Halo 2 20th Anniversary (2004-2024)

[Daku Rinku]

Halo 2 was released on November 9th, 2004. It sold 1.5 Million in pre-order sells alone, making it an Xbox Platinum Hit before it hit store shelves. This Nov 9th will mark the 20th Anniversary of this legendary game that changed the history of first person shooters forever.

Share some of your favorite memories, art, vids, quotes and all manner of remembrance of this
masterpiece of a game.

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I have to say that I stood in the lines for Midnight release, playing Halo CE in a epic Lan party at my local game store with my friends. I knew the sales clerks like homies, Chase and Brian, those guys were legit.

I got the metal Limited Edition Halo 2 with the 2 in the center, the bonus disc, and the booklet that had info from the Covenant perspective. I also got the regular edition which sported the iconic Master Chief wielding two SMGs with an orange background.

I played the Campaign a lot, even when I signed up for Xbox Live to battle in multiplayer online, I still came back to the gripping story mode. I reached level 21 online, and learned that my Halo Master status I had at my Youth Group with Combat Evolved was big fish in little pond, while playing online via Halo 2 I was little fish in big pond; that was a humbling experience.

I got the Expansion Packs of multiplayer maps called The Multiplayer Map Pack, it was awesome Bungie & Microsoft had a disc version released so we could download them to Xboxes for Lan parties. I also got Halo 2 PC because it allowed you to get achievements, and I wanted my Xbox 360 account to include all the Halos at the time and their achievements.

To this day I always feel moved by the Epilogue music from the credits, I found Cortana very hot even in original Xbox design before Anniversary updated her, and I still watch the Credits all the way through. Halo 2 was not just a game, it was phenomenon. It stopped the world, and had us fighting on our world for the first time.

I will never forget the memories with my Spartan bros on game nights where despite Xbox Live we still did Lan Parties and my first online girl friend.

Halo 2 to me is the greatest video game of all time and I recently downloaded it to my PC via the Master Chief Collection to play again, not realizing the 20th Anniversary is next month! You could say The Prophets ordained it, or that I am a Reclaimer, coming back to claim new memories.

 

[Daku Rinku]

As my friend @A Link In Time said on my profile, playing as The Arbiter was the biggest twist in gaming. No one knew, when I got my copy and popped it in, I had no idea we would get to explore The Covenant perspective, though I was suspicious of the grand and long cutscenes with The Prophets and The Arbiter. The Halo The Flood Novel, which was a novelization of Combat Evolved, had The Covenant perspective, but making it part of the Campaign Story for Halo 2 was a genius and risky move. Some fans, including myself, at first were rather concerned that Master Chief was only getting half the levels, when we had been with Cortana and Him for an entire adventure on Installation 04. Such worries were dismissed for me as I came to enjoy exploring The Covenant side of the war and found Thel 'Vadam, A.K.A The Arbiter to be as much fun to play as John 117; many of Thel’s levels are my favorites like The Heretic. Keith David, a legend, brought this Sangheili (Elite) to life in way James Earl Jonee did Darth Vader, making The Arbiter my second favorite character in the Halo Games.

 

[Riven]

It still gives me goosebumps. Probably the greatest moment in E3 history. Certainly right up there with the Twilight Princess reveal.

Halo 2 - E3 2003 Campaign Demo {AI Upscaled}

✦✦✦[DESCRIPTION]✦✦✦➤➤ The Halo 2 E3 Demo was a real-time demonstration of early plans for Halo 2's Outskirts and Metropolis levels. It was shown at E3 2003, ...

youtu.be

Then of course, we got the multiplayer reveal a year later. Notice the graphical downgrade? That's not because it's multiplayer, that's because it's running on the CE engine instead of the new engine that was showcased a year earlier. They had to use the old engine because the Xbox just wasn't up to it.

Still... this was a fun reveal and you could tell the developers were having fun playing it in front of everyone.

Halo 2 - E3 2004 Multiplayer Demo {AI Upscaled}

✦✦✦[DESCRIPTION]✦✦✦➤➤ The Halo 2 E3 Multiplayer Demo was the first public reveal and exhibition of Halo 2's multiplayer, shown at E3 2004. A live demonstrati...

youtu.be

 

[Daku Rinku]

It still gives me goosebumps. Probably the greatest moment in E3 history. Certainly right up there with the Twilight Princess reveal.

Halo 2 - E3 2003 Campaign Demo {AI Upscaled}

✦✦✦[DESCRIPTION]✦✦✦➤➤ The Halo 2 E3 Demo was a real-time demonstration of early plans for Halo 2's Outskirts and Metropolis levels. It was shown at E3 2003, ...

youtu.be

Then of course, we got the multiplayer reveal a year later. Notice the graphical downgrade? That's not because it's multiplayer, that's because it's running on the CE engine instead of the new engine that was showcased a year earlier. They had to use the old engine because the Xbox just wasn't up to it.

Still... this was a fun reveal and you could tell the developers were having fun playing it in front of everyone.

Halo 2 - E3 2004 Multiplayer Demo {AI Upscaled}

✦✦✦[DESCRIPTION]✦✦✦➤➤ The Halo 2 E3 Multiplayer Demo was the first public reveal and exhibition of Halo 2's multiplayer, shown at E3 2004. A live demonstrati...

youtu.be

I remember that E3, nothing has been quite like it since.

Do you remember when at an award ceremony, Master Chief shot the Pong bumper?

 

[Riven]

I remember that E3, nothing has been quite like it since.

Do you remember when at an award ceremony, Master Chief shot the Pong bumper?

No, I must have missed that. XD

 

[Riven]

It's Halo 3, but who cares? It's still awesome. XD

4K HDR | Halo 3 - Starry Night (2007) dir. Joseph Kosinski

Source: BT.709 SDR 1080pUpscale: 1080p to 2160pHDR grade: Rec.2020 ST2084 1000 nits

youtu.be

 

[Daku Rinku]

Halo 2 20th Anni Podcast on IGN, Steve Downes (Master Chief himself) intros it:

Celebrating Halo 2’s 20th Anniversary – Unlocked 667 - IGN

November 9 marks the 20th anniversary of Halo 2's release. We celebrate one of the greatest Xbox games ever by welcoming fellow veteran Xbox gamer Danny Peña from Gamertag Radio to share memories of playing it for the first time, ranking the original dozen multiplayer maps, plus a little...

www.ign.com

 

[TheGreatCthulhu]

I remember playing online with my friends and my brother.

It's still my favorite game of the series.

 

[Riven]

For posterity...

Halo 2 - Official 20th Anniversary 'Cementing a Legacy' Trailer

Take a look at the 20th Anniversary 'Cementing a Legacy' Trailer for Halo 2, a legendary installment in the sci-fi first-person shooter franchise developed b...

youtu.be

 

[Daku Rinku]

For posterity...

Halo 2 - Official 20th Anniversary 'Cementing a Legacy' Trailer

Take a look at the 20th Anniversary 'Cementing a Legacy' Trailer for Halo 2, a legendary installment in the sci-fi first-person shooter franchise developed b...

youtu.be

That was great!

I agree Halo 2 expanded the mythos, although us die hards read Eric Nylund's The Fall of Reach (which Season 2 of Halo and Halo Reach just never quite captured) and Halo: The Flood which is Combat Evolved from Chief's and The Covenant's perspective. That is why Halo 2 wasn't that jarring to me, having read The Flood.

Some thoughts:

• The Switchroo of having you playing The Arbiter as well as Master Chief at first frustrated me because Arby gets 50% of the Campaign, but after Halo 3, I found myself missing it and accepting it. It really was the best kept secret in gaming, none of us knew that you were gonna play as The Covenant.
• Xbox Live, and playing the Multiplayer Maps online really was a game changer. I went from my nickname Halo Master at Youth Groups to learning I was little fish in a Big Pond on Delta Halo; it humbled me and I had to earn my way to level 20, and never quite ascended beyond that. The negative was Lan Parties started to become less necessary (not for me and my bros, we did them well into Halo 3) but it lead to what I hate now, you have to have online to play multiplayer.
• The Voice Cast is insane, it has my favorite actor Michael Wincott as the Prophet of Truth! That dude is voice of villainy! Of course Keith David was amazing as Arby, Jen Taylor is the voice and image we fell in love with (Halo 2 really is when she started to ahem become hot), and of course Steve Downes as John 117; come to think of it, this game had the best deep voice actors of all time!
• Duo Wielding, it was blessing and curse. Duo Needlers were insane! But it did cause the shoot and grenade method made famous by Combat Evolved problems, which is why Halo 3 opted to make MA5C (not the MA5B of Combat Evolved) the main weapon to make people throw grenades again. Still I am glad it introduced duo wielding, cuz it makes playing through Halo 2 again unique if you choose only to duo wield or well mostly.
• The Love the Campaign, but lets be honest.. Bungie gave us something worse than The Library.. they made us hang with Flood in elevator and gondola.. I cannot forgive that.. lol jk. I also despise Cairo Station having played Halo 2 on PC twice.. you can get lost on the PC version of he game...
• Covenant Carbine and BR55 Rifle. I love these two weapons, they make the Pistol of Combat Evolved redundant, so I did not miss it. But oh man does the Shotgun suck! What have you done to my boy?! XD
• The Covenant Civil War on High Charity.. omg! That is some of best Halo I ever played. Hearing Truth speaking his epic lines "there are those who say this day would never come.. what are they to say now?" while you watch and participate as The Demon in the fight.. oof makes me wanna go play it.
• Most of my favorite maps were Covie, I liked Midship, and Gemini (which was from Multiplayer Map Pack) a lot. Though Zanzibar and Containment (snow level, outside, with Forerunner structures) were my fav mid to big maps. Coagulation of course was major as the return of Blood Gulch.
• I will die on the hill that Mongoose (ATV) is worst piece of junk vehicle in Halo History! Unless you have someone on the back with a Rocket Launcher.. but even then it gets hit and flips easy. My favorite was the Spectra (Covenant answer to The Warthog) but it rarely was on multiplayer maps.. and only on one Campaign level or was it two?
• Leaving Cortana on High Charity was gut punch you, "do not make a girl a promise.. if you know you can't keep it.." Oof in Halo 3 I was racing to get to her to keep my promise!
• The Ending, I felt the cliffhanger works, "Sir, Finishing This Fight!" I think the Gravemind talking to Cortana on High Flood Charity should have been only able to watch after the credits if you beat Legendary. There was no reward for beating Legendary till Halo 3.. and Halo 2 had the toughest Legendary Co-op, if one of you dies it resets back to check point! Give us something for that ordeal!

 

[Riven]

By far the best version of the original E3 demo. Wow.

Halo 2 E3 Demo Full Playthrough In 4K 60 FPS

The legendary Halo 2 E3 Demo is finally available now and better than ever! Here's how it looks at its finest in full 4K glory and 60 fps! This is a full pla...

youtu.be

 

[Daku Rinku]

By far the best version of the original E3 demo. Wow.

Halo 2 E3 Demo Full Playthrough In 4K 60 FPS

The legendary Halo 2 E3 Demo is finally available now and better than ever! Here's how it looks at its finest in full 4K glory and 60 fps! This is a full pla...

youtu.be

Its a shame we never got Halo 2 as intended, The Campaign getting deleted and they rushing to remake it and get it out in time.

 

[Riven]

Its a shame we never got Halo 2 as intended, The Campaign getting deleted and they rushing to remake it and get it out in time.

The Xbox could run that engine, but you see how linear and scripted everything is there. They weren't able to do the large environments like they wanted. Even using the original engine, they still had to keep it pretty linear to save performance.

The larger scale was something that really came to fruition with Halo 3. The scarab fights and stuff.

 

[Daku Rinku]

The Xbox could run that engine, but you see how linear and scripted everything is there. They weren't able to do the large environments like they wanted. Even using the original engine, they still had to keep it pretty linear to save performance.

The larger scale was something that really came to fruition with Halo 3. The scarab fights and stuff.

Yeah The Scarab was kinda mostly hype in Halo 2. They needed to have if you did not stop it, it shoots down Amber Clad and you have to go back to checkpoint.