This poor Arsian will never see it coming The dual wielded needler is a death dealer. The fact you could only carry two weapons at once made for some interesting tactical decisions. The enemies were mean, smart, and well designed. There were many other criticisms, which console gamers ignored, but there was also something about the game that transcended these things, at least for people who could get used to the gamepads and the split-screen multiplayer. The ending sequence ran choppy and felt out of place in the game. There was so little architecture in the game to aid players, Bungie just gave up and added glowing arrows in the floor to tell us where to go. We're used to lush, varied environments in our AAA games, and Halo treated us to a seemingly endless parade of dark purple hallways.
#HALO 2 PC#
The console press and gamers raved about it, but PC gamers couldn't get past the inelegant gamepads when they were used to keyboard and mouse. It didn't help that the game, at least by the standards of long-time PC gamers, was not very good. And not just bought by Microsoft, but being turned into a console game! It was like Bungie stuck a dagger into the flagging PC gaming world, and rubbed salt into the wound.
#HALO 2 MAC#
Not as hard as the Mac crowd, who practically tore their hair out online about their beloved Bungie not only not making Halo for the Mac but being bought out by Micro$oft. The first Halo launched with the Xbox, and boy, oh boy, did those of us on the PC side of things gnash our teeth at it. One review I read at an industry gig had the hilarious line "There was something big, and then you do something, and it was amazing." The early reviews often went on for pages without ever actually saying anything. "The enemies (which we're not allowed to talk about)?"
"It's hard to talk about the game while not giving anything away" "We don't want to ruin the plot points for you"
According to Penny Arcade, MS had a list of things you were not allowed to say when you review Halo 2. On top of that, there was a maddening press blackout on the actual reviews. Grandmothers know the name Halo and waited dutifully in line for their kids sleeping at home so they could go to school bragging about having the game waiting for them. It's a game that people who are already gamers play, it's a game that people who don't game play. While the game sold those amazing two million copies, there is no way to measure how much MS made off of add on sales of Xbox products, systems, and Halo branded merchandise. People bought the game, a second Xbox to go with it, Halo branded headsets, the novelization, the CD soundtrack with new Incubus and Hoobastank tracks, posters, one of two Tshirt designs, extra controllers, and Xbox LIVE kits so they could play their friends online. For Halo 2, stores opened at midnight, they extended their hours, chain video game stores made their week's goals in sales on that title alone alone.Ĭonsumers who waited in line for the midnight launch were treated to stores turned into giant Halo 2 displays. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, while also doing well at retail, didn't come anywhere close to those numbers even with the PS2's much larger installed base. That's only 500,000 fewer units than the Doom games sold in their entire lifetimes. That number is unheard of for a video game. The first day receipts were: according to reports, the title sold over 2 million copies the first 24 hours of release. No matter how good the game is the sales numbers are absolutely staggering. For all intents and purposes Halo 2 as a game is completely critic proof.