I hear ya.
I remember the first day I played Halo 2 Multiplayer. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out wtf was going on, but after a few matches, I began to see the teamwork and strategy paying off. After a few matches I met a clan, they invited me in and 14 hours later, I was STILL playing it till 6am. Everybody was on mic, everybody was talking -Yoink-, everybody was having so much fun. We worked as a team, won a bunch, lost a few, but never in my life have I ever had a multiplayer experience like that first day in Halo 2.
Then as months and years went on, I was playing it as feriously as ever. The level of fun had by everyone could NEVER be matched again unless they bring it back somehow.
The biggest problem going from Halo 2 to Halo 3 is something nobody ever mentions - THE ENGINE!!! Bungie revamped it and changed the engine. It was a totally new experience that was horrific. I can remember coming home after the midnight launch of Halo 3 and being so disappointed. The physics of the game were just off, like they are now in Halo 4, which is a lot closer to the Halo 2 experience compared to 3 and Reach, BUT still, not even close. I just feel like physically I can’t do what I want to do movement-wise. It doesn’t seem as fluid as Halo 2. And when everyone got changed to Battle Rifles, it completely changed the game. There’s no reason why everyone should be able to start with a BR or DMR or any kind of long range gun. It’s almost like having everyone start out with snipers in every game mode.
343 should go back to SMGs or other new weapons that aren’t mid to long range weapons. Halo 2 made you WORK for the wins, not to have some success only to get picked off by some 10 year old kid using BRs and DMRs all day. The maps for Halo 4 are pretty decent, but again not as vast or fun as Halo 2.
I’m sure it’s tricky legal-wise, but 343 somehow needs to buy the Halo 2 rights or whatever from whoever and put Halo 2 multiplayer back online as at least a legacy game. Bring the ranks back, block out the cheaters and have people EARN prizes for their Halo 2 stats. Thousands would flock back to the game, because guess what, it’s not much different from Halo 4, it just does it sooo much better.
I miss the maps
I miss dual-weiding weapons
I miss meeting people who wanted to win and rank up
I miss the physics of the game and being able to do anything I wanted with my player while not getting BR’d to death by newbie -Yoinks!-
I miss playing 5-6 hours/day
I miss surround chat where the opposing players could hear you
I miss everybody having a mic and working as a team
I miss the rocket launcher with its lock-on capability
I miss the SWORD on every map
I miss NEUTRAL BOMB matches that sometimes lasted over an hour
I miss 1 flag CTF and 1 bomb
I miss big team battle’s random game selection
I miss my own rank. Unfortuntely only got to maybe 40, because the skill level and cheaters past 40 was too tough at the time
I miss only ONE person having invisiblity IF and WHEN they find it on the map
I miss the flag contesting when you get near it
I miss the jumps that felt real and not slow and fly-like as in Halo 3 and 4
I miss the noob combo
I miss the comradery of fellow gamers just wanting to PLAY
I miss you, Halo 2, and no game will ever change that:(
I think it’s funny that COD is sooo popular, and you want to know why, it’s been pretty much the same engine since COD 4 Modern Warfare. Everytime I play COD, it feels exactly the same as the older ones, except new weapons and modes, so if it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it. Halo 3 tried to fix a game that was perfect in Halo 2. Once the engine changed, it all went downhill.
I’m starting to play Halo 4 now, mainly because it’s the only game worth playing and that’s not saying a lot. I shall miss you Halo 2, hope to run into you again in the future…