Halo 2

Halo 2 is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox. The second installment in the Halo franchise, the campaign follows the supersoldier Master Chief and the disgraced alien commander Arbiter in a 26th-century conflict between the United Nations Space Command, the genocidal Covenant, and the parasitic Flood. After the success of Halo: Combat Evolved (2001), a sequel was expected and highly anticipated. Bungie found inspiration in plot points and gameplay elements that had been left out of their first game, including online multiplayer. A troubled development and time constraints forced cuts to the scope, including the removal of a more ambitious multiplayer mode, and necessitated a cliffhanger ending to the campaign mode. Among Halo 2's marketing was an early alternate reality game, "I Love Bees", that involved players solving real-world puzzles. The gameplay is similar to its predecessor, while featuring new weapons, enemies, vehicles, and gameplay elements, most notably dual wielding certain weapons. Online multiplayer was available via Microsoft's Xbox Live service. Halo 2 was a critical and commercial success and is widely considered one of the greatest video games of all time. It became the most popular game on Xbox Live, holding that rank until the release of Gears of War for the Xbox 360 nearly two years later. Halo 2 is the best-selling Xbox game, with more than 8 million copies sold worldwide. It received widespread acclaim; with the multiplayer, audiovisual design, and soundtrack receiving particular praise; while the campaign and its cliffhanger ending was divisive. Halo 2's multiplayer mode was highly influential, and it cemented many features as industry standard in future games and online services, including matchmaking, lobbies, and clans. Halo 2's marketing heralded the beginnings of video games as blockbuster media. After the release, Bungie...