Story: In the beginning of Metroid Prime 2, Samus' ship is damaged and she must seek haven on a planet called Aether. She arrived to help a convoy of Federation Troopers, but she finds them all dead. Soon after, Samus realizes that she is embroiled in a war between the Luminoth and the Ing, creatures of Light and Dark. The planet phases in and out of a dark and light world, and Samus must traverse both if she hopes to restore order to the Light world. Scanning artifacts adds serious amounts of depth to the story, and tells it in a cool way. Instead of just showing it to you, you learn it as you go along.
In the beginning of Halo 2, earth is under heavy Covenant attack, and Master Chief is the only one who can stop them. So it's down to earth for a while, but wait! Bungie decided to throw us a curveball and follow the plight of a Covenant Elite called Arbiter as well. This provides a unique perspective on the story, though this makes the Covenant seem less alien. Unfortunately, the story is over before it gets going, as this game seems to end at the halfway point. Tsk tsk.
Winner: Metroid Prime 2 Echoes
Gameplay & Control: Nothing at all has changed for Samus, and the control scheme is exactly as it was before. This can be difficult to adjust to, but given the length of the game, there is plenty of time to do this before you start facing real enemies. She has an all new arsenal of weapons as well, including the all too cool Light and Dark beams, which can power up portals to leap between worlds. These take ammo though, so be careful with them in firefights. She has all her gadgets, like Space Jumping for a double jump, a grappling hook and of course those ungodly weapons of mass destruction that fire about 20 missiles at a time. Her morph ball returns, of course, and so do those cool puzzles. Scanning is once again essential, but when in the scan visor, it highlights objects that need to be scanned or have already been scanned, making it far less tedious than the original Prime. The coolest part about this game is the two worlds, especially since the atmosphere on Dark Aether actually hurts you. You have to find pockets of light, and fight from them. This creates a freakisly claustrophobic environment, especially when you're surrounded by the Ing. The game world is very large, probably eclipsing the original Prime. The enemies are a blast to fight, especially the bosses.
Nothing has really changed for the Master Chief either, with the exception of a few cool moves. His arsenal has been increased, but sadly, the battle rifle from the first game is replaced with a sissy gun that can't shoot full-auto. One of the coolest additions is the laser sword the elites carried in the first game. This can now be picked up and used, for one hit kills if you do it right. The fun doesn't last very long, I'm sad to say. The enemies start to get boring by the end of the game, though this may be due to the relatively drab environment. There are even more vehicles than ever before, and some of the battles on the vehicles are amazing. You can also commandeer an enemies vehicle if you get close enough, but watch out, he can do the same to you. Unlike the original Halo and Prime 2, this game brings nothing new at all to the FPS genre. Add to the fact that once it seems to get exciting, it ends. It's just too short to compete with most other FPS shooters out there.
Winner: Metroid Prime 2 Echoes
Graphics: The original Prime was gorgeous, and this game follows suit. The particles effects are amazing, and the detail on the enemies is almost frightening. It still freaks me out whenever a metroid latches onto my visor. The environments are diverse, and extremely lifelike. Just as in the first game, it gives the player a real sense of isolation, like they're really the only one on the entire planet.
Halo 2 looks slightly better than it's predecessor, but I believe it could have been ramped up a bit. The character models are extremely impressive, but the enemies have not changed at all. The particle effects are excellent, especially in the open field battles where lasers and explosions light up every bit of the screen. However, these parts are not the bulk of the game, and most of the time you'll have to tread through fabulously unoriginal alien bases that feature exact hallway after exact hallway. This was forgiveable in the first game, but not anymore. It just gets boring. It is cool to see so much action on the screen at once, but what does it matter if you just want to get to the next area hoping for something different?
Winner: Metroid Prime 2 Echoes
Sound: Everything that made the sound good in the first Prime has returned. The Space-Jazz, as I like to call it, is back and better than ever. The Ing sound pretty creepy, as do most of the aliens. There isn't any true voice acting due to the way the story is told, but this in no way hinders the game at all.
Halo 2 has excellent sound effects. The ripping sound when you slice through an enemy is extremely cool. Marines will shout to you and each other, and the Covenant will do the same. The bigger battles have gunshots and explosions rocking through the air, giving you the impression that the battle really is all around you. The voice acting is also quite good for a FPS.
Winner: Halo 2
Multiplayer: I was surprised to learn that Prime 2 would feature multiplayer. What it does have is quite basic, but for a game series that has long been about the single player mode, it's a very cool addition to an already awesome game.
Of course, the multiplayer in Halo 2 reigns supreme, especially with the addition of an online mode. Gamers will no doubt spend most of their time here, since the campaing really isn't worth it. Plenty of games, maps and chaos for everyone.
Winner: Halo 2
Overall Winner: Metroid Prime 2 Echoes
Prime 2 is a perfect example of keeping the same great formula while adding enough stuff to make it seem new. The developers of Halo 2 must've gotten lazy and realized they didn't want a story mode. Prime 2 lives up to the hype. Halo 2 falls victim to it.
Metroid Prime 2 Echoes: 9/10
Halo 2: 7/10