Halo 2 Forum
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  • Subject: Halo 2 Was The BEST Halo Game!
Subject: Halo 2 Was The BEST Halo Game!

Live in the moment before it's too late

I don't understand why people think Halo CE was the best, or God forbid, thinking that about Halo 3.

Gameplay
Unmatched, from campaign to multiplayer. I remember the good ol' days, the way your spartan moved, the sounds he made with his boots, the blast from the BR all added to the experience. Custom games with a few of your friends, such a great time. And campaign? Don't get me started, it was the best campaign of the Halo franchise.

Graphics
They may have not been the best graphics, but they were AWESOME. And they still are AWESOME. I don't know why, but Halo 2's visual appeal always got to me.

Music
Now if you disagreed with me on the previous two subjects, you have to agree Halo 2's soundtrack was the best. From the subtle background music in battle to the epic scores.

Sure, there was a lack of features like Forge and Theater, but that's what gave the game it's vintage feeling.

Discuss, I think Halo 2 was the best, far ahead of the other Halo games.

  • 08.05.2010 3:45 PM PDT

"I'll tell you right now, if you ever see someone called ll wa1do ll... leave the game immediately. My friend knows him, I've been in his party a few times, do not mess with this guy. From what I've heard, he's the real deal. I also heard someone made a guy named Wa2do (similar to his name) and then he hacked that guy and boosted off his level." -From Minou on Bungie.net

Exactly, Halo 3 isn't a game, it's a mistake.

  • 08.05.2010 3:55 PM PDT
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Posted by: Stevins
I don't understand why people think Halo CE was the best, or God forbid, thinking that about Halo 3.

Gameplay
Unmatched, from campaign to multiplayer. I remember the good ol' days, the way your spartan moved, the sounds he made with his boots, the blast from the BR all added to the experience. Custom games with a few of your friends, such a great time. And campaign? Don't get me started, it was the best campaign of the Halo franchise.

Graphics
They may have not been the best graphics, but they were AWESOME. And they still are AWESOME. I don't know why, but Halo 2's visual appeal always got to me.

Music
Now if you disagreed with me on the previous two subjects, you have to agree Halo 2's soundtrack was the best. From the subtle background music in battle to the epic scores.

Sure, there was a lack of features like Forge and Theater, but that's what gave the game it's vintage feeling.

Discuss, I think Halo 2 was the best, far ahead of the other Halo games.


Halo 2 was rushed and it really shows, given that they did spend the better part of 7 months on that amazing E3 demo shown in 2003 only to be told 7 years later that the graphics engine wasn't feasible. Bungie were in a frantic rush to get the game to retail and so the cuts ensued, pretty much the whole story(A full covenant invasion of Earth, Earth's last stand against the Covenant, no Arbitur rubbish), running, saved films, peeking round corners, melee combos and so on and so forth. Halo 3 wouldn't needed to have existed if given ample time to complete the game as essentially it would have been part of this theoretical Halo 2. Halo CE will always be my favourite out of the series pending Halo Reach's release given that it was so much more polished and thought out. The direction Bungie have taken the Halo story has just led to bitter disappointment for me anyway.

[Edited on 08.05.2010 4:25 PM PDT]

  • 08.05.2010 4:02 PM PDT

Posted by: Stevins
I don't understand why people think Halo CE was the best

Then you're probably not going to understand it regardless of how much someone explains it. Halo 1 is a game that either very strongly clicks with people, or it doesn't.

The argument, then, in my opinion, is so incredibly subjective in this case that determining which game is really "better" couldn't go very far beyond asserting that one persons taste is better than anothers, ie the argument is pointless.
But I'll take a stab at a few of the bullet points anyway, because I'm bored.

Gameplay
Unmatched, from campaign to multiplayer. I remember the good ol' days, the way your spartan moved, the sounds he made with his boots, the blast from the BR all added to the experience.

Interesting call on the gun sound design. Actually, that's one of the things that I liked the least about Halo 2. Half the guns in the game, especially the SMG, sound to me like pieces of plastic clicking together. The BANG BANG BANG of Halo 1 wasn't exactly realistic, but it was internally consistant and felt powerful.

Graphics
They may have not been the best graphics, but they were AWESOME. And they still are AWESOME. I don't know why, but Halo 2's visual appeal always got to me.

The "why" is simple really; in an age where you can represent just about anything on screen at some level, artistic use of tools is far more important at a practical level than raw graphical power. By modern standards, Halo 2 has weak graphics, but Bungie did their artistic best within the constraints to make it look good. It's like any other form of visual representation; lacking certain tools doesn't mean an artist is unable to create a beautiful work. The tools help, but not having them isn't always fatal to a goal.

This having been said, I do prefer Halo 1's. Much like my last complaint, almost everything in Halo 2 looks to me as though it were made out of plastic; the surfaces have a plasticky sheen, and some of the animations are strangely jerky as if some characters in the game were some kind of wierd plastic action figures. The awful ragdolling doesn't help things either. It still looks very good, and it's not like other games don't suffer similar problems, but I've always thought Halo 1 looks and feels much more, uhh, organic?

Music
Now if you disagreed with me on the previous two subjects, you have to agree Halo 2's soundtrack was the best. From the subtle background music in battle to the epic scores.

I'll even disagree with you here, actually. Halo 2's OST has some spectacular stuff, but it's not built for gameplay quite as well as Halo 1's, and sometimes it sort of feels too polished, not rough enough. The end result is that Halo 2's soundtrack is useless for creating moments like heading back into the swamp at the end of 343GS, when "The Gun Pointed at the Head of the Universe" comes in and you get that low roll...
The lightness and smoothness of the music almost got distracting at a few points.

Sure, there was a lack of features like Forge and Theater, but that's what gave the game it's vintage feeling.
Hehe, I never really cared much for either of those modes. Halo 3's Forge is one of the most tragically botched map editors ever. They were a few simple options away from creating something incredibly smooth, simple, and useful.


One of the big issues to note of course with my criticism of Halo 2's aesthetics is that it's all taste, and the aesthetics are certainly internally consistant; it's well-executed, and tweaking little things would throw off the look and feel as a whole.


I consider Halo 2 a great game too, and it's one of the few I keep by my original xbox, but Halo 1 has always struck me more powerfully. Halo 2 has grown on me a little over time, though, and I no longer consider it as much of a dissapointment as I first did.

  • 08.05.2010 5:23 PM PDT

Halo 1 is my least favorite Halo game. Halo 3 is awesome although it's campaign is too short. Halo 2 is still my favorite at this point.

  • 08.05.2010 6:37 PM PDT
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  • Intrepid Legendary Member

Hello! I'm a male!

Halo 2 should be remastered for xbox 360 and the xbox live. Make it a year after Reach so Reach doesn't die immediately from it.

Edit: Halo 3 was the mentally challenged baby accident that was born but nobody really wanted. :)

[Edited on 08.05.2010 7:29 PM PDT]

  • 08.05.2010 7:27 PM PDT

"2010 is the monument of all my sins, Where they were omnipresent, and where I left my old life"

Just take a look at my activity in the said year...

The Only important thing is that "The time Has Come, and the Self Trascendence is at Will".

Posted by: PMR NYM
Halo 2 should be remastered for xbox 360 and the xbox live. Make it a year after Reach so Reach doesn't die immediately from it.

Edit: Halo 3 was the mentally challenged baby accident that was born but nobody really wanted. :)


FAIL, REMASTER IT YOURSELF LAZY.

Halo 3 was (not only for me) the Best One, no by it's Gameplay, Graphics or Campaign (Besides canon Co-Op).

No, is the Best one by it's social Services (Things it have done or are directly generated on the Fellow Community with Bungie's purposes, besides the world Domination and money, the Intentions of making this game).

And at least it destroyed the fanatism of halo for the previous halo titles (2, CE), and cleaned them outta my way *as the BOB said*.

Yes it did cleaned the Halo Fanbase of that guys that seem to live in my country (Live In the past like 6 or More years), and ODST did it too.

The thing I most Hate about Halo 2 are the Graphics (At least in Halo: CE and ODST, and a little in 3 and Reach Bungie uses SHADERS)
and everything did't looked that yellow (Horrible Shield Effect not in Elites, and many other things).

Another thing I Dislike about Halo 2 is the Large number of unreleased Tracks (all of them sounded way to low compared to the Gameplay's Sounds and are not in the OST), at this point Halo: Ce and ODST are the best, Hasn't got distracting Music and isn't way too low (Halo 2, 3).

Playing as Arby is cool and Refresh the Master Chief (So MC is not a Boring character in Halo 3 because Halo 2).

  • 08.05.2010 10:05 PM PDT

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I strongly have to disagree with you on the campaign. The campaign is probably the most telling indicator that Halo 2 was rushed. It all runs fairly cohesively for a few levels but once the Arbiter sub-plot enters, from there on out it's all completely arbitrary and full of plot holes. The Arbiter plot, though effective from a canon standpoint, was blatantly thrown in to fill time. The section on Earth was arguably the best part, but too short lived. Why did it only take place in one city? Why the arbitrary jump to Delta Halo only to return back to Earth in the third game? High Charity made sense, but it was unfortunately placed in the midst of all the confusion of its surroundings. Everything lacked cohesion.

The first game had by far the best campaign. Every level was unique, interesting, effective both in gameplay and in plot, and most importantly made sense. Not a single missed beat, questionable step, unnecessary move, etc. Everything was nice, tidy, concise and in its right place.

  • 08.06.2010 1:03 AM PDT

This is the average H2 Fanboy.
Xfire: JacobGRocks.
50 in H2/H3? Great, but you still fail at this.

I bet you didn't know that halo 2 was supposed to have a saved films feature.

Halo 2 was mostly rushed for single player, but the multiplayer was good. And at least it is way better then 3.

[Edited on 08.06.2010 5:32 AM PDT]

  • 08.06.2010 5:30 AM PDT

"I wanted to make people happy, if only for an hour."
-Busby Berkley

RIP Halo 2

Halo 2's multiplayer was by far the best. I still like Halo CE's campaign more though.

At any rate, Halo 2 is my favorite game of all time.

  • 08.06.2010 10:41 AM PDT


Posted by: RussellTheHippy
Halo 2's multiplayer was by far the best. I still like Halo CE's campaign more though.

  • 08.07.2010 1:29 AM PDT

Capcom and SNK fighting games fanboy: The future is now: SNK.

halo 2 is the best for the campaing and the multiplayer maps the music was good too bungie really should make a remake for xbox 360

  • 08.07.2010 5:58 AM PDT
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  • Veteran Heroic Member

A 3 Legged Goat
Nobody cares about anyone else's opinion - be it mine, yours, or a cult of angry star wars nerds - when they are enjoying what they enjoy.

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Everyone cares about opinions, that's why we socialize on a forum with strangers.

I've made countless posts about why I believe Halo 2 is the best game in the series, so I'll just repeat what I've said many times before as briefly as I can.

* Better campaign. The missions were tight, keeping the pace strong and steady, but they weren't restrictive like Halo 3's missions, so you rarely felt "boxed in" or forced to follow a specific gameplay path. The story was the best in any Halo game, with incredible cinematic sequences that haven't shown up again in any of the new games in the series. The AI was challenging, but not cheap - with the exception of the Jackal Snipers on Legendary - and the enemy sandbox was perfectly balanced. The Brutes were very fun as well, which isn't as true for the ones in Halo 3. A lot of fans -blam!-ed about the cliffhanger ending when the game first came out, but I didn't think that it was that bad. It's the middle chapter in a trilogy; what were people expecting? Sure, it wasn't a very good ending, but you knew that there was an entire third installment coming along in three years to wrap it up.

* Better arsenal. The weapons sandbox was perfect. I wouldn't change a single thing about Halo 2's arsenal. It was balanced, it was fun. No weapon has achieved the level of perfection that the Battle Rifle held. In addition, the weapons sandbox lent itself to unique gametypes that cannot be duplicated in the other games of the series. You could never achieve a gametype like Tower of Power in any other Halo game, no matter how hard you tried. The vehicles were amazing and I'll miss being able to use the Spectre. I will concede that Halo 3 has some pretty awesome vehicles, like the Hornet and the Mongoose, but Halo 2 didn't need those because - like the weapons sandbox - it was perfectly balanced. Nothing needed to be changed. It was glorious.

* Better multiplayer. There's not much to say here. The experience was simply better, across the board. Better maps, better community, better everything. You can't know exactly why it was so great unless you've played it, so I'll just stop here.

Halo 2 didn't have features like Theater and Forge, but it really didn't need them. The game was fun on its own, as it was, and it didn't need any extra fluff to pad out the experience.

Sure, there are flaws with Halo 2. There's a terrible cliffhanger ending. There's the texture pop-in effect that plagued the game's cinematic sequences. There are glitches all over the place, including sword flying and the superbounces. But those are all part of the experience. (Especially the glitches.) They're flaws, but that doesn't make them bad!

Halo 2 represents a rare moment in which all of the stars aligned properly and everything fell into its right place. Whether or not that was an accident is irrelevant. The game was the result of a delicate balance between many different elements that came together and simply worked on a very profound level. I doubt that we'll ever see a game as expertly crafted and finely tuned as it.

RIP, Halo 2. (Even though you can still play it on Vista. Trust me, it's really not as bad as people like to say it is.)

  • 08.08.2010 2:00 PM PDT

Live in the moment before it's too late

Posted by: car15
Sure, there are flaws with Halo 2. There's a terrible cliffhanger ending. There's the texture pop-in effect that plagued the game's cinematic sequences. There are glitches all over the place, including sword flying and the superbounces. But those are all part of the experience. (Especially the glitches.) They're flaws, but that doesn't make them bad!

That is exactly what I was trying to say about the "flaws", but I couldn't find the right words for it. I agree with you on everything else also, but I swear if Reach feels constricted I'm gonna be >:(

I loved superbouncing and sword canceling and getting out of Headlong, good times, good times.

  • 08.09.2010 7:49 AM PDT