Why is Halo 2 called Halo 2 when it appears that is has nothing to do with a Halo of any sort?
Actually, we don’t know that. :)
Bungie has said before that Earth is just one of several environments the Chief will visit this time around. Specualtion is that he’ll head to the Covenant homeworld, other planets or spacestations, and even another Halo.
They’re just being more cagey about details this time around. No need to get people excited, after all: they already are, and the Halo brand carries lots of weight on the Xbox.
Then again, this time it could indeed have nothing to do with a second Halo. We just don’t know.
The Halo 2 FAQ says:
Q: What is the plot of Halo 2?
A: The full story is a closely guarded secret but so far we can confirm that the Covenant forces will attack Earth, another Halo ring comes into play, and MC will take the battle to the Covenant. As with the first Halo, there will be a few new twists that you definitely won’t expect.
As with the first Halo, there will be a few new twists that you definitely won’t expect. Hopefully, this time you won’t laugh your ass off when we start sending waves of water balloons after you.
If the X-Box is $99 by the time Halo 2 ships, they might finally sell me one of those things.
Course, I’ll probably eBay it after I finish the game. ;-)
Great minds think alike.
I hope you don’t have to encounter any more of the flood enemies. Talk about annoying… they had none of the character of the Covenant.
I like the bulbous exploding dude. Other than that, they suck.
I started calling the regular Flood soldiers “Ammo carriers.” I frequently said to myself, “Oh, good, that Ammo Carrier has a shotgun.”
BTW, did anyone else run into a bug where you could not pick up weapons from the ground? It only happened in the later parts of the game, like where you are blowing up the reactor, but it was really annoying to have two shotgun shells left and only be able to pick up assault rifle ammo.
Those are empty weapons. That’s why you can’t pick them up, and it’s also why they have no ammo to give you. In other words: they’re scenery.
Yep. Empty weapons.
At any rate, I am really looking forward to Halo 2. The only shooters I have played that have been as good as the first Halo were Half-Life and System Shock 2. Halo is the ONLY console FPS I have really enjoyed. My wife and I are looking forward to some coop fighting in the big city!
I just finished the jillion mile long Library level, which I actually kind of dug, even though it seems that they took every single tired shooter convention that was in their game and shoved it into that level. Respawning enemies pouring out of destinationless shoots - huzzah!
The Flood are pretty lame, like The Many’s retarded intergalactic hillbilly cousin. The enemy roster includes a baby with tentacles, a mushroom wearing suspenders and Joseph Merrick. But the tension leading up to their appearance is pretty incredible, if slightly cheapened in retrospect due to the overall crumminess of The Flood. Considering what roll-over pussies they are, it is hard to imagine why some ancient race would need to destroy all life in the universe to contain them where as I’ve pretty much been able to do it by yawning in their general direction. But I enjoy the fact that there is one more faction to mix things up with - marines, Covenant, robots, the Flood, all of whom hate each other. It would have been interesting if The Covenant and the Marines started working together at game’s end against the common enemy.
robots?
I thought this, too. Hey Covenant dudes, we’re on the same side until we whip this Flood thing. Mind laying off the plasma a bit?
The empty weapons thing makes sense, but it seems odd since picking up all the ammo from a fallen weapon makes the weapon disappear. Running out of ammo is like heaven for weapons - they have achieved eternal life.
Jazar, those flying robot ornithopters that shoot laser beams at you, controlled by Guilty Spark 343.
I disagree about the crappiness of the Flood, both as an enemy and as a menace.
As an enemy, the trope is zombie huntin’. Bits, you know what I’m sayin’? Bits. I think it’s a nice contrast with the tactical hide and seek of the Covenant, just a whole lot of in-your-face rotting flesh, with shotguns. The only reason the Library level doesn’t sink Halo is that the basic zombie-splattering mechanism is so satisfying.
I agree the initial Flood assault is a bit of a let down, after that awesome buildup. They could have made the infection form scarier. Like the Halflife headcrabs, which managed to be both cute and fucking terrifying.
However, the Flood en masse are a decent adversary, particularly when a bomb flood sneaks up on you, wastes your shields, the jellyfish flood start zapping your health one bar at a time and the whip flood are doing their Devo thing on your armoured ass.
As a menace, i think the key isn’t that they’re any more deadly than Humans/Covenant et al, but that they are viral and spread exponentially.
Rarely do I see a Devo reference worked into a videogame thread, nicely done. :D
I agree. In addition, as pieces they are weak, yes, but even one CAN take you down, especially the buggers who pick up the rocket launcher (which, admittedly, is cheap instant death; they should have disabled their ability to use the weapon–every instance of Flood having them is basically a memory test for the player).
Plus, as a hive mind, they must have intelligence, of their own sort, or leeched from the minds they inhabit. I mean, Cortana tells us that they’re repairing a Covenant cruiser in order to leave the halo. The slobs that flap their arms while running at me sure aren’t rocket scientists. So, like the Covenant, there must be Flood types that we don’t get to see, the ones that do the work.
I don’t think there are types of Flood out there that aren’t in the game - I just don’t think the overmind or whatever controls the flood (which is never explained) just doesn’t really care if Zombie #4615315 gets shotgunned in the face. They’ve got another Million zombies to kill you with.
[size=7]The Flood is a plot device that should not be spoiled for those who have not yet played Halo, few as they might be. A couple of Spoiler warnings like this one is probably in place in several of the previous posts.[/size]
I really liked the way the Flood was used to provide a plausible way for you to resupply human weapons, by the time you met them the “Pick up medikit and weapons from the pre-placed dead soldier in the middle of a covenant base” routine was starting to become stale. The Flood ensured that you could keep with the core gameplay and just scavenge your enemies for ammo.
Also, when I first saw an infected carrier my very first thought was “Half-life ripoff”. Headcrabs, anyone?