Technician

Jump Theory, the second installment of Look Before You Leap, unifies the pinnacle of trick jumping in Halo history. The sheer creativity and execution of these magnificent tricks are solely enough to hold your attention in awe throughout the entire 11 minutes. The icicle jumps underneath Narrows is one of the most remarkable plays in any Halo video to date.

The editing showcased these amazing jumps very well. Unfortunately, this is mainly due to the lack of editing, as opposed the video being edited well. Editing is a double edge sword, and I am very relieved that the editing style didn't backfire on the presentation of the footage. Nevertheless, its bland, repetitive, and simplistic state wasn't nearly as satisfying as its potential. Luckily, the insane content and creativity makes up for any gripes one might have with the editing, motion graphics, and visual effects. For every point I could take away for the lack of creativity and content from the editing, the footage counters the subtraction with ease. These jumps were complimented with a unique soundtrack. The futuristic style of the songs, distinctly in the intro and outro, subliminally rendered a slight sensation of outer space, which went with the concept the jump video very well since most of the tricks had the players soaring into the sky. My only minor gripe was that each song was slightly repetitive, especially considering their length.

The quality was recorded with a Black Magic Intensity Pro capture card in 720p. Unfortunately, the compression on the downloadable file was subpar and took away from the clarity, coloring, and added some noticeable artifacting to the picture. I cannot tell if this was from the lack of care put into the encoding and compression of the final version, because the footage wasn't recorded in an uncompressed state, or a collaboration of the two. Either way, these noticeable flaws prevent the quality from earning a perfect "10" despite being recorded from a BMI Pro.

Jump Theory: Look Before You Leap Vol. 2 earns its place in Halo video history and serves as a milestone for all future Halo trick jumping videos to strive to emulate. I hope the Jump Theory team caries their dedication into Halo: Reach so we can have another magnificent Halo trick jump video in the future.