Halo 2

Halo 2 is a First Person Shooter video game developed by Bungie Studios for the Xbox video game console and is forwards-compatible with the Xbox 360. It is the sequel to Halo: Combat Evolved (and the second installment of the Halo game series) and features a newly built graphics engine with the addition of new elements to the game.

Halo 2 develops the struggle between the United Nations Space Command, Covenant, and the Flood during the Human-Covenant War in the fall of 2552.

Synopsis
It begins with the trial and punishment of the former Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, Commander Thel 'Vadamee, later on to be the future arbiter, who is branded with the Mark of Shame by Tartarus due to his failure to protect the Sacred Ring during the events of Halo: Combat Evolved.

The story then turns to Earth's Orbital Defense Platform Cairo Station, where the Master Chief receives the new MJOLNIR Mark VI armor from the Master Gunnery Sergeant. He then meets Admiral Terrence Hood for an award ceremony held for the dual purposes of awarding meritorious acts and boosting the morale of the surviving human population and noted as a war hero (John_117 has received all medals except 1). The festivities are soon interrupted by Cortana reporting "15 Covenant Capital Ships holding position just outside the kill zone", signaling the start to the Covenant Siege of Earth. UNSC Marine forces along with the Master Chief protect the station from the invading Covenant Naval infantry but other stations were destroyed by the Covenant. After sending the bomb back to the covenant he landed on a UNSC ship and then they head to the surface of Earth to New Mombasa to fight off the Covenant Army, led by the High Prophet of Regret. After the Covenant invasion force is halted by the UNSC defenses, the Prophet of Regret flees Earth with Keyes and her detachment in pursuit on In Amber Clad. The hasty in-atmosphere jump destroys most of the city of New Mombasa.

The story then turns back to the disgraced Sangheili Commander (Thel 'Vadamee), who is given the chance of redemption by taking up the mantle of Arbiter, along with the imminent mortality of the task. The new Arbiter accepts and becomes the will of the Prophets, seeking to complete the impossible task assigned for redemption from his crimes. The Arbiter is tasked with the assassination of a Heretic Leader, whom is disillusioned with the Covenant following the events of Installation 04 up to its destruction. The Arbiter tracks the Heretic Leader throughout the gas mine (battling the Heretics and the Flood) where the Heretics sought refuge. When the Arbiter is finally able to face the Heretic Leader, 'Refumee asserts his belief that the Prophets have lied about the Great Journey, punctuating this with the entry of a Monitor. Before the Arbiter could learn more of the claims, the battle resumes, and the Heretic Leader is killed before any meaningful discourse taking place. Tartarus appears to extract him and Guilty Spark, preventing the Arbiter from learning any information from Spark. He leaves not knowing what caused the Heretics to betray their sacred oaths to the Covenant.

Turning back to the Master Chief's story, Keyes exits slipspace in her ship undetected with the Prophet of Regret unaware that he had been followed. To the surprise of the pursuers, they discover that Regret led them to another Halo Ring. Keyes soon determines that their objective is to Capture the Prophet of Regret and stop the Covenant from firing the Halo Rings, the Chief is dropped onto the surface of Installation 05 with other UNSC personnel (ODST) to do remove REGRET. In the course of pursuing Regret, the Chief discovers with the aid of Cortana that the Prophet intends to personally activate Halo. Keyes decides that the new revelation about Regret's intentions warrants his death, which the Chief successfully achieves. But before being able to make his escape, the Covenant and high charity which has just arrived attempt to kill the Chief by glassing the area, and he jumps into the lake surrounding Regret's location. Incapacitated from the shock of the Covenant bombardment, the Chief is last seen being dragged into the depths of the lake by the tentacles of some creature.

The story now shifts back to the Arbiter on the Covenant Holy City in orbit around the ring. The Hierarchs had declared Regret's death to be the Elites' failure, and they were removed as the protectors of the the Prophets, who bestow the role to the Brutes, causing more tension between the Brutes and Elites who are already at odds with each other. Despite this the Arbiter is given a new mission to recover a Sacred Icon from the Library, having not died in his previous mission as all had expected. Making his way through the Quarantine Zone facing scores of flood and sentinels on the surface of Installation 05 seeking the Activation Index, the Arbiter makes his way into the Library and captures the Index along with Keyes and Johnson after they recovered it from its protective housing. Before he can take possession of the Index, Tartarus again intervenes in the Arbiter's task. After taking the Index into his own personal possession, Tartarus then reveals that the Hierarchs intended for his death to oust the Elites. His treachery revealed, Tartarus knocks the Arbiter unconscious down a shaft in the Index chamber to the abyss below.

Although Arbiter had fell from a great height he is saved from plunging to his death by the flood Gravemind. It is from the Gravemind where the Arbiter and Master Chief meet. In addition, the Prophet of Regret is infected and assimilated into its mass. Also introduced is 2401 Penitent Tangent. Both characters act as exposition to the Arbiter, as Regret remains steadfast to his faith, and the Monitor is fully aware of its status as a weapon. The Arbiter is further led to question his faith by both the Master Chief and the Gravemind itself. This information, as well the information of the imminent genocide of the Elites lead the Arbiter joining Master Chief in the mission to stop the ring from being activated. The Gravemind sends both the Master Chief and the Arbiter to different location to help stop the key from reaching its destination. The former was sent to High Charity to retrieve the Index while the Arbiter was sent to the area where the Control Room of Installation 05 to halt the Covenant from activating the rings.

Master chief then enters the middle of a conference of Truth. The Prophet of Truth, after escaping assassination, flees to the dreadnought. John-117 chases him, killing many covenant on the way. He also witnesses the conflict between the elites and brutes. The Master Chief saves a few marines along the way. Meanwhile, the Flood crash into High Charity using In Amber Clad. When John nearly meets Truth he finds Mercy on the ground being infected by the Flood. he tells chief that Truth is going to Earth. In his efforts to reach the forerunner dreadnought he has to fight his way through the flood and the covenant. After arriving at the dreadnought he leaves Cortana behind while he gets on the ship.

Meanwhile, Thel 'Vadam is teleported near Halo's control room. There, he finds many dead Elites, killed by the Brutes. With the help of a few deployed Elites, he fights his way to meet Rtas 'Vadam, who is surprised to hear that the brutes murdered the councillors. They fight their way to a Scarab, where Sergeant Johnson is held. Johnson takes control of the scarab, and with the help of Thel 'Vadam, they get in to the control room to stop Tartarus. Many Zealots and Councilors fight Tartarus, and manage to kill him. Miranda Keyes grabs the index just in time to stop Halo from firing, only putting it on standby status, as said by 343 Guilty Spark. He tells them that all the remaining Halos can now be activated remotely from the Ark.

The Forerunner Dreadnought arrives at earth with the Master Chief onboard. He alerts Admiral Hood of his presence, and tell him that he is "Finishing this fight".

UNSC

 * Master ChiefJohnspartan-117
 * Cortana
 * Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson
 * Lieutenant Commander Miranda Keyes
 * Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood

Covenant

 * The Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee
 * Commander Rtas 'Vadumee
 * Chieftain Tartarus
 * High Prophet of Truth
 * High Prophet of Mercy
 * High Prophet of Regret

Heretics

 * Heretic Leader Sesa 'Refumee

Forerunner Constructs

 * 04-343 Guilty Spark

Flood

 * Gravemind

UNSC

 * Fleet Admiral Harper
 * Major Easley
 * Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker
 * Staff Sergeant Marcus Banks
 * Corporal Perez
 * Lance Corporal Jones
 * Private Butkis
 * Private O'Brian
 * Private Parsons
 * Private Walpole
 * Unnamed Lieutenant
 * Unnamed Master Gunnery Sergeant

Covenant

 * Prophet of Disdain
 * Prophet of Objection

Forerunner Construct

 * 05-2401 Penitent Tangent

First Battle of Earth
Halo 2 begins shortly after the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. In the opening cutscene, an Elite holding the rank of Supreme Commander is brought before the High Council of the Covenant, to be evaluated for his "colossal failure" in being unable to protect Installation 04 from Spartan 117 -- the Master Chief, referred to as "The Demon". After some debate, he is accused of heresy, and sentenced to death. Although he was sentenced to death, the Prophet in charge of his execution made him the Arbiter, a ceremonial position of great importance to the Covenant, which you later play as in the level The Arbiter, The Oracle, Sacred Icon, Quarantine Zone, Uprising and The Great Journey.

Meanwhile, the Master Chief is on board the Cairo, one of the three hundred Orbital Defense Platforms stationed to protect Earth. There, his armor is upgraded to Mark VI, and he is taken to a ceremony, celebrating the humans' victory at Alpha Halo, or Installation 04, alongside Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson and Commander Miranda Keyes. As the ceremony takes place, the disgraced Elite Commander is tortured and branded with the Mark of Shame by the Brute Chieftain Tarturus, at the Covenant Holy City of High Charity. At the Cairo, the ceremony is interrupted when the High Prophet of Regret arrives in-system with a small Covenant fleet, attempting to destroy Cairo Station's Magnetic Accelerator Cannon.

Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood orders Master Chief to lead the Marines in defending the station, as the Covenant send out waves of boarding parties to destroy the extremely powerful Orbital Defense Platforms with bombs. The boarders succeed in destroying two stations, the Malta and the Athens, but the Master Chief, with the help of his AI companion Cortana, manages to disable the bomb on the Cairo just in time; following this, as Regret's forces are attempting to land on Earth, the Chief takes the bomb, and, using an airlock, free falls through space, passing through a hole punched in the side of a Covenant Carrier, where he reactivates the bomb and destroys the ship, before being picked up by the UNSC ship In Amber Clad.

The battle is then taken to the surface of Earth, in Mombasa, Kenya, where UNSC forces attempt to push back the invading Covenant. Originally, Master Chief's mission is to attempt to board Regret's Carrier and capture him, but once the Type-47 "Scarab" UHAP leading the Covenant attack is destroyed, Regret's ship attempts to escape. This leads to In Amber Clad following the ship as it makes a Slipspace jump inside the city, with catastrophic results, destroying New Mombasa entirely.

The Elite branded in the opening cut-scene is sentenced to be executed by the Covenant High Council. Rather than have him slain outright, the High Prophets of Truth and Mercy make the decision to give him a chance to regain his lost honor and serve the Covenant again. The Prophet's offer him the chance to serve as the Arbiter, the highest honor for an Elite during a time of instability. As the Arbiter, he must conduct missions for the Prophets that are almost certainly suicidal, in which the current Arbiter will die as a martyr for his race. This is part of the Great Journey, a religious series of events of which the Covenant heavily believes in. In order to complete their Great Journey, the Covenant believe they must activate the Halo installations, which they consider to be sacred artifacts created by the gods of the Covenant. As his first mission, the Arbiter must eradicate a group of Heretics who have separated themselves from Covenant society, claiming that the Prophets are false and their "Great Journey" is nothing but a lie. They reside in a gas mining facility on Threshold, near the destroyed Alpha Halo. After infiltrating the facility, the Covenant Special Operations team, led by the Arbiter and Special Operations Commander Rtas 'Vadumee, discover that the heretics have accidentally released the Flood that were contained in the labs within and the Covenant are forced to fight through the infestation. The Arbiter is supposed to die during this mission, but he escapes death and succeeds in killing the Heretic leader and his followers. This is the first time we witness conflict within the Covenant society, as the Heretic leader tries to convince the Arbiter he is a fool for believing in the "Great Journey" and the lie of the Prophets. The Arbiter also learns that the Heretic leader had been in communication with the AI construct 343 Guilty Spark, monitor of Installation 04, known as the "Holy Oracle" by the Covenant. Apparently, the heretics had learned about the true nature of Halo from the monitor himself. The monitor is taken by Tartarus as the Covenant forces leave the station.

Discovery of Installation 05
During this time, the Master Chief and company, aboard the UNSC ship In Amber Clad, are transported through the slipspace portal to the vicinity of another Halo ring which is dubbed Delta Halo. They land and attempt to track down Regret. This time, the humans are very well aware of the dangers Halo presents. While tracking Regret, Cortana and the Chief learn that he is planning to activate the ring. As Commander Keyes and Sergeant Johnson search for a way to disable the installation before the Covenant are able activate it, Master Chief discovers Regret's location, infiltrates his temple, and kills him. Rather than aiding his fellow hierarch, the Prophet of Truth calls back the Phantoms that would have provided Regret with help and instead destroys the temple with an Energy Projector. Narrowly escaping the destroyed building, Master Chief is captured by Gravemind, a huge and mysterious entity that is the coordinating force behind the Flood.

The Index and Gravemind
On High Charity, the Prophets have stripped the Elites of their role as the Prophets' protectors in the wake of Regret's death and give the honor to the Brutes, causing more discord inside the Covenant. The Arbiter has returned and is sent by the Prophets to Delta Halo with a new mission - to lower the contamination shields surrounding the ring's Library and retrieve the "Sacred Icon" located within. The icon is actually an object called The Index, which is needed in order to activate the ring. Once the shields are lowered, it is revealed to the Covenant forces that the Flood have been released. However, the Arbiter has to press forward, aided by Tartarus. To further complicate things, the humans are also heading for the Library to retrieve the Index before the Covenant do so they will be unable to use it. Amidst the chaos of the fighting Covenant, Humans, and Flood, the Arbiter eventually reaches the Library. Johnson and Keyes have got there first, however, and while Miranda Keyes uses a vine-like cord to reach the index, Johnson looks out for any Covenant or Flood. Once Keyes grabs the index and secures it in her pocket, the "vine" she is holding onto slips, but Johnson catches it before it causes Miranda, and the index, to fall into the pit below. Once they are both back up on the ledge, Johnson hears the sounds of footsteps and opens fire on a cloaked figure. This figure turns out to be the Arbiter, which proceeds to disarm Johnson and knock him unconscious right after Johnson opened fire on him. Miranda then opens fire on the Arbiter with two SMGs, depleting the Arbiter's shields. Then, the Arbiter makes a surprise attack on Keyes, knocking her weapons away and knocking her unconscious. After retrieving the Index, Tartarus takes it from the Arbiter and has his Brutes surround him. The Arbiter objects, saying the Prophets will not stand for his actions, to which Tartarus laughs, informing him that the Prophets sent him to kill the Arbiter. The Chieftain then blasts the Arbiter into the seemingly bottomless core of the Library and takes Keyes and Johnson captive.

In the next cut scene, the Master Chief regains consciousness to find himself caught in green vine-looking tentacles. The Arbiter is also being held next to him, struggling to break free. A giant hideous being known as the Gravemind, a highly intelligent form of the Flood, holds the two captive. He comments on the differences between Humans and Elites and informs the Arbiter of the Prophets' treachery and Halo's true nature, which the Arbiter still refuses to believe. The creature then reveals that he has reanimated the corpse of the Prophet of Regret as part of himself. He also has with him 2401 Penitent Tangent, the monitor of Delta Halo. 2401 and Regret argue about the truth behind the "Great Journey", Regret saying it will bring salvation while 2401 disagrees with the Covenant's responsibility in handling Halo and the Flood. Gravemind says that the Covenant will not find the salvation they are looking for. Master Chief backs this up, telling the Arbiter that Halo is a weapon. When the Arbiter still finds this hard to accept, Gravemind says he will show him the truth and transports both the Master Chief and the Arbiter to separate places where they will likely find the Prophet of Truth and the Index. It is now that the Arbiter truly realizes the Elites have been betrayed.

High Charity
The Master Chief is transported to High Charity, where he interrupts the Prophet of Truth's announcement to the Covenant that the “Sacred Icon" has been discovered. Truth flees and, after fighting off several Brutes, the Chief inputs Cortana into the Covenant network, separating himself from her. She discovers that the Covenant are in the middle of a civil war with the Prophets, who are executing a genocide against the rebelling Elites. Brutes are put in charge and sent to wipe out the remaining Elites. Knowing Truth has the Index, Master Chief chases after him. As the Chief travels through the ancient planetoid, he encounters much conflict between Covenant, allowing for less resistance against himself and making it easier for him and Cortana to infiltrate the area. The Flood suddenly arrive aboard the In Amber Clad and begin infesting the city.

Guarded by Tartarus and his Brutes, Truth and Mercy prepare to board the Forerunner Dreadnought, a colossal Forerunner ship discovered by the Prophets located in the center of the city, with Johnson and Keyes brought along as captives. Truth gives Tartarus the order to activate Halo, and the Chieftain assures him he won't fail. Suddenly, Flood Infection Forms attack and one of them latches onto Mercy. When Tartarus attempts to help, Truth says to leave him, telling Mercy that "...the Great Journey waits for no one, brother. Not even you." Master Chief arrives just as they depart for the ship. The dying Mercy tells him that Truth is heading for Earth, to finish what they started. Cortana tells the Chief he has to stop him. In the case that Tartarus activates Delta Halo, she will trigger In Amber Clad ' s reactors which would destroy High Charity and the ring. Not wanting to risk a remote detonation of the frigate, Cortana stays behind as Chief races after Truth.

The Great Journey
The Arbiter is transported to a jungle on Delta Halo, just outside the ring's control room. Here, he finds several Elites have been massacred by the Brutes and finally realizes the truth in Gravemind's words. The Arbiter rallies several Elites and leads an uprising against the Brutes and other Covenant Loyalists (Jackals and Drones) with the assistance of other Separatists (Grunts and Hunters). Fighting his way to the control room, he reunites with Special Operations Leader Rtas 'Vadumee, an Elite Commander, who had taken control of a Wraith. Seeing Tartarus land and enter the control room with the Index, they fight their way towards the structure to stop him. The Arbiter then combines forces with Sergeant Johnson, who has escaped and commandeered a Scarab, and they break through the remaining defenses. The Arbiter makes his way into the structure and rushes to the control room to stop Tartarus from activating the ring.

The Arbiter and Johnson confront Tartarus and his Brutes in the control room as he is trying to get Keyes' to use the Index. The Halos, as we learn from Guilty Spark, were built to prevent the Flood from spreading throughout the Galaxy, and that the Forerunners who built it were wiped out when they fired it as a "weapon of last resort" at some point in the past. In spite of this, Tartarus forces Miranda to activate the ring in preparation to fire, to bring about -- in his eyes -- the Great Journey. As the Arbiter, the player must then fight Tartarus (and on higher levels other Brutes) to retrieve the Index and stop the activation of Installation 05.

After the Arbiter kills Tartarus, Miranda retrieves the Index and the Installation cancels its firing sequence. Guilty Spark reveals that although the Index was removed before Delta Halo had time to complete its firing sequence, it sent signals to all other Installations in the galaxy (a total of 7 rings), putting them on a dangerous standby mode. Now, they can only be activated remotely from a location called the Ark.

The scene then changes to Truth's Forerunner ship entering through slip space near Earth, as the planet's defenses are in the midst of another battle. We see that Master Chief has stowed away on-board. When asked by Lord Hood what he is doing on the ship, the Chief replies, "Sir, finishing this fight", ending the game in an abrupt cliffhanger.

After the credits roll, a teaser for Halo 3 shows that the Flood has completely taken over High Charity. The Gravemind's tentacles can be seen going through the city as he says, "Silence fills the empty grave now that I am gone, but my mind is not at rest, for questions linger on." In the council chambers of the Hierarchs, Gravemind continues, "Now I shall ask, and you shall answer." Cortana appears, and says "Alright, shoot".

There is no novelization of the game yet. It is possible that a novelization that follows the canon laid down by the previous three novels might differ somewhat plot wise from the game, due to various differences between the game and the other novels.

Campaign
The campaign in Halo 2 does not pick up directly after the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, but rather after the events depicted in the novel Halo: First Strike, with the events explaining Master Chief's return to Earth not featured in any game so far. The story dives deeper into the society of the Covenant, their goals, beliefs, and alliances as well as continuing Master Chief's story to put an end to the Covenant threat on Earth as well as another Halo ring.

The player can play the campaign alone on a single-player mode or on a split-screen co-operative mode. The game follows a linear series of episodes that differ from Halo: Combat Evolved because you will play as both the Master Chief and a new character, a troubled Covenant Elite known as The Arbiter. The player has an adjusted arsenal of weapons, some of which have been altered or removed from Halo: Combat Evolved, and new weapons being introduced. The biggest alteration to game-play is perhaps the ability to dual wield small weapons; this allows for twice the firepower at the expense of being unable to throw grenades or melee without dropping the left weapon. In terms of vehicles, all vehicles from the first game remain except the M12A1 Warthog LAAV(rocket warthog) from the PC version, and the Spirit Dropship. Also a few new vehicles are introduced. In Halo 2, however, the previously indestructible vehicles can now be destroyed and the player is able to "board" an enemy vehicle by climbing on and knocking the driver out, as well as plant grenades on the vehicle. The same can be done by an enemy to the player when driving. As the Arbiter, the player is not equipped with a flashlight and instead a rechargeable Active Camouflage that lasts for short bursts, giving the player a preemptive advantage on unsuspecting enemies.

There are four difficulty levels as in the previous Halo game: Easy, Normal, Heroic and Legendary.

You can have a variety of allies; if you are the Master Chief, you are accompanied by UNSC Marines and occasionally Marine ODSTs and you battle all Covenant species and in one instance, the Flood. But if you are the Arbiter, you are joined by Grunts, Jackals, Hunters, and other Elites, but you never fight humans; instead, you combat the Heretics, Brutes, Drones, the Flood and occasionally Sentinels.

Multiplayer
There are a wide variety of multiplayer game types, several of which have returned from the original Halo game: a typical death match game called Slayer, two team based Capture the Flag, Team Slayer games, an offense/defense game which involves the planting of an Oddball like bomb in the enemies' base which the other team has to disarm in a certain amount of time. Assault, a more esoteric free-for-all form of capture the flag called Oddball, a game extrapolated from a child's game of "tag" called Juggernaut, and a game of capturing certain parts of the map called Territories which replaces the Race gametype from Halo: Combat Evolved, as well as others and the ability to create one's own variants. Of the preset variations present in the original game, only Race is missing, replaced by Territories, a different game with similarities. You also have the option of choosing an Elite skin to play as and have the color changes just like the Spartan skin if you chose them in the edit menu. You may also create your own game variations.

Multiplayer (Online Play)
Unlike its predecessor, Halo 2 allows players to compete with each other over the Xbox Live online service, in addition to the originals support for split-screen and System Link multi-player. Halo 2's Xbox Live mode offers a unique 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.

In Halo 2, Xbox Live players do not choose to host games, and they do not get to specify individual maps and options to search for. Instead, players sign up for "playlists" that are geared to different styles of play. For example, the "Rumble Pit" playlist offers a variety of "free-for-all" game types, primarily Slayer or variations there of; "Team Skirmish" offers a number of 4-on-4 team games, which are primarily objective-based games like Capture the Flag; "Big Team Battle Skirmish" is similar to Team Skirmish but allows teams of up to 8 players. Other playlists allow various things such as matches between different clans. The Xbox Live servers create games automatically from the pool of players that have signed up for each playlist, choosing a game type and map automatically and selecting one player to serve as the game's host. Players can create small "parties" with their friends and enter games together as teammates or, in Rumble Pit, adversaries. They can also play custom gametypes like regular multi-player. Unranked gametypes allow people on the same Xbox console without an Xbox Live account to play with them as "guests". 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. Note: It appears that the host has some advantages over other players during the game due to lag (giving him the ability to move/react faster than the other players, and for certain glitches to work), resulting in a form of cheating called bridging in which somebody uses their PC to get host.

Since launching in November 2004, the service has been very popular with 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 not enjoyable. The automatic host selection process also eliminates the ability of the host to exert outsize control over the parameters of the game.

Halo 2 players with Microsoft Passport accounts can log on to bungie.net and obtain extremely detailed statistics on their performance, including level maps for several hundred of the player's most recent games that indicate graphically where and when the player scored a kill or was killed him- or herself.

On April 25, 2005, Bungie released the first four of nine new multiplayer maps over Xbox Live. The first four were Containment and Warlock for free and Sanctuary and Turf for $4.99 until they were made free on June 28, 2005. On July 5, 2005, the final five of the nine new maps: Backwash, Elongation, Gemini, Relic, and Terminal, were released for $11.99 until they were made free on August 30, 2005.

On April 17, 2007, Desolation and Tombstone were released via Xbox Live, and again on May 7, 2007, after several glitches on the maps were found and fixed. The maps initially had a fee of $4.00 until July 7, 2007 (a.k.a Bungie Day) when they were released for free.

Updates and Map Packs
Through Xbox Live, players receive mandatory updates for Halo 2 which fix bugs, glitches, exploits and tweak features to ensure fair game-play online and offline. The latest version of Halo 2 (on Xbox) is version 1.5. The Auto-Updates and map packs are as follows:


 * Bonus Map Pack
 * Killtacular Pack
 * Maptacular Pack
 * Blastacular Pack
 * Halo 2 Multi-player Map Pack (A collaboration of all map packs and Auto-Updates excluding the Blastacular Pack and Auto-Updates 4 and 5.) On Halo 2 Xbox Live you can not pay Microsoft points for any new map unlike Halo 3 in the Xbox Live Marketplace. From now on you are required to download the maps to play Xbox Live on Halo 2.

At each map pack's debut, there was a fee to pay in order to download them. However, over time they became free.

Player Damage system
The damage system in Halo 2 is much different from what it was in Halo: Combat Evolved. The player has a regenerating shield and regenerating health.


 * Energy Shields: The Shield in Halo 2 is slightly weaker than it was in Halo: Combat Evolved, but recharges at a higher rate. It slowly decreases in power as it sustains damage. After it takes damage, it starts to recharge 2-5 seconds after the last time damage was sustained. It will stop during recharge if the player is hurt during that period. The power is displayed above the motion tracker in the bottom-left of the screen.

Note: The amount of protection/recharge time it provides varies with difficulty, decreasing as the difficulty is raised.


 * Health: In Halo 2, once the shields run out, the player also has a buffer of health. Unlike Halo: Combat Evolved, the health in Halo 2 regenerates after the shield. The amount of health left is not visible to the player. Bungie's explanation for this new system is the addition of a Biofoam dispenser in the armor (so health regenerates after time).

Powerups
There are two types of normal powerups available in Halo 2.


 * Overshield: An enhanced, non-regenerating shield which adds an additional two layers to your shield (red, then green). The Overshield functions on top of the regular shield - when it is active, the normal shield does not take damage. However, the Overshield will gradually reduce in power until it is gone, at which point the player's normal shields will be vulnerable to damage. Unlike Halo: Combat Evolved, the Overshield powerup is not available in the single player campaign.


 * Active Camouflage: A powerup that makes the player almost completely invisible for a period of time, making all but a faint outline of him transparent. This effect is reduced if the player is hit by weapons fire, if he or she fires a weapon or throws a grenade, or in some cases if he or she switches weapons. In campaign mode, active camouflage is only available in levels in which you play as the Arbiter. (note: on multi player, if the Overshield technology and the Active Camouflage are used in conjunction the Active Camouflage is not sophisticated enough to hide the enhanced over shields)

More unique powerups known as skulls exist in campaign mode, as hidden items for the player to find.

UNSC Weapons

 * BR55 Battle Rifle
 * M6C Personal Defense Weapon System (Pistol/Magnum)
 * M7 Caseless Submachine Gun (SMG)
 * M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Grenade (Frag Grenade)
 * M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun
 * M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launcher
 * M68 Gauss Cannon
 * M90A Close Assault Weapon System (Shotgun)
 * M247 General Purpose Machine Gun (Machine Gun Turret)
 * SRS99C-S2 AMB Sniper Rifle

Covenant Weapons

 * Type-1 Antipersonnel Grenade (Plasma Grenade)
 * Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword (Energy Sword)
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol (Plasma Pistol)
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle (Plasma Rifle)
 * Type 26 Anti-Infantry Stationary Gun (Shade)
 * Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher (Needler)
 * Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon (Fuel Rod Gun)
 * Type-50 Sniper Rifle System (Beam Rifle)
 * Type-51 Carbine (Covenant Carbine)
 * Type-52 Directed Energy Support Weapon (Plasma Cannon)
 * Scarab Gun (Only found in the level Metropolis and Outskirts)

Jiralhanae (Brute) Weapons

 * Type-2 Energy Weapon/Hammer (Gravity Hammer/Fist of Rukt)
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle (Jiralhanae) (Brute Plasma Rifle)
 * Type-25 Grenade Launcher (Brute Shot)

Forerunner Weapons

 * Sentinel Beam (Orange)
 * Sentinel Beam (Blue)
 * Heavy Needler (Red)

Usable

 * M12 Warthog LRV
 * M12G1 Warthog LAAV
 * M808B Scorpion MBT
 * D77H-TCI Pelican Dropship(Through a glitch in Metropolis)

Non Usable

 * D77H-TCI Pelican Dropship
 * Albatross Heavy Dropship
 * C709 Longsword Interceptor
 * UNSC Frigate
 * (FFG-142)
 * Orbital Defense Platform
 * ODA-142 Cairo
 * ODA-143 Malta
 * ODA-144 Athens
 * ODA-144 Athens

Usable

 * Type-?? "Shadow" Troop Carrier (only drivable with a mod)
 * Type-?? "Spectre" Infantry Support Vehicle
 * Type-25 "Wraith" Assault Gun Carraige
 * Type-26 "Banshee" Ground Support Aircraft (also a Heretic Banshee)
 * Type-32 "Ghost" Rapid Assault Vehicle

Non Usable

 * Assault Carrier
 * CCS-class Battlecruiser
 * High Charity
 * Seraph-class Starfighter
 * Type-47 "Scarab" Ultra Heavy Assault Platform
 * Type-52 "Phantom" Troop Carrier

Campaign Levels

 * The Heretic (no gameplay)
 * Armory (tutorial)
 * Cairo Station
 * Outskirts
 * Metropolis
 * The Arbiter
 * Oracle
 * Delta Halo
 * Regret
 * Sacred Icon
 * Quarantine Zone
 * Gravemind
 * Uprising
 * High Charity
 * The Great Journey

Multiplayer Maps

 * Lockout
 * Ascension
 * Midship
 * Ivory Tower
 * Beaver Creek
 * Burial Mounds
 * Colossus
 * Zanzibar
 * Coagulation
 * Headlong
 * Waterworks
 * Foundation
 * Containment (only with expansion or download)
 * Warlock (only with expansion or download)
 * Sanctuary (only with expansion or download)
 * Turf (only with expansion or download)
 * Backwash (only with expansion or download)
 * Elongation (only with expansion or download)
 * Gemini (only with expansion or download)
 * Relic (only with expansion or download)
 * Terminal (only with expansion or download)
 * Desolation (Exclusive for the Xbox version)
 * Tombstone (Exclusive for the Xbox version)
 * District (Exclusive for the PC version)
 * Uplift (Exclusive for the PC version)
 * Example (Example map for the PC version's map editor)

Trailers
In 2002, Bungie released the first glimpse of Halo 2 in a pre-rendered CG trailer. The trailer featured the Master Chief in his new MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor preparing for battle in a space station. Cortana is also heard and has dialogue with the Chief. It also featured Earth and s in orbit. The UNSC seem to be losing in the battle. The events of this trailer were featured in the final version of Halo 2. Some of the events and dialogue of this trailer was changed to fit the finished storyline of the game. Most of this now appears in the Halo 2 level Cairo Station.


 * Halo 2 Announcement Trailer
 * Halo 2 Cinematic Trailer

E3 2003
In 2003 at E3, Bungie released footage of a playable in-game demo of the Halo 2 campaign. The demo featured the battle on Earth in the city of New Mombasa. Master Chief, Cortana, Sergeant Johnson, Corporal Perez, Major Easley, and Sergeant Banks were all seen/heard in the demo. The demo showed off new features like Dual-Wielding (the Master Chief could actually keep both his dual-wielded weapons when he switched to his secondary sidearm; this was changed for the final product), Vehicle Damage, and Boarding. Three new vehicles shown were the Gauss Warthog, Shadow, and the Covenant Phantom, which at the time had only one plasma turret on its underside instead of three. Returning vehicles featured the Ghost, Pelican, Covenant Cruiser, and Longsword Fighters. New weapons the Battle Rifle, SMG, and Brute Shot were also shown, although the final Brute Shot design for Halo 2 was vastly different than what was shown in this trailer. New enemies such as the brutes were shown in this demo, but as a sorta secondary warrior race by the side of the elites. The events of this demo were featured in the final version of Halo 2. Some of the events and dialog of this demo was changed to fit the finished storyline of the game, such as the AAA Gun becoming a Scarab. Most of this now appears in the Halo 2 level; Metropolis.

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E3 2004
In 2004 at E3, Bungie released footage of a playable in game demo of the Halo 2 multi player. The demo featured the multiplayer map Zanzibar and displayed playable character models the Spartan model and the Elite model. It also showed off some of the weaponry of the game and some special features. The Battle Rifle, SMG, Needler, Rocket Launcher, and Energy Sword were displayed. The Gauss Warthog and the Ghost also made an appearance. Some features included the lock-on feature of the Rocket Launcher, the Duel-Wielding ability, Explosive Barrels, Ghost's boosting, vehicle boarding, Warthogs horn and Gauss Cannon and Sword Lunging. Afterward fans were allowed to try out the demo.

Halo 2 Versions
Halo 2 shipped in two versions:

Halo 2 Regular Edition ($49.99 at launch, now $15.00)


 * Standard Xbox game case with Halo 2 box art.
 * Halo 2 for Xbox (also for Xbox 360)
 * Halo 2 game manual from the Humans' perspective.
 * Pamphlet advertising Halo 2: The Official Guide and Halo 2: Original Soundtrack Volume 1.
 * 2 month Xbox Live trial card.
 * Limited edition Elite manual.

Halo 2 Limited Collector's Edition ($54.99 at launch, now discontinued)


 * Sleek metal case with outer plastic slipcover.
 * Halo 2 for Xbox. (also for Xbox 360)
 * Halo 2 game manual from the Covenant's perspective (written as a report from the Arbiter to the Prophet of Truth)
 * "Making of Halo 2" DVD with other features including game design, deleted scenes, concept art, deleted content and more.
 * Pamphlet advertising Halo 2: The Official Guide and Halo 2: Original Soundtrack Volume 1.
 * Booklet called Conversations from the Universe.
 * 7-Eleven Slurpee coupon (advertising the three Limited Edition Halo 2 Slurpee cups).
 * 2 month Xbox Live trial card specially printed with Halo 2 imagery.

Reception
Halo 2 sold 5 million copies, making it the second-best selling Xbox game, with approximately 19% of all Xbox owners possessing a copy of Halo 2. The game also had the most successful opening night of any game up until Halo 3, and, later, Grand Theft Auto 4. The game had a generally amazing reception, gaining a 9.7 out of 10 from OXM, a 9.8 out of 10 from IGN, a 10 out of 10 from Game Informer, a 9 out of 10 from Play Magazine, and a 5 out of 5 from X-Play. It gained more Game of The Year awards in 2004 than any other game that year. X-Play, in late 2006, included it as #3 in their top 4 greatest shooters of all time. #4 was Resistance, #2 Half-Life 2, and #1 was Gears of War. In early 2007, it made #8 on their top 10 Games of All Time countdown. The game had an average meta-score of 95 out of 100, making it the 3rd most critically acclaimed Xbox game, right behind Halo: Combat Evolved and the Grand Theft Auto Triple Pack. The games multiplayer was held to be one of the best of all time, staying consistently number 1 the most played Xbox Live title from November of 2004 up until November of 2006, when Gears of War released.

Themes
Halo 2 greatly expanded the plot introduced in Halo: Combat Evolved, and many themes and parallels to the real world can be drawn.

Dealing with the consequences of society and government within the Covenant world, Halo 2 shows that technology alone cannot win wars. Covenant society is deeply troubled with a corrupt government of Prophets who know more than they tell and order an act of genocide against their long-loyal Elites. While the Covenant is far more technologically advanced than humans, their society is divided and races do not get along. The humans are shown as more united and exhibit more teamwork while attempting to stop the Covenant, despite being outnumbered and out-gunned. Playing as the Arbiter, the player only fights other Covenant, making it apparent that their forces are not all focused on the humans and their civil war and disorganization makes them a weaker force, despite greater firepower. The Flood is mostly a primitive race but is still able to infiltrate High Charity and Cortana is still able to hack into their system because the Covenant never created a solid foundation and underestimated their enemies. The game shows that the power of determination is more powerful than that of technology. This is evident in both Master Chief's plot line as well as the Arbiter's, who manages to survive because he constantly focuses on his objective. He tells Tartarus that the Index is his only goal when he asks if he would seek revenge against the Master Chief.

The game also has element of a monomyth, a common structure in many stories of adventure. Halo 2 begins with Master Chief being awoken and called for combat while the Arbiter is spared and is given the choice to become a martyr. The Arbiter is put through a series of trials which he is expected to fail; when he doesn't, he realizes that the Prophets have turned against him and learns where his true alliances lie, becoming a central role in the Covenant Civil War. These events fit into the description of the first half of a typical monomyth.

The elements of sacrifice and honor are both present. Cortana has sacrificed her safety to remain in the clutches of Gravemind, while The Arbiter accepts a suicide mission in order to regain the honor he lost when he failed to stop the destruction of Installation 04.

Reaction
Generally, the game was positively received.

Multiplayer especially was noted in being the best on Xbox Live at the time. Game Informer, along with numerous other publications, rated it lower than Halo: Combat Evolved, citing enhanced multiplayer and more repetitive gameplay. Halo 2 received multiple awards, including Best Console game of the month.

Most critics noted that Halo 2 stuck with the formula that made its predecessor successful, and was alternatively praised and faulted for this decision. Edge noted in its review, “It's fitting that we're able to steal a line from the script to sum everything up. No spoilers here, just an epitaph, from the moment Cortana turns to Master Chief and says this: 'It’s not an original plan. But we know it’ll work.'" According to Xbox.com, the game has received more than 38 individual awards.

The game's campaign mode has received some criticism for being too short, in addition to some dissatisfaction with the abrupt, cliffhanger ending that sets up the sequel, Halo 3. GameSpot noted that the story switching between the Covenant and Human factions made the plot more intricate, but also distracted the player from Earth's survival and the main point of the game.

There is also some criticism of the game's on-the-fly streaming and level of detail adjustment, which can sometimes result in textures loading erroneously and "popping in" when the camera changes in cutscenes. Bungie has stated that this issue has been fixed for Halo 3 and the Windows Vista port.

In an interview with Edge magazine in January 2007, Jamie Greisemer, one of Halo ' s design leads, said that the main reason for Halo 2 ' s shortcomings was a lack of "polish" period near the end of the development cycle. Staff member Frank O’Connor admitted the cliffhanger ending was abrupt, noting “we drove off Thelma & Louise style". Nonetheless, in the interview Greisemer promised that they would make Halo 3 a more than worthy successor.

Statistics
Halo 2 was released November 9, 2004. The game was one of the most highly anticipated games on the Xbox. It sold more than the original. On the morning of October 14, a leak of the French version of the game was posted on the Internet, and circulated widely. Microsoft, the parent company of Bungie, tried to contain the spread, and pledged to bring legal action against anyone who spread the leaked version.

Regardless, Microsoft later touted that there were 1.5 million preorders for Halo 2 in the United States alone and that this guaranteed it to have the largest first-day revenue of any game or movie ever. The game sold 2.4 million copies and earned up to $125 million US in its first 24 hours on store shelves. As of March 2006, the game has sold over eight million copies worldwide.

Halo 2: Original Soundtrack
There are two volumes of the Halo 2 soundtrack, one released alongside the game, and the other released in Early 2006.

Halo 2 is the first Halo game to...

 * ...allow the player to pilot a Wraith and Spectre.
 * ...have a level solely made up of cutscenes.
 * ...allow you to play as the Arbiter, which reveals about the Covenant and its rivalries.
 * ...include dual-wielding.
 * ...have allies drive vehicles while the player is on the gun or in the passenger seat.
 * ...include Skulls.
 * ...allow the use of the Energy Sword, Brute Shot and Brute Plasma Rifle, as well as the two Sentinel Beam types.
 * ...allow you to see your feet and legs when looking down.
 * ...introduce the Drones, Brutes, Sniper Jackals, Elite Rangers, and Prophets as species or ranks, and Enforcers and Sentinel Majors as new Sentinel models.
 * ...allow the player to swap weapons with allies.
 * ...have both Human and Covenant vehicles be destructible.
 * ...allow the player to hijack vehicles.
 * ...allow the player to touch a vehicle that is in use without dying.
 * ...have third person view when riding in the passenger seat of a Warthog.
 * ...contain weapons in Covenant boxes.
 * ...not have Covenant radio boxes.
 * ...have a Covenant sniper rifle known as the Beam Rifle.
 * ...not have a night vision scope on the Sniper Rifle System 99C-S2 Anti-Matériel.
 * ...allow you to jump off of high places and land without losing any health or shields.
 * ...show MAC guns. More are seen being fired from UNSC frigates at the end of Halo 3 ' s The Storm.
 * ...allow the player to be an Elite in multiplayer.
 * ...not include a health bar; the Mk. VI MJOLNIR armor now features automatic Biofoam injectors, negating the need of a health bar.
 * ...allow the player to lower his or her gun.
 * ...introduce the BR55 Battle Rifle.
 * ...allow the player to use a Banshee in multiplayer (with an exception to being able to use Banshees in Halo PC's multiplayer)

Halo 2 is the only Halo game to...

 * ...allow the player to pilot the Spectre.
 * ...use the Major Sentinel Beam.
 * ...allow the player to dual-wield the Needler.
 * ...have the Brute Plasma Rifle.
 * ...allow the player to fight Enforcers and Sentinel Majors.
 * ...let the player see orbital MAC guns.
 * ...let the player use the Scarab Gun.
 * ...allow you to see the weapon you used in gameplay on cutscenes (sometimes heavy weapons are not shown)
 * ...not have any sorts of power-ups in campaign (not counting skulls).
 * ...have two-part levels and two-part cutscenes.
 * ...allow you to use Active Camouflage as the Arbiter.
 * ...have Grunts, Hunters and Jackals as allies.
 * ...show an Elite without armor.
 * ...have a Shadow.
 * ...not include the Assault Rifle.
 * ...have the most levels in campaign.
 * ...not encounter Sentinels while playing as the Master Chief.
 * ...take place on a Halo ring other than Installation 04.
 * ...not have a Fuel Rod Gun in multiplayer.
 * ...Have a Brute wield a M90 Close Assault Weapon System.
 * ...double, triple, and quad shot with the BR55 Battle Rifle.
 * ...BXR with the BR55 Battle Rifle.
 * ...has a lock-on feature on the Rocket Launcher.
 * ...let you fight and kill a Prophet ingame.

Halo 2 is the last Halo game to...

 * ...have campaign levels that take place in space.
 * ...take place on a Human Orbital Platform.
 * ...have Elites as enemies.
 * ...run on the PC.
 * ...see Grunts with active camo.
 * ...say that 4 kills is a Killtacular.
 * ...have the Team Training and the H2 Challenge playlist.
 * ...allow the player to have four of each grenades at a time.

Trivia

 * The "vine" that Miranda Keyes uses to make it to the index is actually one of the Gravemind's tentacles. It is speculated by some players that the Gravemind was planning on letting Miranda get the index, and then making her fall into his pit, which would lead her and the index to his "lair".  There, the index would be, theoretically, unobtainable by the Covenant, which would keep him and the rest of the Flood safe on the ring.
 * Originally, there were to be several kinds of Warthogs including an Arctic model, a transport vehicle and a small ATV (Known as the Mongoose in Halo 3) would make an appearance. These were all cut from the final version of the game. However, in Halo: Custom Edition, fans created the arctic and transport warthogs, as well as the civilian warthog featured in the multi-player map Headlong. A rocket-launcher enabled Warthog was included in Halo PC and the ATV and variations of the Warthog appear in Halo 3.
 * Bungie has referred to Halo 2 as "...a lot like Halo: Combat Evolved. Only it's Halo: Combat Evolved on fire, going 120 miles per hour in a hospital zone, being chased by helicopters and ninjas. And the ninjas are all on fire too." This phrase inspired various references, in the game and throughout the community, to burning ninjas.
 * A song, known as "Remembrance" at the start up screen, (The unedited version found on the “Halo 2 Original Sound Track Volume 1") just happens to play for exactly 1:17 (John's serial number) or 77 seconds.
 * There are 21,090 lines of dialog, most of them randomly triggered during combat.
 * Originally, at the end of Cairo Station there wasn't going to be a bomb, but another level taking place on the Covenant carrier where you would fight a Drinol. At the end of the level when you destroy it, you get to free fall onto the In Amber Clad, and can look around when falling. This level was deleted..
 * The song, “Amerika”, by world famous metal/industrial band Rammstein, has two Halo 2 references in it. The first is when the singer starts to say "This is not a love song," the guitar and bass parts are similar to one of the tunes played in Halo 2. The second is after the writing of the song, singer Till Lindemann was rumored to say that the population of the Germany liked the game, Halo 2, an American made game.
 * On Wednesday, 13 October 2004, a pirated copy of the game leaked out to the public, and quickly spread on peer-to-peer networks and IRC.
 * Since Master Chief's Mark VI armor has instant biofoam inside, there is no need for health bars or health meters since your shield recharges by itself.
 * Halo 2's legendary difficulty is said to be one of the the hardest difficulty level out of the Halo franchise.
 * There is a glitch where you can ride the pelican on Metropolis out of town and flip it, watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfcOtTd002U

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