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2004 video game

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2004 video game

Halo 2
Developer(s)	Bungie[a]
Publisher(due south)	Microsoft Game Studios
Director(s)	Jason Jones
Designer(s)	Jaime Griesemer
Writer(southward)	Joseph Staten
Composer(s)	Martin O'Donnell Michael Salvatori
Series	Halo
Platform(s)	Xbox Microsoft Windows
Release	November 9, 2004 Xbox NA: November nine, 2004 EU: Nov xi, 2004 Microsoft Windows AU: May 17, 2007[1] NA: May 31, 2007[ane] EU: June 8, 2007[ane]
Genre(south)	Showtime-person shooter
Mode(due south)	Single-role player Multiplayer

Halo 2 is a 2004 showtime-person shooter game developed past Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox panel. Halo 2 is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved. The game features new weapons, enemies, and vehicles, and shipped with online multiplayer via Microsoft's Xbox Alive service. In Halo 2 'southward story mode, the role player assumes the roles of the man Master Main and, occasionally, an extraterrestrial chosen the Arbiter in a 26th-century conflict betwixt the United Nations Space Command, the genocidal Covenant, and the parasitic Alluvion.

After the success of Halo: Combat Evolved, a sequel was expected and highly anticipated. Bungie plant inspiration in plot points and gameplay elements that had been left out of their beginning game, including online multiplayer. A troubled development and time constraints forced cuts to the scope of the game, including the wholesale removal of a more ambitious multiplayer fashion, and necessitated a cliffhanger catastrophe to the game'south campaign mode. Amidst Halo ii 's marketing was an early alternate reality game called "I Dear Bees" that involved players solving real-earth puzzles. Bungie supported the game subsequently release with new multiplayer maps and updates to address cheating and glitches. The game was followed by a sequel, Halo 3, in September 2007.

Halo 2 was a commercial and critical success and is frequently listed as i of the greatest video games of all time. The game became the nearly popular championship on Xbox Live, holding that rank until the release of Gears of State of war for the Xbox 360 nearly two years later. Halo ii is the acknowledged first-generation Xbox game, with more than eight million copies sold worldwide. The game received critical acclaim, with the multiplayer lauded; in comparison, the entrada and its bewilderment ending was divisive. The game'south online component was highly influential and cemented many features as standard in future games and online services, including matchmaking, lobbies, and clans. Halo 2 's marketing heralded the ancestry of video games every bit blockbuster media. A port of the game for Windows Vista was released in 2007, followed by a loftier-definition remake equally function of Halo: The Master Chief Drove in 2014.

Gameplay

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

Halo 2 is a shooter game. Players primarily experience gameplay from a showtime-person perspective, with the viewpoint shifting to third-person for vehicle segments.^[4] Players utilise a combination of human and Covenant weaponry and vehicles to progress through the game's levels. Certain weapons can be dual-wielded, allowing the role player to trade accuracy, the use of grenades, and melee attacks for raw firepower.^[5] The player can carry two weapons at a time (or three if dual-wielding, with i weapon remaining holstered), with each weapon having strengths in different combat situations. About Covenant weapons, for example, eschew dispensable ammo magazines for a contained bombardment, which cannot exist replaced once depleted. Still, these weapons overheat if fired continuously.^[five] Human weapons are less effective at penetrating shields and require reloading ammunition, only cannot overheat due to prolonged fire. Players tin hijack enemy vehicles and quickly assume command of them. The histrion is equipped with a damage-arresting shield that regenerates when not taking fire; their wellness bar is non visible.^[5]

The game'southward "Campaign" style offers options for both unmarried-player and cooperative multiplayer participation. In campaign mode, the player must consummate a series of levels that encompass Halo two's storyline. These levels alternate between the Principal Chief and a Covenant Elite called the Arbiter, who occupy diametrically opposed roles in the story'southward conflict. Aside from variations in storyline, the Arbiter differs from Master Chief only in that his armor lacks a flashlight; instead, it is equipped with a curt duration rechargeable form of active camouflage that disappears when the player attacks or takes damage.^[six] There are four difficulty levels in campaign mode: Piece of cake, Normal, Heroic, and Legendary. An increase in difficulty will result in an increase in the number, rank, health, harm, and accuracy of enemies; a reduction of duration and an increase in recharge time for the Arbiter's active camouflage; a decrease in the actor's wellness and shields; and occasional changes in dialogue. Enemy and friendly bogus intelligence is dynamic, and replaying the same encounters repeatedly will demonstrate different behavior.^[4]

Multiplayer

Like Halo: Combat Evolved, the Xbox version of Halo 2 features a multiplayer system that allows players to compete with each other in split-screen and system link modes; in addition, it added support for online multiplayer via Xbox Live.^[v] The Xbox Live multiplayer and downloadable content features of the Xbox version of Halo 2 were supported until the discontinuation of the service in Apr 2010,^[7] with the final multiplayer session concluding May 10, almost a month after the service was officially terminated.^[eight] Multiplayer for the PC version of the game used Games for Windows – Alive.^[ix] PC multiplayer servers were taken offline in June 2013.^{[x] [11]}

Instead of implementing multiplayer past having players manually join lobbies, as was common in games at the time, Halo ii used matchmaking. Players chose the general type of match they desire to play, and the game selected the map and gametype and automatically plant other players.^[12] This "playlist" arrangement automated the process of finding matches to keep a steady flow of games available at all times, and combined a skill-ranking system on elevation.^[thirteen]

Synopsis

Setting

Halo 2 takes place in the 26th century. Humans, under the auspices of the United Nations Space Control or UNSC, have developed faster-than-light slipspace travel and colonized numerous worlds.^[5] Human worlds come under attack by a collective of conflicting races known as the Covenant. Declaring humanity an barb to their gods, the Forerunners, the Covenant begin to obliterate the humans with their superior numbers and technology. Afterward the man planet Accomplish is destroyed, a single ship, The Pillar of Autumn, follows protocol and initiates a random slipspace jump to atomic number 82 the Covenant away from Earth. The crew discovers a Precursor ringworld called Halo. Though the Covenant believe Halo'southward activation volition atomic number 82 to divine salvation, the humans detect that the rings are really weapons, built to contain a terrifying parasite called the Flood. The man supersoldier Master Chief Petty Officeholder 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 foreclose the Flood'south spread. Instead of activating the band, Main Chief and Cortana detonate the Colonnade of Autumn 'due south engines, destroying the installation and preventing the escape of the Flood. Master Chief and Cortana race back to Earth to warn of an impending invasion past Covenant forces.^[xiv]

Plot

Halo ii opens with the trial of a Covenant Aristocracy commander aboard the Covenant's capital urban center-transport of High Clemency. For his failure to stop Halo'south devastation, 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—requite the Elite the take chances to become an Arbiter, a rank given to Elites in times of great crunch or turmoil. As the Czar, the Elite quells a rebellion and recovers 343 Guilty Spark.

On Globe, Fleet Admiral Hood commends the Main Chief and Sergeant Avery Johnson for their actions at the first Halo, with Commander Miranda Keyes accepting a medal on behalf of her deceased male parent, Captain Jacob Keyes. A Covenant fleet of a sudden appears about Earth. In the ensuing boxing, a unmarried ship carrying the Prophet of Regret slips through World'south defenses and besieges the African city of New Mombasa. Master Chief assists in repelling the invasion. With his fleet destroyed, Regret makes a hasty slipspace jump, and Keyes, Johnson, Cortana, and the Master Master follow aboard the UNSC send In Amber Clad. The crew discovers another Halo installation; realizing the danger the ring presents, Keyes sends Master Primary to kill Regret while she and Johnson search for the Index, Halo's activation key.

Responding to Regret'southward distress call, Loftier Charity and the Covenant armada arrive at the Halo. Later Chief Primary kills Regret, the Covenant bombard his location; he falls into a lake, where he is dragged away by tentacles. Regret's expiry triggers discord amidst the races of the Covenant, as the Prophets give the Brutes the Elites' traditional function every bit their honor guard. The Arbiter subdues Johnson and Keyes and retrieves the Index. Tartarus appears and reveals that the Prophets have ordered the annihilation of the Elites, and sends the Arbiter falling down a deep chasm.

The Arbiter meets the Principal Chief in the bowels of the Halo, brought together past a Inundation creature called the Gravemind. The Gravemind reveals to the Arbiter that the Bang-up Journey is a lie, and sends the two soldiers to different places to stop Halo'south activation. The Master Chief is teleported to Loftier Charity as the Covenant falls into civil state of war. The Inundation-infested In Amber Clad crashes into the metropolis, and Cortana realizes that the Gravemind used them equally a distraction. As the parasite overruns the city, 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. Chief Master follows Truth aboard a Precursor ship leaving the city; Cortana remains behind to destroy High Clemency and Halo if Tartarus succeeds in activating the ring.

On the surface of Halo, the Arbiter joins forces with Johnson and confronts Tartarus in Halo's control room. When the Arbiter tries to convince Tartarus that the Prophets take betrayed them, Tartarus instead activates the ring, and a boxing ensues. The Arbiter and Johnson kill 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'due south transport arrives at Earth, and Master Chief informs Admiral Hood that he is "finishing this fight."

In a post-credits scene, Gravemind assumes control of High Charity. Cortana agrees to reply the Flood intelligence's questions.

Evolution

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

Many at Bungie wanted to make a sequel, building on cut ideas from Combat Evolved with a more aggressive follow-upward.^[18] The added publisher support for a sequel allowed greater elbowroom and the ability to render to more ambitious ideas lost during Gainsay Evolved 's evolution.^[16] Not satisfied with merely adding 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 arrangement for stencil shadow volumes.^{[18] [19]} The game'south development would suffer from a lack of clear leadership. Early on evolution discussions happened in small, unconnected teams that did not talk with each other. Bungie cofounder and projection lead Jason Jones, who had been exhausted aircraft Combat Evolved, similarly burned out during Halo ii 's production. Jones left the project to piece of work on some other Bungie game, Phoenix, leaving fewer people to work on Halo 2. The departure of Bungie's cofounder Alex Seropian in 2002 acquired boosted friction and politics in the workplace where Seropian had in one case mediated tensions. Writer Joseph Staten described the team's ambitions thusly:^[18]

Then we just plowed ahead, much like nosotros'd washed with Halo, with one notable exception. We ordered ourselves a giant sandwich, took a seize with teeth just didn't realize exactly how large information technology was before we started in. And we did that beyond the board, technically, artistically, and story wise. But of course, we didn't figure that out until way as well belatedly.

Griesemer put it more bluntly: "What'southward the phrase? Putting ten pounds of crap into a v-pound bag? We really tried to cram it too total, and we paid the cost."^[18]

An important feature for Halo 2 was multiplayer using Xbox Live. Multiplayer in Combat Evolved was accomplished via Arrangement Link and had near been scrapped altogether in the rush to complete the game.^{[18] [15]} Well-nigh players never played large maps, while a subset greatly enjoyed xvi-player action, connecting consoles together with network cables for group play. "We looked at the small-scale set of fans who were able to practise 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, actually unique."^{[xvi] [xv]} Initially, Combat Evolved 's multiplayer was supposed to involve larger maps and player counts than what shipped, and members of the squad wanted to resurrect those plans for Halo 2. The smaller multiplayer modes and local split-screen capabilities of the offset game would have been removed. Designer Max Hoberman successfully argued against wholesale removal of a successful component from the previous game. He was put in charge of a small team to further develop the small-scale-scale arena multiplayer, while the residue of the team developed a larger "Warfare" style.^[xviii] Bungie promised in previews that the core of this multiplayer would be squad-based online battles between human Spartans and Covenant Elites, with players able to call in airstrikes.^{[20] : 52} Hoberman'southward pitch for Halo two 'south arena multiplayer was to bring the fun of burrow multiplayer online. As Hoberman was not an excellent video game role player, he wanted to brand sure the game remained fun for even lower-skilled players, rather than catering to the very competitive ones. The system of playlist matchmaking and allowing friends to "political party up" to play games together were crucial to creating a global community of players.^[15]

The story for Halo ii grew out of all the elements that were not seen in Combat Evolved. Jason Jones organized his core ideas for the sequel's story and approached Staten for input. According to Staten, amongst the elements that did not arrive to the finished game was a "horrible scene of betrayal" where Miranda Keyes straps a bomb to the Master Chief's back and throws him into a hole in revenge for her begetter's death; "Jason was going through a rather hard breakup at the time and I think that had something to practice with it," he said.^{[21] [18]} Staten and Griesemer discussed seeing the war from the Covenant perspective, forming the idea to have part of the game told from the perspective of a Covenant warrior known as the Dervish. Belatedly in development, the Dervish became the Czar, later on legal teams at Microsoft were afraid the game was sending a message near Islam.^{[18] [22]}

In February 2003, Bungie began developing a gameplay demonstration for E3 2003. The demo, which was the first gameplay seen past the public, showcased new enemies and abilities. Many elements of the trailer, nonetheless, were non game-prepare; the unabridged graphics engine used in the footage had to be discarded, and the trailer'southward environment never appeared in the terminal game due to limitations on how large the game environments could be.^[xviii] Elements similar vehicle hijacking were entirely scripted, and in club to go along performance at an acceptable level, a Bungie staff member deleted objects from the game every bit the histrion passed through. The restructuring of the engine meant that in that location was no playable build of Halo 2 for almost a year, and assets and environments produced by fine art and design teams could not be prototyped, bottlenecking development.^[16] Griesemer recalled that development was "moving backwards", and afterward E3 the team realized that much of what the team had worked on for the past ii years would have to be scrapped.^[18]

In order to send the game, Bungie began paring dorsum their ambitions for the single- and multiplayer parts of the game.^[xvi] All other Bungie projects, including Phoenix, were cancelled, with their teams folded into Halo 2 to complete the game. The entrada was completely rethought and remained unplayable for more than than a year while the multiplayer was beingness developed. Ultimately, a 3rd deed of the game where Master Chief and Arbiter came together on Globe to defeat the Prophets was cutting entirely. Staten hoped the resulting bewilderment would be treated like the stop of The Empire Strikes Back.^{[eighteen] [23]} Planned vehicles, such as variants of the Warthog and an all terrain vehicle, were scrapped.^{[xx] : 49}

With the single-player style in problem, very lilliputian had been done with the large Warfare multiplayer mode. Eventually, the entire warfare way was cut, and Hoberman'south small-scale team projection became the shipping multiplayer suite.^[eighteen] Engineer Chris Butcher commented, "For Halo two nosotros had our sights set very loftier on networking. Going from having no internet multiplayer to developing a completely new online model was a big challenge to tackle all at once, and as a outcome we had to leave a lot of things undone in order to see the ship date commitment that we made to our fans."^[24]

As 1 of Microsoft'southward tentpole games, the publisher had ii full-fourth dimension user experience researchers managing a team of game testers working on the championship. The researchers used playtests, surveys, and usability testing to provide Bungie with input on how the game would be received. Feedback of the game's matchmaking system was very unfavorable, with the testers preferring the control offered past traditional servers. Researcher John Hopson recalled that while they suggested to Bungie they should change the matchmaking arrangement, the developers remained steadfast their new approach would be better in the existent world; Hopson later agreed with their pick, proverb that his team had but narrowly avoided ruining the game.^[25] To exam real-world network conditions, Bungie ran a closed alpha of the multiplayer with grand Microsoft employees for v weeks.^{[26] : 4}

Outside of Bungie, Gainsay Evolved 's success had get a problem for Halo two 'due south development, every bit the success of the Xbox platform was riding on Halo. Microsoft originally pressured Bungie to have the game ready equally a launch championship for Xbox Alive in November 2002, which Bungie employees told them was incommunicable. At one point, Microsoft executives had a vote over whether to strength Bungie to ship the incomplete game, or requite them another year of development time. Microsoft Studios head Ed Chips walked out of the vote and threatened to resign to become Bungie the actress fourth dimension.^[18]

Missing the Xbox's last holiday flavor before its successor console, the Xbox 360, shipped was not an option.^[16] To hit its new November 9, 2004, release appointment, Bungie went into the "female parent of all crunches" in order to finish the game.^[23] "A lot of people sacrificed themselves in ways that you should never have to for your chore," blueprint lead Paul Bertone recalled; he kenneled his canis familiaris for virtually two months and slept in the office for the final days of development.^[18] Griesemer said that this lack of a "polish" menstruation well-nigh the stop of the development cycle was the principal reason for Halo 2 'southward shortcomings.^[27] Butcher retrospectively described Halo 2 'south multiplayer mode as "a stake shadow of what it could and should have been" due to the tight schedule.^[27]

Audio

Halo two 's soundtrack was composed primarily by Martin O'Donnell and his musical partner Michael Salvatori, the team that had composed the critically acclaimed music of Halo. O'Donnell noted in composing the music for Halo ii that "making a sequel is never a simple proffer. You want to make everything that was cool even better, and exit out all the stuff that was weak."^[28] O'Donnell made certain that no office of the game would be completely silent, noting "Ambient sound is i of the primary ways to immerse people psychologically. A dark room is spooky, but add a creaking floorboard and rats skittering in the walls and it becomes really creepy."^[28] Halo 2, unlike its predecessor, was mixed to accept full advantage of Dolby 5.i Digital environment sound.^[29]

In the summer of 2004, producer Nile Rodgers and O'Donnell decided to release the music from Halo 2 on two dissever CDs; the showtime (Volume One) would incorporate all the themes present in the game as well every bit music "inspired" past the game; the 2nd would contain the balance of the music from the game, much of which was incomplete, as the outset CD was shipped before the game was released.^[30] The kickoff CD was released on November nine, 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: Book Two CD, containing the game music organized in suite grade, was released on April 25, 2006.^{[31] [32]}

Release

Promotion

Contents of the Express Collector's Edition

Halo two was officially appear in September 2002 with a cinematic trailer,^[sixteen] scheduled for a Vacation 2003 release. The starting time major look at the game came with the E3 2003 demo in May; Halo ii was Microsoft's strongest showing at the issue, and some journalists believed the game looked too good to exist live gameplay and must have been a scripted cutscene.^[33] Later delays, the game was shifted to a starting time-quarter 2004 release, and so to Holiday 2004.^{[34] [35]} The final November 9 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 date tattooed on his bicep.^{[37] [38]}

Microsoft intended to marketplace Halo ii non but every bit a video game, but as a cultural event. Part of its widespread entreatment would come from the social nature of the game's multiplayer, but Microsoft too 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.^[15] Hype for the title was fueled by the press, with Microsoft telling i journalist that their Halo 2 review would be the most consequential of their career.^[39] The marketing heavily focused on Master Main and the defence of earth, leaving the reveal of the Arbiter as a playable character a surprise.^[xl]

Halo two 's release was preceded with promotions and product necktie-ins. There was a Halo ii Celebrity Pre-Release Party at E3 2004, in which a private home 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 two 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 improver to more traditional forms of promotion, Halo 2 was also part of an elaborate Alternating Reality Game project titled I Love Bees. Microsoft approached 42 Amusement'south Elan Lee, who had helped launch the Xbox with Microsoft, on producing a tie-in game.^[15] I Love Bees price an estimated one million dollars. The game centered on a hacked website, supposedly a site well-nigh beekeeping, where an AI from the future was residing. The project garnered pregnant attending, drawing attention away from the ongoing 2004 Presidential Election.^{[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 million people participated in the game.^[fifteen]

Halo ii was sold in a standard edition and "Limited Collector's Edition". The Collector's Edition includes the game, packaged in a metal case. It too includes bonus content on an extra DVD, such equally a making-of documentary, art gallery, and audio tests.^[48] The instructional booklet is too written from the Covenant point of view rather than from the UNSC point of view used in the regular edition.^[4]

Sales

Halo ii first released on November 9, 2004, in Canada, Commonwealth of australia, New Zealand and the United States. Anticipation for the game was high; a record 1.5 million copies were pre-ordered iii weeks earlier release.^{[49] [50]} Massive lines formed at midnight releases of the game at more than 7000 stores across Due north America and attracted pregnant media attention.^{[51] [50]} This was followed past releases on November 10, 2004, in French republic and parts of Europe, and November xi in the U.k., Japan, and elsewhere; the game released in eight languages and a total of 27 countries.^[52]

The game sold 2.4 million copies and earned up to US$125 million in its beginning 24 hours on store shelves, outgrossing the film Pirates of the Caribbean area: Dead Human being's Breast every bit the highest-grossing release in entertainment history.^{[fifty] [53]} The game sold 260,000 units in the United Kingdom in its first week, making it the third fastest-selling championship in that territory.^[54] It ultimately received a "Double Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),^[55] indicating sales of at least 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom.^[56] It was the 2d best-selling game of 2004 in the Us (after Grand Theft Car: San Andreas), where information technology sold 4.ii million copies that twelvemonth.^{[57] [58] [59]}

On release, Halo 2 was the well-nigh popular video game on Xbox Live,^[60] belongings that rank until the release of Gears of War for the Xbox 360 nearly two years later.^{[61] [62]} In the showtime ten weeks of release, players collectively logged 91 million hours playing the game;^{[63] [64]} past June 2006, more 500 million games of Halo 2 had been played, and more than 710 one thousand thousand hours logged on Xbox Alive.^[65] Over five meg players had played by 2007.^[66] Halo ii is the acknowledged first-generation Xbox game^[54] with at least vi.3 million copies sold in the Usa and 8.46 1000000 copies in full.^[67]

Reception

Halo 2 received critical acclaim 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.^{[four] [75]} GameSpot 's Greg Kasavin wrote that the game successfully congenital on its predecessor's foundation, and despite shortcomings, the game's latitude of content made it 1 of the best action games available.^[four]

The game's audiovisual presentation was praised.^[72] Multiplayer especially was noted in being the best on Xbox Live at the time. Game Informer, forth with numerous other publications, rated it higher than Halo: Combat Evolved, citing enhanced multiplayer and less repetitive gameplay. About critics noted that Halo ii stuck with the formula that made its predecessor successful, and was alternatively praised and faulted for this decision. Edge's review concluded that Halo 2 could be summed upwardly with a line from its script: "It'south not a new programme. But we know information technology'll work."^[70]

The game'south campaign manner received some criticism for existence too brusk,^[78] and for featuring an abrupt bewilderment ending.^[4] GameSpot noted that although the story'south switching betwixt the Covenant and human factions made the plot more intricate, it distracted the player from Earth's survival and the main point of the game;^[iv] while Edge 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 "Panel Game of the Year", "Console First Person Action Game of the Twelvemonth", "Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay" and "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Blueprint", every bit well as a nomination for "Game of the Year". The game received more than 38 individual awards.^[79] It received runner-up placements in GameSpot's 2004 "All-time Shooter", "All-time Sound Effects" and "Best Original Music" categories across all platforms.^[80] The game was listed in Electronic Gaming Monthly'southward "The Greatest 200 Video Games of Their Fourth dimension" in 2006.^[81]

Post-release

Updates and DLC

Halo 2 's multiplayer suffered from widespread cheating on release. Some players used "standbying" or "lag killing" to crook, where the thespian hosting the game intentionally pressed the standby push button on his or her modem. This resulted in all other players freezing in place 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 Live content and updates available to offline players. The disc contains the game'southward software update, nine new multiplayer maps, a making-of documentary, and a bonus cinematic called "Another 24-hour interval on the Beach", amid other features.^[85] The Blastacular Map Pack contained two additional maps and released Apr 2007.^{[86] [87]} On July 7 Bungie made the Blastacular Map Pack gratis.^[88]

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

Ports and rereleases

In Feb 2006, Microsoft appear a PC port of Halo 2, exclusively for the Windows Vista operating system. Like the Xbox version, the release of Halo ii Vista was repeatedly delayed.^{[91] [92]} The May 22, 2007, release engagement was pushed to May 31 subsequently the discovery of partial nudity in the game'south map editor—a photograph of Charlie Gough, 1 of the Lead Engineers, mooning Steve Ballmer during his visit to the studio, was presented as office of the ".ass" mistake bulletin.^{[93] [94]} Microsoft offered patches to remove the nude content and revised the box ratings.^[95] The game could be enabled to play on Windows XP through an unauthorized third-party patch.^[96] Halo 2 Vista was ported by a small team at Microsoft Game Studios (codenamed Hired Gun) who worked closely with Bungie. As one of the launch titles of Games for Windows – Live, the game offered Alive features not available in the Xbox version, such equally Guide support and Achievements. The Windows port too added two sectional multiplayer maps and a map editor.^[97]

A loftier-definition remake of Halo 2 titled Halo 2 Ceremony was released every bit part of Halo: The Chief Primary Collection on Nov 11, 2014, for the Xbox One,^[98] later being released on PC for Steam and Windows Store.^[99]

Legacy

Halo 2 's release was part of a shift towards blockbuster gaming releases. In 2004, the video game industry was estimated to gross $seven.76 billion in the United states, backside the $9.four billion gross of the domestic box part.^[l] Halo two 's success was seen past the press equally bear witness of a generational shift in entertainment. The CBC's Greg Bolton remarked that prior to Halo 2 's splashy release, "the video-game manufacture hadn't yet found a recognizable public confront, a universally acclaimed megastar."^[50] The Ringer called Halo ii "the birth of the video game as we know it today: a mass shared experience," and credited it with birthing modernistic 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 side by side machine".^[103] Critics credited the game with bringing online multiplayer to the console masses,^[104] and every bit serving as Xbox Alive's killer app.^[105] The Province 's Paul Chapman wrote that games like Phone call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 would not exist enjoyable if not for the ground Halo two broke.^[106]

References

1. ^ Additional work on the Windows version was washed by Microsoft Game Studios and Pi Studios.^{[2] [3]}

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Halo 2 for PC – Release Summary". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012. Retrieved February ii, 2008.
2. ^ Matei, Robert (December 11, 2006). "Vista Halo 2 Plans Details". Softpedia. Archived from the original on April half-dozen, 2011. Retrieved June twenty, 2011.
3. ^ "Halo ii for Vista – Uplift". GameSpy. April iii, 2007. Archived from the original on Oct 31, 2019. Retrieved June xx, 2011.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f yard h} Kasavin, Greg (Nov 4, 2007). "Halo 2 for Xbox Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 25, 2011. Retrieved Feb 10, 2007.
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Bungie, ed. (2004). Halo ii Instruction Manual. Microsoft Game Studios.
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External links

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