Halo 2 (2004) (VG)

Writer:

Joseph Staten (writer)

Release Date:

9 November 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Earth Will Never Be The Same

Plot:

After the events on the Forerunner ringworld Halo, Master Chief SPARTAN-117 returns home to Earth with the AI construct Cortana...

Plot Keywords:

Earth | The Covenant | Commander | Heretic | Prophet

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Dee Bradley Baker	...	Gravemind (voice) (as Dee Baker)
Julie Benz	...	Miranda Keyes (voice)
Hamilton Camp	...	Prophet of Mercy (voice)
Tim Dadabo	...	343 Guilty Spark / Marine (voice)
Robert Davi	...	SpecOps Leader (voice)
Keith David	...	Arbiter (voice)
Robin Atkin Downes	...	Prophet of Regret (voice)
Steve Downes	...	Master Chief (voice)
Miguel Ferrer	...	Heretic Leader (voice)
John Michael Higgins	...	2401 Penitent Tangent (voice)
Ron Perlman	...	Lord Hood (voice)
Kevin Michael Richardson	...	Tartarus (voice)
David Scully	...	Sergeant Johnson / Elite (voice)
Jen Taylor	...	Cortana (voice)
Michael Wincott	...	Prophet of Truth (voice)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | UK:15 | USA:M

Company:

Bungie Software

Trivia:

The second level of the game was originally going to be on board a Covenant ship the Master Chief boarded after leaving Cairo Station. You would have to fight your way through the ship and destroy it from the outside. This would have been Miranda Keys's breakout level as she would have assisted you. The level was cut and a bomb was added so the Chief could blow up the ship in a non-interactive cut-scene.

Goofs:

Continuity: 343 Guilty Spark's single bulb is supposed to brighten whenever he speaks, as he does in Halo and Halo 3. However, in Halo 2 due to a bug the developers were unable to fix prior to launch, his bulb dims as he speaks.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Arbiter: [standing before the heirarchs and the counsel] There was only one ship.
Prophet of Truth: One? Are you sure?
Arbiter: Yes. They called it the "Pillar of Autumn"
Prophet of Mercy: Why was it not destroyed with the rest of their fleet?
Arbiter: It fled as we set fire to their planet. I followed with all the ships in my command.
Prophet of Regret: When you first saw Halo, were you blinded by its magesty?
Arbiter: Blinded?
Prophet of Regret: Paralyzed? Dumbstruck?
Arbiter: No!
[...]

Movie Connections:

References Halo (2001) (VG)

Soundtrack:

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A great game - albeit flawed

Okay, points must be made. HALO 2 has disappointed many videogamers. It was "the" highly anticipated game - more so than GTA San Andreas, which has had its predecessors close behind (2001, 2002, 2004).

HALO 2 is the first bit of HALO we've had since 2001. The previews looked extraordinary. The new graphics engine was supposedly "kick-a$$," and nothing we had ever seen before.

Well, okay, it's not the masterpiece we expected. Or is it? Okay, here's a few things to consider:

1. The high expectations are what cause people to dislike this more so than the game itself. If HALO 2 had been released first, people would be saying HALO "sucked" because they changed the weapons, etc. I agree that the weapons aren't as good in HALO 2 but that's probably got to do with the fact that I enjoyed HALO so much. If I had played this first, would I feel the same?

2. The graphics ARE extraordinary. The best I've ever seen on any console. The movies are great - I don't like the new/remapped characters such as the Covenant creatures in the opening sequence...but they look amazing and character details (faces in particular, and body movements) are more realistic than anything we've ever seen before. The opening montage shows a space ship gliding through space and it's much more realistic than the original HALO in which many battleships seemed to just be still images being screened in front of a back projection.

3. The game is not as freeroam as the original (as others have pointed out). This is a plus, and a minus. The gameplay of HALO 2 reminded me of that N64 game with the female protagonist (wasn't it DARK something? I can't remember. I used to own it and play it all the time, but it's been years since I've laid eyes on it!). It's got a very dark story going on and the gameplay (including weapons, etc.) reminds me very much of the old N64 game. It's NOT very much like the original HALO when it comes to actual gameplay. It's very different.

It's the ALIENS of the ALIEN series - it's meaner, faster, and different than its predecessor - for better or worse. I'm glad Bungie went somewhere new with this. If it had been identical to the original, we'd all be complaining. I don't mind having linear gameplay, because it's still a lot of fun.

Oh, and here's one more thing: The whole FPS snobbery thing is getting old. I've played tons of FPS games over the years - Doom, Unreal Tournament, AvP, Unreal, Goldeneye, etc. being my favorite. (I guess Max Payne is a 3rd-person. Bummer.) Admitting to loving HALO does not mean I have "not played" any other FPS'es. Frankly, I loved the endless abilities HALO provided - the intense gameplay, the freeroam, etc. I thought it had a solid lead character, good graphics, fairly good villains, and overall excellent gameplay. It was a unique experience and blew everyone away - myself included.

If you thought HALO was overrated, please don't blame your disappointment on those of us who enjoyed the game - it does not mean we don't know anything about FPS games. It simply means we have different taste.

Overall there are different things about this game I consider pros and cons, and to put them into words would take too long. Suffice to say it's both disappointing and extraordinary in various measures.

Gameplay: 8/10 Graphics: 10/10 Plot: 8/10 (it has much more actual story than many other games, even if it's a bit silly at times) Weapons: 7/10 (I'll admit it, I miss the other weapons but maybe these will grow on me) Vehicles: N/A (I haven't played enough with them yet - I am disappointed, however, that many of what Bungie promised is not here)

Overall: 9/10

I know this may seem a bit odd. I sound a bit disappointed in this game. Not really. Maybe a bit underwhelmed at times. But overall it's just very DIFFERENT from its predecessor, and this is the reason it's causing so much distress - it's very multiplayer-oriented so the first-player campaign won't take long to complete, but it's still a lot of fun and very different from the original HALO which is more than can be said for many games. (Unreal Tournament 2003 was an enormous disappoint - the characters were awful, the gameplay was boring.)

HALO 2 might disappoint some die-hard HALO fans, but they need to recognize that sometimes being different is better than just copying - we can accuse Bungie of many things but we can never say that they were content to merely rip off the original!

A very fun game that I'm sure will grow on me more with time.