Halo 2 Special?

Games Other Halo
1

Disclaimer- I am NOT against a Halo 2 Anniversary with multiplayer, and I am certainly not against a Halo 2 remake in general. In fact, I would absolutely love that. This is just me trying to clear something up for myself.

Now, I unfortunately can’t claim to have extensive first-hand experience with the prime of Halo 2’s multiplayer. Still, I feel as if I know a fare bit about it. So now when I see so many people praising Halo 2 as the BEST multiplayer game ever, as something perfect and flawless, the pinnacle of Halo, I’m left a little puzzled. From what I can see, Halo 2’s multiplayer is similar to Halo 3’s, but with less content, high bullet magnetism hitscan weapons, and a large amount of glitches. A much less polished (and less competitive) game all around.

Naturally, with the recent cries for a re-release of Halo 2’s multiplayer, I can’t help but think that the game (being the first Halo matchmaking experience) has been extremely overhyped in the years since its prime. I’m worried that if 343 DOES do such a re-release, many fans are going to become disappointed victims of false nostalgia.

So, am I missing something? What made Halo 2 MM so special? Why do people prefer it to Halo 3? (Besides it being first, as that has no impact on actual quality.)

2

> Now, I unfortunately can’t claim to have extensive first-hand experience with the prime of Halo 2’s multiplayer. Still, I feel as if I know a fare bit about it.

Fair enough…

> So now when I see so many people praising Halo 2 as the BEST multiplayer game ever, as something perfect and flawless, the pinnacle of Halo, I’m left a little puzzled.

People praise Halo 2 as the best. Nobody claims that it’s flawless.

> From what I can see, Halo 2’s multiplayer is similar to Halo 3’s, but with less content,

Lack of Forge and Theater and was still an amazing game.

> high bullet magnetism hitscan weapons,

High bullet magnetism? Yes, it had too have that. It was during an era where compensation was necessary, the internet has come a long way since then. I don’t see your problem with hitscan, unless of course it was just included with the fact that the game had tons of bullet magnetism. Hit scan is superior to projectile when it comes to Halo. I don’t ever want to go back to that…

> and a large amount of glitches.

One glitch was gamebreaking, super jumps(which were fun to do in customs) when used by jerks in MM. The other main glitch~~(button combos) weren’t game breaking. If anything those enhance competitive gaming and helped mold competitive gaming into what it is today. Aside from those things their really wasn’t anything else to complain about.~~
> A much less polished (and less competitive) game all around.
Halo 2 was the most competitive Halo aside from CE. Halo 3 had random spread coupled with slow aim acceleration and projectile system. Halo 2 was miles more competitive. During Halo 3’s prime many pro’s expressed how they were playing Halo 3 for the money and they didn’t enjoy the game nor think of it as a competitive title. Reach eventually going off the circuit and Halo 4 having a very brief stint speak for themselves…
> Naturally, with the recent cries for a re-release of Halo 2’s multiplayer, I can’t help but think that the game (being the first Halo matchmaking experience) has been extremely overhyped in the years since its prime. I’m worried that if 343 DOES do such a re-release, many fans are going to become disappointed victims of nostalgia.
I still play H2V and H2 on XBC. I still have Halo 2 LAN’s. I still randomly load up Halo 2 a couple times a month and glitch around on the maps by myself or with my brother. Would you call that a victim of nostalgia? Is it that far fetched to believe that maybe people actually genuinely like Halo 2? The game really hasn’t aged to be honest.
> So, am I missing something? What made Halo 2 MM so special?
Simplicity…
Nothing like knowing that everyone entering the fight had equal footing. Pushing for weapons and just being forced around the map, which caused map movement and made games flow better. No AA’s to force random gameplay. No ordinance to force random gameplay. Best map set of all the Halo games. The last true Halo Arena FPS.
Their are so many reasons as to why Halo 2 deserves a remake with traditional mp. The game practically launched OG XBL. Halo 2 deserves a proper celebration. Halo launched the OG Xbox and Halo 2 launched XBL(I know XBL came out years before Halo 2. Halo 2 just helped turn XBL into what it is today). After Halo 2, none of the following Halo’s really did anything to change the landscape of gaming. Halo 3, perhaps with theater but that’s debatable. Halo 2 deserves the anniversary treatment and I’d be quite upset if it didn’t get one.

3

> > Now, I unfortunately can’t claim to have extensive first-hand experience with the prime of Halo 2’s multiplayer. Still, I feel as if I know a fare bit about it.
>
> Fair enough…
>
>
>
>
> > So now when I see so many people praising Halo 2 as the BEST multiplayer game ever, as something perfect and flawless, the pinnacle of Halo, I’m left a little puzzled.
>
> People praise Halo 2 as the best. Nobody claims that it’s flawless.
>
>
>
>
> > From what I can see, Halo 2’s multiplayer is similar to Halo 3’s, but with less content,
>
> Lack of Forge and Theater and was still an amazing game.
>
>
>
> > high bullet magnetism hitscan weapons,
>
> High bullet magnetism? Yes, it had too have that. It was during an era where compensation was necessary, the internet has come a long way since then. I don’t see your problem with hitscan, unless of course it was just included with the fact that the game had tons of bullet magnetism. Hit scan is superior to projectile when it comes to Halo. I don’t ever want to go back to that…
>
>
>
>
> > and a large amount of glitches.
>
> One glitch was gamebreaking, super jumps(which were fun to do in customs) when used by jerks in MM. The other main glitch~~(button combos) weren’t game breaking. If anything those enhance competitive gaming and helped mold competitive gaming into what it is today. Aside from those things their really wasn’t anything else to complain about.~~
> > A much less polished (and less competitive) game all around.
> Halo 2 was the most competitive Halo aside from CE. Halo 3 had random spread coupled with slow aim acceleration and projectile system. Halo 2 was miles more competitive. During Halo 3’s prime many pro’s expressed how they were playing Halo 3 for the money and they didn’t enjoy the game nor think of it as a competitive title. Reach eventually going off the circuit and Halo 4 having a very brief stint speak for themselves…
> > Naturally, with the recent cries for a re-release of Halo 2’s multiplayer, I can’t help but think that the game (being the first Halo matchmaking experience) has been extremely overhyped in the years since its prime. I’m worried that if 343 DOES do such a re-release, many fans are going to become disappointed victims of nostalgia.
> I still play H2V and H2 on XBC. I still have Halo 2 LAN’s. I still randomly load up Halo 2 a couple times a month and glitch around on the maps by myself or with my brother. Would you call that a victim of nostalgia? Is it that far fetched to believe that maybe people actually genuinely like Halo 2? The game really hasn’t aged to be honest.
> > So, am I missing something? What made Halo 2 MM so special?
> Simplicity…
> Nothing like knowing that everyone entering the fight had equal footing. Pushing for weapons and just being forced around the map, which caused map movement and made games flow better. No AA’s to force random gameplay. No ordinance to force random gameplay. Best map set of all the Halo games. The last true Halo Arena FPS.
> Their are so many reasons as to why Halo 2 deserves a remake with traditional mp. The game practically launched OG XBL. Halo 2 deserves a proper celebration. Halo launched the OG Xbox and Halo 2 launched XBL(I know XBL came out years before Halo 2. Halo 2 just helped turn XBL into what it is today). After Halo 2, none of the following Halo’s really did anything to change the landscape of gaming. Halo 3, perhaps with theater but that’s debatable. Halo 2 deserves the anniversary treatment and I’d be quite upset if it didn’t get one.
> ~~
[/quote]
Yes!!! Simplicity!!! You actually get it. Competitive simplicity. I get tired of the abundance of weapons and perks. They just complicate things. Halo 2 and 3 were the best FPS games in my book because they were simple to understand yet if you weren’t strategic, you were more than likely going to lose.~~
> I still play Halo 3. Not because of nostalgia, but because it is a well built and competitive shooter. I don’t have worry about the enemy sprinting away after almost killing him or jetpacking or armor locking.
> Give me a Halo 2 Anniversary and I’ll pay double for it on the X1.

4

> I’m worried that if 343 DOES do such a re-release, many fans are going to become disappointed victims of nostalgia.

I wasn’t going to respond to this post but I noticed an odd statement in the OP’s closing line. The word, “disappointed,” doesn’t correlate to the word, “nostalgia.” The result is oxymoronic and laughable because it doesn’t make sense. I still get the overall gist here but it’s like the OP is counteracting everything he/she wrote in this conclusion instead of reiterating the original idea. That’s like stating, “fans are going to be disappointed victims of having wonderful memories about a great game.”

But don’t take my word for it! Merriam-Webster defines, “nostalgia,” as:

1 : the state of being homesick : homesickness 2 : an excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition ; also : something that evokes nostalgia

5

Halo 2, of ALL games in the series, probably deserves a re-release the most.

Firstly, because the current version of the game is victim to far more annoying things than super-bounces (however lame those MP jerks were) and button combos.

The literal image of the game is broken on the current generation hardware.

Ghost imaging. Play through the Halo 2 campaign. After either 1 minute, or 5 hours, you will eventually start noticing that the outline of a scene or background is now plastered onto your screen permanently. While the campaign is still playable, the ghost images ruin the nostalgia I try to receive by playing the current version of the game.

So if anything else, a remastered campaign would be reason enough for me to buy this game. Not to mention the ability to play on some of the most amazing maps designed for the series with friends, once more.

I don’t care if super bounces make a return, or if the sword block returns, as long as I can once again run around like an idiot on Waterworks or get hit by the train on terminal with friends again. Plus the addition to an almost guaranteed forge mode on some of those maps?

Yes please.

Now to the multiplayer, the part you were confused about (though by now, the people above me have already quite clearly outlined a response for every sentence you wrote. This is more of a recap.)

Halo 2 was first.
First MP experience, an experience that probably about half of the players that play the series today either have little memory of or no memory at all.

The only game where only map flow, teamwork, and weapon placement mattered. Where there was no class, no AA’s, no Equipment. Just your classic, Arena FPS, Halo game.

Classic. A word you do not even utter around Halo 4. The game lost the right to that word with the dropping of Assault. But this is a tangent, I apologize.

Anyway, I hope this helps clear your head about why people claim it to be the best. :slight_smile: <3

6

> > I’m worried that if 343 DOES do such a re-release, many fans are going to become disappointed victims of nostalgia.
>
> I wasn’t going to respond to this post but I noticed an odd statement in the OP’s closing line. The word, “disappointed,” doesn’t correlate to the word, “nostalgia.” The result is oxymoronic and laughable because it doesn’t make sense. I still get the overall gist here but it’s like the OP is counteracting everything he/she wrote in this conclusion instead of reiterating the original idea. That’s like stating, “fans are going to be disappointed victims of having wonderful memories about a great game.”
>
> But don’t take my word for it! Merriam-Webster defines, “nostalgia,” as:
>
> 1 : the state of being homesick : homesickness 2 : an excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition ; also : something that evokes nostalgia

“I didn’t train to be a[n English major].”

How about I insert the word “false” before “nostalgia”. Does that clear things up?

7

Hmm, I think I might need to rephrase the OP. See, the point of the thread is asking what made Halo 2 so much better than the other Halo games, ESPECIALLY Halo 3. Trust me, I already know why people didn’t like Halo 4 and Reach…

8

> “I didn’t train to be a[n English major].”
>
> How about I insert the word “false” before “nostalgia”. Does that clear things up?

Clears things up perfectly well… Apologies if I came off condescending; I was genuinely confused so thanks for not taking it the wrong way.

I guess for me Halo 2 was my all-around favorite in the franchise and I would just appreciate a modern throw back on Xbox One.