Double Decennial
What a month it’s been! Halo 2 turned twenty, the E3 2003 demo saw a release from the Digsite team, Halo Infinite’s Winter Update brought a new weapon to the sandbox—and that’s just the start. (We haven’t even gotten to being able to make Halo-themed racetracks in Forza Horizon 5 yet!)
Let’s get you up to speed on all the latest news.
20 YEARS OF HALO 2
Operation: Great Journey is still live in Halo Infinite and kicked off the 2024 Winter Update.
This Operation brought the Thremaleon armor as part of its free 20-tier Operation Pass, inspired by Rtas “Half-Jaw” ‘Vadum, with the Veteran SRS99 weapon model and Damascus Alchemy weapon coating available as part of the Premium Pass.
The MA5K Avenger has entered Halo Infinite’s sandbox and by now you’ve no doubt managed to get to grips with this new SMG-class weapon, particularly if you’ve been spending time in the Third-Person Firefight and Delta Arena playlists—and if you’ve yet to venture into those, you’re in for a good time with a fun new way to play Halo in the former and legacy movement on some iconic maps in the latter.
In celebration of Halo 2's twentieth birthday, we've rounded up everything happening to mark this monumental milestone, along with memories from many of the fine folks at Halo Studios.
The Digsite modding crew has released their latest content drop, bringing the iconic and infamous E3 2003 demo for Halo 2 to MCC on PC, along with the cut Arbiter mission Alpha Moon.
Find the latest Digsite content on the Steam Workshop! Simply subscribe, launch MCC on PC with anti-cheat disabled, and find the campaign missions available upon entering the Halo 2: Anniversary campaign menu.
Our latest Waypoint Chronicle takes place during the events of Halo 2, directly tying into the missions Uprising and The Great Journey. Halo: Age of Retribution is available here on Halo Waypoint, as a free PDF, and in audiobook format on YouTube.
“November 3, 2552. After the Prophet of Regret is assassinated by the Master Chief, the Covenant is shaken to its foundations as the feud between Brutes and Elites reaches a violent turning point.”
We've rounded up a selection of the stunning community content you've been creating to celebrate Halo 2's twentieth birthday (and the twenty-third birthday of the Halo franchise as well).
HALO GEAR
The latest drop from King Ice includes a Halo ring, earrings and a new Master Chief sprinting necklace.
Check out the Jazwares Vault for the latest Halo drops, including:
- The Master Chief Deluxe Helmet with battle damage design
- The Master Chief vs. The Flood
- Arbiter Ripa ‘Moramee vs. Sergeant Forge
- Spartan Vale vs. Promethean Soldier
Stay tuned for one more epic Halo drop landing on December 4, including the return of the 6” Spartan Collection featuring Spartan Yokai! Head to the Jazwares Vault and join the RSVP list to be notified when the Spartan Yokai set becomes available.
Stock up on Madrinas x Halo Coffee now during the annual Black Friday Cyber Monday Sale!
The legendary music from the original Halo trilogy comes to vinyl for the first time.
Pre-order the Limited-Edition box set which includes: 8x galaxy-effect LPs, brand new artwork by Isaac Hannaford, and collector box. Separate sets for Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3 are also available.
Complete the Noble Team Series with the final figure from 1000toys – Jorge-052 is available to pre-order until January 10.
For more details check out the blog, and you can preorder the exclusive edition here.
PARTNERSHIPS
By now, you probably saw that IHOP has teamed up with Xbox to celebrate Indiana Jones and the Great Circle with a themed menu featuring the debut of Fully Loaded French Toast and signature beverages inspired by the upcoming game.
We’re also celebrating the love of gaming, and IHOP has plenty of Xbox prizes to win and redeem.
Just become a member of the International Bank of Pancakes, then upload your IHOP receipts, and start earning PanCoins. What do you do with those PanCoins you ask? You redeem them for fancy limited edition collectable glasses, and other Xbox prizes on the Stack Market (get it)!
Each week a new, exclusive cup drops, and good news Halo fans: The new Halo Infinite drop is out now!
There’s also an XL ‘117’ mousepad and many more items to snag such as game downloads, Xbox merch, accessories, and Game Pass Ultimate codes—you can even win a custom IHOP-themed Xbox.
Read the Xbox Wire for more info, and keep track of all the upcoming drops and prizes by following @IHOP on Instagram and Twitter.
Halo makes its legendary return to the fabulous Forza franchise with the addition of over 70 new EventLab props along with three official Halo tracks—Halo Theme Gungnir Mix (feat. Steve Vai) from Halo 2: Anniversary, Installation 04 from Halo: Combat Evolved, and The Trials from Halo 5.
Build Halo-themed racetracks in Forza Horizon 5, then speed through ‘em to some pulse-pounding tunes!
RADAR BLIPS
- CANON FODDER #159: In our penultimate issue of Canon Fodder for the year, we delve into the lore of our latest Waypoint Chronicle which celebrated Halo 2's twentieth birthday, revisit the motion comic adaptation of The Mona Lisa, and take a look at the MA5K Avenger.
- FORGE FEATURES: Get your bookmarks at the ready for another round-up of maps and modes made by the community in Halo Infinite's Forge.
- COMMUNITY CORNER – HALOPEDIA: Like Halo 2, Halopedia also turned twenty this month, and we've gathered some of the fine folks who work on the fan-run encyclopedia to mark this monumental milestone.
THE ARTIST’S CORNER
In-keeping with the Halo 2 birthday celebrations, this month’s art piece is the cover art for the instruction manual of the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack.
Originally released in July 2005, the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack was a physical product which contained updates, maps, and additional bonus features for Halo 2 such as the “Another Day at the Beach” cinematic, the Killtacular documentary detailing the making of the nine new maps, and more.
Those nine new maps were Containment, Warlock, Sanctuary, Turf, Backwash, Elongation, Gemini, Relic, and Terminal—many names that you will undoubtedly recognize for their iconic place in Halo’s multiplayer legacy.
That concludes this issue of the Community Update, leaving just one more month to go before we say goodbye to 2024.
See you in December!