List of Halo 2 changes

A Covenant Elite wields a plasma sword in Zanzibar, a multiplayer map. The ability to play as a Covenant Elite is new in Halo 2.

This is a list of changes that differenitate Halo 2 from the first Halo.

Weapons

• Any single handed gun can be dual wielded. The weapon in each hand can be the same or different from each other. When dual wielding, the player cannot throw grenades. When pressing the B button to melee, the player drops his left-handed weapon and melees as usual. Weapons which are known to currently fit into this category include the new sub-machine gun, the magnum, the plasma pistol, the plasma rifle, and the needler. Originally in the E3 2003 demo, two dual-wielded weapons can be added to your weapons inventory.
• The new BR55 Battle Rifle is capable of three-shot burst fire and 2x magnification. It has three times as many rounds as the pistol from the original Halo (36 per clip), yet fires in three round bursts, and has a 2x zoom which the pistol previously possesed and is arguably the new pistol. The role of the assault rifle from the original Halo seems to have gone to the submachine gun, while the pistol has now been rendered almost useless (many see this as an improvement, as they think it is nonsensical for a pistol to be more effective than a rifle).
• The new M7 Caseless sub-machine gun performs the inaccurate spray fire function of the previous game's MA5B Assault Rifle. There is also very noticeable recoil that forces the aim upwards.
• The M6D Pistol is replaced with the Magnum M6C, which is black colored, lacks a scope, and diminished in power--it is most effective now while being dual-wielded with another Magnum.
• The rocket launcher is capable of limited homing, called Target Tracking, which can only be used against vehicles. Target Tracking is activated by keeping the aim over the target for long enough it goes red to show that it is locked. It also features 5x magnification rather than 2x as it did in the original. The rocket's explosion radius has also been reduced.
• The Sniper Rifle has been redesigned visually, but essentially functions the same as the original with the addition of upward recoil from each shot. It also now utilises a 5x and 10x zoom rather that the 4x and 8x function in its predecssor and the night target flashlight has been removed.
• Fragmentation and Plasma grenades now feature a concussive force which temporarily dazes anyone caught in the blast radius but not killed by the initial explosion. The grenade's fuse also begins on the first impact rather than when it finally settles on the ground.
• The Covenant energy sword is now available to the player. It is capable of simple melee strikes or a powerful lunge attack that kills nearly all enemies with one hit.
• The Needler has undergone improvements, with higher firing rate and greater tracking, and is stated as "now actually worth picking up".
• The Carbine is a projectile based plasma weapon that features a scope. It is described as the Covenant solution to the Battle Rifle with a few subtle differences.
• The Brute Shot is a grenade launcher used by the new Brutes, it evolved from a Plasma Rifle model used in the E3 demo.
• The Covenant Beam Rifle is the Covenant sniping weapon, utilizing battery power like the other plasma weapons.
• The Brute Plasma Rifle is also dual-wieldable. It resembles the normal plasma rifle, except that it is red and fires red plasma at an increased rate. This was, before the game's release, known only as a "secret" Covenant weapon.
• The Sentinal Beam is a laser that the Forerunner Sentinels are commonly seen using. Upon destroying a Sentinel, you can wield its beam. The weapons comes in red and blue beam types, the blue being the stronger of the two.
• The Shotgun, plasma pistol, and plasma rifle as well as plasma grenades are confirmed as returning without significant changes. However, the shotgun seems weaker. It has been used by the Brutes.
• The Scarab Gun is a secret weapon which looks like a plasma rifle, but fires a devastating beam of light which explodes on impact, destroying everything in its massive blast radius.
• The melee attack range has been reduced, requiring even closer contact to be able to hit an enemy, but it is performed quicker. The time difference of melee attacks with different weapons are greatly reduced. All weapons pretty much melee the same, aside from the Energy Sword.
• Master Chief and the Arbiter's visors has a built-in zoom feature that allows 2x magnification. When zooming with a scopeless gun, this feature is used and the cross hairs will vanish. Firing will revert the magnification to normal.
• There are mounted destroyable stationary guns: the Human machine gun and Covenant plasma cannon turrets. They are available for use in both single and multi player.
• The Covenant Shade turret has shields to make it less vulnerable.
• The Player and his/her Marine/Covenant allies can now use any Human or Covenant weaponry

Vehicles

• All vehicles are prone to damage from gunfire or crashing. Damage is not just cosmetic and can reduce a vehicle's performance eventually resulting in the total destruction of the vehicle. The Warthog is capable of losing wheels and the "wings" of the Ghost and Banshee can be shot off. However, the vehicle will work as long as the player stays in it.
• When a vehicle gets knocked over and flips, the player would not be automatically ejected unless the vehicle stops rolling and is upside down. This allows the player inside a chance to land the vehicle upright and continue driving.
• The operators of vehicles can be knocked off their vehicle by another player through unexpected boarding. The boarding can only be done when the vehicle has slowed down, such as during turns or after a crash.
• It was at one time thought that a laser had been added to the warthog; however, it has now been confirmed as an early demo version of the Gauss warthog.
• The Warthog has been given a horn to distract, annoy, or warn others. It can be used in multiplayer to tell teammates to get in the gunner or passenger positions.
• A powerful "Gauss Cannon" has been added to some Warthogs, creating the Gauss Warthog variant, the successor of the Rocket Launcher Warthog of the 2000 and 2003 versions of Halo.
• There is a new Covenant dropship known as a Phantom, which has three large plasma cannons and is capable of dropping Covenant troops. It replaced the first game's unnamed Covenant dropship
• There is a new Covenant hovercraft called the Shadow, which is a troop transportation vehicle with a Shade turret on top. There is a Ghost docked underneath it. Players cannot board the Shadow or the Ghost underneath it. However, when the Shadow is destroyed, players are rewarded with a brand new usable Ghost.
• The Ghost has been given a boost function to allow for faster movement. The Boost quickly doubles the speed of the vehicle but makes turning more difficult. Vehicles using the boost function cannot fire weapons. Grunts can now use it.
• The Banshee also has a boost function like the Ghost. In addition, it can now perform a backflip, and a left or right spinning dodge.
• The Wraith, featured in the first game as the unusuable mortar tank, is now usable not only for the player but also his Marine/Covenant (they used it in the first game) allies and also features a Boost function.
• Vehicle control has been tweaked a bit. For example, a Warthog will not "fishtail" during turns as it did in Halo.
• The Warthog has an e-brake as well to let you skid around corners.
• The Flood can now use any vehicle.

Allies/Enemies

• New enemies include "Drones", grasshopper like creatures that are fast and agile. They have wings and can fly around. They mainly use the plasma pistol and needler. They also like to hide and snipe victims.
• Another new Covenant race is known as the Brute, the Elites' rivals for protecting the Prophets and leading the Covenant along with them which appears gorilla and rhinoceros like with its wild behaviour, strength, and hairy appearance. It is quoted from the third book as capable of tearing apart a Hunter (although, in the actual game, they're only about as powerful as an Elite, and a Hunter can actually kill several Brutes easily).
• Although rumored to be gone from Halo 2, Hunters are still in the game. However, they are much harder to kill than in the first game. Their fuel rod cannons become a blaster-like weapon which will shoot a beam of green, instead of lobbing a green missile. They can now do a backwards melee attack.
• Prophets are the religious leaders of the Covenant and are among the game's boss enemies (the others are Tartarus and the Heretic Leader).
• Gravemind is the creature that controls the Flood.
• The Covenant are now occasionally your allies (from the levels, The Arbiter to the last levels of Halo 2 (Great Journey)) Elites, Grunts, and Hunters.
• In Halo 1, only the Grunts speak English while all other Covenant races speak their own language, however in Halo 2, most of the Covenant speak English (except the Jackals and Drones).

Miscellaneous

• The E³ 2003 trailer has shown the game to take place largely on Earth with the Covenant bombarding and invading it. However, very little of the E³ 2003 trailer appears in the actual game, and little of the game besides the first few levels takes place on Earth which is not bombarded because it has a clue as to the location of the Ark the Covenant are trying to look for.
• The player is able to customize their Spartan's MJOLNIR Mark-VI and Elite battle armours for multiplayer. Players can change the colour schemes (primary and secondary color) for their armour. They can also customize an insignia for their armour.
• It seems that the jumping height has been increased enough to easily jump over a charging Ghost.
• The game fully utilizes the Xbox's ability to play in 5.1 surround sound. It also features a 16:9 widescreen mode.
• The health bar has been removed, left with only a shield bar. Once the shield is spent, the player is able to take only a few more hits before dying. However, once the shield is recharged, the player is back at full health. The new shield is twice as strong as the old but is still drainable in one shot by an overcharged plasma-pistol except on the Easy difficulty.
• Game messages indicating kills are more precise depending on the method used. For example, a melee kill will elicit the phrase "(Player) was beaten down by (Player)." Similarly, vehicle kills will result in one player being said to have "splattered" another, and a stealth kill will result in it being said one player was "assassinated" by the other. Additionally, depending on how quickly, or the amount of players you kill, different acknowledgements will be said. For example, for 5 kill, you will get a "killing spree" call. A rare one is "KILLimanjaro" You can achieve this if you kill 7 people within four seconds of each other. There are many. Have fun trying to get them all. Remember, its not just the amount of people you kill, its also the time it takes for you to do it.

Deleted Changes that might be in Halo 3

• Allies/Enemies: Engineer, Stalker, Alien Trooper, Keelbug, Drinol, Blind Wolf (Macworld 1999 and E3 2000 versions of the first Halo), Special Purpose Sniper
• Vehicles:Mongoose ATV, Warthogs of any terrain (including the Troop Transport Warthog), Doozy, Strike Fighter, Kestral
• Weapons: M7057 Defoilant Projector Flamethrower (Macworld 1999 version and Halo PC Multiplayer only)

Multiplayer

• Support for 16 players in multiplayer, on Xbox Live or system link.
• Both Spartans and Covenant Elites are playable in multiplayer, both against or with one another.
• Most Xbox Live 3.0 features are confirmed to be in the game, such as clans support.
• In Capture the Flag games, flag carriers will now move 33% slower. They will also be required to hold X to pick up the flag. A flag carrier also cannot drive a vehicle or man the Warthog's turret.
• There are switches in maps for manipulating various things, such as platforms and gates.
• In the case that a host Xbox goes out in a LAN, the game's hosting moves on to the next fastest connected Xbox rather than dropped altogether.