Halo 2

Halo 2 is a first-person shooter developed by Bungie Studios for the Xbox video game console and is backwards-compatible with Xbox 360. It is the sequel to the game Halo: Combat Evolved, and features a newly built graphics engine and the addition of new elements to the game. Like the Marathon series, the game will further develop the struggle between the human race and a religiously zealous and technologically superior foe (The Covenant from the first Halo).

The release date of Halo 2 was November 9, 2004. This is one of the most highly anticipated games on the Xbox. 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 have been 1.5 million preorders for Halo 2 in the United States alone and that this guarantees 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. Currently, the game has sold over seven million copies worldwide.

The official strategy guide is The Official Halo 2 Strategy Guide, published by Piggyback Interactive.

Campaign

 * The Heretic
 * The Armory
 * Cairo Station
 * Outskirts
 * Metropolis
 * The Arbiter
 * The Oracle
 * Delta Halo
 * Regret
 * Sacred Icon
 * Quarantine Zone
 * Gravemind
 * Uprising
 * High Charity
 * The Great Journey

Timeline
October 20, 2552 October 21, 2552
 * Trial of the Arbiter
 * The Heretic
 * The Armory
 * First Battle of Earth
 * Cairo Station
 * Outskirts
 * Metropolis
 * Battle of the Gas Mine
 * The Arbiter
 * The Oracle
 * Battle of Installation 05
 * Delta Halo
 * Regret
 * Changing of the Guard
 * Sacred Icon
 * Quarantine Zone
 * Covenant Civil War
 * Gravemind
 * Uprising
 * High Charity
 * The Great Journey
 * '''Second Battle of Earth

Storyline
The game starts with a Covenant attack on Earth. Master Chief begins on one of the three hundred space defense platforms which orbit the planet. After repelling the Covenant boarding parties, the battle shifts to Earth's surface.

The player engages in urban combat in the city of New Mombasa. After which a Covenant ship makes a slipspace jump which destroys the city, the UNSC ship the In Amber Clad, with the Master Chief aboard gets swept up in the warp field in a desperate effort to follow it.

The player is transported to the vicinity of another Halo ring - the Delta Halo - perhaps many tens of thousands of light years from Earth, on which they land. Also, a power struggle within the Covenant is revealed, with Brutes usurping the role of the Elites. Furthermore, there is a movement, regarded by the Covenant leadership as heretical, which argues that Covenant teachings aren't true. Lastly, we are introduced to an (apparently massive) creature called the Gravemind, which appears to be the controlling mind of the Flood. The creature is obviously highly intelligent and gives the impression of knowing a great deal. It appears to live deep within Delta Halo, out of sight and yet its actual size, although not revealed, may occupy many of the entire hidden underground caverns that encircle the ring.

At some point, when she does not want a remote detonation of In Amber Clad, Cortana becomes separated from the Master Chief and is left within a computer on High Charity.

The Halos, we learn from 343 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 remote past. In spite of this, the Brute leader Tartarus activates the ring in preparation to fire, to bring about - in his eyes - the Great Journey. The player must fight to retrieve the Index and deactivate the ring before it fires and destroys all sentient life in the Galaxy.

The Index is retrieved and the Halo cannot fire. 343 Guilty Spark reveals that although the Index was removed before Delta Halo had time to complete it's firing sequence, it sent signals to other Halos in the Galaxy, putting them on standby mode. Now, they can be activated remotely from the Ark (assumed to be either on Earth or the Forerunner Ship itself). The game ends here and the credits roll.

After the credits roll a teaser for Halo 3 shows where the flood has completely taken over High Charity with with the gravemind saying "Silence fills the empty grave now that I am gone, but my mind is not at rest, for questions linger on." The scene then changes to a stand in the council chambers of the hierachs the Gravemind then says "now I shall ask, and you shall answer." It then changes to Cortana saying "Alright, shoot".

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

Characters

 * Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN John-117
 * Cortana
 * Sergeant Major A.J. Johnson
 * Commander Miranda Keyes
 * Arbiter
 * SpecOps Commander Rtas 'Vadumee
 * High Prophet of Truth
 * High Prophet of Mercy
 * High Prophet of Regret
 * Brute Chieftain Tartarus
 * 343 Guilty Spark
 * 2401 Penitent Tangent
 * Gravemind
 * Heretic Leader
 * Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood
 * Staff Sergeant Banks
 * Corporal Perez

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 Mark VI Armor ( MJOLNIR armor) preparing for battle in a space station. Cortana is also heard and has dialogue with the Chief. It also featured Earth and Covenant CCS-class Battlecruiser in orbit. The battle appears to have the UNSC losing. 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

Demonstrations
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, Vehicle Damage, and Boarding. A new vehicles shown was the Gauss Warthog. Returning vehicles featured the Ghost, Pelican, Covenant Cruiser, and Longsword Fighters. New weapons the Battle Rifle, SMG, and Brute Shot were also shown. The events of this demo were featured in the final version of Halo 2. Some of the events and dialogue of this demo was changed to fit the finished storyline of the game. Most of this now appears in the Halo 2 level: Metropolis.

In 2004 at E3, Bungie released footage of a playable in game demo of the Halo 2 multiplayer. 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 appearence. Some features included the lock-on feature of the Rocket Launcher, the Duel-Wielding ability, Explosive Barrels, Ghost's boosting, Warthog's horn and Gauss Cannon and Sword Lunging. Afterwards fans were allowed to try out the demo.

Limited Collector's Edition
The LCE came with a "Behind the Scenes" DVD, a Halo 2 manual from the Covenant's perspective (written as a report from the Arbiter to the Prophet of Truth), a booklet called Conversations from the Universe, as well as a 7-Eleven Slurpee coupon and an Xbox Live coupon. Both coupons were decorated with Halo imagery.

Trivia

 * Due to the limited time before release, the original last three levels were cut.


 * Bungie has referred to Halo 2 as "...a lot like Halo 1. Only it's Halo 1 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 "Rememberance" at the start up screen, (The un-edited version found on the "Halo 2 Orignal Sound Track Volume 1") just happens to play for exactly 1:17 or "117".

Halo 2: Original Soundtrack
Halo 2: Original Soundtrack is the soundtrack for Halo 2. There are 2 volumes, which were released almost two years apart. Volume 1 was released on November 9th, 2004 and Volume 2 was released on April 25th, 2006. All music was created by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori except where noted.

Related Links
Internal
 * Halo 2 Credits
 * Action Figures
 * List of Halo 2 changes
 * I Love Bees
 * List of "Seven" references in Halo
 * Early Halo 2 Script
 * Halo 2 PC

External
 * Bungie's Official Halo 2 Site
 * Halo Easter Eggs- Best Halo Easter Eggs
 * Xbox.com's Official Halo 2 Site
 * Halo.Bungie.Org
 * IGN E3 2004 Preview
 * "Frankie's Bungie Updates"
 * Howstuffworks article on the game AI of Halo 2.
 * HaloWiki.net Another halo wiki, focusing mainly on multiplayer. Extremely in-depth.
 * Halo Planet
 * Documentry A Halo documentry.