RELATED: Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary's Most Powerful Combine Slaying Weapons Playlists let users pick a game mode, such as slayer, and the matchmaker automatically finds players of similar skill levels looking for the same game mode. Bungie also pioneered the idea of playlists in multiplayer games. To party up and voice chat with your friends was as simple as connecting to Xbox Live and finding them on your friends list.

Bungie developed a party system for Halo 2, doing away with the need for dedicated servers and allowed players to group up and play different game modes without becoming separated. Halo 2 became the killer app of Xbox live and single-handedly made playing console gaming online with your friends intuitive and straightforward. Nobody knew it at the time, but Halo 2 was revolutionizing multiplayer gaming. Players could decide what map to go to, what weapons and vehicles were available and what the win conditions were among many other options. Of course, once people grouped up, there was an incredibly diverse array of preset and custom game modes to choose from. There was also a character editor where you could choose to be either an Elite or a Spartan, change your armor color and even pick custom emblems. Brand new vehicles were added while returning vehicles like Banshees and Ghosts gained speed boost effects, and all vehicles now displayed physical damage when attacked and could even be hijacked. There is also the addition of dual-wielding select weapons, which became a mainstay of the series. Brand new, iconic maps like Zanzibar and Lockout and a huge assortment of weapons such as the Covenant sniper rifle and energy sword were added to the game. Halo 2's multiplayer took the incredible options Combat Evolved released with and expanded on them.

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