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Subject: Halo 2, love or hate?

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I've always been curious as to why (or if) people hate Halo 2 so much? It is easily my favourite game of the series; it offers depth of storyline to not only the human side of the story, but to the Covenant. I played through that campaign upwards of 30 times and enjoy it every single time.

The Arbiter is a great character, he has an intriguing storyline, an internal conflict and he is a great soldier on top of it all. Tartarus and Truth were great villains and even though we've seen these heroes and foes before, none of it felt cliched.

The levels were well-designed, not overtly linear, with great battles (despite some of the bosses being frustrating on Legendary) and the new (at the time) weapons introduced enhanced the gameplay tenfold from what it was in Halo CE; the Battle Rifle added precision and the dual-wielding and multiple new weapons added a new level of strategy in choosing your weaponry throughout the game.

For me, Halo 3 was where it all fell apart. The storytelling was still fairly good, but losing the Covenant side of it and the fact that Bungie completely overlooked the fact that many Hunters and Grunts allied with the Elites made for a shallower storyline than the 2nd in the trilogy. The last few levels being so flood-centric was a bore to play as well and overshadowed the improved gameplay mechanics by making our enemies require less precision to kill and more bullets.

I suppose I just wanted to:

a) Explain why I love Halo 2 so much and vent my frustration at what seems to be an unfair assessment of one my personal favourite games of all time and favourite stories told in a game

and

b) Get a feel for whether people actually dislike the game or whether I'm way off base here

Anyway, apologies for the novela, I don't blame you if you didn't read, but it would be great if you could respond to the question so I can get a better understanding.

Thanks.

  • 08.10.2011 4:43 AM PDT

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|| Average Joe ||

I adore Halo 2, as it was the first proper multiplayer game I played. Unfortunately I may be blinded by nostalgia, but I remember it being incredible.

As for the story, it was pretty awesome. The mix of playing as the Arbiter and John was, in my eyes, a great move.

[Edited on 08.10.2011 4:50 AM PDT]

  • 08.10.2011 4:49 AM PDT

Do you know what kind of hat I'm wearing?

A party hat; you don't get one. An honor will this party be, a party in your honor, for your honor. Some of Tfear's personal guards are going to be there. You'll be introduced shortly.

Prepare to die.

I love it.

I don't think that anything negative could be said about halo 2. (yes, even the glitches were awesome)

I'm amazed that bungie could pull off something like that on the original xbox.

Posted by: Sparbiter117
(despite some of the bosses being frustrating on Legendary)

I still have nightmares about those.

  • 08.10.2011 4:54 AM PDT

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Posted by: H0FFman J
I love it.

I don't think that anything negative could be said about halo 2. (yes, even the glitches were awesome)

I'm amazed that bungie could pull off something like that on the original xbox.

Posted by: Sparbiter117
(despite some of the bosses being frustrating on Legendary)

I still have nightmares about those.


Regret on Legendary was akin to having nails driven into my hands. Goddamn Honour Guards.

  • 08.10.2011 4:56 AM PDT

"Even in death, your Sergeant guides us home."

love it, first halo love, great graphics for time, great multiplayer, all around spectacular game.

  • 08.10.2011 5:06 AM PDT
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I love Halo 2. It had an incredible campaign. The glitches in it allowed for some very cool tricks. However, I hated how everyone was so dependent on button combos.

  • 08.10.2011 5:08 AM PDT

<----

you could say I like it

great depth into the world of the covenant, awesome characters for the elite sided campaign (heretic leader, arbiter, the ultra who's name I cannot remember), fun glitches that made it even better, the epic battles that took place towards the end(elites Vs. brutes and you, then elites, brutes, flood, and you), finally the scarab gun.

[Edited on 08.10.2011 7:26 AM PDT]

  • 08.10.2011 7:26 AM PDT

Vengeance only leads to an ongoing cycle of hatred.

I don't love it and I don't hate it. I'm in the middle, but I lean towards love.

[Edited on 08.10.2011 7:57 AM PDT]

  • 08.10.2011 7:57 AM PDT

United Armed Forces

Love the campaign. MP is good, but I don't love it.

  • 08.10.2011 8:02 AM PDT

The multiplayer was great.

The rest...er...not so much.

  • 08.10.2011 8:02 AM PDT
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J13
I'm frickin working for Bungie someday!

No one can hate halo 2. Halo 2 was epic. It's too hard to choose a favorite game in the series, but halo 2 might have been the best

  • 08.10.2011 8:11 AM PDT

I love Halo 2.
My only gripe is that the later levels in it don't offer the same excitement that the first levels do (up to Regret).

  • 08.10.2011 8:22 AM PDT

Halo 2 definitely had the best campaign so far if you ask me. I haven't played the multiplayer enough to really form an opinion of that so I have no comment on it, from what I've seen of gameplay videos though the auto-aiming on a lot of the weapons seemed to be too good :/ As good as it is I don't think Halo 2 would be what I consider the best multiplayer in the series, I personally would give that to Reach.

  • 08.10.2011 8:37 AM PDT
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not my favorite, but still a damn good campaign. Oh and basically the reason XBL is so popular. Greatest multiplayer experiences ever. Love that game.

  • 08.10.2011 8:39 AM PDT

General of The Irish Punks


Posted by: BlueRuby2k10
I love Halo 2.
My only gripe is that the later levels in it don't offer the same excitement that the first levels do (up to Regret).


Actually I realized I do like the later levels. The last two master chief levels though for me were meh.

Also I loved the multi-player, I think the biggest thing that helped was clan support allowing you to jump into a party with some random guy in your clan who wasn't on your friends list.

[Edited on 08.10.2011 9:53 AM PDT]

  • 08.10.2011 8:41 AM PDT


Posted by: firecrakcer
the ultra who's name I cannot remember


Do you mean Half-Jaw?

  • 08.10.2011 8:42 AM PDT
  •  | 
  • Exalted Mythic Member

READ:

Sending me a group invite or some kind of other pointless, time wasting advert gets you blocked. Don't bother wasting your time. kthnxbai

I think Halo 2 had the most interesting story - mainly because of the Covenant civil war (which kind of just deteriorated in the the Elites being all "wemad" in Halo 3) - and I think it had the best multiplayer maps in the series. I think Halo 3 wins out on weapons balancing there though.

But yeah, I would love for Microsoft to re-release a HD version of Halo 2 (with proper multiplayer, not just Reach/Halo 4 maps). In fact, I think I'mma install Halo 2 on my PC right now. :D

  • 08.10.2011 8:45 AM PDT

To be honest, when I first saw all this in the weekly update I thought 2 things.
#1- there is an actual legendary ending but,
#2- No matter what anyone does,(kill all the bobs, hit all switches etc) that until the "time" mentioned in "There'll be another time..." is reached there won't be a legendary ending.

The weekly update by bungie has slowed my hardcore search for what unlocks the legendary ending.


Posted by: GnadeMasta
Love the campaign. MP is good, but I don't love it.
wtf. you just said you love the campaign.

  • 08.10.2011 9:06 AM PDT

I absolutely love Halo 2. Hands down the best one in the series, mainly because it wins massively over CE in terms of multiplayer.

Its story was deep and intruiging. Definatly not something like any other shooter. It brought so much depth to the series, its a real shame H3 completely let down in that category.
Arbiter was perhaps the best move Bungie made in terms of a introducing a new character. He allowed for the Covies point of view to be shown which resulted in the far greater depth and a more personal story opposed to Chiefs "duty calls" story.
Level design was a bit meh to be honest. It has the most levels and most are a joy to play. Mainly because the variety in scenery is probably the biggest in the series. But it sometimes got a bit too linear.

And on top of that: THAT MULTIPLAYER!!!!!!
Only bad map in that game was Backwash and thats because its immense lagging. But there litterally was no map in that game that I disliked. All straight up classics. Another thing the Halo series lacked after H2: epic maps like Headlong, Turf, Ascension, Terminal, Containment etc etc.
Yes there were glitches. But to be honest, the only ones truely messing things up were the standby-cheaters. The other glitches, super jumps, getting out of maps etc made the multiplayer so incredibly fun (on top of how much fun it was by its self already). Clans: great! Teamwork: always, unlike these days.

Legendary was a pain in the @$$ tho...really annoying. Never finished that one on Legendary.
But apart from some minor things: Halo at its best and in its heydays, an absolute masterpiece.

  • 08.10.2011 9:17 AM PDT

BOB-B-Q!
If only they brought back Marathon and Pathways into Darkness...


Posted by: needler blast
love it, first halo love, great graphics for time, great multiplayer, all around spectacular game.


I don't quite agree on the graphics part, but it was spectacular!
Halo 2's graphics cant match up with those of games like DOOM 3
ID Software has always had graphics engines ahead of their time. DOOM 3's graphics can matchup to some newer games IMO

  • 08.10.2011 9:22 AM PDT
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Deva Path


Posted by: DecepticonCobra

We are all going to get banned aren't we?


Posted by: BlueRuby2k10
I love Halo 2.
My only gripe is that the later levels in it don't offer the same excitement that the first levels do (up to Regret).


WHAT???

  • 08.10.2011 9:23 AM PDT


Posted by: grey101

Posted by: BlueRuby2k10
I love Halo 2.
My only gripe is that the later levels in it don't offer the same excitement that the first levels do (up to Regret).


WHAT???


Exactly...

Big: WHAT!!???!?!?

  • 08.10.2011 9:29 AM PDT

A competitive players main goal is to win.
A casuals main goal is to have fun regardless of whether that results in a win or loss.
It has nothing to do with individual skill or knowledge, it has to do with the reason you play.


Posted by: Dropship dude
I adore Halo 2, as it was the first proper multiplayer game I played. Unfortunately I may be blinded by nostalgia, but I remember it being incredible.

As for the story, it was pretty awesome. The mix of playing as the Arbiter and John was, in my eyes, a great move.



Halo 2. My first online multiplayer game, I spent hours and hours with it playing with friends and random strangers who I still have added on my friendlist. The multiplayer had it's flaws but what game doesn't? Nostalgia is most likely the biggest reason why I consider it my favorite Halo game but I think I'm not the onlyone.

  • 08.10.2011 9:34 AM PDT

<3 <3 <3 <3 that is all.

  • 08.10.2011 9:38 AM PDT

I just didn't enjoy it. Simple as that. Not sure why, could be because I felt it fell on it's face compared to Halo: Combat Evolved. I don't hate Halo: 2, It's just that I don't enjoy it as much as any other Halo game. Including Halo Wars.

  • 08.10.2011 9:51 AM PDT

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