Halo 2 is a 2004 first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie. Released for the Xbox video game console on November 9, 2004,[ the game is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001’s critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved. A Microsoft Windows version of the game was released on May 31, 2007,[ developed by an internal team at Microsoft Game Studios known as Hired Gun. The game features a new game engine, as well as using the Havok physics engine; added weapons and vehicles, and new multiplayer maps. The player alternately assumes the roles of the human Master Chief and the alien Arbiter in a 26th-century conflict between the human United Nations Space Command and genocidal Covenant.
After the success of Combat Evolved, a sequel was expected and highly anticipated. Bungie found inspiration in plot points and gameplay elements that had been left out of their first game, including multiplayer over the Internet through Xbox Live. Time constraints forced a series of cutbacks in the size and scope of the game, including a cliffhanger ending to the game’s campaign mode that left many in the studio dissatisfied. Among Halo 2‘s marketing efforts was an alternate reality gamecalled “I Love Bees” that involved players solving real-world puzzles.
On release, Halo 2 was the most popular video game on Xbox Live, holding that rank until the release of Gears of War for the Xbox 360 nearly two years later. By June 20, 2006, more than 500 million games of Halo 2 had been played and more than 710 million hours have been spent playing it on Xbox Live;[ by May 9, 2007, the number of unique players had risen to over five million.[ Halo 2 is the best-selling first-generation Xbox game with at least 6.3 million copies sold in the United States alone.[ The game received critical acclaim, with most publications lauding the strong multiplayer component. The campaign however, was the focus of criticism for its cliffhanger ending.
A high-definition remastered version of Halo 2 was released as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection on November 11, 2014, for the Xbox One.
Halo 2 is a shooter game, with players predominantly experiencing gameplay from a first-person perspective.[ Players use a combination of human and alien weaponry and vehicles to progress through the game’s levels. The player’s health bar is not visible, but players are instead equipped with a damage-absorbing shield that regenerates when not taking fire.[
Certain weapons can be dual-wielded, allowing the player to trade accuracy, the use of grenades and melee attacks for raw firepower.[ The player can carry two weapons at a time (or three if dual-wielding; one weapon remains holstered), with each weapon having advantages and disadvantages in different combat situations. For example, most Covenant weapons eschew disposable ammo clips for a contained battery, which cannot be replaced if depleted. However, these weapons can overheat if fired continuously for prolonged periods. Human weapons are less effective at penetrating shields and require reloading, but cannot overheat due to prolonged fire. The player can carry a total of eight grenades (four human grenades, four Covenant) to dislodge and disrupt enemies. New in Halo 2 is the ability to board enemy vehicles that are near the player and traveling at low speeds. The player or AI latches onto the vehicle and forcibly ejects the other driver from the vehicle.
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