[QUOTE=bluemonkey]
Well my whole gaming group are XBox and 360 owners and none of us like Halo 2 online. The reason we had was simple:
-Dual wielding. This ruined any strategy and tactics to working the levels. An unskilled player can easily beat out better players due to this mechanic. Since anyone dual wielding can beat anyone who isn't it's such a joke.
I also thought most the levels were pretty crummy. Too big and lacking focus or decent, well thought out item placement. There were no counter balances. Although having said that there were a handful of good maps but certainly not up to the standard set by Halo 1 where they nailed it just right on both weapon and level fronts.
Halo 2 multiplayer is all about luck.
[/QUOTE]
It sounds like the issue you're describing was the way Halo 2 was at launch where anyone with a duel weapon set that fired first would win. After the update that was done with the added multiplayer levels the gameplay changed immensely. Grenades now detonate much faster adding tactile depth and all the weapons have different hit capacities. Heck, even the brute shot now has oomph. The battle rifle went from being an inaccurate and useless weapon to a pawning masterpiece from medium to long range easily defeating anyone with a duel wield set from medium range. Likewise, a single wield weapon user can take down a duel wielder with proper timing and a fist to the head after a little softening up.
Might be worthwhile to give it another shot. After playing halo 2 weekly for a couple of years now skill makes a huge difference. (though I will admit sword games gets a little wacky)