Halo 2
Tags: good versus evil, violence, humor

Plot synopsis:
=== Setting ===
Halo 2 takes place in the 26th century. Humans, under the auspices of the United Nations Space Command or UNSC, have developed faster-than-light slipspace travel and colonized numerous worlds. According to the game's backstory, the outer colony world of Harvest was decimated by a collective of alien races known as the Covenant in 2525. Declaring humanity an affront to their gods, the Forerunners, the Covenant begin to systemically obliterate the humans with their superior numbers and technology. After the human bastion at the planet Reach is destroyed, a single ship, The Pillar of Autumn, follows protocol and initiates a random slipspace jump to lead the Covenant away from Earth. The crew discovers a Forerunner ringworld called Halo, which the Covenant wants to activate because of their religious belief that the activation of the ring will bring about a "Great Journey," sweeping loyal Covenant to salvation. Leading a guerilla insurgency on the ring's surface, the humans discover that the rings are actually weapons of last resort built to contain a terrifying parasite called the Flood. The human supersoldier Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 and his AI companion Cortana learn from Halo's AI monitor, 343 Guilty Spark, that activation of the Halos will prevent the spread of the Flood by destroying all sentient life the parasite can subsist on in the galaxy. Instead of activating the ring, however, the Master Chief evades Guilty Spark and his robots and detonates the Pillar of Autumn's engines, destroying the installation and preventing the escape of the Flood. The Master Chief and Cortana race back to Earth to warn of an impending invasion by Covenant forces.
=== Plot ===
Taking place shortly after the events of the novel Halo: First Strike, Halo 2 opens with the trial of Thel 'Vadam, a Covenant Elite commander in charge of a fleet from the first game, aboard the Covenant's mobile capital city of High Charity. The Elite is stripped of his rank, branded a heretic for failing to stop the humans from destroying Halo, and is tortured by Tartarus, the Chieftain of the Covenant Brutes. On Earth, the Master Chief and Sergeant Avery Johnson are commended for their actions at Halo. Lord Terrence Hood awards the soldiers alongside Commander Miranda Keyes, who accepts a medal on behalf of her deceased father, Captain Jacob Keyes.
A Covenant fleet appears outside Earth's defensive perimeter and begins an invasion of the planet. While the UNSC repels most of the fleet, a single Covenant cruiser carrying an important member of the Covenant hierarchy, the High Prophet of Regret, assaults the city of New Mombasa, Kenya. The Master Chief assists in clearing the city of Covenant; with his fleet destroyed, Regret makes a hasty slipspace jump, and Keyes, Johnson, Cortana and the Master Chief follow aboard the UNSC ship In Amber Clad. The crew discover another Halo installation; realizing the danger the ring presents, Keyes sends the Master Chief to kill Regret while she and Johnson find Halo's key to activation, the Index.
Meanwhile, the disgraced Covenant commander is presented before the Prophet Hierarchs, who acknowledge that though the destruction of Halo was his fault, he is no heretic. They offer him the honored position of Arbiter so that he can continue to fight for the Covenant. On his first mission to kill a heretic, the Arbiter discovers 343 Guilty Spark, who the Covenant calls an "oracle," and brings him back to High Charity. Responding to Regret's distress call, High Charity and the Covenant fleet arrive at the new Halo, Installation 05, just before the Master Chief kills Regret. Bombarded from space, the Chief falls into a lake and is rescued by a mysterious tentacled creature.
Regret's death triggers discord among the races of the Covenant, as the Hierarchs have given the Brutes the Elites' traditional job of protecting them in the wake of the death. The Arbiter is sent to find Halo's Index and captures it, Johnson, and Keyes before being confronted by Tartarus. He reveals to the Arbiter that the Prophets have ordered the annihilation of the Elites, and sends the Arbiter falling down a deep chasm.
The Arbiter is saved by the tentacled creature and meets the Master Chief in the bowels of the installation. The creature, Gravemind, is the leader of the Flood on Installation 05. The Gravemind reveals to the Arbiter that the Great Journey would destroy Flood, humans, and Covenant altogether, and sends both the Arbiter and Master Chief to different places to stop Halo's activation. The Master Chief is teleported into High Charity, where a civil war has broken out among the Covenant; In Amber Clad crashes into the city, and Cortana realizes that Gravemind used them as a distraction to infest In Amber Clad and spread the Flood. As the parasite overruns the city, consuming the Prophet of Mercy in the process, the Prophet of Truth orders Tartarus to take Keyes, Johnson, and Guilty Spark to Halo's control room and activate the ring. The Master Chief follows Truth aboard a Forerunner ship leaving the city; Cortana remains behind to destroy High Charity and Halo if Tartarus succeeds in activating the ring.
The Arbiter is sent to the surface of Halo, where he rallies his allies to assault the Brute's position. With the help of Johnson, he confronts Tartarus in Halo's control room. When the Arbiter tries to convince Tartarus that the Prophets have betrayed them both, Tartarus angrily activates the ring, and a battle ensues. The Arbiter and Johnson manage to kill Tartarus while Keyes removes the Index. Instead of shutting down the ring entirely, a system wide fail-safe protocol is triggered, putting Installation 05 and all the other Halo rings on standby for activation from a remote location, which Guilty Spark refers to as "the Ark". As Truth's ship arrives amidst a raging battle on Earth, Hood asks the Master Chief what he is doing aboard the ship. The Chief replies, "Sir, finishing this fight."
In a post-credits scene, Gravemind is seen arriving on High Charity, where Cortana agrees to answer the Flood intelligence's questions.

Review: The missions with the SCARAB will have you looking at the screen in awe.What didn't work: I wish the game would have spent more time on Earth fighting off the Aliens and I wish we could have seen innocents slaughtered mercilessly by the Aliens and why is this game rated M, most of the violence is against the Aliens anyway.Overall: This game is possibly the best game on the Xbox.
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.
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.
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: 9/10I know this may seem a bit odd.
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..
This time it offers you the covenant perspective as you play another character, ARBITER; a disgraced covenant elite who must stop a rebellion in the galaxy; along with the consummate professional MASTER CHIEF as he vows to stop the destruction of Earth during the war.
HALO 2 reeks of quality; nice fine touches of witty, purposeful additions to appeal to the hardcore, loyal players of the original; rock music used in the BUNGIE opener; Johnson and Chief at the awards ceremony; Captain Keyes daughter's introduction; the return of Blood Gulch in the multiplayer.
Halo 2 is a sweeping; hugely epic adrenaline shot straight to the heart, with occasional cinematic breaks directed by the legendary Joseph Staten; of course the real battle begins when you clock the game on easy, normal and hard; and you find your way barely breathing through LEGENDARY mode.
I would expect Halo 3 to ship in no more than 3 years time; rounding up the story with a thrilling climax; the end of a trilogy, the best FPS trilogy created by man...well, BUNGIE then (they're not quite human y'see) and if sales records are anything to go by it will probably be the best selling game ever.
Halo 2, hmm....I thought I might try it out, I mean, I only spent 100000000 hours on the first one...Anyway, this game is good.
As a matter of fact, so good that if you have an Xbox and don't own this game, you should slap yourself.I thought I might start on the story mode when i got it.
The game ends in a cliff hanger, Arbiter and the gang learn of the "Ark" from the Monitor and Chief zooms toward Earth to end the Covenant war by killing the final Prophet, the Prophet of Truth.Yes, you do not end the crisis in Halo 2.
Its so awesome that it is nearly inevitable to play for hours on end just to beat your friend down for that one-millionth time in a multiplayer game.
While the gameplay mechanics have mostly been recycled from the original Halo (and that's a good thing -- after all, it's not a very good choice to try to fix something that isn't broken, only to break it anyways, like many developers have done in the past with sequels), Halo 2 does add some new tricks to the already excellent formula to create perfect gameplay.
People who have played first-person shooters for a long time may not notice anything new in Halo 2's storyline, but who cares?
There's probably no other storyline to use for a futuristic, sci-fi themed game that takes place in deep space.Gamers have been sick of always playing as some kind of "tough guy" who can take 40 bullets to the head before dying.
The game will tell you via a message at the top of the screen if an object can be used with the action button, so that you know what you're doing.Such excellent attention to realism means that you will be immersed into Halo 2 for a long, long time.
This now-legendary first-person shooter even converted people who wouldn't normally look at a gamepad, winning them over with accessible gameplay, an involving story and the xenocidal charms of its protagonist, the enigmatic Master Chief.Halo 2, then, is a sequel with no small amount of hype to live up to.
Far more polished than the original story, Halo 2's plot line drives the action well and, thanks to the judicious use of cut-scenes, gives a deeper insight into the Covenant, evolving them beyond faceless cannon fodder and probing the reasons for their galactic jingoistic instincts.Which brings us to the most significant change in Halo 2.
The continuing narrative doesn't abandon the Master Chief, though, and you'll alternate from one side to the other as the story progresses, until the two come together in a final, satisfying synthesis.The graphics, while not leagues ahead, have certainly been given a boost this time around, and the fiendishly addictive multiplayer mode now comes with added bells and whistles in addition to being Xbox Live enabled.
8/10Conclusion: Halo 2 is excellent and is worth buying, it maybe short but you would want to play again, with co-operative it is good, it is great on xbox live too but you shouldn't buy this game until you have the first or have finished the first.
This is the only reason people will play this game after they beat it.OVERALL 7/10 - I know I gave a lot of it good reviews but I still feel like there was something missing in this sequel.
The first game was repetitive and this game was pretty much the same as the first but better graphics.and story is an important part because it motivates you to beat the level and helps you know what your playing for.
But the only reason people beat this game was hoping the story would get good, or just to tell there friends they beat HALO 2..
Only reason I gave it an 8 instead of 9 was that it was felt unfinished and rushed as well as an unsatisfying and incomplete ending.The first Halo game was something of a milestone of it's time as it reinvigorated the FPS genre in ways that were never before seen in the history of games of this kind.
With that in mind, Halo 2 does it again with tight game play and graphics and a gripping if somewhat recycled plot.The opening scenes of Halo 2 are simply impressive on the now-ancient Xbox hardware, showcasing very fine details in the characters both old and new, especially the Master Chief and Cortana, who looks even more refined then ever before.
Just like in the original, the level of strategy evolves into fresh game mechanics; most certainly as the Arbiter which was a blast to play.
Hopefully the next game, which I yet to play, ends the series with a rock-hard solid coup De grace.Halo 2 is worthy of praise but it's somewhat unfinished feeling and cliffhanger ending marred it's potential..
Halo 2 is one of the best games i have ever played.
Better Graphics, gameplay, multiplayer and campaign (the campaign in Halo 1, was OK), Controls and gun selection like dual-wielding weapons.
But anyway, I think I've made my point, now: For the following:Gameplay-10/10 Simply amazing, it was so fun Presentation-9.0/10 All the basics Multiplayer-/10/10 Jaw-dropping multi player, very, very fun Graphics-8.0/10 Graphics aren't that good, the textures are pretty good, the shadowing is all right A.I.-8.8/10 They run, jump, duck, its pretty good, nothing mind-blowing Last Appeal-10/10 You'll want to redo the campaign billions of times, if you've got Xbox Live(TM) Your going to be playing this game until you, well, you'll never get off!.
The review of Halo 2 written by that guy is false, not in all ways but there are some flaws if you sit and compare the game with the original.For a start the Campaign mode deserves a 8/10.
the plot is quite hard to follow and as you are sometimes in the middle of fighting enemies while she talks the lack of in-game subtitles means you cant tell what shes saying.as i live in an area that is broadband deprived i cant speak for the xbox live mode and the campaign and split screen modes are all i have to use and i kinda have the feeling they were being pushed by Microsoft to make the online mode better at the expense of one player.
Overall it is an impressive game that looks beautiful but I don't think anything can save it from the let down factor caused by Bungie's decision to drop a lot of the most anticipated features in their rush to finish in time.
If you have XBOX live then you should buy it, but even that becomes repetitive very quickly.7 out of 10 it may be an good game but it is in no way the best FPS ever like some people seem to think..
I also compare this game with Half-Life 2, which is a great game.Halo 2 Half-Life 2 Graphics: Poor Amazing Story: Poor Great Weapons: Fair Excellent Realism: Poor Amazing Overall: Poor ExcellentScale used: Poor Fair Good Great Excellent Amazing.
Honestly, if this is the best game ever then gaming has lowered itself from imersive long well-written games to cheesy explosion-filled stereotypical high budget action movie rip-offs.I got confused after playing Halo 2 and comparing it to Halo 1 (to see if it lived up as a good sequel), because it all didn't add up.
Now I'm not going to give away much of the plot since its to good to ruin but the best way can describe it is you play as the Master Chief of course as everyone knows the Covenant have found Earth and you must defend it.
And the orchestral score to me personally surpasses John William's Star Wars score.I will say the Xbox Live multiplayer is amazing even though you can't play missions online, with the inclusion of Banshees, Energy Swords, and yes you can play as elites and the maps Blood Gulch and Battle Creek from Halo 1 are back!
I might spoil the ending by accident, so watch out, but you won't be missing anything.I hear people around me yelling stuff like, "Halo 2 is immaculate!" and, "Best game ever!"...
I do not agree with these statements completely, but I do not deny that Halo 2 was an incredibly great game.With beautiful levels and creatures, wonderful gameplay for an FPS game, and an amazing storyline (that never actually completes in the game), this game dazzled me, but I think it was overrated.
It could either mean that Halo will be a lost story and will never be completed, or it could be a prophecy foreseeing a third installation in this truly wonderful game series.I only have 1 controller and I don't have X-Box Live, so I'm not exposed to the true greatness of Halo 2, but I've played these modes at friend's houses.Back to my true subject, Halo 2 is greatly overrated when compared to the TRUE ultimate game...
This game is Wounderful and it is really fun the storyline is amazing the graphics are very likable the game play is awesome because i like first person shooters the music is catchy the sound is realistic and don't get me started with the weapons there are so many of them i don't know if i want The Sword or The Sniper Rifle or The Shotgun.
You also will discover a new side of the story as you play as an Elite Covenant who is blamed for the destruction of Halo.
halo 2 is possibly in the top 10 video games and i for one thought it was great i'd give it a 9/10.but here are the down falls on halo 2.weapons-alright now I'm mad they changed the weapons on halo and i am very VERY disappointed!they took out a lot of my favorite weapons and they took out the fun of sniping because now they can snipe you.another thing i was mad about was that "THIS GAME WAS TO SHORT!"this game took me two days to beat and I'm only a beginner at this game.it could at least take a week or two.other than that this game was very exiting game play 10/10 story 7/10 graphics 9/10 and overall score 9/10 and halo 2 might have its down falls but other than that halo 2 will attract millions..
OK so I took my time getting to writing a review for this game but lemme tell you now, if you liked the first halo you'll love this one.
It drew me in for continuous play with engaging characters, an extremely strong story, and voices that made you proud to be fighting as either Master Chief or one of the downtrodden Covenant."Halo 2" takes huge steps forward from nearly every facet of the original.
Very good graphics, smooth gameplay, more diverse weapons (although in short supply), less backtracking through levels, more vehicles to control (but less than expected), excellent replay value, although not as many enjoyable levels as the first game.
As for single player even I enjoyed the game's intense combat engine, as it forces you to think of what the is the best tactic and not just run into a pack enemies guns blazing;however, on the game's easy settings you can do that and not get instantly killed and I loved it when I got to commandeer a Banshee or Scorpion tank, as it was immensely satisfying and more importantly fun.
Grenades are obviously the more important part of combat in both Halo games, yet for some reason I can only hold 8 at a time.2.) Still WAY too linear.
Many today think of Halo as the game that made people buy an Xbox in the first place so why wouldn't expectations for its sequel be high?
It's a shame, because between a great story line, some awesome new weapons, and the introduction of great movie clips between levels, the game had a lot of potential.
Perhaps one or two in the videos, but none in the actual game play.Halo, 8.5 out of 10.
The best thing they can do is make a movie about the Fall of Reach, leading into the first HALO game.
simply draw dropping multi-player, A-OK story-line, and a well built game engine.First lets start with the new gameplay, dual wielding, recharging health, new weapons, vehicle damage, new characters, and the new thing ***SPOILER***, being able to play as a new character 'The Arbiter'.
Simply Amazing, loved it.New Gameplay- 7-10, didn't like some things, such as when you let the AI drive the warthog, they tend to get hung on objects, and go very slow during a huge firefight.Multiplayer- 1000-10, Wow, simply amazing, playing LAN is so great, and Xbox-Live is probably the greatest achievement from Microsoft..
The multi player of Halo 2 is the only reason why this game gets a 5 from me.I was holding off on Xbox because there were no good games for it.
in truth halo 2 is not one of the greatest games I have ever played though it was pretty good.now lets talk about the graphics, overall great, incredible environments, and vehicle and enemy rendering.
I can see that a lot of detail went into making the graphics the best of their time.the story was great, the cutscenes almost made me think I was watching a movie more than a game.
Now I'm going to have to wait 3 more years for halo 3 to come out on the xbox 2.multiplayer, just one word, amazing overall, halo 2 is a pretty solid first person shooter that has it's moments, though if your looking for a game that will keep you playing and playing and playing I would recommend half life 2.graphics:10 Gameplay:8 story:10 length:5 overall:7.9.
Halo 2 is one of the games that'll keep you entertained for hours and hours.You return as the Master Chief, who now has to defend Earth from the Covenant.
I played it and the game was spectacular, but many people were disappointed at the story and the cliffhanger ending.
What Halo 2 lacks everywhere else it makes up for in game-play and multi-player.
The first Halo was good because of story and multi-player.
This is part of what makes this game the best first person shooter ever, that it is unlimited in it's settings.Halo 2 has the player in the midst of exciting battles using imaginative weapons and following a brilliant storyline.
I have found it difficult to think of anything was better in the original and feel that people played Halo so much that they sort of feel disappointed that their personal favourite bits just aren't in this game..