This game is also available on PC.
Retro Game Walkthroughs for Halo 2 (Xbox)
Submitted By: eyesonjason
Halo Multiplayer Tips/Variants
Tips
Jump About:
When battling on a multiplayer game (or indeed on a single player game) jump about as it makes you a lot harder to hit. Snipers can hardly get you, as they have no way to predict your movement. When playing my stepbrother he gets infuriated by the way I do not stop moving.
Aim For The Head:
It does the most damage – usually wiping out your opponent in two or three shots (depending on the weapon). It also serves as a bragging point to your friends as headshots are recorded in the multiplayer stats – so if you tie for a position – you can take them down to that all important figure.
Learn the Multiplayer Icons:
This will help you identify your friends/allies in game and enable you to assist them if they are attacking or under attack. This is really important in team battles as you can easily see if your tactics are working.
Aim For Vehicles:
The rocket launcher or a simple grenade in the vehicle’s path easily destroys most vehicles. As they are explosive weapons and the vehicles are run on explosive fuel – a vast amount of damage can be caused – usually killing the driver or passenger. They are also very vulnerable to hi-jacking. Unless absolutely necessary, avoid vehicles on small maps as you are an easy target.
The best way to take out a vehicle if you don’t have an explosive arsenal is to hi-jack it – but this can be harder than it sounds…
Learn The Map:
If you know the map well, you’ll have a good knowledge on the map’s vantage points and also know what areas of the map to avoid straying into. Most maps have a central area, which is wide open for attack (these are areas to avoid…) and also have high or protective spots (perfect for sniping your opponents or regenerating shields – these are also good spots to attack your opponents).
The best way to learn the map is to play offline against a little brother or sister, or play on it alone (you can load up the multiplayer maps when one person is signed in). This way you find all the best places without being killed.
Melee Attacks
Probably the biggest insult in the game – if you can beat down your opponent whilst he or she is shooting you, it’s a major kill – as your foe will be too embarrassed to get close to you again.
Assassinations are a lot better as your foes won’t know what hit them. It also looks good if you collect an assassination medal and will give you a major satisfaction and confidence boost!
Plasma/Energy Swords
Always try to have one of these as a weapon as these make melee attacks so much easier and in close combat it is probably one of the most lethal weapons. Wait until the reticule of the sword turns red and then hit the R trigger – your opponent will be dead before they know what hit them.
Dual Wielding
Use this feature to your advantage. Combine the weapons together and you’ll get the combined effects of both weapons. The best combination is dual needlers (one needler seemed really pathetic, but two are lethal). Try a selection of weapons to see what works best for you.
Homing Rockets
Use the rocket launcher’s homing facility to lock on to moving vehicles. Get it in your rocket’s zoomed in sights and then lock on by holding down the R trigger. You are unlikely to miss.
This tip is particularly useful for taking out those pesky banshees.
Split Screen
Although it may be considered cheating, you can glance slightly at your opponents screen to know where they are. However hard you try, your subconscious picks up on their positions, so use this to your advantage – your opponents are probably doing the same to you.
If you really can’t stand this “cheating” then place a piece of card along the split and sit opposite sides of the card. I wouldn’t recommend this though.
Unofficial Game Variants
Some of these games require you to create new game settings. This can be done in several menus in the game. This guide may also be useful for understanding game requests on Xbox Live.
SAS
This is my favourite game – based under the SLAYER game type. In this variant, you imitate real SWAT teams by setting up several game settings as below.
NO SHIELDS
NO MOTION SENSORS
HUMAN WEAPONS
3 ROUNDS
25 KILLS PER ROUND
(Other in game options may be changed for preference)
Ideal maps to play this on are TERMINAL, TURF and LOCKOUT, although it has no set map.
ZOMBIES
This is based under the TEAM SLAYER game type. In this game type a group of players face a zombie character and every time the zombie kills somebody, they change teams and become a zombie (just as you would expect after being killed by the zombie). The last human player standing wins the round. Here you can either end the game or have the remaining human be the zombie and switch the colours of the teams.
The catch is that each team should use different weapons – the team of humans (the blue team) uses a human weapon such as a shotgun or the magnum and the zombie team must use the energy sword. Soon as the zombie makes the kill, the dead human must pause the game and change colour to the zombie team.
This game is hard to keep under control as it requires a lot of honesty – both teams must use only their own weapon type and not use the other teams weapons. Also if you are a human, make sure you change teams when you die.
A good map to play this game is on FOUNDATION. Zombies should not use grenades so GRENADES MUST BE SWITCHED OFF. Also as humans or zombies do not have ESP, MOTION SENSORS SHOULD BE SWITCHED OFF.
GLITCH
This game isn’t really a game but a set up to work out where the flaws of the maps are. The weapons used should be the ROCKET LAUNCHER (can be useful in some situations) and the ENERGY SWORD (useful for the sword-cancel jump (and the butterfly jumps))
NO TIMER, UNLIMITED KILLS and MOTION SENSOR SWITCHED ON.
CHILLI TAG
JUGGERNAUT GAME TYPE
SET PLAYER LIVES TO 3
LAST MAN STANDING
TURN OFF TIME LIMIT
PRIMARY WEAPON AS MAGNUM
SECONDARY WEAPON AS SHOTGUN
MOTION SENSOR SWITCHED OFF
Ideal maps are BLOODGULCH and any other large map
FIGHT CLUB
KING OF THE HILL VARIANT
SHIELDS SWITCHED OFF
WEAPONS SWITCHED TO PLASMA RIFLE
GRENADES SWITCHED OFF
HILL SET TO STATIONARY
TIME TO WIN – VARIABLE (To be decided before match)
Two players enter the hill at the same time and try to kill one another with melee attacks. The winner stays in the ring and then the next contestant enters. The only rules are as above and NO SHOOTING.
TRUE SNIPERS
NO TIMER
NO SHIELDS
NO MOTION SENSOR
NO OTHER WEAPONS ON MAP
Set the game to have a primary weapon and secondary weapon to be sniper and beam rifles. Very deadly game which is just a matter of who is the most skilful sniper. Carbines may be substituted into the weapons line-up.
PISTOLS AT DAWN
NO SHIELDS
NO MOTION SENSOR
NO MOTION SENSOR
NO ACTIVE CAMO
NO OVERSHIELD
NO TIME LIMIT
NO WEAPONS ON MAP
The map to be used would be BLOODGULCH and the weapons set to magnums. The first to 100 kills is the winner. Simple game to play – but great fun
GHOSTBUSTERS
JUGGERNAUT VARIANT
JUGGERNAUT RESISTANCE ON
ACTIVE CAMO ON
MOTION SENSOR ON
GRENADES OFF
VEHICLES OFF
NO OTHER WEAPONS ON MAP
SENTINAL BEAMS SET AS PRIMARY WEAPONS
Play the Ghostbusters music in your home and have fun taking the juggernaut down. I think the juggernaut must be the Marshmallow Man!
ARNIE VERSUS PREDATOR
This is a juggernaut variant which should be set on the BACKWASH map. The juggernaut (Predator) should have ACTIVE CAMO ON and MOTION SENSOR ON, where the non-juggernauts (Arnies) should have the above set off.
The PRIMARY WEAPON should be the SHOTGUN and the SECONDARY WEAPON should be the ENERGY SWORD. The Predator can only use the energy sword (although can equip the other weapons to conceal his appearance, but cannot use it to attack). The “Arnies” can use any weapon apart from the energy sword.
This game is great to play in the dark and with between 4-16 players, although it works perfectly well with 2-3. The number of people I have played this game against that have jumped whilst being slaughtered by the Predator is really high and this game ranks amongst the best variants out there.
TOWER OF POWER
This is a great SLAYER/TEAM SLAYER game to play with a complete set of players on the ASCENSION map. Set the variant so that TURRETS are ON and choose the HUMAN style turrets. Set the score to the player/team who gets to 250 kills first wins. Also turn ALL VEHICLES OFF!
This game should take a while to finish but it’s amazing to keep track of the scores as they change so quickly – one minute one team will b hammering the other and then within minutes the tables can turn. A truly exhilarating game
That's all the variants and game tips I know.
If you want to know anything else about Halo 2 and any ther newly discovered tips/variants, email me at
[email protected]
Tips
Jump About:
When battling on a multiplayer game (or indeed on a single player game) jump about as it makes you a lot harder to hit. Snipers can hardly get you, as they have no way to predict your movement. When playing my stepbrother he gets infuriated by the way I do not stop moving.
Aim For The Head:
It does the most damage – usually wiping out your opponent in two or three shots (depending on the weapon). It also serves as a bragging point to your friends as headshots are recorded in the multiplayer stats – so if you tie for a position – you can take them down to that all important figure.
Learn the Multiplayer Icons:
This will help you identify your friends/allies in game and enable you to assist them if they are attacking or under attack. This is really important in team battles as you can easily see if your tactics are working.
Aim For Vehicles:
The rocket launcher or a simple grenade in the vehicle’s path easily destroys most vehicles. As they are explosive weapons and the vehicles are run on explosive fuel – a vast amount of damage can be caused – usually killing the driver or passenger. They are also very vulnerable to hi-jacking. Unless absolutely necessary, avoid vehicles on small maps as you are an easy target.
The best way to take out a vehicle if you don’t have an explosive arsenal is to hi-jack it – but this can be harder than it sounds…
Learn The Map:
If you know the map well, you’ll have a good knowledge on the map’s vantage points and also know what areas of the map to avoid straying into. Most maps have a central area, which is wide open for attack (these are areas to avoid…) and also have high or protective spots (perfect for sniping your opponents or regenerating shields – these are also good spots to attack your opponents).
The best way to learn the map is to play offline against a little brother or sister, or play on it alone (you can load up the multiplayer maps when one person is signed in). This way you find all the best places without being killed.
Melee Attacks
Probably the biggest insult in the game – if you can beat down your opponent whilst he or she is shooting you, it’s a major kill – as your foe will be too embarrassed to get close to you again.
Assassinations are a lot better as your foes won’t know what hit them. It also looks good if you collect an assassination medal and will give you a major satisfaction and confidence boost!
Plasma/Energy Swords
Always try to have one of these as a weapon as these make melee attacks so much easier and in close combat it is probably one of the most lethal weapons. Wait until the reticule of the sword turns red and then hit the R trigger – your opponent will be dead before they know what hit them.
Dual Wielding
Use this feature to your advantage. Combine the weapons together and you’ll get the combined effects of both weapons. The best combination is dual needlers (one needler seemed really pathetic, but two are lethal). Try a selection of weapons to see what works best for you.
Homing Rockets
Use the rocket launcher’s homing facility to lock on to moving vehicles. Get it in your rocket’s zoomed in sights and then lock on by holding down the R trigger. You are unlikely to miss.
This tip is particularly useful for taking out those pesky banshees.
Split Screen
Although it may be considered cheating, you can glance slightly at your opponents screen to know where they are. However hard you try, your subconscious picks up on their positions, so use this to your advantage – your opponents are probably doing the same to you.
If you really can’t stand this “cheating” then place a piece of card along the split and sit opposite sides of the card. I wouldn’t recommend this though.
Unofficial Game Variants
Some of these games require you to create new game settings. This can be done in several menus in the game. This guide may also be useful for understanding game requests on Xbox Live.
SAS
This is my favourite game – based under the SLAYER game type. In this variant, you imitate real SWAT teams by setting up several game settings as below.
NO SHIELDS
NO MOTION SENSORS
HUMAN WEAPONS
3 ROUNDS
25 KILLS PER ROUND
(Other in game options may be changed for preference)
Ideal maps to play this on are TERMINAL, TURF and LOCKOUT, although it has no set map.
ZOMBIES
This is based under the TEAM SLAYER game type. In this game type a group of players face a zombie character and every time the zombie kills somebody, they change teams and become a zombie (just as you would expect after being killed by the zombie). The last human player standing wins the round. Here you can either end the game or have the remaining human be the zombie and switch the colours of the teams.
The catch is that each team should use different weapons – the team of humans (the blue team) uses a human weapon such as a shotgun or the magnum and the zombie team must use the energy sword. Soon as the zombie makes the kill, the dead human must pause the game and change colour to the zombie team.
This game is hard to keep under control as it requires a lot of honesty – both teams must use only their own weapon type and not use the other teams weapons. Also if you are a human, make sure you change teams when you die.
A good map to play this game is on FOUNDATION. Zombies should not use grenades so GRENADES MUST BE SWITCHED OFF. Also as humans or zombies do not have ESP, MOTION SENSORS SHOULD BE SWITCHED OFF.
GLITCH
This game isn’t really a game but a set up to work out where the flaws of the maps are. The weapons used should be the ROCKET LAUNCHER (can be useful in some situations) and the ENERGY SWORD (useful for the sword-cancel jump (and the butterfly jumps))
NO TIMER, UNLIMITED KILLS and MOTION SENSOR SWITCHED ON.
CHILLI TAG
JUGGERNAUT GAME TYPE
SET PLAYER LIVES TO 3
LAST MAN STANDING
TURN OFF TIME LIMIT
PRIMARY WEAPON AS MAGNUM
SECONDARY WEAPON AS SHOTGUN
MOTION SENSOR SWITCHED OFF
Ideal maps are BLOODGULCH and any other large map
FIGHT CLUB
KING OF THE HILL VARIANT
SHIELDS SWITCHED OFF
WEAPONS SWITCHED TO PLASMA RIFLE
GRENADES SWITCHED OFF
HILL SET TO STATIONARY
TIME TO WIN – VARIABLE (To be decided before match)
Two players enter the hill at the same time and try to kill one another with melee attacks. The winner stays in the ring and then the next contestant enters. The only rules are as above and NO SHOOTING.
TRUE SNIPERS
NO TIMER
NO SHIELDS
NO MOTION SENSOR
NO OTHER WEAPONS ON MAP
Set the game to have a primary weapon and secondary weapon to be sniper and beam rifles. Very deadly game which is just a matter of who is the most skilful sniper. Carbines may be substituted into the weapons line-up.
PISTOLS AT DAWN
NO SHIELDS
NO MOTION SENSOR
NO MOTION SENSOR
NO ACTIVE CAMO
NO OVERSHIELD
NO TIME LIMIT
NO WEAPONS ON MAP
The map to be used would be BLOODGULCH and the weapons set to magnums. The first to 100 kills is the winner. Simple game to play – but great fun
GHOSTBUSTERS
JUGGERNAUT VARIANT
JUGGERNAUT RESISTANCE ON
ACTIVE CAMO ON
MOTION SENSOR ON
GRENADES OFF
VEHICLES OFF
NO OTHER WEAPONS ON MAP
SENTINAL BEAMS SET AS PRIMARY WEAPONS
Play the Ghostbusters music in your home and have fun taking the juggernaut down. I think the juggernaut must be the Marshmallow Man!
ARNIE VERSUS PREDATOR
This is a juggernaut variant which should be set on the BACKWASH map. The juggernaut (Predator) should have ACTIVE CAMO ON and MOTION SENSOR ON, where the non-juggernauts (Arnies) should have the above set off.
The PRIMARY WEAPON should be the SHOTGUN and the SECONDARY WEAPON should be the ENERGY SWORD. The Predator can only use the energy sword (although can equip the other weapons to conceal his appearance, but cannot use it to attack). The “Arnies” can use any weapon apart from the energy sword.
This game is great to play in the dark and with between 4-16 players, although it works perfectly well with 2-3. The number of people I have played this game against that have jumped whilst being slaughtered by the Predator is really high and this game ranks amongst the best variants out there.
TOWER OF POWER
This is a great SLAYER/TEAM SLAYER game to play with a complete set of players on the ASCENSION map. Set the variant so that TURRETS are ON and choose the HUMAN style turrets. Set the score to the player/team who gets to 250 kills first wins. Also turn ALL VEHICLES OFF!
This game should take a while to finish but it’s amazing to keep track of the scores as they change so quickly – one minute one team will b hammering the other and then within minutes the tables can turn. A truly exhilarating game
That's all the variants and game tips I know.
If you want to know anything else about Halo 2 and any ther newly discovered tips/variants, email me at
[email protected]
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