I decided to start a new thread for this because I hate boxing spoilers. They don’t highlight as easily in my browser as in IE and I fear that many people on this board suffer the same fate.
Anyway…
My friend wouldn’t shut up during the cutscene leading into the arbiter storyline. I’m pretty sure that the arbiter was somehow responsible for the destruction of the first Halo (?) and he had to go after a heretic (?) but I missed the whole arbiter history and why I’m playing as a covenant scumbag, etc. Also, why is the Flood back, and did 343 Guilty Spark survive the destruction of the first Halo or is he an exact replica from the one we’re at now?
I landed on the halo and turned it off for the night so please flesh out everything that’s happened up to this point but nothing beyond.
I missed a bit of the arbiter scene but what I gather is that the arbiter was head of the covenant crew that allowed Master Chief to blow up Halo. That was his crime.
I dunno why the Flood is back but I was pissed and happy to see them again. (The Flood has to easily be the most annoying and original foe I’ve ever face in a videogame.)
IIRC 343 GS was seen leaving the Halo destruction at the end of the last HALO. CMIIW.
Okay, the profit says that in times of great need, someone can become the arbiter. They are standing in a mausoleum and from what I can tell, those are all the Covies who had given themselves up to become the arbiter in the past. Apparently, this will kill him eventually since the profit says that the council will have their (the elite’s) corpse. The elite was commander of the fleet that let the first Halo be destroyed. Now they are giving him another chance to redeem himself by becoming the arbiter and destroying the heretic. The Flood show up - don’t know why yet - and then Guilty Spark - the same one from the first game. If you read the insert that was included in the game, you can read a “transmission” from him where he talks about escaping the destruction and now he’s stuck floating in space. He then gets picked up by someone (doesn’t say who.) The heretic says the profits are lying about what Halo is and that the Oracle (Guilty Spark) knows the truth. A brute shows up and disables Guilty Spark before he fesses up, and everyone leaves the station. I think that’s about it.
Ok, I’m still confused. The Conevenant guy you’re playing as - Why is he fighting other Conevenant? (On an unrelated note, am I the only one who can’t tell the difference between my teammates and the enemy when playing as the Conevenant guy)?
Apparently, the other guy is a heretic (which I’m assuming actually means good guy, but I don’t think we’ll ever know since we killed him.)
No, you’re not the only one. Halo: Combat Evolved is probably my #1 favorite console game of all time but, after two days of playing, I’m ready to admit that I’m feeling pretty :dubious: about Halo 2. The story isn’t as intriguing, the scenery is cluttered and filled with bad color schemes that leave you aimlessly wandering through a near-monochrome blob, the HUD inexplicably took a step backwards, the boards are repetitive, boring, and frustrating to navigate…I could go on and on. I really hope that in a month or 2 I’ll have the motivation for a second playthrough and really come to appreciate it.
I hate hype. It ruins everything it touches :mad:.
I think you just need a new TV.
Seriously, I’m sorry you are having a “meh” time with it. I haven’t noticed the problems that you’re having - bad color especially. To me everything looks brightened up compared to the original, and the textures and detail are amazing. Not sure what you mean about the HUD either unless you are talking about the lack of a health bar - a feature I am not missing at all. I hated wasting my time running around trying to find health packs.
You said you were playing on a small TV in coop mode and this might be the source of your frustration. The only time I ever got lost in the original, I was playing on a 29" TV in coop mode. We wandered around several levels aimlessly and got very frustrated - played single player and I could see right away where everything was. I’ve got this one hooked up to a 50" LCD and haven’t gotten lost yet. See, now I have given you an excuse to splurge on a big screen TV.
You (the Arbiter) are an Elite Commander that let MC blow Halo to smithereens. You were supposed to have been put to death for that. Instead, the Prophets decided to make you an Arbiter and “execute” you by sending you on a suicide mission to kill a heretic who has broken with standard Covenant religion and has released the Flood because he believes that the Forerunners intended them as a holy test of purity.
There’s more, but this is as far as you’ve gotten, so this is all the story you get.
OK, Cisco, I can see where some of your complaints are coming from now. I’ve been playing both solo and coop simultaneously. I’ll start one way and then play catch up the other way and I am definitely running into some of the same issues when I’m playing coop. I solo played the Halo and Profit levels last night and had no problem with finding my way around. Played all morning in coop and noticed the difference immediately. You’re stuck with such a compressed frame that it all starts to look the same - like tunnel vision. Both of us got turned around multiple times. I won’t even mention how many times I got killed this morning. :o
