Halo 2

:For the Nine Inch Nails halo, see Pretty Hate Machine.

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Halo 2 is a first-person shooter game developed by Bungie Studios for the Xbox console. It was released on November 9, 2004 as a sequel to the 2001 game '.

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Campaign

The game's "Campaign" mode offers options for both single-player and cooperative multiplayer participation. When playing in this mode the player must complete a series of levels that encompass Halo 2s storyline. These levels require the player to alternate between the roles of Master Chief and a Covenant Elite called The Arbiter, who occupy identical but diametrically opposed roles in the story's conflict. Gameplay-wise the Arbiter differs from Master Chief in that he does not have use of a flashlight. Instead he is equipped with a form of active camouflage that dissipates after depleting an energy reserve or if the player is hit.

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In Campaign mode there are four levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, Heroic and Legendary, the latter of which has been described as "suicide" by the game's developers.

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Multiplayer

There are varying modes, several of which have returned from the original Halo game. A typical classic free for all or team deathmatch game known as Slayer, a team based Capture The Flag game, a game which you plant a bomb in your enemies base to score called Assault, a more esoteric free-for-all (FFA) or team game of keep away called Oddball, a game extrapolated from a child's game of "tag" called Juggernaut, King of the Hill, where players race to control a specified area of the map, and finally, Territories, which bears some resemblance to King of the Hill, but with multiple hills. All of these modes can be twisted and changed in thousands of unpredictable ways, resulting in incredibly varied multiplayer gameplay. Of the preset variations present in the original game, only Race is missing.

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Unlike its predecessor, Halo 2 allows players to compete with each other via the Xbox Live online service, in addition to the original's support for split-screen and System Link multiplayer. Halo 2's Xbox Live mode offers a unique and, some would say, innovative approach to online gaming that is intended to alleviate some of the problems that have plagued online first-person shooters in the past. Traditionally, one player sets his or her computer or console up as a game server (or host), specifying the game type and map and configuring other settings. The game software then uses a service like Xbox Live or GameSpy to advertise the game to the world at large; other players choose which game to join based upon criteria such as the map and game options each host is offering as well as the ping times they are able to receive.

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In Halo 2, Xbox Live players do not choose to host public games, and they do not get to specify individual maps and options to search for. Instead, players select "playlists" that are geared to different styles of play. For example, the "Rumble Pit" playlist offers a variety of "every man for himself" game types, primarily Slayer or variations thereof; "Team Skirmish" offers a number of 4-on-4 team games, which are primarily objective-based games like Capture the Flag; "Big Team Battle" is similar to Team Skirmish but allows teams of up to 8 players. Other playlists allow head-to-head play and matches between different clans. The Xbox Live servers create games automatically from the pool of players that have chosen each playlist, choosing a game type and map automatically and selecting one player to serve as the game's host.

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Players can create small "parties" with their friends and enter games together as teammates in Team based games. Parties can also play in "Rumble Training" games, which is an unranked version of "Rumble Pit" If the Xbox console hosting the game drops out, the Xbox Live service automatically selects a new host from among the remaining players so the game can continue. Players may still choose to set up games for their own party to their own specification, and invite others into that game from their Friends and Clan lists, however these games are not made publicly available.

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Since launching in November 2004, the service has been very popular with video gamers. While some players resent the loss of individual control inherent in Halo 2's approach to online gaming, others feel it provides a significantly improved gaming experience compared to more traditional online first-person shooters. Bungie's servers match players up by skill level, which tends to eliminate the kind of severely imbalanced games that less-skilled players often consider unfair and unenjoyable. The automatic host selection process also eliminates the ability of the host to exert outsized control over the parameters of the game.

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Bungie.net records every single statistic that is displayed on-screen in the end-of-game "Post Game Carnage Report." Anyone can visit Bungie.net and look at any Xbox Live player's stats. If a player logs in with a Microsoft Passport, they can also access the "Gameviewer". This presents an image of the level that was played from the player's choice various angles, superimposed with a summary of the crucial game events. For example: for each kill, the attacker and target's locations and the attacker's weapon are displayed, and the paths taken by flags in Capture the Flag games are shown. Bungie keeps these stats for several hundred games per player at a time, then games begin to be purged to save space, and they are used as evidence when banning cheats (see "Xbox Live Updates", below).

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Regular players have expressed concerns regarding the game balance of Halo 2. Many players feel that game strategies are too dependent upon controlling the "power weapons" in each map such as the Rocket Launcher, Sniper Rifle, and Energy Sword, which leads to the overshadowing of the other weapons in the game. Should a team acquire these weapons, it becomes more difficult for their opponents to score kills or attain objectives. Much game time may be consumed attempting to seize the weapons in question from the opposition to shift the balance of power; in some cases it may not even be possible to do so. This primarily affects team games and one-on-one games; in free for alls, a player with a "power weapon" will become a priority target for the other players, meaning that the weapon will change hands frequently. Another common criticism is the dominance of dual-wielding weapons over single-wielding combined with grenades, although attempts have been made to address these issues with the April 18th automatic update (see "Xbox Live updates").

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Multiplayer maps

For more information on this is List of Multiplayer Maps in Halo 2.

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New maps are downloadable from Xbox Live or available on the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack.

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Damage system

The damage system in Halo 2 is slightly different from that in Halo: Combat Evolved. The player has a regenerating shield, but now has regenerating health as well.

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• Shields: The shield in Halo 2 is much stronger, and recharges at a higher rate. It covers the player's entire body, and slowly decreases in power as it sustains damage. After it takes damage, it starts to recharge 4 seconds after the last time damage was sustained. The power is displayed above the motion tracker in the bottom-left of the screen.
• Health: In Halo 2, once the shields run out, the player also has a buffer of health. Unlike the first Halo, health regenerates after the shield. The amount of health left is not visible to the player, and is also much smaller than in the original game.

Powerups

There are two types of powerups available in Halo 2 Multiplayer.

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• Overshield: An enhanced, non-regenerating shield which is three times the strength of the normal one. The overshield functions on top of the regular shield - when it is active, the normal shield does not take damage. In addition, when a overshield is picked up, the player is invulnerable until it finishes charging, which takes a second or two. In multiplayer Halo 2, the overshield gradually depletes over time and can be completely taken out with a charged up plasma pistol shot. The overshield is no longer present in the campaign mode of Halo 2. However, the Black Eye Skull will enable the player to charge his/her shield into the overshield range. In certain Multiplayer gametypes, one or more players start with a regenerating overshield.
• Active Camouflage: Drastically reduces the player's visibility for a period of time, making him look like a shimmering distortion. This effect (which is almost identical to that of the alien armor in the Predator movies) is reduced if the player is hit by weapons fire, or if he fires a weapon. However, the Energy Sword remains clearly visible even if the player is using camouflage. This feature is included in the Arbiter's armor, though its effect only lasts a few seconds. The powerup is not available in Campaign (the Arbiter can activate it for a short time), and the built-in generator is not available in Multiplayer. The Envy skull gives Master Chief access to the built-in generator.

Gametype Settings: In some gametypes, the overshield and/or active camo are always active on one or all of the players, and if disabled, will recharge over time. One common mistake for new players is to mix the overshield and the active camo: this creates a faint halo around the player, even though they have active camo.

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Weapons

Secrets

The existence of many hidden skulls has been discovered. http://ducain.org/hihforum/viewtopic.php?t=9 These small objects are hidden in every campaign level in Halo 2, some levels containing more than one. Their effects, while somewhat disputed, can do anything from making the player invisible to removing his HUD. One, called "I Would Have Been Your Daddy," is a maddening skull that, unlike the others, seems to have no reliable mechanism for triggering its appearance. After finding it and picking it up, some players are entered into a battle with more than twenty Elites using only a plasma pistol, with victory leading to new NPC commentshttp://nikon.bungie.org/misc/h2dialogue.html?orderby=Category&date=20050707. However, other users have acquired the skull with no apparent effect at all.

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The current known skulls are Thunderstorm, Blind, I Would Have Been Your Daddy, Catch, Grunt Birthday Party, Famine, Envy, Assassins, Mythic, Sputnik, Angry, Ghost, Iron, and Black Eye. These skulls are only available on the Legendary mode except the blind skull that's found on Outskirts. One skull shows no text when collected but examination of Halo 2 files shows this skull to be known internally as Whuppopotamous (fitting the acronym) and also Cowbell.

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The Scarab's destructive main cannon is available as a handheld weapon. It is located in a hard-to-reach area in a level where the Scarab is present. To obtain the Scarab's powerful weapon you must first arrive at the end of a long bridge in the level Metropolis. After defeating all the enemies except one Banshee, the player must lure the Banshee into a tunnel and board it as it reaches the other side. After comandeering the Banshee, the player must fly to a certain grouping of buildings: the Scarab gun resides in the middle of a bridge connecting them. Although the Scarab gun uses the Plasma Rifle model, it shoots a huge blue plasma beam many times larger than the Master Chief. This trick is most easily performed in Co-op mode, where you have another player to provide backup and assistance.

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Players have also discovered "super jumps", or bounces. Super jumps can be found on every map and are exectued by crouching under something until your screen shakes and then jumping on a certain area, at which time the player will be propelled very high. Players have only discovered a few of these jumps and there are possibly many more, especially in the newer maps. In fact there are numerous super jumps on every multiplayer map available. Some of them include flying straight to the location atop the level whereas others are much more tricky and require you to find a "double bounce" (a double bounce is a super jump that when you land in the right area propels you once more into the air).

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Glitches

Players have discovered many glitches in Halo 2. For example, the player can leave the ordinary map boundaries by performing a "sword cancel," in which the player presses the "R" and then the "X" button on their gamepad, while having their sword equipped, while facing another player. They will charge at the player but not slash them, allowing the sword user to fly over the other person and get over a boundary. Players can also use the "rocket glitch" to reach past the boundaries, in which one player is already in the position they wish to reach. While the player above is jumping, the player wanting to reach the position must have a rocket launcher, without ammunition, and a sword. While targeting the jumping man, from the bottom of the cross-hair, the player must switch between the rocket and sword to obtain access to the new area.

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These glitches have become a major problem in Halo 2's multiplayer over Xbox LIVE. For example, players can use the aformentioned "super jump" on the level Zanzibar to jump to the top of the level out of reach of most players. Since the release of the downloadable maps, Halo 2 hackers (users who edit the game with formerly illegally modified consoles (modifying Xbox consoles is now legal in the United States)) began to mod the maps on the hard drives of their Xboxes to receive advantages, such as weapons that do more damage, flying ground vehicles, etc. This has become such a widespread problem in the "Matchmaking" system that Bungie is constantly trying to resolve the problem by releasing autoupdates which ban hackers from the system and terminate their accounts.

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Nine Inch Nails: Nine Inch Nails (colloquially known as NIN) are a critically and commercially successful American band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988 by Trent Reznor....

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Halo 2 related Images and Photos (experimental)

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