|
| Halo 2
|
| |
| Developer(s)
| Bungie Studios
|
| Publisher(s)
| Microsoft Game Studios
|
{{{{{{
Halo 2 is the sequel to the blockbuster and critically-acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved, and features a newly built game engine and the Havok physics engine, new weapons and vehicles, new multiplayer maps, and a storyline that continues the story begun in Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo 2, released for the Xbox game console on November 9, 2004, and its predecessor are both backwards-compatible for the Xbox 360, including its Xbox Live functionality.
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Gameplay
- 2.1 Campaign
- 2.2 Multiplayer
- 2.3 Damage system
- 2.4 Powerups
- 2.5 Weapons
- 2.6 Secrets
- 2.7 Glitches
- 3 Plot synopsis
- 4 Music
- 5 Additional content
- 5.1 Xbox Live updates
- 5.2 Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack
- 6 Criticism
- 6.1 1>2(?)
- 6.2 Matchmaking
- 6.3 Technical
- 6.4 Offline Multiplayer
- 6.5 Story
- 7 Awards
- 8 See also
- 9 External links
|
History
Halo: Combat Evolved became a best-selling and well-lauded title upon its release in November 2001 but some complained that it lacked support for Xbox Live even though the broadband service would not be ready until a year later. The only cross-console multiplayer was either from System Link, Gamespy Tunnel, or XBConnect. Given the expected long development time of Halo 2, there were rumours of an updated "Halo 1.5" which would add Xbox Live support for the original and would be released in late 2002 or early 2003 but that never materialized. The PC version of Halo: Combat Evolved released in Fall 2003 however, and did have online support.
Since Bungie's 2002 announcement that they were working on an Xbox Live-enabled sequel to Halo, Halo 2 had became one of the most anticipated titles in development, only rivaled in hype by Doom 3 and later Half-Life 2. All three games were slated for a 2003 holiday season release but due to delays they were pushed back to 2004.
Of particular note regarding the release of Halo2 was an estimated one million dollar Alternate Reality Game project titled I Love Bees. The story line was entirely unique in the Halo universe, but was at the same time very engaging and tied in seamlessly with the game itself. For those who are not familiar with the "ARG" premise: a story is put forth on webpages and other media devices. Players are invited into a part of the story they might not otherwise see. ARGS have become increasingly popular in the early 21st century, and this popularity is owed in large part to I Love Bees.
On the morning of October 14, a leak of the French version of the game was posted on the Internet, and circulated widely. Microsoft, the parent company of Bungie Studios, tried to contain the spread, and pledged to bring legal action against anyone who spread the leaked version.[1] Fortunately, the leak failed to have a significant effect on Halo 2 sales, due in part to a supportive Halo community which was determined to honor the original release date and which was instrumental in curbing the spread of the leaked version.
The first official release of Halo 2 was in New Zealand on November 9, 2004. Anticipation for game was high; three weeks before this release, a record 1.5 million copies had already been pre-ordered [2]. This was followed by releases on November 10 in France and other European countries, and November 11 in the UK. The game sold 2.4 million copies and earned up to $125 million US in its first 24 hours on store shelves, thus outgrossing the film Spider-Man 2 as highest grossing release in entertainment history. [3] As of 1 January 2005, the game had sold 6.3 million copies. According to a contemporary Wired Magazine issue, Halo 2 had a more profitable opening day than did the then-highest-grossing Hollywood film, Spider-Man. Some observers saw this as another milestone in the emerging dominance of the video game industry; a few years earlier, the video game industry had surpassed the movie industry in total revenues for the first time and had never relinquished its lead since then.
Since Halo 2 was a successful killer app for the Xbox and its Live online service, Microsoft took advantage of Halo 2 to ban modded (modified) Xboxes from the network when they tried to log on for online gaming.
Gameplay
Campaign
The game is playable in campaign mode either single-player or cooperative. This mode follows the story to the Halo series and is the second of the three games (the third and final part of the series is still not published). When playing in this mode the player(s) must complete a series of episodes. Some of these episodes require the player to compete as a Covenant Elite called The Arbiter, while some, but not the majority are still played as the Master Chief. Aside from variations caused simply by switching sides in the conflict, most notably The Arbiter is different from Master Chief in that his armor lacks a flashlight and is equipped with a short duration rechargeable form of active camouflage that will drop if the player attacks or is shot. His shield is also weaker than the Master Chief's - probably a result of its age. Another possiblity is that the Arbiter was designed to be less of a battering ram than the Master Chief, which subsequently requires different tactics. Additionally, the story line while playing as the Arbiter changes to one of fighting an internal faction within the Covenant, with the elites, hunters and grunts forming one team and the brutes, jackals, prophets and drones forming the other.
There are four levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, Heroic and Legendary, the latter of which has been described as "suicide" by the game's developers. An increase in difficulty will result in an increase in the health of opponents, an increase in their accuracy, and a reduction of health in the player.
Multiplayer
- Main article
Xbox Live automatically matches players based on criteria such as skill and ping. Halo 2 multiplayer screenshot from press kit, featuring the map Zanzibar There are varying modes, several of which have returned from the original Halo game. A typical classic free for all or team deathmatch game known as Slayer, a team based Capture The Flag game, a game which you plant a bomb in your enemies base to score called Assault, a more esoteric free-for-all (FFA) or team game of keep away called Oddball, a game extrapolated from a child's game of "tag" called Juggernaut, King of the Hill, where players race to control a specified area of the map, and finally, Territories, which bears some resemblance to King of the Hill, but with multiple hills. All of these modes can be twisted and changed in thousands of unpredictable ways, resulting in incredibly varied multiplayer gameplay. Of the preset variations present in the original game, only Race is missing.
Unlike its predecessor, Halo 2 allows players to compete with each other via the Xbox Live online service, in addition to the original's support for split-screen and System Link multiplayer. Halo 2's Xbox Live mode offers a unique and, some would say, innovative approach to online gaming that is intended to alleviate some of the problems that have plagued online first-person shooters in the past. Traditionally, one player sets his or her computer or console up as a game server (or host), specifying the game type and map and configuring other settings. The game software then uses a service like Xbox Live or GameSpy to advertise the game to the world at large; other players choose which game to join based upon criteria such as the map and game options each host is offering as well as the ping times they are able to receive.
In Halo 2, Xbox Live players do not choose to host public games, and they do not get to specify individual maps and options to search for. Instead, players select "playlists" that are geared to different styles of play. For example, the "Rumble Pit" playlist offers a variety of "every man for himself" game types, primarily Slayer or variations thereof; "Team Skirmish" offers a number of 4-on-4 team games, which are primarily objective-based games like Capture the Flag; "Big Team Battle" is similar to Team Skirmish but allows teams of up to 8 players. Other playlists allow head-to-head play and matches between different clans. The Xbox Live servers create games automatically from the pool of players that have chosen each playlist, choosing a game type and map automatically and selecting one player to serve as the game's host.
Players can create small "parties" with their friends and enter games together as teammates in Team based games. Parties can also play in "Rumble Training" games, which is an unranked version of "Rumble Pit" If the Xbox console hosting the game drops out, the Xbox Live service automatically selects a new host from among the remaining players so the game can continue. Players may still choose to set up games for their own party to their own specification, and invite others into that game from their Friends and Clan lists, however these games are not made publicly available.
Since launching in November 2004, the service has been very popular with video gamers. While some players resent the loss of individual control inherent in Halo 2's approach to online gaming, others feel it provides a significantly improved gaming experience compared to more traditional online first-person shooters. Bungie's servers match players up by skill level, which tends to eliminate the kind of severely imbalanced games that less-skilled players often consider unfair and unenjoyable. The automatic host selection process also eliminates the ability of the host to exert outsized control over the parameters of the game.
Bungie.net records every single statistic that is displayed on-screen in the end-of-game "Post Game Carnage Report." Anyone can visit Bungie.net and look at any Xbox Live player's stats. If a player logs in with a Microsoft Passport, they can also access the "Gameviewer". This presents an image of the level that was played from the player's choice various angles, superimposed with a summary of the crucial game events. For example: for each kill, the attacker and target's locations and the attacker's weapon are displayed, and the paths taken by flags in Capture the Flag games are shown. Bungie keeps these stats for several hundred games per player at a time, then games begin to be purged to save space, and they are used as evidence when banning cheats (see "Xbox Live Updates", below).
Regular players have expressed concerns regarding the game balance of Halo 2. Many players feel that game strategies are too dependent upon controlling the "power weapons" in each map such as the Rocket Launcher, Sniper Rifle, and Energy Sword, which leads to the overshadowing of the other weapons in the game. Should a team acquire these weapons, it becomes more difficult for their opponents to score kills or attain objectives. Much game time may be consumed attempting to seize the weapons in question from the opposition to shift the balance of power; in some cases it may not even be possible to do so. This primarily affects team games and one-on-one games; in free for alls, a player with a "power weapon" will become a priority target for the other players, meaning that the weapon will change hands frequently. Another common criticism is the dominance of dual-wielding weapons over single-wielding combined with grenades, although attempts have been made to address these issues with the April 18th automatic update (see "Xbox Live updates").
Multiplayer maps
- Main article
- See also: Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack.
Damage system
The shield's new placement lets the player check damage and motion detector simultaneously. The damage system in Halo 2 is slightly different from that in Halo: Combat Evolved. The player has a regenerating shield, but now has regenerating health as well.
- Shields: The shield in Halo 2 is much stronger, and recharges at a higher rate. It covers the player's entire body, and slowly decreases in power as it sustains damage. After it takes damage, it starts to recharge 4 seconds after the last time damage was sustained. The power is displayed above the motion tracker in the bottom-left of the screen. Like in the original Halo, once the shields become low an alarm tells you that they are out.
- Health: In Halo 2, once the shields run out, the player also has a buffer of health. Unlike the first Halo, health regenerates after the shield. The amount of health left is not visible to the player, and is also much smaller than in the original game.
Powerups
There are two types of powerups available in Halo 2 Multiplayer.
- Overshield: An enhanced, non-regenerating shield which is three times the strength of the normal one. The overshield functions on top of the regular shield – when it is active, the normal shield does not take damage. In addition, when a overshield is picked up, the player is invulnerable until it finishes charging, which takes a second or two. In multiplayer Halo 2, the overshield gradually depletes over time and can be completely taken out with a charged up plasma pistol shot. The overshield is no longer present in the campaign mode of Halo 2. However, the Black Eye Skull will enable the player to charge his/her shield into the overshield range. In certain Multiplayer gametypes, one or more players start with a regenerating overshield.
- Active Camouflage: Drastically reduces the player's visibility for a period of time, making all but a faint outline of him invisible. This effect (which is almost identical to that of the alien armor in the Predator movies) is reduced if the player is hit by weapons fire, or if he fires a weapon. However, the Energy Sword remains clearly visible even if the player is using camouflage. This feature is included in the Arbiter's armor, though its effect only lasts a few seconds. The powerup is not available in Campaign (the Arbiter can activate it for a short time), and the built-in generator is not available in Multiplayer. The Envy skull gives Master Chief access to the built-in generator.
Gametype Settings: In some gametypes, the overshield and/or active camo are always active on one or all of the players, and if disabled, will recharge over time. One common mistake for new players is to mix the overshield and the active camo: this creates a faint halo around the player, caused by the overshield, even though they have active camo.
Weapons
- Main article
Secrets
The Scarab Gun floats above a red cone high atop a skycraper in the level "Metropolis." The existence of many hidden skulls has been discovered. [4] These small objects are hidden in every campaign level in Halo 2, some levels containing more than one. Their effects, while somewhat disputed, can do anything from making the player invisible to removing his HUD. One, called "I Would Have Been Your Daddy," is a maddening skull that, unlike the others, seems to have no reliable mechanism for triggering its appearance. After finding it and picking it up, some players are entered into a battle with more than twenty Elites using only a plasma pistol, with victory leading to new NPC comments[5]. However, other users have acquired the skull with no apparent effect at all.
The current known skulls are Thunderstorm, Blind, I Would Have Been Your Daddy, Catch, Grunt Birthday Party, Famine, Envy, Assassins, Mythic, Sputnik, Angry, Ghost, Iron, and Black Eye. These skulls are only available on the Legendary mode except the blind skull that's found on Outskirts. One skull shows no text when collected but examination of Halo 2 files shows this skull to be known internally as Whuppopotamous (fitting the acronym) and also Cowbell.
The Scarab's destructive main cannon is available as a handheld weapon. It is located in a hard-to-reach area in a level where the Scarab is present. To obtain the Scarab's powerful weapon you must first arrive at the end of a long bridge in the level Metropolis. After defeating all the enemies except one Banshee, the player must lure the Banshee into a tunnel and board it as it reaches the other side. After comandeering the Banshee, the player must fly to a certain grouping of buildings: the Scarab gun resides in the middle of a bridge connecting them. Although the Scarab gun uses the Plasma Rifle model, it shoots a huge blue plasma beam many times larger than the Master Chief. This trick is most easily performed in Co-op mode, where you have another player to provide backup and assistance.
Glitches
Players have discovered many glitches in Halo 2. For example, the player can leave the ordinary map boundaries by performing a "sword cancel," in which the player presses "Y", "R" twice, and then the "X" button on their gamepad, while having their rocket launcher out and their sword equipped, while facing another player. They will charge at the player but not slash them, allowing the sword user to fly over the other person and get over a boundary. Players could also use the "rocket glitch" to reach past the boundaries. However, this has been removed from the game with an update from Bungie. It works by having one player already in the position they wish to reach. While the player above is jumping, the player wanting to reach the position must have a rocket launcher, without ammunition, and a sword. While targeting the jumping man, from the bottom of the cross-hair, the player must switch between the rocket and sword to obtain access to the new area. The "rocket glitch" was disabled in the autoupdate, due to misuse in multiplayer battles. Two players can still use the "sword cancel" to gain access to new areas.
Players have also discovered "super jumps", or bounces. Super jumps can be found on every map and are executed by crouching under something until your screen shakes and then jumping on a certain area, at which time the player will be propelled very high. Players have only discovered a few of these jumps and there are possibly many more, especially in the newer maps.
One of these "super jumps", or bounces can be found in the map Zanzibar. This can be achieved by first going inside of the base. Where you find the battle rifle you would be able to see two windows with glass. Break these windows by either throwing a grenade or hitting them until no glass is left. If you look at the window to your nearest right, there would appear to be a glass shard in the wall. By walking left to the edge of the window and crouching, you should be able to get stuck into the wall. As this is happening, your screen should suddenly shake and at that time jump and if done correctly you should rise into the air and be on the top of the base. According to several non-US players, the superbounce can only be used on both Australian and American tv. However, it is much easier to perform on American tv.
These glitches have become a major problem in Halo 2's multiplayer over Xbox Live. For example, players can use the aformentioned "super jump" on the level Zanzibar to jump to the top of the level out of reach of most players. Since the release of the downloadable maps, Halo 2 hackers, users who edit the game with formerly illegally modified consoles (modifying Xbox consoles is now legal in the United States), began to mod the maps on the hard drives of their Xbox's to receive advantages, such as weapons that do more damage, flying ground vehicles, etc. This has become such a widespread problem in the "Matchmaking" system that Bungie is constantly trying to resolve the problem by releasing autoupdates which ban hackers from the system and terminate their accounts. They have currently banned thousands of players and are working on cleaning up the rest.
Plot synopsis
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Halo 2 opens with an awards ceremony on the Cairo weapons platform orbiting Earth. This ceremony is cut short when a Covenant flagship jumps out of slipstream and sends boarding parties towards the platforms. These boarding parties are carrying heavy explosives designed to take out the MAC (Magnetic Accelerator Cannon) guns capable of destroying the Covenant flagships. Master Chief finds and disarms the bomb with the help of Cortana, then sends it to one of the Covenant ships and detonates it. They then head to Earth where the Covenant attack the city of New Mombasa, repelled with the assistance of the Master Chief. It continues across another ring world, dubbed "Delta Halo", as the crew of the UNSC vessel In Amber Clad attempt to discover the reason for the Covenant's incursion. There, the Master Chief kills one of the Covenant's three High Prophet leaders, which ultimately triggers a civil war inside the Covenant. Meanwhile, the fleet commander who led the Covenant forces in Halo is stripped of his rank, only to assume the role of the Arbiter, the greatest of the Covenant warriors. His first mission, to silence a heretic who doubts the Prophets' teachings, starts him on a path which will make him question his beliefs.
The Master Chief and the Arbiter meet upon the release of the Flood and the discovery of the Prophets' true objective: driven by their ancient religion, they seek to activate Delta Halo, which would cause the death of every sentient being in the galaxy. A mysterious Flood creature called the Gravemind sends the Arbiter and Master Chief in separate directions to prevent The High Prophets from activating Delta Halo.
The Master Chief finds himself upon the nearby Covenant Holy City, High Charity, a gargantuan space station, and pursues the remaining Prophets. After capturing the In Amber Clad, the Flood, led by the Gravemind, arrive on the city and begin to try and capture it. The only remaining High Prophet, Truth, escapes on a Forerunner vessel. The Master Chief stows away on board, but Cortana stays behind because if all else fails, she would detonate the In Amber Clad's engine reactors. This will destroy Delta Halo and High Charity, stopping Tartarus from activating it, while preventing the Flood's escape across the galaxy. However, at the end, Cortana not only fails to destroy High Charity, but she also chooses to answer the questions of Gravemind.
Uniting the separatist faction of the Covenant on Delta Halo, and with the help of Sergeant Johnson, the Arbiter succeeds in preventing Tartarus from activating the installation. However, the Halo and its counterparts across the galaxy are left on standby alert, awaiting a trigger signal from "The Ark", whose location is yet unknown, but is believed to be on Earth. Meanwhile, the Forerunner vessel arrives near Earth, with the Master Chief on board. The game ends with a cliffhanger, with the last cutscene showing the Master Chief about to enter the battle to save Earth while Cortana meets Gravemind on High Charity for unknown reasons. The stage is set for the final battles of the Human-Covenant and Covenant civil wars in Halo 3 or Bungie's next project (has yet to be announced).
Main characters
- Main article
- Master Chief
- Cortana
- Sergeant Johnson
- Miranda Keyes
- Arbiter
- High Prophets of Truth, Mercy and Regret
- Tartarus
- 2401 Penitent Tangent
- 343 Guilty Spark
- Spec-Ops Command Leader Half-Jaw
Music
The Halo 2 soundtrack was mostly composed by Martin O'Donnell, who had also composed the music of Halo. Steve Vai provided guitar backing for many tracks. Additional tracks were also provided by various outside musicians, such as Joe Satriani (for the remixed theme song, which includes new guitar solos).
The Last Spartan, is the signature theme tune for Halo 2.
The bands Incubus, Breaking Benjamin, and Hoobastank also feature on the official soundtrack and to a certain extent, in the game. The song Blow Me Away is considered the most popular of these contributions.
Numb by Linkin Park was also referenced in the game.
Additional content
Xbox Live updates
A common complaint regarding Halo 2's online play has been the widespread cheating which occurred almost immediately upon the game's release. Users exploited bugs in the game and vulnerabilities of the network to win ranked games and thus increase their matchmaking rank. In response to these complaints, Bungie released an automatic update for Halo 2 (a mandatory patch) on Monday, April 18th, 2005, which fixed many of the various bugs and cheats in the game (though some inevitably persist), slimmed down split-screen HUD information, and rebalanced various weapons to promote use of single-wield weapons, grenades, and melee attacks. For example, the melee attacks and grenades are now far more powerful. Melee attacks have also been given a lunge ability like that of the Energy Sword, though with a much shorter range. A full list of changes can be seen here. This brings Halo 2 up to Version 1.1.
Halo 2 also supports downloadable content, with Bungie making various new multiplayer maps available. Four maps were made available to download on Monday, April 25th, 2005. Two of these were immediately free to download (the "Bonus Pack"), while the other two (the "Killtacular Pack") had a charge attached (US$5.99, £2.99) until July the 5th (in actuality, late June), when they too became free to download. On the 5th, 5 new maps were made available in a pack for $11.99, and were similarly made free to download on August 30th. The Map Pack disk (below) was also released on that date. For further information on the map packs and their contents, see the list of downloadable maps.
Another update was added in July, 2005 (a week or so after the release of the map pack). The update added a detection tool that would automatically detect and ban 'modders' using modified content on their Xboxes. Modified versions of the downloadable maps would allow people to use cheats such as 'super jump' and 'automatic reload' during matches on Xbox Live. Any players who are detected using modified content would be automatically banned from Matchmaking on Xbox Live. The update also fixes a teleporter glitch on the map, Relic.
Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack
- Main article
Criticism
While Halo 2 has won many awards and raked in colossal profits, debate has risen over the merits of such success, especially when faced with comparisons to the immense impact on the console market that the first Halo had. Many gamers even credit Halo CE with singlehandedly propping up the Microsoft Xbox's image and sales through its first generation of games. In this light, it's easy to see how some could be disgruntled – even an excellent sequel would have trouble standing up to the original.
1>2(?)
Some players dispute whether Halo 2 is a good game at all. A large chunk of this group consists of disgruntled Halo fans who feel that certain changes have made the game unbalanced, mainly in multiplayer gameplay.
Several argumentative complaints registered by members of this movement:
- The lack of mid-to-long range weapons in the game.
- The Sub-machine gun starting weapon which some claimed was imbalanced and underpowered, leaving the outcome of the game determined by a combination of luck and who can get to more dominating weapons first.
- Increased "autoaim" & "magnetism," which some claim levelled the playing field between the professional and the casual players. Magnetism guides the aiming reticle towards an enemy character, while the autoaim allows hits to be registered over a wider area around the target.
- Toned down pistol. In Halo, the M6D pistol was an extremely powerful sidearm that, if aimed precisely, killed any shielded enemy with three shots to the head. This made it one of the best multiplayer weapons and the main weapon used by many experienced Halo players. In Halo 2, however, the pistol appears to be a support weapon of dubious functionality, and has lost a considerable amount of power.
- Addition of the plasma sword, a one-hit-kill mêlée weapon with a lock-on feature, considered by many players to be overpowered.
- A narrower field of view of 70 degrees.
- Minor gameplay differences when compared with Halo CE which deleted or changed more subtle aspects of skill that originally steepened the learning curve (deletion of fall damage, inclusion of vehicle lock-on feature for rocket launchers, shorter fuse times for grenades, massive plasma grenade damage, overpowered melee attacks, reworked network code which leads to massive host advantage, change of weapon respawn system so that the more powerful weapons won't respawn if someone has them, etc.)
It should be noted that many of these gripes all concern intricate game balances regarding competitive gaming, and exclusively focus on the interests of competitive gamers.
Matchmaking
A number of players take issue with Xbox Live Matchmaking. One frequent complaint involves the default weapon settings used in multiplayer gametypes, situations where the player starts off with the relatively underpowered and inaccurate SubMachine Gun. These players feel that a starting weapon such as the Battle Rifle would make much more sense in the competitive environment of matchmaking, allowing for a greater emphasis on aim and strafing techniques. Others feel that the Battle Rifle is an annoying weapon and isn't nearly as much as "fun" as the traditional SMG. Bungie has since responded to these demands by including the Battle Rifle as a default weapon in several playlist scenarios. Since players can not choose to skip these scenarios, players are forced to quit and try again for an actual "fun" Halo 2 multiplayer game.
Many members of the Major League Gaming league share similar gripes. Fans of the strict policies and gametypes endorsed by MLG routinely posted on the Bungie.net forums arguing for these to be included in matchmaking, often proposing the compromise of an MLG-style playlist. These complaints escalated until Bungie.net moderators eventually banned all talk of MLG related proposals. Now Bungie has added Team Hardcore playlist to enact several of the key MLG ideas into matchmaking.
Technical
Conflicts also arose because of Bungie's Halo 2 game engine. This engine used an on the fly rendering in an attempt to create a game without load times. The downside was that the textures were rendered a second or two after the level loaded. Nearly all of this happens in the cutscenes used to separate levels and level segments. A few wish that such implementation was optional and would rather sit through loadscreens in exchange for presentational consistency.
Offline Multiplayer
Another area that is criticised is the lack of computer controlled enemies -or bots- in multiplayer. While Halo 2's main attraction was its online multiplayer component, it's failure to improve over the original Halo in regards to players who do not have Xbox Live is sometimes pointed out as being negligent. The omission of bots is also strange in that the AI in the singleplayer section of the game is fairly intelligent and dynamic, and could have been transferred to multiplayer with a reasonable amount of ease. However, early rumours in Halo 2's development as to the inclusion of bots were firmly rebutted by Bungie.
Many online players of Halo 2 suggest that bots would be a waste of development time for the game, although for the offline community it is another example of them being overlooked in favour of online multiplayer. Halo 2 certainly shines in this area, but for a game aiming to push the limits of the console FPS, the absence of bots is fairly odd, given that they are present in earlier console games such as Timesplitters 2, XIII, Perfect Dark, and even The World Is Not Enough.
Story
Other disputes concern the creative liberties taken with the story. Several fans felt that the game's plot was too different from what the previews suggested. They felt that the struggle to defend Earth should have been the centerpiece of the story rather than a preface to the reiteration of the first game's storyline. This was most likely due to Bungie's policy against the divulsion of spoilers prior to the game's release, a move reflected in Halo's advertising.
More controversy was generated by the game's abrupt cliffhanger ending. Many players (and some reviewers [6]) were dissatisfied with the apparent lack of climax and some claimed that Microsoft forced Bungie to cut the last level. However, according to the Collector's Edition supplemental DVD, Bungie's decision to resort to a cliffhanger ending was necessitated by "time constraints". After being given almost three years to finish the project, with numerous and competent staff, this was seen as a rather dubious excuse, and the outcome was less than satisfactory for many.
Players also lamented the demystification of the Covenant enemies. In Halo 2 Bungie decided to further humanize the alien enemies; aliens suddenly spoke English, due to the Master Chief's "Covenant translator" built into his new armor (the Covenant actually spoke backwards English in the original Halo.. Also included were cutscenes that shed light on their socialization, inevitably compromising the Covenant's menacing appearance. Further, the decision to include a playable Covenant character (The Arbiter) proved a risky move that was not universally supported. Jokingly referred to as an example of the Metal Gear Solid 2 syndrome, it shifted focus away from the franchise's main character (Master Chief).
Awards
- 2005 Spacey Awards
- 2005 GameFly Q Awards
- Favorite Game of the Year
- Favorite Xbox Game
- Favorite Shooter Game
- 2005 Game Developers Choice Awards
- Excellence in Audio
- Game Innovation Spotlights (I Love Bees)
- Game Revolution 2004
- Best Console Game of E3 2004
- E3 2004 Game Critics Awards
- Best Console Game
- Best Action Game
- Best Online Multiplayer Game
- 1UP, 2004
- Best Visuals of E3 2004
- Best Xbox Game of E3 2004
- Best Shooter of E3 2004
- Best Game of E3 2004 Nominee
- Best Multiplayer/Online Game of 2004
- Best Shooter of 2004
- Game of the Year 2004
- Gphoria, 2005
- Best Shooter
- Best Multiplayer Game
- Best Sound Design
- Best Orignal Soundtrack
- Best Male Performance (David Cross)
- Best Boss (Scarab Battle)
- Game of the Year
- Webby for best "Games Related Website" (I Love Bees)
See also
- List of Halo 2 changes
- List of vehicles in the Halo universe
- List of Multiplayer Maps in Halo 2
- Red vs Blue
- Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack
- List of multiplayer gametypes in Halo 2
- I Love Bees
- List of weapons in Halo 2
External links
- Bungie's Official Halo 2 site
- Xbox.com's Official Halo 2 site
- Halo2sucks.com – A site for those disappointed with Halo 2
- H2Press – Creators of the Halo 2 Community Toolbar
- Collection of Reviews of Halo 2
- Halo.Bungie.Org – Halo news & errata
- halo2.junk.ws – Halo 2 Xbox Live statistics collection site
- High Impact Halo – Site devoted to Halo stunts
- Halo Fans.com
- HaloWired.com Halo/Halo 2 Community
- Gamespot.com and Gamespot's Halo 2 game page
- Howstuffworks articles on a variety of Halo 2 topics.
- H2Wiki – A Halo 2 Multiplayer Knowledge Repository
- Halo 2 Speedruns
- HaloTV
- This Spartan Life – A "virtual talk show" recorded live within Halo 2's online multiplayer setting
- The Halopedia – a Wiki devoted to everything Halo
- Halo planet
- Halo 2 at MobyGames
- Halo Insider – Tips, strategies, and secrets for Halo 2.
| Bungie Studios Games
|
| Non-series Games
| Gnop! | Operation Desert Storm | Minotaur: The Labyrinths of Crete | Abuse | Oni | Pathways Into Darkness | Pimps At Sea
|
| Marathon Games
| Marathon | Marathon 2: Durandal | Marathon ∞
|
| Myth Games
| Myth: The Fallen Lords | Myth II: Soulblighter
|
| Halo Games
| Halo: Combat Evolved | Halo: Custom Edition | Halo 2
| fr:Halo 2
Search Term: "Halo_2"
Categories: Halo | 2004 computer and video games | Microsoft games | Xbox games | First-person shooters
|
|
|
halo 2 news and halo 2 articles Here's our
top rated halo 2 links for the day:
Halo 2 Headset Benefits Katrina Victims
Gizmodo - Jun 28 1:42 PM Halo 2's still the most popular Xbox Live game, and if you need a new headset, you could do worse than pick up a Emerald Halo 2 headset for $15. A portion of the proceeds is going to the Platronics...
Emerald Halo 2 Headset Helps Katrina Victims
Kotaku - Jun 28 8:23 AM Are you a gamer who still wants to help out the victims of Hurricane Katrina? Plantronics is selling an emerald-green Halo 2 headset usually worth about fifty clams for a low, low price of...
MI6: Chris Di Cesare Talks Halo 2, Xbox 360
Gamasutra - Jun 28 6:45 AM MI6, a new conference from Promax/BDA, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of marketing in interactive entertainment, kicked off today with a keynote talk from director of Xbox marketing Chris Di Cesare. In the talk, which was preceded by an amusing conference introduction by cable television personality Stephen Colbert, Di Cesare discussed the current shape of the
Halo Technology, InfoNow calls off planned merger
BizJournals - Jun 26 8:05 AM Greenwich, Conn.'s Halo Technology Holdings Inc. and Denver-based InfoNow Corp. have called off their planned merger.
XBox Dead or Alive and Halo 2 (German-only)
Giga.de - Jun 22 8:34 AM 22.06.06 16:51 - (Zolex) XBox special today with 2 games: Dead or Alive and Halo 2. For this one we invited some guests for a showmatch.
THE MAKING OF A HALO
Montgomery Advertiser - Jun 25 2:03 AM There's no magic elixir to creating a successful halo. It's usually a concoction of several ingredients: Heritage. Retro rules. Almost all the recent halo cars have been updated versions of classics. Solstice is an exception.
One Cheap Desktop for All
Wired News - Jun 28 11:14 PM A $150 Chinese computer could brush past MIT's One Laptop Per Child effort in the fight to conquer the digital divide. By Scott Carney.
Architects unveil new design for Freedom Tower
International Herald Tribune - Jun 28 11:38 AM Eager to avoid creating a fortress that overshadows the World Trade Center memorial, the architects of the Freedom Tower unveiled a new approach today.
NOTEBOOK: Memories of Sunny's Halo won't be buried
Lexington Herald-Leader - Jun 25 12:06 AM Kentucky Derby Museum officials are hoping to hold a ceremony in July to mark the reburial of 1983 Kentucky Derby winner Sunny's Halo.
What's Bad for GM is Bad for the Market
TheStreet.com - Jun 27 2:33 PM The automaker's stock loses its halo and major averages follow suit.
Thank you for reading the halo 2
page
- halo 2. |
|
As an extra bonus here are the top
searched terms over the past month for halo 2. Now you can
see what everyone else is searching for in regards to halo 2.
1. halo 2
2. halo 2 soundtrack
3. halo 2 glitches
4. halo 2 mods
5. halo 2 montage
6. halo 2 cheats
7. halo 2 screenshots
8. halo 2 theme
9. halo 2 trailer
10. halo 2 montages
11. halo 2 music
12. halo 2 wallpaper
13. halo 2 super jumps
14. halo 2 superjumps
15. halo 2 vehicles
16. halo 2 theme song
17. halo 2 pictures
18. halo 2 videos
19. halo 2 tricks
20. halo 2 weapons
21. halo 2 skulls
22. halo 2 wallpapers
23. halo 2 pics
24. halo 2 mod
25. halo 2 mp3
26. halo 2 logo
27. halo 2 for pc
28. halo 2 maps
29. halo 2 movies
30. halo 2 elite
31. halo 2 cheat codes
32. halo 2 super jump
33. halo 2 music video
34. halo 2 multiplayer
35. halo 2 preview
36. halo 2 grunt
37. cheats for halo 2
38. halo 2 movie
39. halo 2 pc
40. halo 2 modding
41. halo 2 songs
42. halo 2 main theme
43. halo 2 glitch
44. halo 2 sound track
45. halo 2 tips
46. when does halo 2 come out
47. cheat codes for halo 2
48. halo 2 backgrounds
49. halo 2 battle rifle
50. halo 2 elites
51. halo 2 sniper
52. halo 2 release date
53. halo 2 demo
54. halo 2 easter eggs
55. halo 2 secrets
56. halo 2 stats
57. halo 2 tournaments
58. halo 2 weapon screenshots
59. halo 2 xbox live
60. halo 2 bridging
61. halo 2 red vs blue
62. halo 2 super bounce
63. glitches for halo 2
64. halo 2 master chief
65. halo 2 online
66. halo 2 superbounce
67. halo 2 walkthrough
68. halo 2 xbox
69. new screenshots from halo 2
70. halo 2 marine
71. halo 2 medals
72. halo 2 video
73. halo 2 warthog
74. halo 2 characters
75. halo 2 guns
76. halo 2 peril
77. funny halo 2
78. halo 2 background
79. halo 2 ce
80. halo 2 flood
81. halo 2 rap
82. halo 2 song
83. halo 2 sounds
84. halo 2 multiplayer glitches
85. halo 2 covenant weapons vehicles
86. halo 2 mjolnir mix
87. how to mod halo 2
88. halo 2 super bounces
89. halo 2 superbounces
90. halo 2 cover
91. halo 2 superjump
92. download halo 2
93. halo 2 arbiter
94. halo 2 emblems
95. halo 2 i would have been your daddy skull
96. halo 2 images
97. halo 2 mix
98. halo 2 music downloads
99. halo 2 spartan
100. halo 2 theme music
101. halo 2 action figures
102. halo 2 funny
103. halo 2 gliches
104. halo 2 glitch videos
105. halo 2 live
106. halo 2 matches
107. halo 2 on xbox live
108. halo 2 picturs
109. halo 2 standby
110. halo 2 symbols
111. halo 2 envy skull
112. halo 2 for xbox
113. halo 2 remix
114. halo 2 super jumping
115. halo 2 lockout
116. halo 2 trailer video
117. ''free halo 2 mods''
118. halo 2 desktop theme
119. halo 2 forum
120. halo 2 volume 2
121. halo 2 review
122. halo 2 scarab gun
123. halo 2 screensavers
124. halo 2 symbol
125. halo 2 vol 2
126. halo 2 warthog tricks
127. life size halo 2 toys
128. funny halo 2 videos
129. halo 2 cartoons
130. halo 2 downloads
131. halo 2 masterchief
132. halo 2 armor
133. halo 2 earth city
134. halo 2 mod videos
135. halo 2 ownage
136. halo 2 soundtrack volume 2
137. mods for halo 2
138. halo 2 cheat
139. halo 2 guitar tabs
140. halo 2 hacks
141. halo 2 life size toy guns
142. halo 2 websites
143. xbox halo 2
144. xbox live halo 2
145. all halo 2 vehicles
146. halo 2 avatars
147. halo 2 envy skull video
148. halo 2 flash
149. halo 2 gameplay
150. halo 2 master cheif
151. halo 2 remembrance
152. halo 2 screen shots
153. halo 2 tournament
154. halo 2 vol. 2
155. halo 2 volume 2 soundtrack
156. how to bridge halo 2
157. videos on where to find skulls for halo 2
158. crazy halo 2 player
159. halo 2 cheats, cheat codes and glitches
160. halo 2 credits
161. halo 2 golden warthog
162. halo 2 intro
163. halo 2 killimanjaro
164. halo 2 multiplayer tips
165. halo 2 soundtracks
166. halo 2 sprites
167. how to bridge on halo 2
168. peril halo 2
169. xbox cheats for halo 2
170. glitches on halo 2
171. halo 2 forums
172. halo 2 glitches and tricks
173. halo 2 grunts
174. halo 2 map pack
175. halo 2 online glitches
176. halo 2 sniping
177. halo 2 soundtrack download
178. halo 2 soundtrack peril
179. halo 2 wav
180. halo 2 xbox mods
181. x box game halo 2
182. bungie halo 2
183. halo 2 breaking benjamin
184. halo 2 electric guitar
185. halo 2 ending
186. halo 2 mod downloads
187. halo 2 people
188. halo 2 secret skulls
189. halo 2 soundtrack mp3
190. halo 2 story
191. how to standby on halo 2
192. i would have been your daddy skull halo 2
193. softmodding on halo 2 without being banned
194. x box blue console bundle with halo 2
195. flood halo 2
196. halo 2 battle
197. halo 2 codes
198. halo 2 game
199. halo 2 gliches videos
200. halo 2 hog
201. halo 2 icons
202. halo 2 internet
203. halo 2 map
204. halo 2 marines
205. halo 2 montage videos
206. halo 2 multiplayer maps
207. halo 2 skull find
208. halo 2 snipers
209. halo 2 sword
210. halo 2 the flood
211. halo 2 trailer mpeg
212. halo 2 walk through
213. unforgotten halo 2
214. halo 2 aliens
215. halo 2 cheats and glitches
216. halo 2 e3 trailer
217. halo 2 flood juggernaut
218. halo 2 games
219. halo 2 heretic, hero
220. halo 2 infinite camoflage
221. halo 2 jumps
222. halo 2 levels
223. halo 2 ost
224. halo 2 sniping tips
225. halo 2 software
226. halo 2 sound effects
227. halo 2 strategy
228. halo 2 superjump videos
229. halo 2 theme mp3
230. halo 2 walkthrough multiplayer terminal
231. halo 2 weapons and vehicles
232. halo 2 wikipedia
233. halo 2 xbox live screenshots
234. how to standby in halo 2
235. super jumps on halo 2
236. breaking benjamin halo 2
237. halo 2 .mp3
238. halo 2 action
239. halo 2 bridging tutorial
240. halo 2 costume
241. halo 2 costumes
242. halo 2 covenant
243. halo 2 demo download
244. halo 2 desktops
245. halo 2 download
246. halo 2 energy sword
247. halo 2 headset
248. halo 2 legendary
249. halo 2 mpeg
250. halo 2 multiplayer map pack
251. halo 2 multiplayer medals
252. halo 2 multiplayer secrets
253. halo 2 network problems
254. halo 2 pelican
255. halo 2 players
256. halo 2 screenshot
257. halo 2 sniper kill
258. halo 2 strategies
259. halo 2 theatrical trailer
260. halo 2 trailers
261. halo 2 weapon mods
262. how to super jump on halo 2
263. xbox cheats halo 2
264. best halo 2 player
265. connected halo 2
266. download halo 2 mod
267. dust halo 2
268. evox trainer halo 2
269. free halo 2 download
270. funny halo 2 movies
271. halo 2 action figure
272. halo 2 animated backgrounds
273. halo 2 campaign maps
274. halo 2 cheats/gliches
275. halo 2 cursors
276. halo 2 e3
277. halo 2 easter egg
278. halo 2 emblem
279. halo 2 funny videos
280. halo 2 gifs
281. halo 2 headlong glitches
282. halo 2 helmet
283. halo 2 hints
284. halo 2 hunters
285. halo 2 impend
286. halo 2 ivory tower
287. halo 2 lan party
288. halo 2 menu
289. halo 2 mods pics
290. halo 2 multiplayer strategies
291. halo 2 network
292. halo 2 poster
293. halo 2 ppf
294. halo 2 pro
295. halo 2 profits
296. halo 2 release
297. halo 2 shield jumping
298. halo 2 shirts
299. halo 2 skull
300. halo 2 smg
301. halo 2 sniper rifle
302. halo 2 sountrack
303. halo 2 strategy guide
304. halo 2 stunts
305. halo 2 super jump videos
306. halo 2 the heretic
307. halo 2 themes
308. halo 2 title
309. halo 2 trial
310. halo 2 video clips
311. halo 2 weapon guide
312. halo 2 xbox cheats
313. halo 2 xbox mods containment
314. halo 2 xbox trailer
315. how to get the scarab gun for halo 2
316. master chief halo 2
317. red vs blue halo 2
318. rocket launcher- halo 2
319. scarab gun for halo 2
320. .ppf patches for halo 2
321. 50x50 jpeg halo 2 image
322. angry halo 2 player
323. arbiter from halo 2
324. breaking benjamin halo 2 soundtrack
325. bridge host halo 2
326. halo 2 blood gulch
327. halo 2 books
328. halo 2 bridge
329. halo 2 bridge host
330. halo 2 cheats for xbox
331. halo 2 cops
332. halo 2 desktop
333. halo 2 full trailer
334. halo 2 funny situations
335. halo 2 game types
336. halo 2 glitchs
337. halo 2 infinite skull
338. halo 2 lag
339. halo 2 lego sets
340. halo 2 logos
341. halo 2 mod chips
342. halo 2 mod montage
343. halo 2 modded
344. halo 2 modded maps
345. halo 2 mods video
346. halo 2 montage's
347. halo 2 multiplayer cheats
348. halo 2 multiplayer videos
349. halo 2 profile pictures
350. halo 2 renders
351. halo 2 ring
352. halo 2 skulls how many
353. halo 2 softmods
354. halo 2 stuff
355. halo 2 super weapons
356. halo 2 the game
357. halo 2 truth and reconciliation
358. halo 2 turf
359. halo 2 unlock marathon map
360. halo 2 vehicle
361. halo 2 wall copy
362. how do you double shot in halo 2
363. how to mod on halo 2
364. ripp0n's halo 2 montage
365. two month free trial for halo 2
366. when is halo 2 coming out
367. best halo 2 super bouce cheats
368. bridging halo 2
369. bridging host on halo 2
370. bridging on halo 2
371. free halo 2 screensaver
372. grunt halo 2
373. halo 2 avatar
374. halo 2 brute
375. halo 2 burial mounds
376. halo 2 cheats and mods
377. halo 2 coloring pages
378. halo 2 commander
379. halo 2 containment mods
380. halo 2 custom maps
381. halo 2 dedicated server
382. halo 2 dvd
383. halo 2 for computer
384. halo 2 for the pc
385. halo 2 game variants
386. halo 2 glitches/superjumps
387. halo 2 glithc
388. halo 2 hints and tips
389. halo 2 hoodie
390. halo 2 hunter
391. halo 2 jackal
392. halo 2 jump
393. halo 2 kilimanjaro
394. halo 2 map pack torrent
395. halo 2 maps download
396. halo 2 matchmaking mods
397. halo 2 mods for free
398. halo 2 multiplayer medal drawings
399. halo 2 multiplayer pack
400. halo 2 new maps
401. halo 2 ninja clans
402. halo 2 online gameplay movies
403. halo 2 ringtones
404. halo 2 rock song
405. halo 2 rom
406. halo 2 screenshot gallery
407. halo 2 skulls videos
408. halo 2 soundtrack vol 2
409. halo 2 spartan pictures
410. halo 2 sticking
411. halo 2 them
412. halo 2 theme mjolnir mix
413. halo 2 title screen
414. halo 2 video demo
415. life size halo 2 weapons
416. mlg halo 2
417. new halo 2 maps
418. pictures of halo 2 medals
419. screenshots from halo 2
420. splinter cell exploit halo 2 softmod
421. super jumps for halo 2
422. the art of halo 2
423. xbox halo 2 mods
424. , 2 meter, halo antennas, 2 meter, ham radio
425. angry halo 2
426. cheats for halo 2 on xbox
427. cool halo 2
428. cortana halo 2
429. download halo 2 demo
430. download halo 2 for free
431. download halo 2 mods for xbox live
432. final boss halo 2
433. free halo 2 download for pc
434. free halo 2 full download
435. funny halo 2 pics
436. fylers halo 2 montage
437. grunts halo 2
438. half jaw halo 2
439. halo 2 action figures uk
440. halo 2 airsoft guns
441. halo 2 and superbounces
442. halo 2 art
443. halo 2 banner
444. halo 2 banshee vehicle
445. halo 2 campaign glitches
446. halo 2 character creater
447. halo 2 cheatcodes
448. halo 2 clans
449. halo 2 clips
450. halo 2 collectors edition
451. halo 2 concept art
452. halo 2 custom games
453. halo 2 cutscenes
454. halo 2 desktop themes
455. halo 2 dummies
456. halo 2 emblem designs
457. halo 2 expansion pack
458. halo 2 font
459. halo 2 full game download
460. halo 2 fun mods
461. halo 2 game download
462. halo 2 ghost skull
463. halo 2 guitar
464. halo 2 human
465. halo 2 in amber clad
466. halo 2 info on wepons
467. halo 2 iwhbyd skull
468. halo 2 lan parties
469. halo 2 legendary ending
470. halo 2 level 50 icon
471. halo 2 logon
472. halo 2 map resigner x
473. halo 2 modding forums
474. halo 2 mods xbox
475. halo 2 montague
476. halo 2 movie trailer
477. halo 2 multiplayer medals, killamanjaro
478. halo 2 music download
479. halo 2 music videos
480. halo 2 ogre montage
481. halo 2 on pc
482. halo 2 on psp
483. halo 2 online play tips
484. halo 2 original soundtrack
485. halo 2 perilous journey
486. halo 2 photos
487. halo 2 pic
488. halo 2 prologue
489. halo 2 reviews
490. halo 2 rings
491. halo 2 shotgun
492. halo 2 sky walking
493. halo 2 sound scheme
494. halo 2 spy
495. halo 2 stick
496. halo 2 terminal
497. halo 2 theam song
498. halo 2 tournament cash
499. halo 2 tournaments held in arizona
500. halo 2 toy guns
|
|
|
