The Ultimate Halo 2 Critique

[@BenPlaysGames]

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[@Born...]

Nice video, I enjoyed every minute of it! But there are many things that were wrong in this video. Like In the final boss fight, you can in fact bring his shields down yourself with a beam rifle just as Johnson does. Also about the song blow me away, Bungie didn’t pay for the rights to Blow Me Away by Breaking Benjamin. The band actually made the song for Halo 2.

[@michaeljcaboose1152]

Bungie didn’t pay for the rights to Blow Me Away by Breaking Benjamin. The band actually made the song for Halo 2.

[@JAMES_IS_COOL1227]

Legendary move by BB

[@Spectrik]

Shame they didn't reuse or remix it for anniversary

[@KevinTilly]

That explains why the lyrics fit so damn well😂❤

[@cypherial]

​@@Spectrikiirc 343 wasn't able to secure the license for the song so they couldn't use it in the remaster

[@Spectrik]

@@cypherial ah makes sense shame though

[@ThomasC-sd9mz]

It has to be noted that Blur studio's anniversary cutscenes are sexy as hell, and help improve the brilliant dialogue even further. Remastered Johnson looks🔥🔥

[@boulderthebolder6165]

I absolutely agree! It is one of the only remasters that is just a straight-up improvement on the OG, even though the original was great.

[@oldmanprostte3574]

Blur said I know what the ladies like

[@Jaker788]

I have to hard disagree with you on that. They changed a lot of the camera shots, the cinematography is significantly less interesting and more basic with Blue. For whatever reason they didn't do shot for shot copy, and did a worse job that the original. One that comes to mind is the cutscene where arbiter is being dragged by the brutes to talk to the prophets. The original is a POV shot to start, then some side scrolling across the jail cells, and has lots of just more interesting shots than Blur ones. I would highly suggest watching a video of both to compare. I also don't like the graphics in general aside from just bland cinematography. They look overdone in a way that's off-putting, too shiny, too specular, too crispy/sharpened of texture details. Maybe it's the attempt at photorealism when the world design was designed more simplistic, makes some stuff overly detailed or "busy", but also the humans don't are riding the edge of uncanny valley.

[@ThomasC-sd9mz]

@@Jaker788 I can respect that view on the cutscenes, though personally I disagree. One great example is the intro to Outskirts. The Warthogs seem heavier, and much more believable, the Pilot's reaction to the Scarab (and it's reveal) are shot much better, and Johnson's regret speech is improved heavily by his better facial animations. Also in the intro to The Arbiter, the shot of Thel picking up the Arbiter's helmet is longer, and shows his emotional reaction to holding it. That section to me is a great subtle change. I definitely understand where you're coming from as some shots do lack depth, but I think the action elements are shot from superior angles. And you have to at least respect the gorgeous quality. Arby's shiny armour is amazing, and even as a straight guy I'd smash remastered Johnson. Gameplay wise, I kind of agree that the high end graphics don't really match the level's boxy 2004 design, though I adore weapon, character, and vehicle designs

[@Harbingeruprisingofficial]

⁠@@ThomasC-sd9mznot to mention that Blur’s graphics STILL LOOK AMAZING ALMOST TEN YEARS LATER:)

[@skypentraico4322]

2:22:30 This is my favorite line in the entire series. The writing/scripting by the story writers at Bungie, the amazing score of Marty O'Donnell, the fantastic work of Blur studios, and the absolutely phenomenal delivery by Keith David, all of it came together to make it one of the hardest hitting in the trilogy. With the way it's slightly quieter and the way he's not looking at Tartarus, The Arbiter is saying this line to accept that reality himself just as much, if not MORE than he is trying to convince Tartarus. Such a great line.

[@ErikLosLobos]

This is why it's good to get proper actors in for this. Keith David is a legend in everything he does

[@retrolinkx]

"Tartar sauce....the puppets have betrayed....sus" - Thel 'Vadam, November 2552 What did he mean by this?

[@gabe1298]

I know exactly how you feel about the Arbiter in Halo 3. Bungie expected players to play the campaign in coop with a friend or sibling, thus the Arbiter would be there as a permanent presence. However if you're a lonely boi like me, his screentime in the campaign was extraordinarily small, though his final confrontation with Truth remains just as impactful as anything you'd see in 2.

[@StreetStoriesEnt]

Now that im older i never really realized arbiter wasnt in the story that much because i had cousins/ my moms friends children who were like my cousins that stayed at my house for entire summers … now that im grown and replay it i see he isnt really there like the mission cortana he doesnt even pop up til the end

[@sothisis1962]

He’s in like half the story as you play with him and even end the game with him and chief have the same amount of levels minus one

[@rushpatriot2866]

Arbiter is in Sierra 117 Crows nest The storm Floodgate The covenant the end of Cortana and Halo. He's in all but 2 missions people calm down

[@gabe1298]

@@rushpatriot2866 Really wish KZbin'd let me post audio responses because all I have to say in response to that is a belch.

[@thecynicaloptimist1884]

@@rushpatriot2866 He's there, but he doesn't really have any kind of character arc, and certainly isn't as involved in the story.

[@jargo101]

I love the section going over the bridge in the Scorpion. So simple yet so satisfying.

[@bloodvulture2170]

1:20:17 if you make a certain grenade jump you can actually encounter and kill the marines before the flood does

[@DAYMAND3R3552]

I always found it odd that the Heretic leader was about to explain what the halo rings actually do but instead of letting the oracle explain he shoot Arbiter instead. Why would not let 343 guilty spark explain the situation and maybe have arbiter on his side as an ally.

[@AnakinSkywakka]

Pure speculation, but I believe it is because the Arbiter is supposed to be one of the most religiously important positions within the Covenant. So it is to be assumed that whoever takes up the role can be thought of as equally religious.

[@carbharharbcar5867]

he didnt believe that the arbiter would listen. it's supposed to be a bit of a greek tragedy moment imo, we're supposed to come to the conclusion that had the heretic tried genuinely to convince the arbiter that the prophets were liars that the covenant could have reformed sooner and smoother, instead of the elite genocide that has to happen to wake them up instead.

[@eliflores9819]

@@AnakinSkywakkaMaybe not the MOST religious in Thel’s case. He was known more for his military prowess than his devotion - (on the 1st Halo, he got mad at the Minor Prophet in his fleet cause they kept misusing military resources for religious purposes). But after becoming Arbiter, because he lost everything, he was absolutely devoted to redeeming himself. So in that way he wouldn’t have been ready to listen just yet

[@eliflores9819]

@@AnakinSkywakkabut that’s just my own speculation

[@MrSeanmcgall]

I think the thing about that is, that even the prophets aren't all equally blindly trusting of their beliefs. Some are more about the power to rule

[@valeriecarelock8926]

33:56 A cool fact I love about Arbiters arc is that in cannon the Arbiter of the Sangheili was a leader of their people. After the sanghili swear allegiance to the Covenant, the San'Shyuum twist the history of the arbiter and rebrand the title as not of honor and integrity but one of a dishonor and mislead self thought. Meant to be a one off weapon of destruction for those that need to be silenced but not without carrying out a few more crusades in the name of the Covenant. I adore the story, albeit a bit late, because in the grand scheme of things, Thel 'Vadamee restore the honorific title of The Arbiter and goes on to help lead his people to freedom and restoring that honor driven core of the Sangheili Race.

[@DarthCoughlin]

The cutscene just before the first level with the arbiter on the phantom has changed for me between the blur and original cutscenes. In my mind, when Arbiter said "that makes two of us" in the original, it was in defiance against the commander, not in agreement.

[@JohnnyTightlips2007]

You know, I had the same initial thought.

[@inductivegrunt94]

To me, I see it as Blur: Arbiter trying to stand up for himself but failing due to shame and Rtas seeing right through it. Classic: Arbiter literally does not care for anyone else like Rtas doesn't care for him, and Rtas respects him for that.

[@chrishaynes1804]

@@inductivegrunt94 no arbiter is agreeing with Rtas saying he cares about the lifes of the other elites and disregards his own life.

[@Jaker788]

I don't understand why Blur decided to not copy the original cinematography and did it their own way, it's super bland and boring cinematography and it changes the meaning of some scenes.

[@HunterStiles651]

@@Jaker788 Because Halo 2 Anniversary is garbage. I've never played the original, but I'd be amazed if it had a physics engine so poorly made that downed Ghosts being spontaneously yeeted into your Scorpion and exploding is as reliable an occurrence as the sun rising in the East.

[@felipegutierrez9087]

I remember when I first played as the arbiter and I wasn’t really upset about it not being more about the chief, but I was more confused more than anything but later on when I grew up I appreciated the effort bungie did and try and make an emotional story arch

[@Spectrik]

Even as a kid the arbiter parts were my favorite I loved the temporary invisibility and because I had not played CE i was introduced to the flood through the arbiters missions. It was truly amazing for me

[@rushpatriot2866]

​@@Spectrikthe arbiter is right up there with MC for me such a cool character. Halo 2 is my favorite

[@evolvedHE]

I just want to say that it is actually possible to lower Tartarus' shields by yourself, but you'll need to take a beam rifle with you. This is often used in the Halo 2 speedrun to speed up the boss fight Amazing work as always, will be interesting to see you continue this work with the 343 games

[@AnakinSkywakka]

Story wise, Halo 2 is my favorite among the entire franchise. I remember being so intrigued by it back in the day, with how cinematic it was and the Arbiter twist. I love it dearly, even among all of its flaws.

[@kiitaclyzm]

im only in my 20s so i never had the context of the e3 halo 2 demo, it was my favorite growing up because the dialogue is still funny to me like when the scarab decimates the scorpion in metropolis and the marine says "you see this look? it's terror!" followed by their superior remarking "marine, did i give you permission to bitch?"

[@rushpatriot2866]

That kind of dialogue is what's missing in games today

[@holcomx]

The amount of times I’ve played sacred icon and didn’t see the backwards phantom and the location of the area was so close to the last mission. 😅

[@34pimpdog]

I remember when this came out. I was 10. I was so hyped for it. I remember being in awe of this game. Something about it reinforced the nostalgia of ce. The progression from ce felt massive yet not over bearing. Something about h2 makes me respect and love ce.

[@adroharv5140]

A brilliant game in so many ways with unfair undercooked combat on Legendary. It's certainly doable but it's meticulously slow and loses the point of Halo's potential for dynamic combat at this difficulty because it locks you down into playing linearly

[@StevensonSixkiller-dq2iv]

I was so pumped when this came out, I didn’t even have an Xbox, but my cousin did, so I stayed at his house for what seemed like a month playing it

[@BenjaminMarshallScienceMan]

You repeatedly mention how you should be fighting the UNSC in the arbiter missions, but I think bungie was specifically avoiding gameplay where you'd be killing humans.

[@Faintwolf]

I feel that, it’s almost like they kinda wanted to keep the arbiter being able to say “hey man, I never killed any of your people” when the team up happens 😂 Admittedly, that prolly doesn’t fully work because he most likely took some out during the space conflict from CE and stuff connected lol but still

[@NiniSuperior]

​@@Faintwolf in lore he killed billions of people lmao

[@Faintwolf]

@@NiniSuperior Not saying he didn’t, I just don’t remember hearing that part. Do you mind citing where you remember that from? I’m always down to re learn some halo lore!

[@NiniSuperior]

@@Faintwolf they don't say it in game, the closest thing to that is when he says "I will continue my campaign against the humans" that implies that he has already been murdering humans in big numbers. I don't really know in which book they say how many billions he's killed because I don't read the books but I watched many videos where they know almost exactly the number of human deaths under his command so it's in the lore somewhere.

[@Faintwolf]

@@NiniSuperior AHHHHH snap you're right, I should have thought about that first obvious line lol. But the part about the billions is just....damn arby, you scary! Never thought about just how many lives he directly would be responsible for taking. He kinda was the chief of the covenant, huh?

[@kivakorkoskold]

I played more halo 2 on the original Xbox than any other game of my childhood. I can confirm and I am 100% certain that the pathfinding for the allies at the end of the game post prison was ALWAYS TERRIBLE. I had a weird obsession about keeping my allies alive, supporting, equipping, and escorting them. They ABSOLUTELY got stuck in those same stupid hallways for no reason ALL THE TIME.

[@bitcidic]

This game completely blows my mind that the story is THIS good despite the absolute developmental hell the developers went through with it. It is nothing short of a miracle that the game even works, let alone excels in many aspects. Almost feels like a metaphor in it of itself lol. That is why this is my favorite game of all time.

[@jacobwhelan45]

Quarantine Zone is honestly so underrated or maybe overhated rather. I can understand the complaints but it’s imo the best flood mission and has a great and active environment

[@HunterStiles651]

As a newcomer to Halo in 2023, trust me. It's warranted. That on foot section is totally bull. It's so dark that you can't see a damn thing even if you're playing on PC and set your monitor to max brightness and it's filled with the most powerful enemies you've seen thus far, and even when you can see your hand in front of your face the Flood are the same color as the walls a lot of the time. It's not the first time in Halo where a level is questionably designed, but it is the first time in Halo where the level is maliciously designed and feels like it's actively trying to frustrate me.

[@jacobwhelan45]

@@HunterStiles651 as someone playing halo since 2005 I couldn’t disagree with that more but to each their own. Use vehicles, let the flood and sentinels fight amongst themselves, just go past them, you have choices. The gondola section is the only complaint I can ever agree with in this level but even then that’s more of a problem recurring throughout the entire game rather than a problem with a particular level. As far as tedious designs go, I hated Regret, Delta Halo, and Metropolis most solely because of the problem with Jackal snipers in the game. Also Gravemind is pretty unforgiving unless you let enemies fight each other first but even then you have the first half of the level. The intro plus the elevator to the holding cells are actually aneurysm inducing

[@HunterStiles651]

@@jacobwhelan45 Jackal Snipers are annoying, sure. But you're never going to convince me that having near zero visibility in a game where the primary gameplay loop consists of looking at things and clicking on them is good game design. You even said it yourself. The best way to deal with the enemies in that level is just to run past them or hang back and let them fight each other. In other words, the best way to deal with this blatantly asinine level design is to actively avoid engaging with the game you bought.

[@bitcidic]

I absolutely adore the atmosphere of that mission. The first vehicle section is pretty fun and the sentinel enforcers remain fun to fight. But the level’s gameplay really drops off once you go on foot. If it were me, I’d probably have attached the vehicle section to the end of Sacred Icon and just cut out the rest of the stuff at the end of Quarantine Zone. That gondola ride is definitely one of the lowest points of halo 2’s entire campaign. (Now don’t get me wrong Quarantine Zone is literally my favorite mission because of the vehicle sections)

[@jacobwhelan45]

@@HunterStiles651 when outnumbered weighing out your options is required in any game and even irl. There’s 2 entire factions battling it out and it’s only you and a few elites at the most. Waiting for a time to strike is essential. It happens multiple times in the entire series. As for the darkness, idk what to tell you. I see perfectly fine and the atmosphere is perfect for an area quarantined by sentinels due to a massive and advanced flood outbreak. Seeing the sentinel factory fall and then arriving at it is also great level design that most good games have, showing events and areas you’ll be at shortly is great design that most good games still do to this day. Halo 2 isn’t perfect but my point is that this level is overhated

[@DrsJacksonn]

It's as if we've forgotten how much letdown there was in Halo 2. Not just looking back, but when it first game out. I didn't even buy Halo 3 on release after playing Halo 2. Sure, it's still a good game, but just a shadow of what we were hoping for.

[@BenPlaysGames]

I love Halo 2's story, it's gameplay I can take or leave. Combat Evolved and 3 are both much more in line with what I think a Halo game should be gameplay wise.

[@AnakinSkywakka]

@DrsJacksonn Just curious, what'd you think of Reach?

[@SeFu2006]

Yeah I remember being disappointed in a lot of things but I eventually got tired of wishing things were different and started analyzing the game and seeing it for what it was and I found that Bungie made a lot complex improvements to the physics, ai, gameplay, etc. It’s still my favorite game in the series, I’m currently trying to beat regret w/ iron skull, no noob combo on legendary

[@thecynicaloptimist1884]

A small point, but I liked the characterisation of Vadumee's spec-op Elites on the gas mine. When the doors open, the Elites go first, and make sure the room is clear before nodding for the Unggoy to move in and hold the room. A crueller master would have let the Unggoy go first, thinking of them as nothing more than disposable cannon fodder, but the Elites in Vadumee's unit have care for all the troops with them.

[@brandonolson6419]

I still remember being hyped seeing commercials and when 7Eleven was selling the slurpee cups

[@payzalee117]

I had a collection of all the slurpee cups on my bedside table when halo 2 came out!

[@MammaSomari]

Sir. Drinkee my slurpee.

[@iunnor]

I don't see how Blow Me Away is "Cheesy" it was a song Breaking Benjamin specifically wrote and made for Halo 2.

[@Saiyamanmc]

they call it "butt rock" for a reason, my friend.

[@INFILTR8US]

​@@Saiyamanmcplease share with us your portfolio of award winning discography

[@AnakinSkywakka]

Cheese or campiness doesn't always mean bad.

[@SeFu2006]

The 2000’s was something else lol

[@drivernephi2212]

@@Saiyamanmc I absolutely detest butt rock and I'm not a fan of the song, but the instrumental was perfect for the scene it was used in.

[@steemonkey2000]

You can take a beam rifle into the Tartarus fight and remove his shield yourself. Or just take a banshee in.

[@carbharharbcar5867]

heroic is the standard difficulty level for halo. "way it was meant to be played" wasnt added later but its clear, heroic is difficult but engaging, legendary is completely psychotic and invalidates half the sandbox. normal and easy are for people new to FPS games.

[@sheepyclick]

Can confirm, I'm replaying on the og xbox at the moment done a run through on heroic and have re started on legendary. I'm about a third of the way through new mombasa in about the the same time I'd done half the campaign on heroic just pushing through one checkpoint at a time.

[@steemonkey2000]

Halo 2 Brutes are peak Brutes and Gravemind is their masterpiece. Dual needlers absolutely delete them, even on Legendary.

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

The carbine is actually one of the less effective weapons against the Brutes. They take massively increased damage from explosives, so the Needler is far and away the best gun to deal with them. Usually one supercombine is enough to put them down, which can be done in good time with ammo that can be found easily.

[@fastmadcow]

If Halo 2 didn’t have only 6 months to be conceived I bet majority of the game would have felt like the E3 trailer. Crazy to think this game went through development hell yet is one the best.

[@saschaberger3212]

First thing that always comes into my mind when I hear Halo 2 is Games with Microsoft Live on PC... Crazy times

[@gabe1298]

Halo and WoW are the cornerstones of my childhood gaming. Best times.

[@AnesidoraAston]

One of the things I like about the remastered version is that the Marines all look fairly baby faced, you know, like they would in real life.

[@bridgesbane7032]

As someone who was 18-22 with not a single hair on my chin when I was a Marine. I completely agree.

[@PelinalDidNothingWrong]

Hot Take: Halo 2 Anniversary being The Arbiter's recounting of events isn't that bad. It makes sense in universe that Locke would want to know *everything* on Chief and who else would be better than The Arbiter himself? Not counting dead people like Johnson or Jacob and Miranda Keyes

[@benakinnusi2518]

Agreed; wow, thats ANOTHER person commenting exactly what I was thinking in my head, and your comment was right on top of the other guy’s! 😂

[@1337GameDev]

2:06:30 - Yeah, i felt this way too -- but then realized that where you're at is the "governing body" of high charity and NOT living quarters. They SHOULD have had you go down to the populated areas though, and then continue down to get to the grav lift to get to the forerunner ship in the center -- to at least EXPOSE you to where the populations live. Would have been COOL as hell to see parts of high charities city -- even if it was the edge that separates the governing body and the regular population. Imagine a game set in high charity... having to navigate and hide in the city... during this mission and then the flood coming about..... and the population trying to escape....

[@budwhite9591]

1:10:00 “largest fleet”. Woman you were evacuated from Reach. That was the largest Covenant fleet ever assembled (Halo: Broken Circle). Great book written from the perspective of a Prophet

[@lingricen8077]

I played halo 2 for the first time back in 2011 on GFWL, I finished the campaign but did not remember it fondly at all. Replayed it a couple of months ago after seeing your critiques (remastered) and had a better time of it

[@RuanLFC]

43:42 try this on legendary there is no standing around just pure panic haha!

[@casedistorted]

well howdy howdy! I hope I see Marty O'Donnell in the comments soon :) I don't mind Halo 2's gameplay, but the biggest stain on its legacy is its overtuned Legendary difficulty. It should have been fixed for MCC but 343.. We all know how long it took them just to FIX MCC (a literal long f'ing time). Halo 2 has the best story and voice acting and incredible music. They did the Prophet of Truth dirty though in Halo 3. AI voice can fix that soon though..

[@EdenElectorate]

As someone also named Ben the EE at 1:02 scared me for a sec lol.

[@fastmadcow]

The cut scenes (OG and remaster) are both master pieces. Bungie really knew what it was doing and what its vision was.

[@TonyOcasiowingchunpressure]

Also why was the assault rifle removed from halo 2?

[@robertharris6092]

The SMG and BR repllaced it. Since. the AR would hust be an largly pointless inbetweeen of the 2.

[@PeterGriffin-rp9iq]

@@robertharris6092really makes you wonder why 343 found it so necessary to add it back to h2a multiplayer. I’ll never understand lol

[@commissardale]

The way the jackal sniper can be fixed they actually did in Infinite but they didn't even use the OG covenant sniper. Just give the sniper a big laser sight that you can see

[@commissardale]

@@vb9150 can you read? Do you have any reading comprehension? I said they didn't use the sniper.

[@trinstonmichaels7062]

What it did for the universe is so great like the universe was so small before.

[@BenPlaysGames]

Completely agree, best part of 2 for me is the story.

[@SmogFTW]

Great video! I loved it ☺️

[@hail-the-machine]

Thanks Ben for this great critique of Halo 2. Watching your legendary run of it on your stream as such a great time! Keep up the good work man

[@TheOneEpicplayer]

For that part about Reclaimer playing in Quarantine Zone: The song that plays isn't a dynamic loop like most other in-game songs, it's a single music track that always lasts the same length. This also applies to a few other songs used in the game, such as Leonidas during the gondola ride in Regret.

[@TheStrayHALOMAN]

1:14:30 That phantom also flew backwards in the original, it's something I've always notices since I was a little kids and I always point it out to friends in coop now. Also Cortana in Halo 3 is very easy on legendary, the flood are totally cheesed by melee and splash damage.... Literally just grab a brute shot and start slicing and blowing them up, all the combat forms gib.

[@reatomoe5887]

I never played Halo 2 until last year, I played the whole series but Halo 2. Hearing people saying it is the best of all rise up my expectations, not to mention the E3 trailer featured into Halo CE disc. So when I first had a chance to play it what I found was a boring asf game with good gameplay and precious soundtrack, but that was it. I gotta say the Master Chief levels were the best even with the boring moving plataforms, but Arbiter sections just didn't work, this levels got me disapointed. I love Arbiter storyline, but playing its levels was the worst part of the game, just long uninspired hallways. And the Tartarus boss fight, that freaking fight is boring and useless as the 343 boss fight during Halo 3. This is the Halo game I like the least

[@G32hero]

2:12:49 i just finished my first playthrough of Halo 2 on legendary a couple days ago and the game refused to allow me to use the wraith, i was forced to use the other thing and i was so unhappy

[@1337GameDev]

2:04:32 - Imagine we got blur quality CGI for a movie :( Why couldn't the halo TV show be a retelling of halo 1-3 with some 4/5 mixed in (with some minor retcons to make it better imho -- as didact looks like an orc with force powers). Also, we could have even had a forward unto dawn-like show, showing humans venturing into space, colony uprising, odd discoveries, shaw-fujikiwah engine discovery, spartans, reach, covenant encounter.... It would have been PERFECT. Major plot is expected, but so many details and side stories untold, even including the eric nylund books / details. So much potential.... But noooo.... the studio pulled a "343 move" where they wanted it to be "their own rendition" vs just building off of a great universe that's established"

[@willhorton7624]

Amazing videos as always sir

[@pchurch692]

Love the video, thanks for the great content as always!

[@alexbarker9904]

Got a very long shift tomorrow, this vid should cover a good amount 😎 Keep up the solid effort man 🍻🤙

[@ryanbradford6227]

Of all my memories of playing halo 2 the hunters busting through that door always stuck in my mind

[@Springtime0502]

Now the Bungie arc is completed... Will you be doing 343 next?

[@ElZamo92]

For me Halo 2 was my first Halo experience. Since I didn't understand English at the time I wasn't aware of the E3 demo so I had no preconceptions about the game, and I absolutely LOVED it. I actually did not play Halo CE until after Halo 3 had come out, and while I did like Halo CE it felt REALLY dated when I played it. It felt like an N64 game in terms of plot and general mechanics, like the indestructible vehicles and the very janky looking animation in cutscenes.

[@TheXeroLink]

3:53 I like to think that the reason they didn’t do this is likely the same reason they’ve been putting his number on his armor. Because you don’t give your gun an award. 40:46 I always felt that we were stupid to think that the flood was defeated. We learned from H1 that the covenant would mess with stuff they didn’t understand which is why the flood came out to begin with. So us exploring a forerunner station in the gas giant hanging from a tethered line that appears designed to be released into the gravity well at the center of the gas giant…it all made sense to me… 1:14:58 you can see the building you’re on now, from pretty much the start of Delta Halo visible looking across the lake here at 56:05 as it is to the right off in the distance. Only until I saw your video I always assmed it was the edge of the ring…but now…I know it was the sentinel wall…

[@joshuapurdy7065]

I also thought that it was just the edge of the ring. Finding out it was the sentinel wall and that you can see both places from the different levels was mind boggling

[@Draeckon]

Actually Chief has every award possible, except for being captured. He just never wears his dress uniform in any of the games, because then we would see his face... And also because it's more annoying to put on than his actual armor. 😂

[@arnifenrenso2940]

On your talk on ourkirts, near the end you talk about how many levels are pairs in halo 2, part of me believes they did this mainly due to difficulty, especially in laso where you have to make it through entire levels at once

[@TwallThePk]

New to your channel and was waiting for this one after binging the others !!! Thank you

[@idunnoay]

I think the lack of verticality and so on in sacred icon was a deliberate choice, along with the high volume of flood enemies, to guide you to play the level by running and dodging enemies. Same with quarantine zone for large chunks - I genuinely think the devs intended you to avoid encounters as much as possible. Arbiter has camo and they want you to use it, even as a kid that’s how I played these levels

[@berziimusic]

Blow Me Away was actually a song written by them for the game as another commenter stated, they were actually fans of the games I believe, if you can pick it out they actually used motifs and structures from Broken Gates out of the Mombasa Suite, listen close and you’ll hear the similarities and some sounds they actually used from the halo 2 soundtrack to build Blow Me Away.

[@nip3004]

I don't know if I would say halo 2s first level was more impressive than CEs. While CEs is drab full of small copy paste hallways and feels like an extremely generic (for the time) fps, that was the genius of it. It was brilliantly designed for that to be your introduction. To lower your expectations into thinking it was just another Scifi hallway shooter. It is impressive in just how much more impressive it made the second mission. It hasn't aged as well as halo 2s as most people now expect large open environments and that wow factor is gone. But it crafted a moment for those of us who grew up playing games in the 80s and 90s that we will never forget.

[@Nick_792]

Ever since finding your channel and watching your Halo 2 vids, it has rekindled my obsession with Halo 2 😅.

[@NormanconEVE]

You talk at 4 minutes about the need for a more harsh contrast. I don't think it gets any more harsh (even though it requires a replay of the entire campaign and probably looking into a lot of lore) than the bad ass human child soldier being awarded only to get interrupted as their home planet is getting attacked juxtaposed against the super power alien alliance disciplining a commander for an all things considered, fluke accident, and only saving his life to live it out as the mythical arbiter in which his first mission is something as mundane as silencing a heretic and doing so with backup.

[@benakinnusi2518]

Agreed, you said what I was thinking in my head essentially

[@inductivegrunt94]

Halo 2 was such a legendary Halo game, and not because Jackel Snipers weren't an endangered species yet. Such a great game that I love to this day.

[@-foxwint-3140]

1:52:49 ngl it don't feel it out of place cause it feels like an old school amv Probably very cheesy tho Still love it

[@OnePolishMoFo]

I always felt like Thel's armor should have been gold not yellow in the intro cutscene. And let's give him a Cape while were at it. He was the supreme commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice. One of the Covenant's most powerful fleets. He should look a little more distinct than a field master.

[@DanielCornwall519]

In the Tartarus fight you can bring in your own Beam Rifle and lower his shields yourself then lay into him with another weapon and Johnson will still fire his Beam Rifle, so it shouldn’t take anyone That long unless you’re on Legendary.

[@TonyOcasiowingchunpressure]

I dont care what people say halo 2 is my favorite halo game

[@fatherlucid4995]

I think most people would agree

[@cheafmin1399]

Regarding your guns making sound in space; That actually does make sense. The reason sound doesn't carry in a vacuum is because there is no air to carry the vibrations to your ears. However, in the case of holding the object making the vibrations there is actually something to carry those vibrations, your arms. Although your body isn't nearly as good as a conductor of sound as air or even water is, hence why it sounds all muffled.

[@soilsurgen1900]

so glad u made this

[@iforgotmyname1885]

it deserves a remaster, Bunie (old Bungie) deserves a chance to refine their franchise.

[@Deep_Armageddon]

Thank you! I love your views and opinions on Halo!

[@TheKpa11]

Do you think it’s intentional Gravemind and High Charity level names were intentional given that the flood holds more prescence in “High Charity” while in the level “Gravemind” the covenant are there cause it’s their home city

[@radioactivgrunt1595]

Fun fact: when you said you were curious as to why parts of metropolis were cut and or why the part in the demo wasn’t available. In the collectors edition of halo it includes a disc showing how the game was made and even goes on to state that the demo alone had to be played a certain way as there was so much packed in it the game it was actually unstable and froze or crashed if they played almost any other way. Hence why many fans had to watch it be played instead of being able to play it. I love rewatching that disc to see the creation timeline! also when the demo was released at the game event they had almost none if not none of the game even started exacerbating the current situation with the game. Not only that but they also had to cut the game short do to the short time limit they had being only a year and a half maybe left to make the game and also console restrictions on the original Xbox. Originally most of halo 3s opening levels were from scrapped halo 2 concept and or cut levels

[@BreakinUpBuds]

I’m pretty sure halo 2 and 3 was originally going to be one game but as you mentioned the limits of the OG Xbox made it impossible.

[@nr-dx4zz]

I love how in the bomb room on cairo station in your footage you pan right just when u can see the supercarrier goes down thru the window. No one ever sees it

[@leafy126.5]

I told you your videos would start blowing up one day

[@ryleycae9129]

It’s been a while since I’ve played H2 and I’ve recently downloaded the MCC. But since when can you mount hunters and grenade them like wraiths?!

[@SZRLM]

2:12:35 I wish we could jump into a Phantom 😂

[@fatherlucid4995]

High Charity is my favorite level

[@motnorote]

this warms my heart

[@rossh2386]

To the gun noise in space you’d hear something transmitting through the suit cause internal oxygen

[@chrishaynes1804]

23:14 i had a chuckle i heard ban cheese XD

[@codynovick5701]

I always took being able to "hear" in the space sections of Cairo station as the internal atmosphere of the suit responding to local vibrations. Definitely does not correct for all the audio in that section, but it helps maintain my suspension of disbelief

[@fastmadcow]

Phantom or Wraith at the end of the game is a pretty easy choice! Phantom bbby! 😂

[@shepardren8006]

The elevator ride in Oracle is atrocious for another reason. It's actual size. Playing on harder difficulty and even at times on normal makes the space even more claustrophobic...

[@rm25088]

Wow nice Ben. Question for you. Are you ever going to stream Halo ODST and the rest of the Halos on legendary? Even though 4 and 5 and infinite are not really that great?

[@DSE8991]

I really loved Halo CE, played literally a thousand hour, but not for Halo 2. I liked Outskirt and played that specific stage dozes of times, but for the rest of the game, I don't remember played more than couple of times. One thing I can say is I don't like Arbiter at all. No sympathy to him, and overly human-like covenant's politics bothered me a lot.

[@LilRick96]

You're tripping.

[@iforgotmyname1885]

Bungie paid nothing for Blow me away, Breaking Benamin said they would do it just for the publicity.

[@FrakMunkie]

The scene is definitely still there.

[@samtheweebo]

The player can take down tartar sauce's shield with a beam rifle. Don't need Johnson to do it.

[@eclipseRz]

0:06 impossible, I was 4

[@PochiPandalope]

Nice, christmas came early.

[@johnnybensonitis7853]

I remember that E3 showcase. I was in Iraq at the time and we had somehow gotten ahold of a disk with that on it, which I believe came with the game that another guy in my unit had brought back from his 2 week leave. It was exciting as hell to have the actual game after playing Halo 1 in LAN parties during any and all off time we had over there, and I remembered that gameplay footage from E3 where Cortana was calling out the various enemies and whatnot as Chief encountered them so I was actually just as excited for the campaign as I was the multiplayer. But alas, that E3 footage proved to be punched up and scripted a bit, which is a shame because it really just served as a slight detraction from what was already a great experience. That scripted shit only ever seems to serve to disappoint on some level.

[@GrandDukeMushroom]

Agh, good old nostalgia

[@obsecivegaming2996]

The elites protecting the bomb are much more harder to deal with on legandary

[@vinnylembo7355]

Im not saying your lying but, right after you got done saying that you revisited the Jackal sniper hallway on legendary. A Jackal sniper missed a shot…

[@BenPlaysGames]

This was definitely played on legendary - the jackals actually miss shot fairly regularly across multiple attempts but it's blind luck when they do.

[@Tk-427]

Please review Dead Space 3. Its over 10 years old now and its so far removed from the original Dead Space that had no cutscenes. Im not a writer so i cant make a youtube script explaining why it failed so hard with fans. But seriously if someone could count how much time was wasted in the unskipable cutscenes that would be interesting. also its when EA started getting greedy with microtransactions which i dont think has ever been done in a singleplayer / co-op game before.

[@INFILTR8US]

LoL I love DS3. Easily my most played in the series just for the story and crafting system