlocks after beating the game that allows you to curl up with some popcorn and watch 25 continuous minutes of Bloodrayne II.

I found the game lacking a little something. Instead of having an array of firearms available to you, Rayne has only one. She has the same ranged weapon throughout the entire game. Though it is a really cool gun that fires blood projectiles to kill vamps and is upgradeable as the game progresses, I still thought it was kind of boring. Well, what are you going to do, bullets don't kill vampires so you gotta use blood projectiles and Smith and Wesson isn't exactly in that market. Regardless, Bloodrayne II is a fun rental and I would recommend it to most gamers. Also, I was pleased with the game difficulty. If I hadn't of cheated I probably would not have beat it so soon, which means you get your money's worth.

The other night, I decided to check up on some movies I'd recorded off the Sundance channel. As I searched my recorded items I came across, "Gerry." Two friends, with the same first name, get lost in the desert . . . starring Casey Affleck and Matt Damon, I sensed it might be pretty good.

After fastfowarding the first twenty minutes or so, I finally came across some dialogue. You see, my previous sentence fairly describes the whole movie - fastfowarding through through incredibly long shots, searching for more amazingly wonderful conversations. There are two interactions that stand out clearly in my memory. One, involves Affleck's character recounting his campaign that led to him conquering Thebes. If you're a gamer, you will find this part especially touching.

My other favorite scene has Affleck marooned upon a rock. Damon comes to his aide. The comic genius that follows can be described in two words - dirt pillow. You'll just have to see the film to know what I mean. So if you want to see a movie that was just like your last relationship (a little too drawn out, with some really great times thrown in here and there) then check out Gerry. I fear though that this film may be lost to the general viewing public, probably relying on film students for viewership. Hmm, think of it this way, if you could make it through that Tom Hanks movie with the volleyball, you should be able to make it through this. Gerry is kind of like a vitamin, it won't taste good, but it's probably good for you.