Why is Halo 2 considered to be so good?

[Dangit2019]

Not like the game was BAD, but it seems that when I see a Halo discussion, I always find someone who says the series was best at 2.

Imho, I didn't enjoy 2 at all. The game had some interesting parts and was definitely neat, but I just couldn't get over the number of times you got sent to Doom-esque corridors (the same corridors that the first game was famous for not having) to fight off endless Flood. The Flood-centered levels really represent to me what FPSs are at their lowest: mindlessly gunning down identical enemies in a dark, confusing, corridor.

The only way I could see it being as revered as it is is because of the multiplayer (which I'm too young to have played at its glory days), but the other games were pretty solid on both sp and mp.

So, why is it considered by some to be the best.

EDIT: Yes, you have the right to your opinion, I'm just curious of why. I hope this doesn't sound like one of those "WHY DO PEOPLE LIEK COD HUR DUR" threads.

 

[Eddie the head]

I don't like it that much. But some people like different things. If you don't like it don't let others opinions bother you.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I was under the impression that no one really liked Halo 2 all that much.

They just liked the multiplayer.

EDIT:

To elaborate, the most common complaints I tend to see against the Halo 2 campaign are...

1. It pulls a Metal Gear Solid 2 and doesn't let the player use Master Chief the whole game.
2. It ends with a fairly bad cliffhanger.
3. The levels/story are, for the most part, completely unmemorable after leaving New Mombasa.

 

[Dansen]

I still consider Outskirts and Metropolis to be some of the best campaign levels I have played in any game.

I love Halo 2, It was the first real online fps I played, it was just an all round good game and it had some of the best multiplayer maps in the series. I can understand why you might not like it, I think that ODST was the best part of the franchise, but what do I know.

 

[Saegrim]

I was under the impression that it was just Halo 2's multiplayer that was amazing, not the campaign.
That's all I ever hear of Halo 2-the multiplayer was fantastic. And nothing else.

 

[Erttheking]

I wouldn't know, ironically enough, it's the only halo game I didn't play. I bought CE, I bought 3 and ODST, hell I even bought wars, but for some reason I never got around to 2. And if Halo 3 was any indication, I wouldn't have liked the multiplayer that much, I really don't understand why it took Bungie until Reach to go "you know, maybe we should make the player go faster than 3 mph"

 

[Chester Rabbit]

For me it would be because it was my first Halo game. I played it during a pretty dramatic time in my life, and I really liked The Arbiter.

 

[C F]

Swinging Dual-wielded needlers around and finally being properly introduced to the inner workings of the Covenant are two big plusses for me. Can't say I like the campaign level design much, but I overlook that since the story was decent. I never fully played through 2 until after 3 was released, so the cliffhanger ending never bothered me much (I see how it would bother everyone else though).

And yes, the multiplayer was very good.

 

[Dangit2019]

Swinging Dual-wielded needlers around and finally being properly introduced to the inner workings of the Covenant are two big plusses for me. Can't say I like the campaign level design much, but I overlook that since the story was decent. I never fully played through 2 until after 3 was released, so the cliffhanger ending never bothered me much (I see how it would bother everyone else though).

And yes, the multiplayer was very good.

I guess it was sort of shockingly awesome with the online multiplayer. The story was pretty good, but I just could not stand the arbiter levels.

 

[RJ 17]

Pretty much every Halo fan that I actually know says that Halo 2 sucked. I never finished the campaign, so I never got to see the ending which apparently made people want to storm Bungie's HQ with pitch-forks and torches. I remember playing the campaign one night when I wasn't exactly sober and then I just kinda.....didn't play it again.

I do remember that dual-weilding Needlers was broken as all hell.

 

[Kae]

It revolutionized online multiplayer on consoles, simple as that at the time there was nothing like it that was quite so accessible so of course it's considered awesome by a lot of people because it introduced them to the online multiplayer thing, so of course it's a very special game compared to the other ones.

 

[scorptatious]

Halo 2 was the first game in the series that I played. And I thought it was really enjoyable. So I found it kind of strange when I found out how many people actually hated the game.

For me it would be because it was my first Halo game. I played it during a pretty dramatic time in my life, and I really liked The Arbiter.

The Arbiter was pretty much my favorite character in the game. I don't really understand why so many people disliked him as well.

 

[Skin]

Xbox Live and for a whole bunch of kids, it was their first experience with Halo. The game itself was a shoddy piece of shit that didn't even deserve a 5 rating, since it made the same exact mistakes as CE, but was also incredibly boring.

There are alot more reasons to hate Halo 2 than there are to love it. Its only the B.Net and Halo.X.O nerds that will ever make a claim to it being a good game.

 

[Comic Sans]

At the time I enjoyed it. The campaign had some good fights, if kind of repetitive by the end. The Arbiter and his stealth ability made for some very interesting tactical gameplay on Legendary difficulty. Mowing down hordes of enemies with dual weapons was fun. Unfortunately the last level really sucked (the one before was WAY better and felt more atmospheric, and the game should have ended there). I never did the online multiplayer, but my friends and I had tons of fun on split screen. But in hindsight, the game wasn't that great. But at the time those of us who were in high school or younger were simply happy to have more of the game that got many into console shooters.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Just like Halo is the game that sold the Xbox, I think Halo 2 is the game that sold Xbox Live. I could be wrong of course but on the Top X videos and, lists you'll see Halo 2 talked up almost exclusively because of the multiplayer. I preferred Combat Evolved to Halo 2 to be honest. Something about Halo 2 just seemed unfinished and, sloppy. The environments didn't seem to have been completely polished and the humans looked...well, horrible. Just my opinion though.

 

[Erana]

Xbox Live and for a whole bunch of kids, it was their first experience with Halo. The game itself was a shoddy piece of shit that didn't even deserve a 5 rating, since it made the same exact mistakes as CE, but was also incredibly boring.

There are alot more reasons to hate Halo 2 than there are to love it. Its only the B.Net and Halo.X.O nerds that will ever make a claim to it being a good game.

No. Stop right now. Belittling other peoples' opinions is not acceptable behavior on the Escapist.


OP, I also get the idea that people really loved the game for the multiplayer; I almost always hear the sentiment that, of the numbered Halo games, the first is generally considered the best, both as an overall gaming experience and as an entry into the series.
Halo 2 and 3 development wasn't quite development Hell, as they didn't take a super long time or repeatedly change hands, but Bungie was under so much pressure from the money peoples that they didn't really make the games they really wanted to make.

 

[Waaghpowa]

I maintain that halo 1 is still the best one despite enjoying both 1 and 2 (3 and on are pretty bad in my opinion). Though going back and playing both Halo 1 and 2, I don't know why I liked them so much. Bored to death on the recent play throughs.

 

[Zhukov]

Yeah, that puzzles me too.

I've always considered Halo 2 to be the weakest link in the series. It made all the aliens boring, the vehicle controls were horrible and the gameplay had this strange unpolished feel that I can't accurately describe.

 

[godofallu]

2 had the best multiplayer of the series. It had BR and dual wielding and the noob combo worked.

3 had the dumb throwables and bad maps. Reach had rifle bloom.

As far as single player goes I couldn't tell you the best because while I have beaten them all a few times I don't think any of them stand out. Although I guess 3 started out the strongest with the epic first few cutscenes that give me shivers of awe each time I watch them.

But 2 introduced the gravemind and Sargent Johnson showed everyone how to treat a lady.

 

[Waaghpowa]

2. It ends with a fairly bad cliffhanger.

Cliff hangers in general to me are a massive source of rage. It was definitely my biggest complaint.