Halo 2 (2004)
Halo 2 is a 2004 shooter video game made by Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios.
Halo 2 splits its story between two soldiers on opposite sides of the same war. The Master Chief defends Earth as the Covenant strikes back, while a disgraced Elite warrior known as the Arbiter fights for survival within his own crumbling empire. Bungie alternates between these perspectives across a campaign that spans human cities and alien holy ships. The game also introduced Xbox Live matchmaking and dual-wielding, reshaping what online console play looked like.
Quick answers
What is Halo 2 about?
Halo 2 splits its story between two soldiers on opposite sides of the same war. The Master Chief defends Earth as the Covenant strikes back, while a disgraced Elite warrior known as the Arbiter fights for survival within his own crumbling empire. Bungie alternates between these perspectives across a campaign that spans human cities and alien holy ships. The game also introduced Xbox Live matchmaking and dual-wielding, reshaping what online console play looked like.
When was Halo 2 released?
Halo 2 was released on 9 November 2004.
Who made Halo 2?
Halo 2 was made by Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios.
Similar games
Explore Halo 2 guides
Halo 2 in our writing
A few thoughts on Halo 2
Halo: Broken Circle tells the Covenant's internal history from the Elites and Prophets' own point of view, which gives the Arbiter's arc in the game much more resonance. The Halo Graphic Novel is a sharp visual companion for fans of the universe's wider corners.
More Halo, and other wars where humanity is losing
Halo 2 splits its war between the Master Chief and the Arbiter, two soldiers on opposite sides of the same losing fight. The Halo Graphic Novel and Halo: Broken Circle dig deeper into that same universe, while Old Man's War, Half-Life 2 and Deltron 3030 tell their own versions of a species barely holding on against something bigger.
Concept albums that sound like an interstellar last stand
Halo 2's campaign runs on scale, a war fought across human cities and alien holy ships with no easy wins. Ayreon's Universal Migrator, Part 2, Muse's Black Holes and Revelations and Simulation Theory, and Vangelis's Blade Runner score all lean into that same widescreen, ominous sense of humanity facing something vast and unknowable.
Games that made online play as big a deal as the campaign
Halo 2 is remembered as much for putting Xbox Live matchmaking on the map as for its story, turning multiplayer into the reason people bought a console. GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Last of Us and Portal 2 each built a second life around players sharing the world together, long after the credits rolled.