Reception
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | Xbox: 94.57% (101 reviews) PC: 72.67% (30 reviews) |
| Metacritic | Xbox: 95/100 (91 reviews) PC: 72/100 (32 reviews) |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Edge | 9/10 |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 10/10/10 Platinum Award |
| Game Informer | 10/10 |
| GameSpot | 9.4/10 Editor's Choice |
| GameSpy | 5/5 |
| IGN | 9.8/10 Best Xbox game of all time #2 Top 25 Xbox Games of All Time |
Halo 2 received critical acclaim. On review aggregate sites GameRankings and Metacritic, the game has attained overall scores of 94.57% and 95 out of 100, respectively. Halo 2 received multiple awards, including Best Console game and Best Sound Design from the Interactive Achievement Awards. According to Xbox.com, the game has received more than 38 individual awards.
Many reviewers praised the audio for being especially vivid. Multiplayer especially was noted in being the best on Xbox Live at the time. Game Informer, along with numerous other publications, rated it higher than Halo: Combat Evolved, citing enhanced multiplayer and less repetitive gameplay. Most critics noted that Halo 2 stuck with the formula that made its predecessor successful, and was alternatively praised and faulted for this decision. Edge's review concluded that Halo 2 could be summed up with a line from its script: "It's not a new plan. But we know it'll work."
The game's campaign mode received some criticism for being too short, and for featuring an abrupt cliffhanger ending. GameSpot noted that although the story's switching between the Covenant and Human factions made the plot more intricate, it distracted the player from Earth's survival and the main point of the game; while Edge labeled the plot "a confusing mess of fan-fiction sci-fi and bemusing Episode-II-style politics."
The Windows version of the game received mixed reviews, with IGN rating it a 7.5/10, and Gamespot giving it a 7.0/10. Most criticism was due to the late release date, and the graphics being dated. It received an aggregate score of 72.67% from GameRankings and 72 out of 100 from Metacritic.
Read more about this topic: Halo 2 Skulls
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)