Video Game History: Halo 2

When your first game for an unproven video game console becomes a critical and commercial smash hit, what do you do? For developer Bungie, the creator of Halo: Combat Evolved, the answer was simply: make another one.

Combat Evolved sold one million units by April 2002, faster than any other console game of the generation (1). By mid-2003 that number was up to three million (2). More importantly, Halo sold consoles, and became the Xbox's killer app-the software that everyone who bought an Xbox took home as well (3). There was no question of if there would be a sequel, but when. And publisher Microsoft would want a sequel sooner rather than later.

In developing Combat Evolved, Bungie had developed some ideas for extending the story and experience beyond the one game. Back when Halo was an untested product their options were limited; now, as the poster-child for the Xbox, Bungie had the support to expand their scope and push for a more ambitious sequel (4). Their biggest goal was no small task-the creation of a full-featured multiplayer component run through the Xbox Live service. Xbox Live hadn't been released when Combat Evolved shipped, and players were limited to networking Xboxes together with LAN cables for up to sixteen players-it was cumbersome and difficult, and Bungie had barely been able to finish the multiplayer in time for ship. Now, starting from the ground up, Bungie wanted to make their sequel the best multiplayer game available on the service.

Halo 2 was announced September 2002, not a year after the release of Combat Evolved. It was followed up by a long gameplay trailer at the 2003 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Fans and viewers were impressed: the trailer and accompanying gameplay demo featured the armored protagonist and super-soldier Master Chief waging war against the alien Covenant as they invade Earth. The Chief was dual-wielding submachine guns and punching Covenant out of their own vehicles amid intense urban warfare. Everyone who left the viewing was impressed, but there was just one problem: the trailer-demo was a lie. At E3 2003, Halo 2's game engine was simply too advanced for the hardware, the lighting effects too taxing, the environments too sprawling. The gameplay demo was unrealistic as a final product. Ultimately, Bungie decided that most of their work would have to be scrapped eighteen months before launch.

The decision to rewrite much of the underlying game tech impacted other stages of the game development process. Art teams could not test their assets in a working version of the game. Levels were scaled back as technology constraints were realized, meaning that the story had to be stripped down as well. The team was just running out of time (4).

The final year of development marked what Bungie later termed the "mother of all crunches" in order to create a shippable game (5). Part of the problem was that although Bungie had added more team members for the game, they were still used to a more informal development schedule and organization. "We were kids going through a messy adolescence, but with tens of millions of dollars' worth of budget and the whole world looking at us," said engineering lead Chris Butcher (4). As the end of 2004 approached, the pressure only increased. There was no time for a "polish period" towards the end of development-everything was getting placed in the game as fast as they could. One of the major casualties was the game's plot; instead of ending the game back on Earth to finish the fight, players were treated to an abrupt cliffhanger that many felt was sour.

Ultimately, despite the trimmed plot and lost features, Halo 2 shipped November 9, 2004, on time. 2.4 million copies were sold in the first 24 hours; the resulting $125 million gross was the highest opening for any entertainment product in history at that point. The critical consensus was still highly positive, but what ensured the series' longevity was the multiplayer. Halo 2 on Xbox Live was a hit-it took years before another game pushed it from the top spot on the most-played charts. By 2008 the game had sold more than 8.4 million units (6). Not surprisingly, the open cliffhanger at the end of the game and the massive income guaranteed the sequel, Halo 3.

Halo 2 was not only notable for its gross and the maturing of video games as a mass-market phenomenon, but also for its marketing. There were licensed tie-ins, new companion novels, posters and television ads, but one of the most innovative elements was an "alternate reality game" or ARG called "ilovebees". ARGs blur the line between game worlds and real worlds, inviting participation of regular interested users into an unfolding narrative. At the time of Halo 2, there had only really been one previous ARG (for the film A.I.), and it was an unproven marketing technique. Interested players became aware of the ARG thanks to a brief message embedded in a Halo 2 trailer. Clues led to a web site about beekeeping that was ostensibly hacked by forces unknown. Players scouted the web for clues, received cryptic messages from phone booths, and pieced together a side story that tied into Halo 2's plot. Ultimately the marketing was a success, and helped legitimize ARGs as an effective and engaging technique (7).

Microsoft shut down Xbox Live support for Halo 2 on April 15, 2010, but in a testament to the impact of Halo 2's multiplayer it took three weeks before the last player finally left matchmaking (8). While there have been flashier Halo games since, it was Halo 2 that cemented the legacy of Combat Evolved and created the multiplayer standard against which every console shooter is judged. Halo 2 created the enduring Halo franchise and laid the groundwork for a mammoth expansion of the franchise.

References
* (1) Microsoft (April 8, 20020). "'Halo: Combat Evolved' for Xbox tops 1 million mark in record time". Press release. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
* (2) Sam Parker (July 14, 2003). "Halo sells 3 million". GameSpot. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
* (3) Andy Patrizio (January 9, 2002). "Xbox Assault Only Starting". Wired. Retrieved December 18, 2010.
* (4) Rob Fahey (April 11, 2010). "Better than Halo: The Making of Halo 2". Eurogamer. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
* (5) Rus McLaughlin (November 15, 2010). "The History of Halo: The Gun Pointed At the Head of the Universe". IGN. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
* (6) Nova Barlow (November 10, 2008). "This Week in Gaming History". The Escapist. Retrieved December 16, 2010.
* (7) Adrian Hon (May 9, 2005). "The Rise of ARGs". Gamasutra. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
* (8) Daniel Terdiman (May 11, 2010). "Last Halo 2 player finally leaves Xbox Live". CNET. Retrieved December 19, 2010.

Halo 2
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More Halo stories and Video Game History from David Fuchs: "The History of First-Person Shooter Games" / "Video Games, Retcons, and Canon" / "Halo Evolutions Book Review" / "Video Game History: Halo: Combat Evolved" / "The Halo Movie Adaptation" / "Is Halo Doomed?"