August 08, 2002 - Though Microsoft isn't ready to drop the fat Halo 2 trailer on the general public, we have witnessed said masterful trailer. Is it sick torture for us to talk about the trailer we've seen that you so desperately want? Probably. Will we sleep better at night knowing you're now in dire need of this trailer? Definitely.

As the trailer begins, you see Master Chief walking through a giant ship in all his self-shadowing glory. The trailer is in-game footage, meaning that those shadows Master Chief projects on himself are going to be seen in every frame of gameplay. If you thought the textures in Halo couldn't be outdone, you were wrong. The strongest improvement is the lighting, which seems more dynamic and dramatic.

Master Chief's visor appears to have real-time reflections and every detail of his armor seems more realistic. Rather than looking clean like many CG effects in movies, Master Chief looks like he's seen some action, as we know he has.

As the trailer progresses, Master Chief is preparing to leave the ship, obviously determined to kick someone's posterior. Sure, we knew Master Chief was going to kick some butt in Halo 2, but the surprise was in finding out just where this butt-kicking would take place. Staring out the ship's massive window, Master Chief watches the Earth being ravaged. As Earth and its moon come into view, massive nuclear-scale explosions can be seen erupting on the planet's surface. It's clear Earth is under siege. Master Chief heads to the flight deck, but there are no ships in sight for him to enter. Instead he braces himself behind a wall and opens the docking bay. After a moment's pause he jumps out of the ship and freefalls. He quickly descends onto a Covenant ship, one of several hovering over the planet.

Again the lighting seems the most dominant improvement. The visuals are crisp and of FMV-quality, but again it is all in-game footage. Earth is beautiful from afar, even as it is ripped apart by invaders and the Covenant ship Master Chief descends on is almost luminescent.

Scheduled for a holiday 2003 release, Halo 2 is going to kick ass and take names. Featuring online play, gorgeous graphics, more than double the number of vehicles, and earth under siege, Halo 2 will likely ruin several pairs of underwear. The trailer itself ruined many a pair when it was premiered at Microsoft's X02 event. Every other game is just precursor to this release and Christmas 2003 can't come soon enough. Neither can a fresh pair of underoos.