History Trivia / Halo2

** To a lesser extent, ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' as well, another November 2004 story-heavy sci-fi FPS sequel involving Earth being invaded by alien fascists and containing a race of zombie aliens, a wise race of weird-legged leathery aliens, an extremely troubled production, the late-stage scrapping of most of the game, a cliffhanger ending and acting as the killer app for their platform (UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and Xbox). However, due to PC and Xbox not competing as much, they managed to both be legendary smash hits that coincided. In ''Half-Life 2''[='=]s favor, it introduced a game engine that became incredibly popular; in ''Halo''[='=]s favor, Bungie could count to three, and were able to put out a proper conclusion to the story in the same amount of time that it took Valve to start on an episodic continuation that petered out after its second installment.

** The original Xbox Live was maintained ''just'' for ''Halo 2'' players [[https://www.cnet.com/news/last-halo-2-player-finally-leaves-xbox-live/ til there was no one left]] -- five years after the UsefulNotes/Xbox360 debuted with a new Live.

* MemeAcknowledgement: An instalment of Canon Fodder would introduce the Jha'kaar order, a clan of elite Jackal Snipers who are identified as the ones the Chief faces in this game. This essentially makes their MemeticBadass reputation due to their [[DemonicSpiders absurdly tough power level]] justified by canon.

* OldShame: Some of the devs [[http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/13811/bungie-devs-halo-2-campaign-a-disastrous-failure don't like]] how the single player campaign turned out, if the term "disastrous flaming turd of failure" is an expression of regret.

* CuttingTheKnot: Meta example: The map "Backwash" suffered from severe lag on the Xbox 360's backwards compatibility - this was resolved by simply pulling the match from online matchmaking.

** The Blastacular Map Pack (featuring "Tombstone" and "Desolation") was originally set to feature a third map, which would've been a brand new asymmetrical map compared by its main developer to "Zanzibar", and featuring a gimmick of a light bridge in the center of the map that could be activated and deactivated using a switch. It was only cut due to the DLC being ChristmasRushed and needing to come out before the release of the ''Halo 3 Beta''.

* DuelingWorks: With ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'', another sci-fi first-person shooter released in November, 2004. Both were sequels to games that had been used by their developers to advertise their respective consoles. Both games ended up ChristmasRushed for the 2004 holiday. While both games got great reviews (barring relatively minor criticism of aspects resulting from the aforementioned Christmas rushing thing), ''Halo 2'' ended up selling ''much'' better, becoming the biggest KillerApp for the Xbox.

** The early version of "The Oracle" would have taken place on the surface of Threshold among the ruins of Installation 04 (possibly including a visit to a destroyed version of its control room and the Arbiter seemingly almost siding with the Heretic leader before said leader is gunned down by Tartarus), instead of directly continuing on the events of "The Arbiter". The multiplayer map "Burial Grounds" is partially based on this version of the level.

* QuoteSource:
** CruelAndUnusualDeath

*** The ''Halo 3'' portion sees the Chief falling to Earth from the Keyship and leading surviving Marines in an assault against the Covenant's excavation site, which in this draft is the Ark itself rather than a portal to the Ark like in ''Halo 3''. The In Amber Clad and the Arbiter's Separatists return to Earth in a BigDamnHeroes moment, as the Arbiter, the Chief and 343 Guilty Spark enter the Ark to kill the Prophet of Truth in another boss fight. Our heroes use the Ark to destroy the Covenant's fleet and deactivate the Halo array, which causes the Ark to collapse, trapping the Arbiter inside as the Chief escapes. While searching through the ruins, the Arbiter discovers a sarcophagus with a human skeleton inside, revealing that Forerunners and humans are one and the same (later works after Bungie left the series retcon it so that humans and Forerunners are separate species, making the foreshadowing in the first game of this reveal very odd in hindsight). The Arbiter escapes the collapsed Ark with the help of 343 Guilty Spark, with the story closing with a big medal ceremony and the survival of the entire heroic main cast.

** The title of 'Arbiter' was originally going to be 'Dervish', an Islamic term for somebody who has willingly accepted material poverty. The reason for the change was the sense that a Western-produced game making such an explicit reference to Islam in a game that uses HidingBehindReligion as a major plot point, and was also released during [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror a period of heightened Islamophobia in the real world]], would be a magnet for controversy that's best left avoided.

*** Probably for the best that it was cut. While it was always implied by her physical similarity to Cortana, her mom was later revealed to be Dr. Catherine Halsey, the closest thing to a mother the Spartans had.

** An early version of "High Charity" also featured a Warthog run at the end, as the Chief tries to board the Forerunner Dreadnaught before it launches. Unlike most content, this was cut so late that the map is still in the game, just not populated or with scripted sequences/dialogue. Eventually the fandom made a mod to fix that.

** An early version of "High Charity" also featured a Warthog run at the end, as the Chief tries to board the Forerunner Dreadnaught before it launches. Unlike most content, this was cut so late that the map is still in the game, just not populated or with scripted sequences/dialogue.

** The beta also featured both a Flamethrower inspired by the one seen in ''Halo PC'', along with a Covenant equivalent. The beta also features the Mongoose, which was fairly complete but had to wait until ''Halo 3'' for its time to shine.

** An early version of "High Charity" also featured a Warthog run at the end, as the Chief tries to board the Forerunner Dreadnaught before it launches.

** The early version of "The Oracle" would have taken place on the surface of Threshold among the ruins of Installation 04 (possibly including a visit to a destroyed version of its control room), instead of directly continuing on the events of "The Arbiter". The multiplayer map "Burial Grounds" is partially based on this version of the level.

*** The ''Halo 3'' portion sees the Chief falling to Earth from the Keyship and leading surviving Marines in an assault against the Covenant's excavation site, which in this draft is the Ark itself rather than a portal to the Ark like in ''Halo 3''. The In Amber Clad and the Arbiter's Separatists return to Earth in a BigDamnHeroes moment, as the Arbiter, the Chief and 343 Guilty Spark enter the Ark to kill the Prophet of Truth in another boss fight. Our heroes use the Ark to destroy the Covenant's fleet and deactivate the Halo array, which causes the Ark to collapse, trapping the Arbiter inside as the Chief escapes. While searching through the ruins, the Arbiter discovers a sarcophagus with a human skeleton inside, revealing that Forerunners and humans are one and the same (later works firmly establish that humans and Forerunners are separate species). The Arbiter escapes the collapsed Ark with the help of 343 Guilty Spark, with the story closing with a big medal ceremony and the survival of the entire heroic main cast.

*** After killing the Prophet of Regret, instead of being immediately captured by the Gravemind, the Chief would've reunited with Johnson and Commander Keyes, leading to the Arbiter's encountering the trio at the end of "Quarantine Zone". Both the Arbiter and the Chief would've been knocked down the pit together when Tartarus and the Flood intercept them, sending them to the Gravemind.

* ThrowItIn: The map "Foundation", a remake of a ''[[VideoGame/{{Marathon}} Marathon 2: Durandal'' map, was an unauthorised side project by a developer in their spare time. It was decided to officially add it to the game at the last second, with the stipulation that it would be a hidden unlockable map as it was felt that it wasn't quite up to the quality standards of other maps. It was soon made available for everyone as the unlock requirements were felt to be a bit too obscure.