Halo 2 (2004) (VG)

User Rating:

8.8/10   

Writer:

Joseph Staten (writer)

Release Date:

9 November 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Earth Will Never Be The Same

Plot:

After the events on the Forerunner ringworld Halo, Master Chief SPARTAN-117 returns home to Earth with the AI construct Cortana...

Plot Keywords:

Earth | The Covenant | Commander | Heretic | Prophet

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Dee Bradley Baker	...	Gravemind (voice) (as Dee Baker)
Julie Benz	...	Miranda Keyes (voice)
Hamilton Camp	...	Prophet of Mercy (voice)
Tim Dadabo	...	343 Guilty Spark / Marine (voice)
Robert Davi	...	SpecOps Leader (voice)
Keith David	...	Arbiter (voice)
Robin Atkin Downes	...	Prophet of Regret (voice)
Steve Downes	...	Master Chief (voice)
Miguel Ferrer	...	Heretic Leader (voice)
John Michael Higgins	...	2401 Penitent Tangent (voice)
Ron Perlman	...	Lord Hood (voice)
Kevin Michael Richardson	...	Tartarus (voice)
David Scully	...	Sergeant Johnson / Elite (voice)
Jen Taylor	...	Cortana (voice)
Michael Wincott	...	Prophet of Truth (voice)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:18 | Australia:MA | UK:15 | USA:M

Company:

Bungie Software

Trivia:

In the series "Red Vs. Blue", a glitch in the first Halo (2001) (VG) that made characters looking down appear to be looking forward was the only reason that Red Vs. Blue could be made. In Halo 2 this glitch was fixed. Instead, all you have to do is spend all of your grenades, and then press and hold the grenade button. This drops the character's arms. Correction: Grenades did not have to be spent. Simply pressing down on the Xbox controller 'Directional-pad' lowered the character's weapon.

Goofs:

Continuity: 343 Guilty Spark's single bulb is supposed to brighten whenever he speaks, as he does in Halo and Halo 3. However, in Halo 2 due to a bug the developers were unable to fix prior to launch, his bulb dims as he speaks.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Arbiter: [standing before the heirarchs and the counsel] There was only one ship.
Prophet of Truth: One? Are you sure?
Arbiter: Yes. They called it the "Pillar of Autumn"
Prophet of Mercy: Why was it not destroyed with the rest of their fleet?
Arbiter: It fled as we set fire to their planet. I followed with all the ships in my command.
Prophet of Regret: When you first saw Halo, were you blinded by its magesty?
Arbiter: Blinded?
Prophet of Regret: Paralyzed? Dumbstruck?
Arbiter: No!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Conker: Celebrity Squirrel (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Connected

My favorite game ever.

What worked: The action on this game is so intense and the production values and story is so great this could have easily been a movie. Playing this game on legendary with a friend is incredible. The graphics are possibly the best on the Xbox. And if you have surround sound crank this baby up, you'll be ducking and dodging at every bullet ricocheting off the wall. The level are incredibly huge! 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. Recommended 10/10.