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Halo 2 is a first-person shooter developed by Bungie Studios for the Xbox video game console. It is the sequel to the game Halo: Combat Evolved, and features a newly built graphics engine, physics engine, new weapons and vehicles, new multiplayer maps, and a storyline that continues the story begun in Halo: Combat Evolved. While the Halo universe shares characteristics with the Marathon series, the two storylines are distinct.
The release date of Halo 2 was November 9, 2004. This is one of the most highly anticipated games on the Xbox. 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, tried to contain the spread, and pledged to bring legal action against anyone who spread the leaked version. Regardless, Microsoft later touted that there have been 1.5 million preorders for Halo 2 in the United States alone and that this guarantees it to have the largest first-day revenue of any game or movie ever. [1] (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/10/19/news_6110893.html) The game sold 2.4 million copies and earned up to $125 million US in its first 24 hours on store shelves. [2] (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/11/10/news_6112915.html)
Gameplay
 Halo 2 screenshot from press kit Campaign
The game is playable in either single-player or cooperative mode. Cooperative mode is only playable using a single Xbox and utilizing split-screen. The player begins the campaign as the Master Chief (Halo) and fights alongside human Marines against the forces of the Covenant. Halo is a linear combat game that always presents a clear path forward and does not feature puzzles. In addition, Halo has a number of vehicles and a strong emphasis on vehicular combat. Many fans and critics consider Halo's vehicles to be one of the game's best innovations.
Halo does not have a system of manual save points; rather, there are "checkpoints" placed throughout the game that trigger automatically and save the player's progress. These checkpoints are typically placed just after or just before encounters. When a player dies, the game reverts to the last checkpoint. This allows players to keep playing without ever seeing a menu, even if they die often. In cooperative mode, only the death of both players causes the game to revert to a checkpoint; if only one player dies, he will respawn near the surviving player once that player is not in combat. On Legendary difficulty, this system is changed so that the death of either player forces the game to revert to the last checkpoint. Additionally, if a player dies several times in quick succession, the game may revert to the second-to-last checkpoint. This prevents a player from getting stuck if a checkpoint accidentally saves while the player is in a perilous situation.
There are four levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, Heroic and Legendary. Higher difficulties decrease player health, increase enemy health, and increase enemy aggressiveness. Note that allied characters are not affected by increased difficulty, so at high difficulty levels a Marine can have more health than the player. Normal is a good default for first-time players, while Heroic is more of a challenge for veteran gamers. Legendary is often considered impossible, but can be beaten.
Multiplayer
There are a number of multiplayer modes, several of which have returned from the original Halo: Combat Evolved game. Slayer is a standard deathmatch game; Capture the Flag is a team game where the object is to seize a flag from the enemy's base and return it to one's own base; Assault is a similar game where the object is to carry a bomb to the enemy's base and survive long enough to detonate it; King of the Hill requires players to stand in a certain section of the map to score time; Oddball requires players to hold on to a skull to score time; Juggernaut makes only one player able to score points, but allies all the other players against the Juggernaut; and Territories requires teams to score time by controlling areas of the map.
Unlike its predecessor, Halo 2 allows players to compete with each other over 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 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 wishing to play ranked games do not choose to host games, and they do not get to specify individual maps and options to search for. Instead, players sign up for 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 signed up for each playlist, choosing a game type and map automatically and selecting one player to serve as the game's host. 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 can also create small "parties" with their friends and enter games together as teammates. The party leader can create custom games, where he selects the map and game type he desires. This allows for players who wish to play their own game types to do so, although such games are unranked. Players can easily join parties their friends are in or invite their friends to a new party. Additionally, a party can participate in ranked games, although the party must fit the team structure of the playlist. For example, parties larger than four players cannot play in the 4vs4 Team Skirmish playlist; likewise, only parties who all belong to a single clan can play in clan playlists. Parties cannot play in free-for-all or head-to-head playlists.
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. The ranking system allows Bungie's servers to 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, in theory.
Halo 2 players with Microsoft Passport accounts can log on to Bungie.net and obtain extremely detailed statistics on their performance, including level maps for several hundred of the player's most recent games that indicate graphically where and when the player scored a kill or was killed him- or herself.
Despite the carefully designed online play experience, there has been a problem with cheating online. The "standby" cheat allows the host of a game to freeze all other players by intentionally disrupting their connection to the internet. There is no way to counter such cheating during a game, and many players have been unfairly defeating as the host manipulated their connection to kill other players and complete objectives unhindered. However, Bungie has taken a severe stance on such cheating and has begun banning cheaters from Xbox Live. Players who are the victims of such cheating are encouraged to report the violation via the in-game feedback system.
Note that there are a number of known glitches in the game, such as the ability to grab items through walls and "sword flying," a trick allows players to travel at high speeds across the map. These are not strictly cheats, as they are equally available to all players. Additionally, they typically have little or no impact on serious play, as most such glitches take a disproportionate amount of setup. The "sword flying" glitch, for example, requires the participation of an enemy player, making it unlikely to ever influence a ranked game.
Features
Halo 2 has a number of features, some of which are continued from Halo: Combat Evolved and some of which are new.
- Shields: The shield in Halo 2 is much stronger than it was in Halo: Combat Evolved, and recharges at a higher rate. As in the first game, the shield can absorb all forms damage that would be dealt to the player. The shield acts as a damage buffer; damage prevented is taken away from the shield's capacity until the shield is fully depleted, at which point any further damage is taken by the character. The shield begins to recharge after the player stops taking damage for a few seconds, although this recharge can be interrupted by additional attacks. This same shield technology is shared by the Master Chief and the Covenant Elites.
- Health: In Halo 2, once the shields run out, the player also has a buffer of health. Unlike Halo: Combat Evolved, the health in Halo 2 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.
- Weapon Capacity: Unlike most other first person shooters, Halo only allows the player to carry one weapon in reserve, in addition to one in use. This adds a strategic depth to the game, as players can no longer accumulate every weapon in the game as they progress. Instead, they must make choices about which weapons are needed to overcome each encounter.
- Grenades: Halo has a strong emphasis on grenades. Unlike many games where "grenade" is a weapon class of its own, Halo treats grenades as secondary weapons and allows them to be used at any time. There are two types of grenades, fragmentation grenades (produced by the humans) and plasma grenades (produced by the Covenant). Frag grenades bounce off of hard surfaces and have a half-second fuse after impacting a surface, making them best suited to killing multiple, weak enemies or reaching around corners. In contrast, plasma grenades have a three second fuse after striking a surface and do not bounce, although they do approximately the same amount of damage in the same area. However, plasma grenades will stick to enemies and vehicles if they impact directly, and a stuck plasma grenade will deal enough damage to kill all but the toughest of infantry.
- Dual Wielding: A new feature in Halo 2, the Master Chief can now use two weapons at once. Although restricted to weapons light enough to be used in one hand, dual wielding offers increased firepower. While dual wielding, a character cannot throw grenades, and if a player performs a melee attack he will drop the second weapon. Dual wielding also allows a player to carry three weapons: one in reserve, as normal, and one in each hand. Note that this feature is used by both the Master Chief and Covenant Elites, although AI characters can melee while keeping hold of both weapons.
Vehicles
Also see List of vehicles in the Halo universe
The vehicle system is fundamentally unchanged from the first game. The view switches to a third person camera while driving, gunning, or riding in a vehicle, allowing for a wider angle of view. AI allies will get in a player-driven vehicle if not engaged in combat. All vehicles are now destructible, and show localized damage. Vehicles no longer kill instantly upon impacting infantry. Instead, a system that incorporates the mass and the speed of the vehicle is used to determine how much damage is inflicted to the character struck. Because vehicles take damage, the same system applies to vehicle collisions, and tends to result in serious damage to the lighter vehicle. Finally, vehicles can take damage by impacting solid objects, such as walls. As in the first game, all vehicles have unlimited ammo for their weapons.
- Ghost: A common Covenant vehicle, the Ghost is a single-person hoverbike with dual plasma cannons. One of the faster vehicles in the game, the Ghost is one of the few vehicles still able to kill infantry by running them over. As with all Covenant vehicles, the Ghost now has a boost ability, activated by holding the secondary trigger. While boosting, the Ghost cannot fire its weapons and has severely reduced handling, but attains a forward speed faster than any other vehicle in the game. The Ghost is also capable of strafing.
- Banshee: The only flying vehicle in the game, the Banshee is a Covenant vehicle similar to the Ghost. It has the same twin plasma cannons as the Ghost, and additionally has a slow-firing fuel rod cannon that shoots a powerful ballistic projectile. The Banshee's boost ability enables it to move faster at the cost of turning and weapons, and it is relatively slow otherwise. The Banshee can also perform loops and barrel rolls to dodge fire, which also prevent it from firing weapons while doing so. The Banshee can strafe but cannot hover; if no controls are pressed, it will slowly move forward, while pressing backwards will cause it to simply fall downwards. The controls for the Banshee are not immediately apparent. The primary trigger controls the plasma cannons, the secondary trigger controls the boost ability, the melee attack button controls the fuel rod gun, and the jump button in combination with moving backwards or strafing controls acrobatic maneuvers. In multiplayer, the fuel rod cannon is disabled for balance reasons.
- Warthog: Essentially a jeep, the Warthog is armed with a turret and seats a driver, a passenger, and a rear gunner. The vehicle with the fastest base speed in the game, the Warthog is nevertheless very hard to run characters over with. While driving, the primary trigger controls the horn and the secondary trigger controls the power brake. The rear turret has almost a full sphere of range, missing only directly upwards and immediately next to the Warthog. By default a powerful, rapid-fire machine gun, some Warthogs are instead armed with a Gauss Cannon that fires a single, extremely strong projectile. The Warthog is not capable of strafing and may only move forward or backward.
- Spectre: In many ways the Covenant version of the Warthog, the Spectre seats four: a driver, two passengers, and a rear gunner. The Spectre's turret is similar to the Covenant small turrets and fires a very fast, moderately powerful plasma shot, with range similar to the Warthog turret's. The Spectre is slow, although it does have a boost ability that brings it up to a reasonable speed at the cost of turning ability; unlike other Covenant vehicles, the Spectre's plasma cannon can be used while boosting. While not boosting, the Spectre can strafe.
- Wraith: The Covenant mortar tank, the Wraith is primarily designed to destroy enemy vehicles. Its primary weapon is a huge ballistic plasma mortar, and it has two secondary plasma cannons that automatically fire at nearby enemies. However, the plasma cannons only work while the Wraith is being controlled by an AI character. The Wraith is slow, although it can strafe. Its boost ability is somewhat different than other Covenant vehicles; instead of being a constant speed increase, the Wraith's boost causes it to lunge forward quickly but must then recharge. Because of its enormous mass, this boost allows the Wraith to surprise and run over infantry and light vehicles alike.
- Scorpion: A human tank, the Scorpion is the single most powerful vehicle in the game. Armed with both a large cannon and a smaller machine gun, the Scorpion is controlled by a single character. While slow and only able to move forward or backward, the Scorpion's turret can be aimed independent of its body. The main cannon can destroy most lighter vehicles with one hit and can kill infantry by shooting a nearby wall or floor. The secondary machine gun is similar to the standard Warthog turret, although slightly weaker and less accurate. In campaign mode, up to four AI allies can ride on the Scorpion, although they are very vulnerable while doing so. In multiplayer, a player wishing to ride on the Scorpion can simply stand on it.
- Vehicle boarding: A new feature in Halo 2, players can now board enemy vehicles if they are moving slowly enough. Exactly what this does depends on the vehicle. For single-person vehicles, the player ejects the driver and gains control of the vehicle. For multi-person vehicles, the player rips the driver, gunner, or passenger out of the vehicle depending on what angle he approaches the vehicle, or gets in that position if there is no one there. This can lead to a player manning the gun of a vehicle being driven by an enemy. For tanks, the player gets on the vehicle and begins meleeing the driver until he dies or gets out. As with several other features, Elites can use this feature as well. Also note that with wraiths and scorpions you also have the option to throw a grenade inside the cockpit to kill the driver.
AI
The AI characters in Halo 2 are much improved over those in the first game. Despite the desires of many fans, AI characters only appear in campaign mode, as Halo's network model would not allow for randomized actions needed for AI behavior. Full explanation. (http://stuffo.howstuffworks.com/halo-network.htm/printable)
- Weapons: Just like in Halo: Combat Evolved, most AI characters spawn with a certain weapon and will keep it throughout the level. However, there are a few minor changes to this system. First, elites are now capable of dual wielding just as the Master Chief is, and often will spawn with dual plasma rifles. Also, the player can swap weapons with his allies, allowing him to equip his allies with better weapons or take their weapons for himself. This is subject to a few restrictions: the weapon being given must have ammo in it, and must be usable by the character receiving it (Marines can't use energy swords, for example).
- The Covenant AI has a few new features as well. Grunts and Jackals, when scared, will often drop any heavier weapon they are carrying and default to their plasma pistol (or sometimes a Needler). Also, Ultra (white) Elites carry energy swords as secondary weapons. If engaged in melee or stuck by a plasma grenade, they will pull out their sword.
- Vehicles: The AI is now capable of driving all kinds of vehicles. Marines can drive tanks, Elites can drive Warthogs, and so on. The AI characters are also a little smarter about which seat to get in: characters with heavy weapons will get in the passenger seat first while characters with weaker weapons will get in the turret. Also, the Elites have the same ability to board vehicles as the Master Chief does, and will do so if given an opportunity.
- Dialogue: According to Bungie, Halo 2 has around 15000 dialogue files for the AI characters to say. AI characters will react to a wide range of stimuli and have a number of responses for each event. Additionally, each character has a specific voice set, so different Marines will sound different and will say different lines; the same is true of Covenant Elites, Grunts, and Brutes. (Jackals, Drones, and Hunters do not speak.) Furthermore, the alien races now speak English (or the appropriate language for foreign versions of the game), ostensibly because of new translation software in the Master Chief's armor. A partial compilation of dialogue snippets in Halo 2 can be found here (http://nikon.bungie.org/misc/h2dialogue.html).
Weapons
See List of weapons in Halo 2
Secrets
Hidden throughout the campaign are skulls, similar to those used in the Oddball multiplayer game type. Picking up a skull activates a special effect that lasts until the Xbox is turned off, but only in campaign mode. There is at least one skull on every level, with the exception of the first "level," Heretic, which is entirely cutscenes. Except for the Blind skull and the Assassins skull, these hidden skulls only appear on Legendary difficulty; further, the Assassins skull only has an effect on Legendary. The Blind skull, availible on all difficulties, is simple to get and has the effect of removing your HUD, including your crosshairs. While this does make gameplay slightly more challenging, it is primarily used by people who wish to make movies out of Halo campaign play. The Blind skull in at the very beginning of the level Outskirts, and can be reached from where the first grunt is by jumping up to one of the projections on the walls, then to the roof. The skull is in a passage to the left.
Other skulls have various effects. One gives the Master Chief active camoflauuge (invisibility), one makes all enemies spawn at their highest version, one decreases the mass of all objects, and so on.
Storyline
The Game starts with Master Chief on board the defense station Cairo, a MACCannon in orbit with the Athens and Malta around Earth. After the Covenant fleet arrives just outside the killzone of the battle cluster, they launch boarding craft to take out the cannons. The Chief engages the boarders and then leaves the station via airlock with a Covenant bomb and plants it on one of the carriers heading to Earth. He then lands on the UNSC ship In Amber Clad, which heads towards the other Covenant carrier on Earth's surface.
The player engages in urban combat in the city of New Mombasa, East African Protectorate. Shortly afterwards, a Covenant ship makes a Slipspace jump which causes an explosion on par with a weapon of mass destruction. In Amber Clad, carrying the Master Chief, follows into the ship's slipspace rupture in a desperate effort to follow it.
The player is transported to the vicinity of another Halo ringworld—christened Delta Halo—perhaps many tens of thousands of light years from Earth. At the same time, a power struggle within the Covenant is revealed. The Brutes, a large and furred Covenant race who roughly resemble eight-foot-tall gorillas, are attempting to usurp the role of the prophets' guardians, traditionally carried about by the Elites. This movement was aided by the decision of the High Council, following the murder of the Prophet of Regret (the Covenant invasion force commander), that the Elites could no longer fulfill their duties as guardians. Eventually this sparks a civil war within the Covenant, wherein the Elites, Grunts, and Hunters join forces against the Brutes, Drones, and Jackals. At the same time, a movement within the Covenant, regarded by their leaders as heretical, argues that Covenant teachings aren't true.
A little over halfway into the story, the player is introduced to an apparently massive creature called the Gravemind, which appears to be the controlling mind of the Flood. The creature is highly intelligent and appears to have a vast knowledge of the universe (we eventually find out the true intention of the gravemind is to take controll of the In Amber Clad in order to spread the flood.) The Gravemind lives deep within Halo, out of sight. Its actual size, although not revealed, may occupy many of the hidden underground caverns that encircle the ring.
At some point, because she wants to ensure that In Amber Clad's reactors can be detonated in a worst-case scenario, Cortana becomes separated from the Master Chief and is left within a computer on the Covenant Holy City of High Charity, in orbit near Halo. She had made attempts to forestall the launch sequence of a docked ancient Forerunner ship in order to destroy the City and the Ring, but was thwarted by a mysterious Covenant AI construct of Forerunner origin.
Halo, according to 343 Guilty Spark, was built to prevent the Flood from spreading throughout the Galaxy. The Forerunners who built it were wiped out when they fired it as a "weapon of last resort" at some point in the remote past. In spite of this, the Brute leader activates the ring to bring about - according to the teachings of the Prophets - the Great Journey. As the Halo prepares to fire whatever energies it contains, the player must fight to retrieve the Index and deactivate the ring.
The Index is retrieved and the Delta Halo cannot fire. 343 Guilty Spark reveals that although the Index was removed before Delta Halo had time to complete its firing sequence, it fired a beacon recognized by all other Halos in the Galaxy and causing them to go into standby. In standby, a failsafe method of ensuring that the rings could not be stopped by the Flood, they can be activated remotely from the Ark, the location of which is assumed to be on Earth.
Main characters
The "Haunted Apiary" Alternate Reality Game (ARG)
Main article: Haunted Apiary
The website ilovebees.com (http://www.ilovebees.com) (interestingly, the domain ihatebees.com (http://www.ihatebees.com) also points to this website) was used as a publicity site for Halo 2, with the site being pointed to by adverts for the game during movie trailers. This style of publicity is similar to that which surrounded the movie A.I. which featured a grand Alternate Reality Game. The Halo ARG has been dubbed The Haunted Apiary.
See also
External links
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