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How Much Is Halo 2 Worth

Written By Tuesday, July 26, 2022 Add Comment Edit

2004 video game

This article is most the video game. For the 9 Inch Nails album that uses this pseudonym, come across Pretty Hate Machine.

2004 video game

Halo 2
Halo2-cover.png
Developer(s) Bungie[a]
Publisher(s) Microsoft Game Studios
Manager(s) Jason Jones
Designer(s) Jaime Griesemer
Writer(s) Joseph Staten
Composer(southward)
  • Martin O'Donnell
  • Michael Salvatori
Serial Halo
Platform(due south)
  • Xbox
  • Microsoft Windows
Release

Nov 9, 2004

  • Xbox
    • NA: Nov 9, 2004
    • Eu: Nov xi, 2004
    Microsoft Windows
    • AU: May 17, 2007[1]
    • NA: May 31, 2007[one]
    • EU: June 8, 2007[one]
Genre(s) Beginning-person shooter
Mode(southward)
  • Single-role player
  • Multiplayer

Halo 2 is a 2004 outset-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. Halo two is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Halo: Gainsay Evolved. The game features new weapons, enemies, and vehicles, and shipped with online multiplayer via Microsoft's Xbox Live service. In Halo 2 'south story style, the player assumes the roles of the homo Master Chief and alien Arbiter in a 26th-century disharmonize between the Un Space Command, the genocidal Covenant, and the parasitic Alluvion.

Afterward the success of Halo: Combat Evolved, a sequel was expected and highly anticipated. Bungie found inspiration in plot points and gameplay elements that had been left out of their kickoff game, including online multiplayer. A troubled development and fourth dimension constraints forced cuts to the telescopic of the game, including the wholesale removal of a more than aggressive multiplayer mode, and necessitated a cliffhanger catastrophe to the game's entrada mode. Amidst Halo 2 's marketing was an early alternate reality game called "I Love Bees" that involved players solving real-world puzzles. Bungie supported the game after release with new multiplayer maps and updates to accost adulterous and glitches. The game was followed by a sequel, Halo 3, in September 2007.

Halo ii was a commercial and critical success and is often listed as one of the greatest video games of all time. The game became the almost pop title on Xbox Live, holding that rank until the release of Gears of War for the Xbox 360 nearly two years subsequently. Halo 2 is the acknowledged first-generation Xbox game, with more than eight million copies sold worldwide. The game received critical acclamation, with the multiplayer lauded; in comparison, the campaign and its cliffhanger catastrophe was divisive. The game's online component was highly influential and cemented many features every bit standard in time to come games and online services, including matchmaking, lobbies, and clans. Halo ii 's marketing heralded the beginnings of video games equally blockbuster media. A port of the game for Windows Vista was released in 2007, followed by a high-definition remake as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection in 2014.

Gameplay

In-game screenshot of Halo 2 for Xbox; the histrion character aims a shotgun at enemy Covenant.

Halo 2 is a shooter game. Players primarily experience gameplay from a first-person perspective, with the viewpoint shifting to third-person for vehicle segments.[4] Players use a combination of human and Covenant weaponry and vehicles to progress through the game'southward levels. Certain weapons tin can be dual-wielded, assuasive the thespian to trade accuracy, the employ of grenades, and melee attacks for raw firepower.[v] The role player can carry ii weapons at a time (or iii if dual-wielding, with one weapon remaining holstered), with each weapon having strengths in unlike combat situations. About Covenant weapons, for example, eschew dispensable ammo magazines for a contained battery, which cannot exist replaced in one case depleted. All the same, these weapons overheat if fired continuously.[5] Man weapons are less effective at penetrating shields and require reloading ammunition, but cannot overheat due to prolonged fire. Players can hijack enemy vehicles and speedily presume command of them. The role player is equipped with a harm-arresting shield that regenerates when non taking burn; their wellness bar is not visible.[5]

The game'south "Entrada" mode offers options for both single-player and cooperative multiplayer participation. In campaign mode, the player must complete a series of levels that embrace Halo 2's storyline. These levels alternating between the Chief Chief and a Covenant Elite chosen the Czar, who occupy diametrically opposed roles in the story's conflict. Aside from variations in storyline, the Arbiter differs from Main Main simply in that his armor lacks a flashlight; instead, it is equipped with a short duration rechargeable form of active camouflage that disappears when the role player attacks or takes damage.[6] There are four difficulty levels in campaign style: Easy, Normal, Heroic, and Legendary. An increase in difficulty volition result in an increase in the number, rank, health, damage, and accuracy of enemies; a reduction of elapsing and an increase in recharge fourth dimension for the Czar'southward active camouflage; a decrease in the thespian's health and shields; and occasional changes in dialogue. Enemy and friendly artificial intelligence is dynamic, and replaying the same encounters repeatedly will demonstrate different behavior.[4]

Multiplayer

Similar Halo: Gainsay Evolved, the Xbox version of Halo 2 features a multiplayer system that allows players to compete with each other in split-screen and organisation link modes; in addition, it added back up for online multiplayer via Xbox Alive.[5] The Xbox Alive multiplayer and downloadable content features of the Xbox version of Halo ii were supported until the discontinuation of the service in April 2010,[7] with the concluding multiplayer session final May 10, almost a calendar month later on the service was officially terminated.[8] Multiplayer for the PC version of the game used Games for Windows – Live.[9] PC multiplayer servers were taken offline in June 2013.[10] [xi]

Instead of implementing multiplayer by having players manually join lobbies, every bit was common in games at the time, Halo 2 used matchmaking. Players chose the full general type of match they desire to play, and the game selected the map and gametype and automatically found other players.[12] This "playlist" system automatic the process of finding matches to keep a steady flow of games available at all times, and combined a skill-ranking system on elevation.[13]

Synopsis

Setting

Halo ii takes place in the 26th century. Humans, nether the auspices of the United Nations Space Command or UNSC, take adult faster-than-lite slipspace travel and colonized numerous worlds.[v] Human worlds come nether attack by a collective of alien races known every bit the Covenant. Declaring humanity an affront to their gods, the Forerunners, the Covenant brainstorm to obliterate the humans with their superior numbers and technology. After the homo planet Reach is destroyed, a unmarried ship, The Pillar of Autumn, follows protocol and initiates a random slipspace leap to lead the Covenant away from Globe. The coiffure discovers a Forerunner ringworld called Halo. Though the Covenant believe Halo's activation will lead to divine conservancy, the humans discover that the rings are really weapons, congenital to comprise a terrifying parasite called the Flood. The human supersoldier Chief Master Petty Officer John-117 and his AI companion Cortana learn from Halo's AI monitor, 343 Guilty Spark, that activation of the Halos will destroy all sentient life in the galaxy to prevent the Flood's spread. Instead of activating the ring, Chief Chief and Cortana detonate the Colonnade of Fall 'due south engines, destroying the installation and preventing the escape of the Inundation. Primary Principal and Cortana race dorsum to Earth to warn of an impending invasion past Covenant forces.[fourteen]

Plot

Halo 2 opens with the trial of a Covenant Aristocracy commander aboard the Covenant's majuscule urban center-ship of Loftier Charity. For his failure to end Halo'due south destruction, the Aristocracy is stripped of his rank, branded a heretic, and tortured by Tartarus, the Chieftain of the Covenant Brutes. Spared execution, the Covenant leadership—the High Prophets Truth, Regret, and Mercy—give the Elite the hazard to become an Arbiter, a rank given to Elites in times of keen crunch or turmoil. As the Arbiter, the Elite quells a rebellion and recovers 343 Guilty Spark.

On World, Fleet Admiral Hood commends the Master Master and Sergeant Avery Johnson for their actions at the start Halo, with Commander Miranda Keyes accepting a medal on behalf of her deceased male parent, Helm Jacob Keyes. A Covenant fleet all of a sudden appears nearly Earth. In the ensuing boxing, a unmarried ship carrying the Prophet of Regret slips through Globe's defenses and besieges the African urban center of New Mombasa. Master Chief assists in repelling the invasion. With his fleet destroyed, Regret makes a hasty slipspace spring, and Keyes, Johnson, Cortana, and the Master Chief follow aboard the UNSC ship In Bister Clad. The coiffure discovers another Halo installation; realizing the danger the ring presents, Keyes sends Master Chief to impale Regret while she and Johnson search for the Index, Halo's activation fundamental.

Responding to Regret's distress telephone call, High Charity and the Covenant fleet arrive at the Halo. Afterward Chief Chief kills Regret, the Covenant bombard his location; he falls into a lake, where he is dragged away by tentacles. Regret's death triggers discord among the races of the Covenant, every bit the Prophets requite the Brutes the Elites' traditional part as their honor guard. The Arbiter subdues Johnson and Keyes and retrieves the Index. Tartarus appears and reveals that the Prophets take ordered the annihilation of the Elites, and sends the Arbiter falling down a deep chasm.

The Czar meets the Primary Chief in the bowels of the Halo, brought together by a Flood creature called the Gravemind. The Gravemind reveals to the Arbiter that the Bang-up Journeying is a prevarication, and sends the ii soldiers to different places to stop Halo's activation. The Master Chief is teleported to Loftier Clemency every bit the Covenant falls into civil war. The Inundation-infested In Amber Clad crashes into the metropolis, and Cortana realizes that the Gravemind used them equally a distraction. Every bit the parasite overruns the metropolis, the Prophet of Mercy is consumed. As for Tartarus, the Prophet of Truth consigns him to Halo with Keyes, Johnson, and Guilty Spark to activate the ring. Master Chief follows Truth aboard a Forerunner send leaving the city; Cortana remains backside to destroy High Charity and Halo if Tartarus succeeds in activating the band.

On the surface of Halo, the Czar joins forces with Johnson and confronts Tartarus in Halo'due south command room. When the Arbiter tries to convince Tartarus that the Prophets have betrayed them, Tartarus instead activates the ring, and a boxing ensues. The Arbiter and Johnson impale Tartarus while Keyes removes the Index; the unexpected deactivation sets Halo and all the other rings on standby for remote activation from a place 343 Guilty Spark calls "the Ark." Meanwhile, Truth'southward send arrives at Earth, and Principal Main informs Admiral Hood that he is "finishing this fight."

In a post-credits scene, Gravemind assumes control of Loftier Clemency. Cortana agrees to answer the Flood intelligence's questions.

Development

Halo had never been planned as a trilogy, simply the critical and commercial success of Combat Evolved—selling more than five one thousand thousand copies in three years[15]—made a sequel expected.[16] Xbox general manager J Allard confirmed Halo 2 was in production at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2002, with a planned release in fourth dimension for Holiday 2003.[17]

Many at Bungie wanted to brand a sequel, building on cut ideas from Combat Evolved with a more ambitious follow-up.[18] The added publisher back up for a sequel allowed greater leeway and the ability to render to more than aggressive ideas lost during Combat Evolved 's development.[xvi] Not satisfied with merely calculation back cut content to the sequel, designer Jaime Griesemer recalled that the team "tripled everything," rebuilding the game engine, changing the physics engine, and prototyping a system for stencil shadow volumes.[18] [nineteen] The game'south development would suffer from a lack of articulate leadership. Early development discussions happened in pocket-sized, unconnected teams that did not talk with each other. Bungie cofounder and project lead Jason Jones, who had been exhausted aircraft Gainsay Evolved, similarly burned out during Halo 2 'southward production. Jones left the project to work on some other Bungie game, Phoenix, leaving fewer people to work on Halo 2. The departure of Bungie'southward cofounder Alex Seropian in 2002 caused additional friction and politics in the workplace where Seropian had once mediated tensions. Author Joseph Staten described the team'south ambitions thusly:[18]

Then we simply plowed alee, much like we'd washed with Halo, with i notable exception. Nosotros ordered ourselves a giant sandwich, took a bite merely didn't realize exactly how large information technology was before nosotros started in. And we did that across the board, technically, artistically, and story wise. Merely of course, we didn't effigy that out until way too late.

Griesemer put information technology more than bluntly: "What's the phrase? Putting 10 pounds of crap into a five-pound bag? We really tried to cram it also full, and we paid the price."[18]

An important feature for Halo ii was multiplayer using Xbox Live. Multiplayer in Combat Evolved was accomplished via Organisation Link and had near been scrapped altogether in the blitz to complete the game.[18] [xv] Well-nigh players never played big maps, while a subset greatly enjoyed 16-player action, connecting consoles together with network cables for group play. "We looked at the small set of fans who were able to do this," said engineering lead Chris Butcher, "and just how much they were enjoying themselves, and asked ourselves if we could bring that to everybody. That would be something really special, really unique."[xvi] [15] Initially, Gainsay Evolved 'south multiplayer was supposed to involve larger maps and player counts than what shipped, and members of the team wanted to resurrect those plans for Halo 2. The smaller multiplayer modes and local separate-screen capabilities of the showtime game would accept been removed. Designer Max Hoberman successfully argued against wholesale removal of a successful component from the previous game. He was put in accuse of a small team to farther develop the pocket-sized arena multiplayer, while the rest of the team developed a larger "Warfare" manner.[xviii] Bungie promised in previews that the core of this multiplayer would exist squad-based online battles between human Spartans and Covenant Elites, with players able to call in airstrikes.[20] : 52 Hoberman's pitch for Halo 2 'southward loonshit multiplayer was to bring the fun of couch multiplayer online. As Hoberman was non an fantabulous video game player, he wanted to make certain the game remained fun for even lower-skilled players, rather than catering to the very competitive ones. The system of playlist matchmaking and assuasive friends to "party up" to play games together were crucial to creating a global community of players.[xv]

The story for Halo ii grew out of all the elements that were not seen in Combat Evolved. Jason Jones organized his cadre ideas for the sequel'south story and approached Staten for input. According to Staten, among the elements that did non get in to the finished game was a "horrible scene of betrayal" where Miranda Keyes straps a flop to the Main Main's back and throws him into a hole in revenge for her male parent'due south death; "Jason was going through a rather difficult breakdown at the fourth dimension and I think that had something to do with it," he said.[21] [xviii] Staten and Griesemer discussed seeing the state of war from the Covenant perspective, forming the thought to accept part of the game told from the perspective of a Covenant warrior known equally the Dervish. Late in development, the Dervish became the Arbiter, subsequently legal teams at Microsoft were afraid the game was sending a bulletin virtually Islam.[18] [22]

In February 2003, Bungie began developing a gameplay sit-in for E3 2003. The demo, which was the first gameplay seen past the public, showcased new enemies and abilities. Many elements of the trailer, however, were not game-fix; the entire graphics engine used in the footage had to be discarded, and the trailer'southward environment never appeared in the final game due to limitations on how big the game environments could exist.[18] Elements like vehicle hijacking were entirely scripted, and in order to keep performance at an acceptable level, a Bungie staff member deleted objects from the game equally the player passed through. The restructuring of the engine meant that there was no playable build of Halo ii for almost a year, and avails and environments produced by fine art and design teams could not be prototyped, bottlenecking evolution.[xvi] Griesemer recalled that evolution was "moving backwards", and later on E3 the team realized that much of what the squad had worked on for the by ii years would have to be scrapped.[18]

In order to ship the game, Bungie began dent back their ambitions for the single- and multiplayer parts of the game.[16] All other Bungie projects, including Phoenix, were cancelled, with their teams folded into Halo 2 to complete the game. The campaign was completely rethought and remained unplayable for more than than a year while the multiplayer was existence adult. Ultimately, a third deed of the game where Principal Primary and Arbiter came together on World to defeat the Prophets was cut entirely. Staten hoped the resulting cliffhanger would be treated similar the end of The Empire Strikes Dorsum.[eighteen] [23] Planned vehicles, such as variants of the Warthog and an all terrain vehicle, were scrapped.[20] : 49

With the single-player fashion in problem, very little had been done with the big Warfare multiplayer mode. Eventually, the unabridged warfare style was cut, and Hoberman's small team project became the shipping multiplayer suite.[18] Engineer Chris Butcher commented, "For Halo two we had our sights set very high on networking. Going from having no cyberspace multiplayer to developing a completely new online model was a large challenge to tackle all at one time, and as a result we had to leave a lot of things undone in guild to come across the send engagement commitment that we made to our fans."[24]

As one of Microsoft'southward tentpole games, the publisher had two full-time user experience researchers managing a team of game testers working on the title. The researchers used playtests, surveys, and usability testing to provide Bungie with input on how the game would be received. Feedback of the game'southward matchmaking system was very unfavorable, with the testers preferring the control offered by traditional servers. Researcher John Hopson recalled that while they suggested to Bungie they should alter the matchmaking system, the developers remained steadfast their new approach would be better in the real earth; Hopson afterward agreed with their pick, proverb that his team had only narrowly avoided ruining the game.[25] To exam existent-world network weather condition, Bungie ran a airtight alpha of the multiplayer with 1000 Microsoft employees for five weeks.[26] : 4

Outside of Bungie, Gainsay Evolved 'southward success had become a problem for Halo two 's evolution, as the success of the Xbox platform was riding on Halo. Microsoft originally pressured Bungie to have the game set every bit a launch title for Xbox Live in November 2002, which Bungie employees told them was impossible. At one point, Microsoft executives had a vote over whether to force Bungie to ship the incomplete game, or requite them another yr of development time. Microsoft Studios head Ed Fries walked out of the vote and threatened to resign to get Bungie the actress fourth dimension.[18]

Missing the Xbox's terminal holiday season before its successor console, the Xbox 360, shipped was not an option.[sixteen] To hit its new November ix, 2004, release date, Bungie went into the "mother of all crunches" in society to finish the game.[23] "A lot of people sacrificed themselves in ways that you should never have to for your job," design lead Paul Bertone recalled; he kenneled his dog for nearly 2 months and slept in the office for the final days of development.[18] Griesemer said that this lack of a "smoothen" menstruum near the end of the development cycle was the primary reason for Halo ii 's shortcomings.[27] Butcher retrospectively described Halo 2 's multiplayer mode equally "a stake shadow of what information technology could and should have been" due to the tight schedule.[27]

Audio

Halo ii 's soundtrack was composed primarily by Martin O'Donnell and his musical partner Michael Salvatori, the team that had equanimous the critically acclaimed music of Halo. O'Donnell noted in composing the music for Halo two that "making a sequel is never a uncomplicated proposition. You lot want to make everything that was cool even better, and leave out all the stuff that was weak."[28] O'Donnell fabricated sure that no part of the game would be completely silent, noting "Ambient sound is one of the main ways to immerse people psychologically. A dark room is spooky, merely add together a creaking floorboard and rats skittering in the walls and it becomes really creepy."[28] Halo two, different its predecessor, was mixed to accept full advantage of Dolby 5.i Digital surroundings sound.[29]

In the summertime of 2004, producer Nile Rodgers and O'Donnell decided to release the music from Halo two on two carve up CDs; the first (Volume 1) would incorporate all the themes present in the game too as music "inspired" by the game; the second would contain the residue of the music from the game, much of which was incomplete, as the first CD was shipped before the game was released.[xxx] The first CD was released on Nov 9, 2004, and featured guitar backing by Steve Vai. Boosted tracks included various outside musicians, including Steve Vai, Incubus, Breaking Benjamin, and Hoobastank. The Halo 2 Original Soundtrack: Volume Two CD, containing the game music organized in suite form, was released on April 25, 2006.[31] [32]

Release

Promotion

Contents of the Limited Collector's Edition

Halo ii was officially appear in September 2002 with a cinematic trailer,[16] scheduled for a Holiday 2003 release. The get-go major look at the game came with the E3 2003 demo in May; Halo 2 was Microsoft'due south strongest showing at the event, and some journalists believed the game looked also skillful to be live gameplay and must accept been a scripted cutscene.[33] After delays, the game was shifted to a first-quarter 2004 release, then to Holiday 2004.[34] [35] The final November ix release date was confirmed at E3 2004, where the game's multiplayer was playable on the show floor.[36] Microsoft executive Peter Moore rolled up his sleeve to reveal the engagement tattooed on his bicep.[37] [38]

Microsoft intended to market Halo 2 non simply as a video game, merely as a cultural issue. Part of its widespread appeal would come up from the social nature of the game's multiplayer, but Microsoft also heavily promoted and marketed the game. A trailer for the game was shown in movie theaters, making Halo 2 the first video game so advertised.[fifteen] Hype for the title was fueled by the press, with Microsoft telling 1 journalist that their Halo 2 review would be the nigh consequential of their career.[39] The marketing heavily focused on Master Principal and the defense of earth, leaving the reveal of the Arbiter as a playable graphic symbol a surprise.[40]

Halo 2 's release was preceded with promotions and product tie-ins. There was a Halo two Celebrity Pre-Release Party at E3 2004, in which a private dwelling house was transformed to replicate the world of Halo, complete with camouflaged Marines and roaming Cortanas.[41] Launch events were held worldwide, with players waiting for hours in a line that stretched ii blocks in Times Square, New York City.[42] The French version of the game leaked on the internet in October, and circulated widely.[43]

In addition to more traditional forms of promotion, Halo 2 was likewise office of an elaborate Alternate Reality Game project titled I Love Bees. Microsoft approached 42 Entertainment'southward Elan Lee, who had helped launch the Xbox with Microsoft, on producing a tie-in game.[xv] I Dear Bees price an estimated one million dollars. The game centered on a hacked website, supposedly a site near beekeeping, where an AI from the future was residing. The project garnered meaning attention, drawing attention away from the ongoing 2004 Presidential Ballot.[44] [45] The game won an award for creativity at the 5th annual Game Developers Choice Awards[46] and was nominated for a Webby award.[47] Ultimately, nearly 3 1000000 people participated in the game.[15]

Halo 2 was sold in a standard edition and "Limited Collector's Edition". The Collector's Edition includes the game, packaged in a metal example. It also includes bonus content on an actress DVD, such as a making-of documentary, fine art gallery, and audio tests.[48] The instructional booklet is likewise written from the Covenant point of view rather than from the UNSC betoken of view used in the regular edition.[iv]

Sales

Halo 2 first released on November 9, 2004, in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.s.. Apprehension for the game was high; a record 1.5 million copies were pre-ordered iii weeks before release.[49] [50] Massive lines formed at midnight releases of the game at more than 7000 stores across N America and attracted significant media attention.[51] [50] This was followed past releases on November 10, 2004, in French republic and parts of Europe, and November 11 in the United kingdom, Japan, and elsewhere; the game released in eight languages and a full of 27 countries.[52]

The game sold 2.four million copies and earned up to United states of america$125 million in its commencement 24 hours on store shelves, outgrossing the moving picture Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man'southward Chest every bit the highest-grossing release in entertainment history.[50] [53] The game sold 260,000 units in the United Kingdom in its kickoff calendar week, making it the third fastest-selling championship in that territory.[54] Information technology ultimately received a "Double Platinum" sales award from the Amusement and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[55] indicating sales of at least 600,000 copies in the United kingdom.[56] Information technology was the 2nd best-selling game of 2004 in the United States (after Grand Theft Automobile: San Andreas), where information technology sold iv.2 million copies that year.[57] [58] [59]

On release, Halo 2 was the well-nigh pop video game on Xbox Live,[sixty] holding that rank until the release of Gears of War for the Xbox 360 nearly ii years later.[61] [62] In the offset ten weeks of release, players collectively logged 91 million hours playing the game;[63] [64] by June 2006, more than than 500 million games of Halo 2 had been played, and more than 710 meg hours logged on Xbox Live.[65] Over five million players had played by 2007.[66] Halo 2 is the best-selling first-generation Xbox game[54] with at least vi.three one thousand thousand copies sold in the U.s.a. and 8.46 one thousand thousand copies in full.[67]

Reception

Halo ii received critical acclamation upon release. On review aggregate site Metacritic, the Xbox version has an overall score of 95 out of 100.[69] Critics judged it a worthy successor to the acclaimed Combat Evolved.[4] [75] GameSpot 's Greg Kasavin wrote that the game successfully built on its predecessor'southward foundation, and despite shortcomings, the game's breadth of content made it one of the best action games available.[4]

The game's audiovisual presentation was praised.[72] Multiplayer especially was noted in being the best on Xbox Live at the time. Game Informer, along with numerous other publications, rated information technology college than Halo: Combat Evolved, citing enhanced multiplayer and less repetitive gameplay. Well-nigh critics noted that Halo 2 stuck with the formula that made its predecessor successful, and was alternatively praised and faulted for this decision. Border's review concluded that Halo ii could be summed up with a line from its script: "It's not a new program. Simply we know information technology'll piece of work."[seventy]

The game's campaign style received some criticism for being too short,[78] and for featuring an abrupt cliffhanger ending.[4] GameSpot noted that although the story's switching between the Covenant and human being factions fabricated the plot more than intricate, it distracted the player from Earth's survival and the chief point of the game;[4] while Border labeled the plot "a confusing mess of fan-fiction sci-fi and bemusing Episode-Ii-style politics."[70] [39]

Halo 2 won multiple awards from the Interactive Achievement Awards, including "Console Game of the Year", "Console Showtime Person Activeness Game of the Year", "Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay" and "Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design", besides as a nomination for "Game of the Yr". The game received more than than 38 individual awards.[79] It received runner-upwards placements in GameSpot's 2004 "All-time Shooter", "All-time Audio Furnishings" and "Best Original Music" categories across all platforms.[lxxx] The game was listed in Electronic Gaming Monthly's "The Greatest 200 Video Games of Their Time" in 2006.[81]

Post-release

Updates and DLC

Halo 2 'southward multiplayer suffered from widespread cheating on release. Some players used "standbying" or "lag killing" to crook, where the player hosting the game intentionally pressed the standby button on his or her modem. This resulted in all other players freezing in identify and allowed the cheater to impale other players or capture objectives.[82] : 115 Another exploit called "BXR" allowed players to cancel melee animations and chop-chop assail for an instant kill.[83] Rather than rely solely on user reports of misbehavior, Bungie leveraged its game statistics collection to proactively find cheating players, creating an automated banning system.[84]

Bungie released several map packs for Halo 2, calculation new environments for multiplayer matches.[84] The Multiplayer Map Pack, released July 5, 2005, made Xbox Alive content and updates bachelor to offline players. The disc contains the game'south software update, nine new multiplayer maps, a making-of documentary, and a bonus cinematic chosen "Some other Day on the Embankment", among other features.[85] The Blastacular Map Pack contained ii boosted maps and released Apr 2007.[86] [87] On July 7 Bungie made the Blastacular Map Pack free.[88]

Halo 2 was one of the Xbox games that was backwards-uniform on the Xbox 360. On the newer console, the game runs at high-definition 720p with scene-wide anti-aliasing.[89] The online services of the Halo two were discontinued aslope other original Xbox console games in 2010.[90]

Ports and rereleases

In Feb 2006, Microsoft announced a PC port of Halo 2, exclusively for the Windows Vista operating system. Like the Xbox version, the release of Halo 2 Vista was repeatedly delayed.[91] [92] The May 22, 2007, release date was pushed to May 31 after the discovery of partial nudity in the game'southward map editor—a photograph of Charlie Gough, one of the Lead Engineers, mooning Steve Ballmer during his visit to the studio, was presented as part of the ".ass" mistake message.[93] [94] Microsoft offered patches to remove the nude content and revised the box ratings.[95] The game could exist enabled to play on Windows XP through an unauthorized third-party patch.[96] Halo 2 Vista was ported by a small-scale team at Microsoft Game Studios (codenamed Hired Gun) who worked closely with Bungie. Every bit i of the launch titles of Games for Windows – Live, the game offered Live features not available in the Xbox version, such as Guide support and Achievements. The Windows port as well added two exclusive multiplayer maps and a map editor.[97]

A high-definition remake of Halo 2 titled Halo 2 Anniversary was released as part of Halo: The Primary Chief Collection on Nov 11, 2014, for the Xbox 1,[98] subsequently existence released on PC for Steam and Windows Store.[99]

Legacy

Halo 2 'due south release was function of a shift towards blockbuster gaming releases. In 2004, the video game industry was estimated to gross $seven.76 billion in the United States, behind the $9.4 billion gross of the domestic box office.[50] Halo 2 'due south success was seen by the press as evidence of a generational shift in entertainment. The CBC'south Greg Bolton remarked that prior to Halo 2 's splashy release, "the video-game industry hadn't yet institute a recognizable public face, a universally acclaimed megastar."[fifty] The Ringer called Halo 2 "the nascency of the video game as we know information technology today: a mass shared experience," and credited it with birthing mod multiplayer infrastructure and popularizing American esports.[15]

Halo 2 's matchmaking technology was one of the turning points in the gaming industry during the 2000s, setting a new standard for other games.[xv] [100] [101] [102] G4's Sterling McGarvey wrote that "Bungie's sequel was a shot in the arm for Xbox Live subscriptions and previewed many of the features that would set the standard for Microsoft's online service on the next machine".[103] Critics credited the game with bringing online multiplayer to the console masses,[104] and as serving as Xbox Alive'southward killer app.[105] The Province 's Paul Chapman wrote that games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare two would non be enjoyable if not for the basis Halo two bankrupt.[106]

References

  1. ^ Additional work on the Windows version was done past Microsoft Game Studios and Pi Studios.[ii] [3]
  1. ^ a b c "Halo 2 for PC – Release Summary". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April xviii, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2008.
  2. ^ Matei, Robert (Dec 11, 2006). "Vista Halo ii Plans Details". Softpedia. Archived from the original on April six, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  3. ^ "Halo 2 for Vista – Uplift". GameSpy. April 3, 2007. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Kasavin, Greg (November 4, 2007). "Halo ii for Xbox Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 25, 2011. Retrieved February 10, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c d east Bungie, ed. (2004). Halo 2 Instruction Manual. Microsoft Game Studios.
  6. ^ McLain, Alex (2007). "The Big One". Xbox.com. Microsoft Corporation. Archived from the original on July 6, 2007. Retrieved October 20, 2007.
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External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Halo 2 .

  • Halo 2 at Bungie
  • Halo 2 at Halo Waypoint
  • Halo two on Halopedia, the Halo wiki
  • Halo 2 at IMDb

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_2

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