Customer Reviews

Halo 2, Vol. 2

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This soundtrack has all the game music, except the instrumental Incubus and Breaking Benjamin pieces. While Volume 1 was great, it was missing some genuinely good compositions. This is the big reason why I was anticipating this release since last year and I'm very pleased they added everything.

If you've played the game, then you know exactly what the music is and that's what you'll get when you buy Volume 2, nothing more and nothing less. If you haven't played the game, think rock and instrumental mixed together with some very interesting vocals, flutes, and guitars to form a sort of trance-like dance music. It's very original and is somewhat of a narcotic for the auditory senses. You just want to keep listening to it over and over. It's a real work of genius.

The only gripe I have is that the suites feel a bit stitched together. It would have been nice to just separate them out on the CD so one can skip between pieces as desired. The suite structure forces you to listen to the whole piece even if you want to hear just a part of it.

Still, it's a great buy. I also suggest getting Volume 1, because only together do these two give a complete musical representation of this classic game.

Although Halo 2 Volume 1 was deservedly the best-selling video game soundtrack ever, it was a dissapointment overall because of the Incubus music. It took up nearly half of the album, but it had nothing to do with the game. Instead, it just got in the way of the scoring. The whole soundtrack just felt too commercial. There was so much music from the game that I was heartbroken to not find there.

Fortunately, however, composer Marty O'Donnell is just as generous as he is talented. This is the Halo 2 Soundtrack I've been waiting for for over a year: here all of the music sorely missed from the first volume is available without interruption. It's put in an order that reminds you of the way the game progresses. No, the order is not entirely faithful, meaning that it does skip around to some extent, but every theme will remind you of where you were in the game when you originally heard it. Words cannot describe the beauty of "Unforgotten," and I don't know any Halo fan who is not elated with the "Delta Halo Suite," which contains some of the most heavily demanded music from the game. I also love the first two sections of the "High Charity Suite."

My only problem is with how repititious some of the music is. There is a good handful of themes that you will hear over and over again througout the soundtrack. To Marty O'Donnell's defense, most of these repititions do have subtle differences, but I just thought the extent to which these themes were played and replayed was just unnessecary. Speaking of which, I'm also not a big fan of the track "Reclaimer." It's the same as "Unyielding" but with a wild guitar solo by Steve Vai. I know some people like Steve Vai's style of guitar playing, but I'm not really one of them. It was great in the "Halo Theme Mjolnir Mix" from Volume One, but for some reason, I find it annoying and out of place in that one track here. These criticisms are so slight, however, that I can still give this soundtrack 5 stars just as easily.

This is very heroic-sounding music that not only *reminds* you of the sprawling, epic feel of Halo 2 but *contributes* to it in a major way. Now I can hear it whenever I want, and all I have to do is turn on my CD player. Thank you Marty!

Like the description states, Halo 2 Volume 2 uses a suite structure for the music. In this aspect, I find the music very pleasing throughout. I find it rather enjoyable for the most part, but it's my opinion, Marty O'Donnel could have created better transitions between some of the pieces.

One thing I do have to say. Some of the music, such as the horns from Prologue for example, carry over onto other tracks. While it gives the album as a whole a better sense of cohesiveness, sometimes I think, "I just heard this!"

I'm a fan of the Halo games foremost, but I'm also a fan of the music. I've waited for much of this music to come out since I've played the game and was dismayed to find Volume 1 didn't contain certain pieces, such as Epilogue. Beautiful string-work there. Mombasa Suite is another piece I very much enjoy. If you've seen the E3 demo (now included in Halo: Combat Evolved, under Demos, I believe), you'll notice the first set was used in that. It also includes the percussion used in 'Ghosts of Reach' from Volume 1.

Overall, this shows a lot of effort has been put into it, compared to Halo 2: Volume 1 (Personally, I could have lived without the Hoobastank and Nataraj tracks, but that's another review!). The composition is not at all displeasing to the ear. Therefore, I've given five stars.

Having all three Halo soundtracks (the first one and volumes one and two for the second) I can safely say that this is the pick of the three.

I liked the original soundtrack for the first Halo because it had full-length versions of all the tracks. Halo 2: Vol 1 had a great selection of music from the game, with some great band track thrown in there too (Incubus' Odyssey and Breaking Benjamin's Blow Me Away come to mind).

I personally prefer the musical score though, which is why I love Vol 2 so much. It's all score, conveniently 'suited' together for maximum listening pleasure. While I prefer being able to listen to the themes in their entirety ala the original Halo soundtrack, the music found here is above and beyond anything heard in the first game, with huge thematic swells and mournfully moving interludes. Horror cues are smattered throughout (best heard in the score from the Flood segments of the game) as well as some experimental electronica.

All in all, Vol 2 is an epic, cinematic musical feast. Highly recommended.

I now own all three Halo albums, and I have to say that this is the best yet. I found it to be more true to the game than the previous volume. I found the score to be fantasic and brilliant. Marty O'Donnell is a amazing composer who has brought a life and emotion to the games threw his music. I am proud to own all of his work, but this album is by far his greatest work. I loved every minute and second of this album. I reccomend this album to the Halo fans and to anyone who hasn't played the games. Favorite tracks: 6 Unforgotten and 12 Epilogue. To all those who read this review God bless and check out the games if you haven't already.

When I first purchased Halo 2 (The game), I was scared. From the opening guitar solo of Bungie to the rest of the prologue, there was a flurry of emotions running through my body. Scared, excited, curious and most of all nervous. What was I about to get myself into for the rest of the afternoon??

I was nervous and scared at first. How long will I last with the Master Chief before I first get killed by some unsuspecting Grunt around the corner? Or some Elite jumping at me and slashing me with his energy sword? Or some sneaky little jackal sniping me from what seems to be 3 football fields away? This is what I asked myself before I finally came to and began to wail away at the Covenant with my assault rifle. No match for the Chief says I.

So 4 years later I finally get my hands on the "real" Halo 2 soundtrack and man oh man how those emotions I had when playing the game came back to me. I quickly remembered what levels I was at when listening to the different tracks and tried to think of how I was able to keep my sanity from dying and dying over and over again in the game. But I prevailed nonetheless and now eagerly await the arrival of Halo 3 in September.

The soundtrack is great if you're a fan of the Halo games or of this kind of music in general. You can be driving to work or just kicking back in your couch just to chill. It's pretty soothing with it's futuristic space sound. It's the soundtrack to the Halo universe. A Halo universe that exists in all of us.

Once again this music does not fail to deliver. This long awaited vol 2 is worth the wait. Most of the music has been compiled into suites whch lets you relive the entire game through the music. The only problem I have with it is that none of the classic themes are present, and the best that it has are varuiations on those themes. That being said you should buy this soundtrack, but if you do not own the Halo 2 vol 1 soundtrack of the Halo 1 soundtrack then you should buy them also.

This is what I've been waiting for. While don't get me wrong, Vol. 1 was just as good, but it wasn't the real music they put in the game (or not all of it). The songs are magnificent and beautiful. The one song I've been really wanted to hear but wasn't in Vol. 1 was Epilogue. I don't know why but I just love that song. I also like Unforgotten, and well, all of them! 5 Stars!

This is the soundtrack that should originally been released versus the version 1 that was riddled with Hoobastank and Breaking Benjamin. Listening to this soundtrack brings you through the game in a cohesive manner in which you will remember all the levels and moments that made Halo 2. From the prologue when you booted up your Halo 2 disc for the first time to the epilogue when you were still gripping your controller in triumph (or devastation over the cliff-hanger) this soundtrack is the real deal.
A great buy and a must own for all Halo 2 addicts and videogame music fans.

This CD was awesome, even compared to the Halo: Combat Evolved CD and the Halo 2 vol. 1 CD. It proves yet again that there is musical talent (or should I say SUPERB musical talent) in the gaming industry. There is even a song (possibly the best on the CD) featuring Steve Vai on guitar. The only problem with this CD is that it is comprised of suites, which are each made of different smaller "songs", and you can't skip to an individual movement in the suites. Overall, this CD shows that a great videogame deserves some great music to go along with it.