Halo 2’s Inevitable Remake Needs Multiplayer, And These 5 Game Modes Have to Be Included

The ending of Halo: Campaign Evolved all but confirmed Xbox’s plans for a Halo 2 remake, teasing another return to one of the sci-fi FPS series’ best titles. One of the reasons why Halo 2 is so revered is its multiplayer, which was foundational for FPS matchmaking as a whole back when the game first released. Halo has a history of great multiplayer through diverse modes, with several introducing innovations that deserve to return.

There are many fan-favorite modes across every Halo game’s multiplayer, with Team Slayer and Big Team Battle being chief among them. Team Slayer is the standard 4v4 deathmatch, where players just have to reach a certain number of eliminations as a team, while Big Team Battle escalates that concept with larger maps and vehicles. Team Slayer and Big Team Battle would inevitably return in any Halo 2 remake multiplayer, omitting them from this list as developers pick other modes to return.

5. Firefight

Firefight is a PvE multiplayer mode first introduced in Halo 3: ODST, where players take on endless waves of Covenant enemies in an attempt to survive for as long as they can. This mode was once restricted to one map, but Halo: Reach expanded upon the idea, allowing players to team up and take out enemy armies in multiple environments. This game mode is beloved by Halo fans for its progressive PvE elements, which ramp up the difficulty slowly as you and your friends try to take out increasing enemy forces.

There have been attempts to re-create Firefight in other Halo games, such as Halo 5: Guardians‘ Warzone mode. However, the originals from Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach are still classics, being one of the few modes that promotes player collaboration outside of the story-driven campaigns. Finding unique ways to hold onto lives, which are shared among your team, can be incredibly satisfying when you find out how to be a one-person army. The exhilarating feeling of taking out enough Covenant to make it through a wave and restoring an ally’s life is one of the best times in Halo.

What makes Firefight so intriguing is how it adopts the sandbox combat of the series without focusing too much on objectives. Your team’s goal is to simply survive and kill by any means necessary, encouraging creative solutions and skill expression against complicated enemy AI. Vehicles and weapons you’d only use rarely in a campaign or standard PvP modes are more widespread in Firefight, dipping into the power fantasy of Halo more than most match types. For a Halo 2 remake, Firefight against Covenant and Flood would be an innovative step forward within a return to a past title.

4. Invasion

Exclusive to Halo: Reach, Invasion is an innovative mode the series has only seen once, even though others have gotten close to it. Invasion is an asymmetrical mode where a team of Humans and a team of Elites compete against each other in teams of eight. Unlike other Halo multiplayer modes, Invasion was less about eliminating enemies and more tied to capture control points scattered throughout a map. Players needed to divide their focus into defending or attacking certain areas, securing one area to halt or progress forward.

When an attacking team in Invasion captured a control point, the entire map shifted, forcing defenders back and invaders to their next control spots. The dynamic maps of Invasion were huge, sprawling environments that felt alive as you fought in them. Similar in scale to the Supremacy mode in Star Wars Battlefront 2, Halo: Reach‘s Invasion took longer and often felt like a tactical warzone between players. Having this mode back in Halo 2‘s remake would be tough, but worth it for how different Invasion is from anything else the series has done.

3. Capture The Flag

Capture the Flag is an integral mode in Halo, ever since battles for an enemy team’s banner in Halo: Combat Evolved on the Blood Gulch map arguably jump started fan obsession with the series’ multiplayer. This match type is extremely straightforward, simply asking a team to steal the flag kept at a rival team’s base, then bring it back to their own to score a point. Whoever gets to a certain point total or scores the most before the match time ends is the winner, but the strategies that evolved from this premise have defined Halo multiplayer over the years.

Unlike Team Slayer or Big Team Battle, which are defined by an individual player’s ability to score kills, Capture the Flag demands coordination between you and others. Getting picked up in a Warthog by a teammate after you’ve stolen an enemy flag can be intense, exciting, and satisfying once you’ve accomplished your goal. Figuring out how to defend your flag or devise a clever plan to steal from rival teams is what makes Capture the Flag so much fun, easily making it almost a requirement for any Halo 2 remake.

2. Swat

There are some Halo multiplayer modes that emphasize precise FPS skill expression rather than leaning into the series’ usual power fantasy, including the often underrated Swat match type. Swat is like Team Slayer, pitting players in teams of four against one another, with the goal being for one team to reach a certain kill total or have more kills before a timer runs out. However, Swat takes away options Halo players are used to, disabling shields and motion trackers for a more intense experience.

Any headshot in Swat kills your character instantly, greatly increasing the effectiveness of precision weapons, such as the classic Magnum pistol, Battle Rifle, or DMR in later games. Almost the exact opposite of Fiesta, a mode where you randomly spawn with power weapons, this game type deliberately limits you and your opponents. You have to start thinking about environmental advantages like cover to stay alive, while staying on the move and preparing to line up a headshot on an enemy before they can do the same to you.

Compared to Team Slayer, Swat is incredibly fast-paced, reaching a speed that is more similar to Counter Strike or Call of Duty in some ways. This mode is perfect for players who don’t want to engage with the over-the-top vehicles and weapons of Halo, while still finding intense competition within an FPS. Clever or classic maps for Swat in a Halo 2 remake could help the game reach out to a wider audience, especially if multiplayer is brought back rather than left out like in Campaign Evolved.

1. Infection

If there are only three multiplayer modes in Halo 2‘s remake, there should be Team Slayer, Big Team Battle, and Infection. If you ask most Halo fans, they’ll tell you that Infection is one of the most addicting match types the series has ever had, first introduced in Halo: Reach and returning in several games since then. Infection is endlessly replayable due to how its chaos rapidly grows from when you start, turning into a Left for Dead style horde mode as players start dropping like flies.

To understand Infection’s appeal, you need to know how it starts, pitting one “Infected” player against a group of survivors all armed with close-range Shotguns. The “Infected” alpha zombie must eliminate targets using an Energy Sword, a deadly close-range weapon that will only score kills if they get the drop on a target. The terrifying speed of the Infected usually helps them catch someone off guard, causing them to miss and be killed. Anyone the Infected kills also becomes Infected, adding to the Infected’s numbers slowly but surely.

Through coordinated attacks, the Infected roster grows fast, until matches become deadly chases and overwhelming zombie hordes wielding swords hunt whoever is left alive. The last Infected gains a boost to their shields, having to hide and survive until the timer runs out to win. Zombies or Survivors can win a game of Infected through communication and coordination, but no other Halo mode quite captures the same feeling.

Should the next remake in the series actually manage to include online multiplayer, Infected should be one of the first modes to be added. Although Halo 2‘s remake hasn’t been announced yet, imagining what Infected and other modes could look like may help justify the game more than Campaign Evolved.

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