I Played Halo 2 Before the Rest of the World and Almost Reported the Abrupt Ending as a Bug

This is an IGN sentiment portion from Ryan McCaffrey, who worked astatine Official Xbox Magazine from 2002-2012 during the archetypal Xbox and Xbox 360 epoch earlier joining IGN, wherever helium remains “the Xbox guy.” In the run-up to Xbox’s 25th anniversary, he’ll beryllium sharing his memories from the platform’s archetypal quarter-century.

Back successful 2004, Halo 2 was the astir anticipated video crippled of each time. I was astatine the extremity of the spear for Official Xbox Magazine’s Halo 2 sum backmost then, which meant I had 1 of the astir breathtaking opportunities a games writer tin get: I was 1 of the archetypal radical successful the satellite from extracurricular of Bungie’s walls to play the landmark sequel. And I did truthful successful a retention closet.

This communicative begins backmost successful 2002 with the archetypal Halo 2 announcement trailer. I deliberation galore of america tin collectively hold that it remains the azygous top video crippled trailer ever made. I inactive – still! – get goosebumps erstwhile I ticker it. Master Chief calmly and coolly gets acceptable to leap retired of a spaceship towards a Covenant cruiser thousands of feet distant (again, successful outer space), arming himself arsenic alarms blare astir him. Cortana, with genuine curiosity successful her voice, asks, “What if you miss?” And the Chief, without hesitation, answers, “I won’t.” And past helium leaps retired of the airlock and the Halo taxable plays. I got chills conscionable typing that.

That trailer acceptable up astir 18 months of hard waiting. Halo 2 was delayed from its archetypal Holiday 2003 model to the pursuing year. To reassure fans determination wouldn’t beryllium different setback, then-Xbox brag and maestro showman Peter Moore pulled disconnected the unthinkable publicity stunt of “tattooing” the Halo 2 logo and November 9, 2004 merchandise day to his bicep astatine E3 that year. That aforesaid E3, I went hands-on with Halo 2 for the archetypal time, playing circular aft circular of single-flag CTF connected Zanzibar down closed doors astatine Microsoft’s booth.

A mates months later, I flew up to Bungie for an full time of multiplayer. It’s astir apt the astir amusive I’ve ever had astatine a crippled preview event.

And past we get to September. November 9 was accelerated approaching, and backmost past games had to beryllium done when it was clip to property them connected disc and manufacture millions of copies up of the thoroughfare date. Everything was physical, thing was digital, and determination were nary day-one patches for developers to trust on. Furthermore, people magazines had agelong pb times – astir 2 months. That meant that OXM had to reappraisal Halo 2 successful September successful bid to person our reappraisal connected newsstands and successful subscribers’ mailboxes successful clip for November 9. We’d worked the logistics retired with Bungie; we’d get an exclusive reappraisal (a commonplace signifier backmost then), and successful precocious September, our editor-in-chief Rob Smith and I would alert up to Bungie to walk 2 days playing the crippled astatine the Bungie offices.

It had already been a privilege to play Halo 2 multiplayer connected 2 abstracted occasions starring up to this, and present Rob and I would beryllium the archetypal 2 radical extracurricular of Bungie and Microsoft’s walls to play and implicit the feverishly anticipated campaign. Holy. Cow. When we arrived, Bungie acceptable america up connected abstracted Xboxes successful a retention closet (which, mercifully, had windows) truthful that nary 1 from Bungie could interrupt our important journalistic duties, and astir apt much truthful that we couldn’t fuss them. Rob and I each had headphones and we arranged ourselves truthful that neither of america could spot the other’s screen, lest 1 of america autumn down the different idiosyncratic and peep a spoiler.

I genuinely thought that the credits rolling was a bug and that the past level hadn’t triggered properly.“

I don’t retrieve however acold I got connected the archetypal day, but connected the second, the decorativeness enactment was successful sight. The communicative had already shocked maine – remember, the Arbiter being playable was kept wholly concealed until launch, conscionable arsenic the Flood had been hidden from nationalist cognition anterior to the motorboat of the archetypal crippled – but what happened adjacent came perilously adjacent to being the astir embarrassing infinitesimal of my young nonrecreational career. The run had been gathering towards Master Chief coming backmost to Earth and finishing the fight. When I took down Tartarus – arsenic the Arbiter – I was truthful amped.

“Finally,” I thought. “We’re gonna power backmost implicit to Master Chief and person a brainsick past conflict connected Earth!”

But instead, of course, aft Tartarus dropped, the credits rolled. I looked astir successful confusion. I looked implicit to spot wherever Rob was – I’d passed him a spot ago, truthful helium hadn’t encountered this “bug”. Yes, I genuinely thought that the credits rolling was a bug and that the past level hadn’t triggered properly.

I debated with myself. “Do I spell accidental thing to someone?” I started to basal up a mates of antithetic times, but someway managed to support my rima unopen and my butt planted firmly successful my spot and I watched the credits roll. After possibly 20 oregon 30 minutes past the constituent wherever the credits ended and I got dumped backmost to the main menu, Rob completed the run and definite enough, the aforesaid happening happened to him. He wasn’t quite as stunned arsenic I was, but helium was taken aback for sure.

At meal that night, we someway managed to bring it up with idiosyncratic from Bungie. I don’t retrieve precisely what we said oregon however we said it, but I retrieve that we managed to broach the taxable delicately. What I bash vividly recall is that Bungie idiosyncratic saying, “This is our Empire Strikes Back.”

We finished the travel by playing a ton of multiplayer the adjacent time and then, from the privateness of Rob’s edifice room, we debated the run we’d conscionable played and the people we’d springiness it. Rob would beryllium the 1 penning the existent reappraisal – being editor-in-chief had its privileges, of course! – but I got to beryllium heavy progressive successful the process. We landed connected a 9.7 retired of 10, the highest people the mag had ever fixed astatine the time, topping Halo 1’s 9.5 and the archetypal Splinter Cell’s 9.6. (It wouldn’t stay the highest for agelong – I awarded different crippled a 9.9 the pursuing year.)

You whitethorn retrieve that, years later, Bungie admitted that determination was so a last Earth ngo planned, but it was chopped successful bid to marque the November 9 merchandise date. As such, Halo 2 didn’t truthful overmuch extremity arsenic it conscionable stopped. It is the lone blemish connected an different unthinkable crippled that, successful hindsight, has aged alternatively well. The parallels betwixt Chief’s travel and the Arbiter’s was conscionable damn bully storytelling, and it had immense moments similar the Scarab combat and the vessel conflict connected the bridge, among others.

But convey God I ne'er got up and told Bungie its crippled was breached earlier anyone other successful the extracurricular satellite had ever played it. Sometimes, the champion happening you tin accidental is thing astatine all. Anyway, I inactive emotion you, Halo 2. You’re my favourite 1 of them all.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's enforcement exertion of previews and big of IGN's play Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, and a co-host of Next-Gen Console Watch. He's a North Jersey guy, truthful it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him connected Twitter astatine @DMC_Ryan.