As the alien Covenant invade Earth, the Master Chief must defend humanity's homeworld whilst discovering more about the rings called "Halo."As the alien Covenant invade Earth, the Master Chief must defend humanity's homeworld whilst discovering more about the rings called "Halo."As the alien Covenant invade Earth, the Master Chief must defend humanity's homeworld whilst discovering more about the rings called "Halo."
- Won 1 BAFTA Award
- 6 wins & 7 nominations total
- Gravemind
- (voice)
- (as Dee Baker)
- Miranda Keyes
- (voice)
- 343 Guilty Spark
- (voice)
- …
- SpecOps Leader
- (voice)
- Arbiter
- (voice)
- Master Chief
- (voice)
- Heretic Leader
- (voice)
- Lord Hood
- (voice)
- Sergeant Johnson
- (voice)
- …
- Cortana
- (voice)
- Brute
- (voice)
- …
- Marine
- (voice)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaHad 1.5 million preorders before its release, making it an Xbox "Platinum Hit" months before it was even released.
- GoofsIf you shoot Sergeant Johnson as the Arbiter, he says things like "Stop it, Chief".
- Quotes
Cortana: [after seeing Gravemind] What... is that?
Gravemind: I... I am a monument to all your sins...
[the Arbiter struggles]
Master Chief: Relax. I'd rather not piss this thing off.
Arbiter: Demon!
Gravemind: This one is machine and nerve and has its mind concluded; this one is but flesh and faith and is the more deluded...
Arbiter: Kill me or release me, parasite. But do not waste my time with talk!
Gravemind: There is much talk... and I have listened through rock and metal and time... Now I shall talk and you shall listen...
2401 Penitent Tangent: Greetings! I am 2401 Penitent Tangent, I am the monitor of installation 05...
Prophet of Regret: And I am the Prophet of Regret, Council of most high hierarch of the Covenant!
2401 Penitent Tangent: [looks at Master Chief] A reclaimer, here? At last! We have much to do! This facility must be activated if we are to control this outbreak!
Prophet of Regret: Stay where you are! Nothing can be done until my sermon is complete!
2401 Penitent Tangent: Not true! This installation has a successful utilization record of 1.2 trillion simulated and 1 actual. It is ready to fire on demand.
Prophet of Regret: Of all the objects that our Lords left behind, there are none so worthless as these Oracles! They know nothing of the Great Journey!
2401 Penitent Tangent: And you know nothing about containment! You have demonstrated complete disregard for even the most basic protocols!
Gravemind: This one's Containment, and this one's Great Journey are the same... Your prophets have promised you freedom from a doomed existence, but you will find no salvation on this ring. Those that built this place knew what they wrought. Do not mistake their intent or all will perish as they did before.
Master Chief: This thing is right; Halo is a weapon. Your prophets are making a big mistake.
Arbiter: Your ignorance already destroyed one of the sacred rings, Demon. It shall not harm another!
Gravemind: If you will not hear the truth, then I will show it to you.
[to the Chief]
Gravemind: You will search one likely spot...
[to the Arbiter]
Gravemind: And you will search another. Fate may have placed us as foes, but this ring will make us brothers.
- Crazy creditsAfter the credits roll, there is a short scene featuring Cortana and Gravemind.
- ConnectionsEdited into Red vs. Blue (2003)
- SoundtracksBlow Me Away
Performed by Breaking Benjamin
(P) 2004 Hollywood Records, Inc. Courtesy of Hollywood Records, Inc.
Written by Benjamin Burnley
Published by Seven Peaks Music o/b/o itself and Breaking Benjamin Music (ASCAP)
All rights reserved
Used by permission
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.
- MovieAddict2016
- Nov 26, 2004
Details
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 4:3