By now you've likely played and beaten Halo 2. Though you can spend your holidays trying to beat the campaign on Legendary or spend countless hours playing on Xbox Live, a few of you want more than just gameplay to continue the Halo experience. For those who want to know more about the Halo 2 development process or who just want pretty imagery, Del Ray Books recently published The Art of Halo: Creating a Virtual World.

Written by Eric S. Trautmann, this 176-page trade is packed with concept art, hi-res screenshots, and stunning wallpapers. Now, I'm always a little skeptical of "The Art of..." books, because they often contain either too little art or too little information. Having spent some time reading and admiring The Art of Halo, I must say that it has a nice balance of both.

Internet savvy readers have likely seen a number of the images included in the book either on bungie.net or IGN.com over the past two years. However, there are some concept pieces that are new. I would have liked to see some more original pieces or perhaps some failed concept art that hadn't been seen before, but it's a robust collection of images from both Halo an Halo 2.

While the art may not be fresh to some, the content offers a detailed look at the creation process. Broken into five chapters (Character Design, Environments, Weapon and Gear, Vehicles, and The Art of Game Design), The Art of Halo focuses on the aesthetic aspects of Halo and Halo 2. There are brief interviews from members of Bungie sprinkled throughout along with a handy Bungie timeline and some interesting tidbits regarding the character design.

The most interesting part of The Art of Halo is also the slimmest. The Art of Game Design goes beyond designing the look of weapons and gives some interesting (if minimal) insight into audio, cinematics, and the storyline. I would have been more interested in an all-encompassing book that gave more due to what really makes Halo 2 great -- the game design.

Overall, The Art of Halo would make a nice gift for a Halo fan. For $21.95 it's actually a moderately priced trade and it does have some good information. The balance of text and art is just about perfect, but if you are the type who reads everything ever written about Halo 2, there may not be a whole lot to learn here. If you just like pretty art or are interested in the development process, give The Art of Halo a look. It's nicely produced, has some pretty imagery, and some good details.
-- Hilary Goldstein