Halo 2 is a Perfect Sequel - A Retrospective┃History and Analysis

[@DeadliftsForTheDarkGods]

An absolute pleasure. Excited to play Halo 3!

[@MRARSON-v6t]

That’s my fav out of the entire series trust me ur gonna enjoy it

[@MRARSON-v6t]

Also man ur awesome

[@Earo16]

wait does that mean you haven't played Halo 3

[@charleswinters9567]

Halo 3 has the quintessential Halo experience

[@rm25088]

its alright, just way to short. Feels like a DLC. Halo CE and 2 are beasts.

[@rarepep329]

Why is halo important to me? I have replayed the Bungie games in full about 4 times in the past year. Not forcefully or for any challenge. But because I genuinely enjoy playing those games. When I paused after hearing your question and thought about it, the first thing that came to mind was nostalgia. As weird as it sounds to someone foreign to halo, blasting aliens as a super soldier brings me comfort. The second reason that followed was that it's genuinely a great story. I played them growing up but I was too young to appreciate it's story. Playing it this past year I was truly able to appreciate the meaning of the covenants missions. The holy war and crusade that they pursue. And the UNSC's dedication to stopping it. I have the soundtracks on CD and constantly in my Spotify "on repeat" playlist. Very few games have a soundtrack that is 10/10 like this. Mary absolutely popped off with his work and I love him for the dedication and passion he has for the franchise. I know he watches videos like this and if for some reason he reads through this, thank you. The impact his scores have on my emotions and mental well being is something I do not take lightly. I will never not say yes to playing halo if I'm asked. It IS important to me. It is important to a whole lot of people. And I am glad we all have our own experiences with the game that results in a mutual love and bond. I appreciate all the deep dive videos like this that keep conversation on what halo is. Hopefully Microsoft and 343 are listening. It will never be the same, but it has areas to improve that can spark a similar passion once again. I heard a joke about if you want a loyal partner find a halo fan. They have been waiting years for it to get better 😅😂

[@evprince]

This is a great answer! I feel it too.

[@notaprogamer2782]

Hmm.. or a sonic fan

[@masterofdisguise1112]

I'm sure a million people have already told you this. But half Jaw didn't lose half of his jaw fighting the humans. He actually lost half of his jaw fighting the flood.

[@gyurza__]

Oh i thought i was wrong for telling my friends about that yesterday lol turns out i was right! 'I am a genius!'

[@randomstuff508]

Halo CE: My dad got the gearbox port on PC and my sister and I would sit on my dad's lap watching him play it (4 years old). Halo 2: I remember my mom coming home with a new console called an Xbox that had a "built in memory card" and a copy of Halo 2. I played that game about 80% of the time on that console between 2005 and 2007. Halo 3: The big one. My mom described going out to Best Buy and a line spanning a quarter of a mile out the door. She simply walked in, showed a receipt, and got the legendary edition of Halo 3 in a matter of minutes. She brought it home and it was the most played game on the console from the entire family until Halo Reach came out. That's my brief story of my memories of Halo.

[@evprince]

I remember Halo 3 very well. Beautiful

[@arthurdumontiv1989]

Why does halo mean so much to me? It’s story. It’s story really resonated with me as a child. I had a lonely childhood and while it seems silly as a child the games and story served as a way to cope with that. Seeing that my “role model” of master chief and noble six didn’t need to talk and weren’t lonely. It was comforting.

[@ADR69]

Hands down my favorite game ever. Totally nostalgic take but just hearing the menu music hits me in the feels.

[@shreksnow1918]

Something I find truly bizarre about Halo 2’s development is how Bungie KNEW WELL IN ADVANCE that a lot of the thing they were working on for 2 would ultimately be scrapped, and still wasted time and resources on said things. The e3 demo was never designed to work on the original Xbox, and yet Bungie still worked on it because they wanted to wow the crowd (thankfully, Digsite will finally make that a reality). From what I’ve heard for a good chunk of development bungie had separate teams that were just kind of doing their own things and had barely any communication with each other until relatively late into development. I also heard that they also had the idea for make 2 be a tactical cover shooter (basically , what ODST should’ve been. We also should’ve been fighting Elites for a good chunk of that game, with Brutes appearing at night and the last few flashback missions) and switched it back at the 11th hour. That last would actually explain a lot of the game’s oddities like enemies not being nearly as mobile as they were in CE, if you go behind cover they’ll continue firing at the last place they saw you, and the higher difficulties play like it was meant to be a tactical shooter by making the player super vulnerable. By no means am I trying to diminish all the horrible stuff they went through during the game’s development. I just find it truly baffling how atrocious the management was for most of the game’s development, and why instead of refining the game they instead worked on stuff they knew wouldn’t make it into the game. Something that’s really interesting about the Halo 2 storyboards is some of the weird plot holes like the Heretic leader shooting at Arbiter right as Guilty Spark was about to explain what the Rings do, and the Covenant somehow having troops on the ground with encampments despite arriving at the same time as humans weren’t present. When Arbiter catches up to the Heretic leader you’d have a boss fight THEN as he’s laying on the ground dying Spark shows up. Right before he or Spark can reveal what the Rings do Tartarus and some Brutes show up killing the Heretic and collecting Spark. There were also some weird things that I’m VERY happy didn’t make it into the game. The big one is a boss fight with Mercy where instead of being jumped by an Infection Form Truth shuts the Forerunner ship’s door leaving him behind, and Mercy would proceed to pull out a wizard staff and have a boss fight with Chief. There were also some things that could go either way. Early on High Charity has a transparent dome, which could’ve enhanced the Great Schism by allowing us to see the fleet tear itself apart as we fought through the city, as opposed to just having Cortana tell us and seeing a quick glimpse at the end. On the other hand I LOVE the way High Charity looks in retail. More on the topic of cut content we know form Digsite that so many of the ideas Bungie would add in later games came from CE and 2. We also know from other reconstructions like Halo 2 Uncut that we would’ve seen several instances of Flood Pelicans being chased by Banshees, and cut dialogue where Cortana tells us that Flood spores compromised the city’s life support systems and that the biomass was growing exponentially across the city. There was also a cool line about the Prophets keeping the best toys to themselves in regards to the Gravity Thrones being able to teleport like Spark could. The Spector and Shadows (including a troop transport variant) were also supposed to have a far greater role within the game. Something I think would’ve greatly enhanced the Arbiter’s story would be for us to fight against humans and alongside Brutes prior to the Great Schism. My reasoning for this is that if the marines/ODSTs were smart like the enemies in FEAR it could’ve been a great way to further expand upon what it’s like to fight on the other side of the war, show how despite the fact humans were losing badly we were still able to largely hold our own in ground engagement and slow our inevitable extinction. It also would’ve made the human Elite alliance feel far more shaky and like on of necessity if we were previously fighting against humans as the Arbiter. Plus, if they had Sentinels fighting alongside Reclaimers and effortlessly interacting with Forerunner tech that’s been unresponsive to everyone else it could’ve been a great way to foreshadow the human Forerunner connection. As for fighting with Brutes, it would’ve made the betrayal leading to the Great Schism feel far more impactful if we got to see Brutes and Elites fighting and dying together for the same cause. It also could’ve been used to show the player what those things are capable of before we have to fight them. As well as making them feel like a proper member of the Covenant who are actively involved in the conflict, instead of just kind of being there until Bungie needed a new enemy type to add more variety. The last thing I’ll touch on is Halo 2’s original ending that would’ve been so much better than what we got in 3. The confrontation between Truth and Arbiter was so much better because we would’ve learned that Truth knew all along what the Rings would do, that they’d kill everything. The Arbiter also would’ve gone through a complete character arc where he’d throw his helmet on the ground rejecting the title that Truth gave him. After that they’d deactivate the Array and go their separate ways with Chief fighting off a pack of Brutes, and the Arbiter chasing after Spark. We’d then see the Data Vault where falling rubble would break open a sarcophagus revealing a Forerunner skeleton. This Forerunner would act as a holotype for the Ark’s (later changed to the portal to the Ark in 3 to pad the game out) machinery to guide evolution of indigenous life along a desired route. This being who fired the Rings and acted as the template for humanity was implied to the Abrahamic god and was guiding us throughout our development. The more mythical Bible stories like Noah building an Ark to save life from a coming Flood and God creating man in his image were recontextualized as symbolic retellings of Forerunner history and humans being made by shaping apes into Forerunners. Truth intended to wipe the slate clean and take this being’s place so the Ark would create a new species based on his genome becoming God that way. He had the other two hierarchs killed off as a way to eliminate competition in addition to a consolidation of power. He also caused the Great Schism to ensure that the Covenant would be far too distracted with a civil war to figure out what he was doing. All while he’s safe beneath the Ark’s shield and starts the reseeding process where that new species based on him would one day come to worship him and spread throughout the stars. In a way the Great Journey was a very real thing, but only ONE could walk it. In the end humanity would be free of the influence of the Forerunners and can choose their own destiny, and the Elites are freed from the Prophet’s lies. Now that would’ve been an INSANE ending! It’s such a shame we didn’t get that. Halo 3 was a lot of fun, but story wise it was complete trash. Aside from a few cool moments and the terminals Frank O’Conner didn’t write it mostly just spun its wheels, was filling out a checklist of things that needed to happen, and didn’t connect events very well. Truth and Miranda both took a noticeable drop in intelligence, and the Arbiter was reduced from one of the driving forces to being a side character because a bunch of manbabies raged that Halo 2 had more depth and a dual narrative that eventually game together. They also overcorrected on the Brutes being broken bullet sponges and tried to force them into the officer role left vacant by the Elites creating the worst of both worlds (aside from the 3 and a few other ranks that were awesome). They also neutered dual wielding because the “pro players” complained about it. It fixed so many of Halo ‘w issues, but in terms of narrative it’s a pretty big step from what we got to see in 2 and what was originally planned. The absence of Jason Jones and Joseph Statin really shows. My ideal Halo would be a remake of 2 that restores all the cut content, uses some ideas from the other games to fix issues with the original and make it more fleshed out, along with using modern hardware to give us Bungie’s original vision.

[@evprince]

"He's out of line, but he's right."

[@badsie1]

Amazing comment i agree 100% Maybe someday we will have a recreation of the halo 2 cut ending, and that about fighting alongside brutes would make the betrayal that much worse.

[@Zafarnama111]

Wow, just wow. Thank you for taking me back and filling me with nostalgia. Can't wait for Halo 3.

[@ST22239]

This game I hold near and dear to my heart. My dad and I would play for hours on end, i wish I could go back to those days.

[@miguelmackay4851]

Halo 2´s first mission may just be the best "first mission" in all of gaming

[@redfern6013]

I remember the first time I ever played Halo. It was 2014 in middle school robotics club. After we finished building our robots, one kid had the idea to bring a pirated Halo CE to the robotics lab on a flash drive. He ended up copying it onto all 20ish computers and everyone including the teachers ended up participating in MASSIVE LAN custom games. Blood Gulch CTF, Death Island BTB, Sidewinder FFA. That kid opened my eyes to the online gaming experience. My little sister also shares an exact birthday with my favorite Halo game, Halo 2. Nov. 9th, 2004. 🫡

[@Callsign-Wildcard]

Halo 2 was my intro to the series. I always felt it did a perfect job setting the stage based on 1. Even after playing the 1st game I still consider 2 a perfect start to the series. You can jump in having never played 1 and understand what's going on from the events and the references, which to me is a mark of good story writing.

[@dylanv.4970]

I really loved that you were able to make this retrospective without writing in backhanded criticisms of later Halo games by comparing them. I don't know if it was intentional, but as someone who loves the whole franchise mostly equally, it was really nice to listen to a video just talking about how great Halo 2 was with no caveats about the later franchise direction like so many creators put into their videos. And i was very impressed with your deep knowledge of the game and it's lore! You made mention of a lot of little things i see so many people never even notice.

[@evprince]

I like the later games too (not 5) but the main reason is because I was trying to keep it just about Halo 2. It's not a comparison video, just a retrospective. Glad you liked it, man!

[@BangNotThunder]

Your Halo videos are the perfect balance of informative and nostalgic. I immediately started replaying the campaigns starting with CE thanks to you lol

[@faustocancian5669]

Never been too close to Halo (I didn't have the chance to get an Xbox at the time), but I respect this saga so much. Halo did so much and inspired a lot of games that I did have the chance to play so it's great to see these mechanics and gameplay at it's roots, if you will. Halo 2 in particular feels like a real space opera. How they expanded the lore and the universe is just amazing. And the multiplayer... Bungie and Microsoft really were cooking back then. Great video! I'm really glad the algorithm introduced me to your channel.

[@evprince]

I'm glad you stuck around!

[@tsunderemerc2963]

I have insane respect for Bungie that despite having to rush games like 2 or make games they didn't even really want to like ODST and Reach, they put a lot of care and effort into them and doing their best. It would have been so easy to phone it in and half ass the game, but they didnt.

[@ChaoticDuelist]

Better with each video! Evan you're gonna be one of the greats in this field man. Your passion and love for scifi is so clear! Keep it up!

[@evprince]

Thanks! I do love sci-fi

[@02GrandAmGT1989]

I played the crap out of halo 2 multiplayer back in the day, lots of ranked play. My friends and i came up with a new game mode called zombies, 2 teams on swat game mode. 1 team has one player the other has the rest. Zombie has to use the sword, and human team has whatever they want. Dont know or remember how wide spread it was but my group came up with that and i guess its a game mode now. If you died to the zombie you change teams till everyone dies. Lots of fun

[@johndavis3999]

To me, Halo is a multiplayer masterpiece. I have so many fond memories of chilling with my friends, making maps in reach at sleepovers, and playing Halo CE anniversary edition and odst in my first apartment! I've also met a band who tours with Halo, and if you could beat the singer in a 1v1 you'd win a T-shirt. A bit of a shameless plug, but Jeff Steitzer, the multiplayer announcer, featured on a song I wrote! (Editing to add the track's name, "the Lord Speaks to you out of the fire")

[@StarsAndSticks]

Hey thanks for making this brother. I just ran through Halo 2 again, and watching this immediately after was helpful in that I got to see the story not broken up by multiple game sessions. Really enjoyed your insight and presentation.

[@trinstonmichaels7062]

Halo truly is a great series.

[@monolith4653]

There is actually a huge flaw in the Blur cutscenes. Sacred Icon: one scene with the Phantom flying backwards. Delta Halo: All the ODST drop pods have their doors already detached when they fly down in multiple scenes, you can see it if you look carefully.

[@Neros_light]

Your friend is so lucky to have played Halo 2 for the first time. I would love to be able to re-experience Halo like that again

[@LilRick96]

39:28 Halo 2 was first Halo game I ever experienced, i was like 7 or 8 I Believe. So i never got the initial introduction to the flood in CE until the MCC. Till this day and i stand by it, Halo 2 has the best and most scariest rendition of the Flood in the series. I had no idea what i was getting into when R'tas said he smelled that stench before. Walking into the hall way, hearing the gutteral screams, shrieks they made and the absolute brutal SLAUGHTERING of the Heretics taking place right underneath me through the fog filled glass floor was haunting to me. You could only see their eerie silhouettes standing and moving around and they run away and disappear. Then you hear your Elite and Grunts sound absolutely terrified as to what they just witnessed. The Remastered version weakened that scene by taking away the fog, brightening up the hallway and changing the sounds of the Flood. But overall, the Flood in Halo 2 are the scariest, most aggressive, the fastest, most horrifying of the series. If they had the ability of turning a live host into a combat form like Halo 3 did, absolute perfection

[@xboxisbetta]

My first experience with halo was Halo 2 on my cousins Xbox. I always saw him play it with his brother in law and eventually my younger brother and I were able to play ourselves. We were used to playing 007 Nighfire on GameCube at the time. This game blew our minds and we instantly begged our dad for an Xbox. What followed was incredible friendships lasting to this day. But most of the memories ended after halo 3.

[@brycevo]

Halo 2 was so amazing. That ending was perfect, thank you for it

[@fullauto86]

Good stuff man, your channel will grow for sure, keep up the quality.

[@hogexd]

I was recommended this, and as a halo fan since childhood, It’s obligatory for me to watch this :D really good video so far!

[@RyanSeanEckford]

Based on your video quality you’re getting a like even before I get around to watching this!

[@evprince]

Legend!

[@indiiiGo1223]

Based on this comment and like there was a like before the ad was even finished let’s get it

[@stygianoatman]

Thank you for covering this! Halo has meant a lot to me as well, I think I played Halo 3 with my brother when it first released. Halo 2 intrigued me but unfortunately I never got to experience the multiplayer (or even much of Halo in general) due to being sheltered, my parents didn't appreciate the majesty of Halo. I only really got to experience much for myself independently around 2017 I think when I finally got an Xbox 360 for Christmas. Never heard the Noble 14 story either, I'm really glad I watched this whole video :)

[@hammerhead737]

This is crazy. Just saw your halo ce video yesterday and was hoping for the sequel!

[@evprince]

Can't wait for 3!

[@dudeguys6362]

I did the same thing, I watched the 3-month old Halo CE retrospective video for the first time, and the very next day he released the one for Halo 2. 😂

[@kurtkloo7664]

Listening to this and replaying halo 2

[@JamieNorrish]

im too young to remember the first halos when they came out, but i remember playing reach when it came out, booting up forge mode with the boys and just having a blast, one of the greatest party games to exist without being a party game if that makes sense, i see halo at that time as a sci fi fps party game and love it for that, i have so many great memories from back then. Ive more recently played halo CE, 2 and am currently playing 3 and its incredible how something ive known for so long has so much more to offer than what i experienced as a kid, the world and the lore, the strategy specifically in CE, each halo has its own experience, i called reach a party game, but CE feels like chess if it were a fps, its truly an incredible experience and all with stunning worlds, music, badassery and so much more, really gets the blood pumping

[@deadeye4047]

The reveal of The Gravemind was absolutely insane! It even said that it preferred John over The Arbiter! I mean, Arbiter was just betrayed on The Prophets orders, and John just killed a Prophet. How much lower can Arbiter go while his greatest enemy is brought to greater and greater heights? Also, have you thought of going through The Legacy of Kain and/or Turok settings? Legendary! Not as much as Halo, but legendary in their own rights.

[@evprince]

Very true! Both sound cool, but I probably won't touch those for a while, if ever.

[@deadeye4047]

@evprince I understand. Can't blame a guy for trying. Good luck in your future and upcoming vids!

[@evprince]

@deadeye4047 my podcast co host yourfavoriteson has a stellar video on legacy of kain you'd love!

[@patrick888881]

I didn't get into Halo until about 2004/05, grew up poor and parents disaprroved of viddeo games. Finally got a hold of Combat Evolved and a used Xbox and enjoyed it immensely, and around 06 I got a copy of Halo 2. I got into the story and I felt the multiplayer was the best in the series ever.

[@rienstien1]

My own personal "you had to be there" story for Halo 2 when it was released would probably be going to the houses of random schoolmates or friends of friends, or having them come over after I owned the game, just to play Halo 2. Ivory Tower was my favorite for local multiplayer.

[@hope_canyon]

I was slightly too young for Halo CE. Halo 2, on the other hand, dropped when I was about 11. Between this game and MySpace, it was the beginning of my insight into how the internet would completely change how friendships are forged. There's people I still think about from my days of going to my local internet cafe (that had a heap of xboxes) and getting absolutely obliterated on ascension by my cousin and his older friends. It didn't matter. I think about these times in my life all the time

[@mickbreeden6516]

You're a very talented video essayer. In edition to your skill, your passion really came through in this video. Really well done

[@promark5317]

I love the first 3 halos. Two is dark and gritty and perfectly complements one's more fantastical sci-fi aesthetic.

[@willlauzon3744]

One thing i would have mentioned was the difference between MC and the Arbiter playing mostly similar but with one big difference. The Arbiter has limited cloaking which is AWESOME. Good video. Well done.

[@chozochiefxiii3298]

I'll share my story about Halo and Halo 2. Halo 2 is my favorite Halo, but it wasn't my first or even 5th game. It started when I was in higschool around 2012. Halo reach was on it's way out, Halo 4 was on it's way in, and Destiny was the future. My friend was talking about Halo reach. The way he described it, aliens, cool space soldiers, it got my interest. Now, I hadn't owned an xbox or 360. I was a Nintendo and Playstation kid, but I was so interested I searched the games on KZbin and watched full campaign playthroughs of halo reach, ce anniversary, halo 2, halo 3, and odst, catching up on the story prior to halo 4. Christmas Holiday 2012 would change my life. My uncle surprised us with an xbox 360. With call of duty black ops 2. I played it a bit and didn't really care. However maybe it was a Christmas gift i had wished for, or maybe it was just luck, but during Christmas break I received and beat Halo 4. My first blind playthrough of a Halo game. I then made it my mission to get all the Halo games. I did end up playing them out of order: halo 3, combat evolved anniversary, halo 3 odst, halo reach. It wasn't until i had to get a hard drive for my xbox 360 for destiny in 2014 that i could finally play a copy of Halo 2 i had found. Halo 2 was a mythical game to me. It was that missing piece that holds the trilogy together. The one I was most excited to play. I fell in love with the world, characters, story, everything. Halo 2 became my favorite Halo game. Fast forward years, halo 5 comes out and is dissapointing (aside from the sanghelios levels). I end up solidified as a lore nerd, reading all the current books including the forerunner trilogy. I read those for summer reading. My love for halo 4 dwindles, I experience the toxic side of the community first hand, i get excited for halo infinite and the campaign is a let down. More toxicity and 343 hate. I move on to other shooters like doom and it usurps halos gameplay for me. I end up feeling nostalgic for halo and wonder if I should even love it anymore. I see bungies behind the scenes for the original trilogy, especially halo 2 and the love is rekindled. Halo 2 made me want to be a game designer, but i failed so I know if I should consider modding. Learning the truth of bungies vision has me questioning if i should stop caring about 343 halo. They changed lore only to do nothing with it across 3 games. Mcc is unplayable with a hacker problem and Microsoft doesn't deem it necessary to fix. I was getting emotionally confused and upset processing this news. So I decided to play Halo 2 again. It was magical all over again. It just felt good, felt comforting. I know now without a shadow of a doubt that Halo 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, and my favorite Halo. My only regret is not being able to experience classic halo 2 and 3 multiplayer. All my friends just like to play reach. Anyway, thank you for allowing me to share my story. If we never get a good Halo ever again. At least there's still Halo 2.

[@Mi_kid05]

Honestly i inherited my love of halo from my dad but it expanded and multiplied not unlike a flood infection. I remember when i was 4 and we went to eat dinner and he saw rvb on netflix and put it on not knowing what it was and had to rush to turn it off after 2 mins. And after years i played halo ce with my dads disk on my buddies xbox where made the thumbstick out of masking tape because his duke controller had been cracked and they split into 4 pieces in the shell. We traded until we beat it with his one controller. Im only 19 but i cant remember a time where halo wasnt a part of my life.

[@Snacksaloon]

Man I’ve been waiting for this since the Halo CE video, can’t wait to set some time aside this weekend to watch this!

[@rm25088]

I replayed 2 about 4 times in the past couple weeks. I always try to beat my scores so it makes it a challenge. Thanks for the lore. I don't know anything about lore but its kinda cool.

[@MyKiller890]

I see a 2 hour video of halo, i press like.

[@jackofalltraits2145]

Great video as always man! Halo 2 is one of those games that can't be overly praised. While Halo 2 may be my least favorite of the original trilogy (worse weapon balancing than CE and 3, the Flood being a pain to fight, the tower defense sections, Brutes being very bullet spongey) I can’t deny how important and phenomenal it is as a full package. From the epic and deep storyline following two badasses of war, the beautiful and unique locations, and of course the revolutionary online component, Halo 2 that brought in all the ideas that would become staples of the franchise and ones that sadly wouldn’t (I miss dual wielding 😢). It may not be my favorite Halo (that title is always switching from CE to 3) but that does not mean it ain't awesome. My third favorite of the series. Interesting Fact: did you know that originally the juggernaut game mode had the player play as the cut juggernaut flood form that was cut from the campaign? I didn’t until recently and it blew my mind. Great retrospective of one of my favorite video games. Can’t wait for the final chapter of the epic trilogy!

[@evprince]

Wow I didn't know that about the juggernaut! Halo 4 would do something similar for infection later on.

[@jackofalltraits2145]

@@evprince You could control the massive tentacles of the creature by using the XBOX's triggers. It sounded really cool.

[@Rschr101]

Beating this on Legendary is a rite of passage. Classic game, even in its unfinished state.

[@williammanning5066]

40:30 this was always one of my favorite sections, simply due to the music. I play with anniversary graphics, *except* for much of the arbiter missions for that reason

[@Jackpkmn]

It's a small detail but it always bothered me that Miranda Keys shows up in the library just in her bridge officers uniform. No armor no environmental containment suit to stave off the flood no protection at all. Johnson is reasonably armored up but she shows up in the combat equivalent of street cloths.

[@devindalton4688]

One of my favorite little details about the original version of Combat Evolved is when you watch the cutscene revealing the flood, Jacob Keyes is there wearing a marine combat uniform as opposed to his captain's uniform.

[@mynameisNeo369]

Your retrospectives are great, just finished Halo CE Retrospective and it made me wanna get an xbox 😅. I was 11, my cousin got it and we played it with them big ass original controllers over and over. Also love your star wars, resident evil and silent hill retrospectives. Keep it up man, im thankful to have found your channel and be subscribed Edit: i have never heard about the 14 remaining Spartans, that was really touching actually

[@markl5998]

Yo the og Xbox controllers haha

[@Nichrysalis]

Why is Halo important to me? It taught me chivalry, and it instilled an appreciation for community in me to this day.

[@evprince]

🙏🙏🙏

[@Spartan73799]

It taught me T-bagging

[@SayedTufailShah-g8h]

Halo is important to me because we are fighting for what is important to us, sacrifycing ourself to achive it if necessary for others.

[@jprgohard7138]

Intro was so ballerrr

[@imstephen4938]

1:18:02 Rtas lost half of his jaw, fighting his second in command who was infected by the flood on the infinite succor. Not by humans, other than that great video!

[@kumara5731]

5:16 young Jimmy Kimmel spotted

[@logancade342]

I adore the pre-rendered cutscenes in Halo 2 because they don't use that Pixar-esque aesthetic that's so common across the entire industry to this day.

[@Hunac-Ceel]

Really enjoy your work bud ❤️ Would love to see you do a video on F.E.A.R

[@evprince]

Would love to do videos on F.E.A.R!

[@ma9052]

Thank you for the comprehensive video. Wish I could do more than like and sub.

[@evprince]

Just happy to have your support

[@ali_m_]

Damn this is a good video, you really deserve more views

[@WinterLgndWolf]

I'm sure someone has already commented about it but you forgot the Covenant Shadow and Phantom when talking about the vehicles

[@Talinth]

Legend!

[@TheChosenOne1098]

49:28 wait what you were meant to stay I always just ran past it!!!!!

[@christopheredge9002]

I like to think somewhere out there in the ether the noble 14 are keeping up the fight for us all. Until the end.

[@kattybratt1353]

oh ive been waiting for this :)

[@kienPerry-wi6bl]

Please do the rest of the halo games and I hope you’re doing well and take care😊

[@Haider08]

Noble 14 story got me tearing up

[@Mstr4Pltrgst]

Halo literally raised me

[@danielkong6767]

Another homerun of an indeapth video! I do prefer sw but i wont complain when i get halo

[@evprince]

Tryna do SW every month so you'll stay eatin on this channel man!

[@danielkong6767]

@@evprince Your sw vids(and now also halo) will get me through my dietiscian exams, i tip my hat to you sir!

[@gasmaskguys4965]

This stuff is amazing!!!

[@wifi_soldier5076]

33:13 it is possible to save the tank, you just have to be really quick.

[@riftshredder5438]

I was there when all this happened, I was a teenager in the early 2000's, and Halo was everywhere, you couldn't deni how popular it was, hell, even Christians tried to boycott it

[@killerbtwd]

Great video !! But did you cover the scorpion during the weapons and vehicles section? I don’t remember seeing it. If someone can find it let me know

[@ahmaddagodelchapo793]

It’s here

[@hhh]

great game

[@Martin0]

That was actually really really nice of him to give their bomb back... I would have just kept it!

[@Martin0]

I think it looks cool

[@ImaginArt24]

i love halo man id love to play with ya some time

[@HypoGlycemic95]

Legendary

[@TheDarthWeasel]

Earned my sub bro. Would love to play MCC sometime.

[@DarthMalgusThaGoat]

Half jaw lost half his mandible in a sword fight against his friend turned into flood and he was a sword master

[@alastairmcleod5089]

Halo 2 twenty years ago today!!

[@mitchcompton5929]

Best game of all time

[@josephtaylor9738]

When are you doing the rest of the halo games?

[@cats77364]

halo 2 scorpion my beloved

[@spartanq7781]

One of my all time favorite games yet it was a shadow of what it was meant to be. Imagine if we got Halo 2 as it was intended. A lot of was cut was never implemented. Halo 3 wasn't originally going to exist or at least it wouldn't have finished the fight. Since it would have ended here. You can clearly tell because Halo 3's campaign is far less interesting narrativly. I mean hell it takes halfway through the game before anything significant happens. Bungie clearly didn't anticipate needing a third game to finish the story so it spun it's wheels. Either Halo 2 or Reach has my favorite narrative in all of Halo. Narrativly Halo 3 has always felt like a let down. It also made changes to gameplay and the multiplayer and to be honest I preferred both in Halo 2. Halo 3 is great in spite of circumstances that wasn't it's own fault but Halo 2 is still the pinnacle of Halo too me linearity notwithstanding as Halo 1 and Odst still does that best.

[@willlauzon3744]

Im going to disagree with your tower defence complaints. In most battles with fire arms (modern warefare), you will be in a position where you are wither attacking a defended location or defending an attacked location. Even if you are infiltrating a defended position, occasionally you will come across something like a locked door or something where you will have to defend for a time before you can continue. If anything it makes the game feel more tactically realistic.

[@123Voynich]

If it didnt have crunch, wasnt bound by the original xbox, if they have just a bit more time oh the plans they had it couldve been the greatest game of all time

[@Buutenks]

I played halo 2 many years ago, however, it didnt click for me like halo 1. Halo CE had big levels, while Halo 2 seemed much smaller. I enjoy replaying the campaigns of Reach, Halo 1, Halo 3, even Halo 4. But the Halo 2 campaign feels idk empty maybe. Its weird. Cant really tell, but something about Halo 2 campaign seems off.

[@Redneck_4wheelers]

He does a good overview but doesn't go into things like how the dropship is flying backwards on sarce icon and removed jugernaut and so on but otherwise a good vid

[@johnlukecolley5543]

Just so you know you need to read the graphic novel for halo as it explained Rtas having only 2 mandibles, it was against his friend who was infested by the flood who was an accomplished blade master, the flood used that intelligence to fight Rtas to the point where he faked an opening to kill his friend but it cost him his left mandibles

[@ScotsThinker]

1:45:32 - That was a fun session, wasn't it M8? kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJ6lmZaKn91_aaM I'm glad to have contributed to your video.

[@evprince]

Loved it

[@kyleking3087]

I played halo 2 for the very first time less than a month ago, and let me tell you those tower defence set pieces were so annoying and obvious coming from an avid fan of halo 1 and later games who just never got the chance to play 2

[@DJosephRivas]

As a long time halo fan and a destiny players since alpha, it’s insane how Bungie has held it together when everything they’ve done has been an absolute mess until release, guess that’s why they’re in the predicament they’re in right now.

[@ImaginArt24]

halo 2 is gonna be even better with everything being fixed by ruby check rubys reblanaced mod i think youll like it

[@willlauzon3744]

I always said Halo 2 was proably tied with Halo. I loved the Arbiter missions and story probably more than Master Chiefs. Lack of pistol was sad as was the new rifle, liked the old one better. Hiw come it never got a remaster on 360 like Halo did?

[@BigRed0059]

Mythic account on the bungie forums.

[@heppuplays9125]

Honestly one of my ONLY big Critiques of this game is that it lookss ugly as shit to me. And it's not even THAT bad of a looking game sure. But to me it just kinda falls into the uncanny valley of realism. Like I can i can See CE's Graphics as "good" due to how Strong the Artstyle is and it still carries that 90's half life type of character model design. But Halo 2 kinda just falls into the Inbetween of Cartoonishly old. and the Genuenly kinda realistic you'd see in Halo 3 only a couple of years later. it very much FEELS like it's a Next Gen Title Running on a Last game console and not in a good way. and what i mean by Next gen is mostly in the lighting. Shadows and stuff just feels really Poor. even compared to the first game. Like some of the Shading feels all over the place. on like character models and the enviroments. which is why i'm eternally greatful for Halo 2 Anniversary.

[@123Voynich]

Dude it had to run on the original xbox, they had about 1 year to make it, and the original stencil shadow lighting they built it around was just too much for the hardware. It really isnt their fault it doesnt look as good as it could

[@masterrodrigo118]

39:30 he isn't thel vadaam he is half jaw

[@ScotsThinker]

*First*

[@Hunterunt]

Halo 2

[@wildbill9490]

Wow, so grown men were living in their parents basements even back then?