Prophet Of Truth "Shall we let the Flood consume our holy city? turn High Charity into another of their retched hives? No enemy has ever withstood our might. The Flood, too, shall fail." Gravemind "Arrogant creatures! Your deaths will be instantaneous, while we shall suffer the progress of infinitude!"
Prophet of Truth: "Whosoever is gripped by fear, take heed. I am the Prophet of Truth. ...And I am not afraid. Noble Mercy is here at my side, his wise counsel ever in my ears." Gravemind: "We exist together now. Two corpses, in one grave!
@@BigTylt he has no need to be all cunning anymore in halo 3. He had no loose ends to take care of anymore and was litterally about to win if it werent for the flood helping out chief in the last minute.
"That structure in the center of the city....it's a Forerunner ship and Truth is heading straight for it. If he leads the Covenant fleet to Earth, they won't stand a chance. You have to stop him." "That Brute has the Index, and Miranda and Johnson. He can activate the ring." "If he does, I'll detonate In Amber Clad's reactor just like we did the Autumn's. The blast will destroy this city and the ring. Not the very original plan but we know it'll work." "No, I don't want a chance of remote detonation, I need to stay here." *Pelican Crashes, Flood Combat Forms screeches
@@nagger8216Halo 3 really dropped the ball on High Charity imo, it's one of my few complaints with the game. The level Cortana should have taken place after Floodgate, as Cortana level looked nothing like High Charity. There should have been an additional level that actually was High Charity, maybe one day modders can make it happen?
@@no-barknoonan1335 We were supposed to see more of the cityscape, like the Sanctum of the Hierarchs and the Mausoleum of the Arbiter, even a boss battle with the Gravemind while controlling a Scarab. But unfortunately it was all cut down into the same, annoying reused hallways with all the cool stuff we were going to explore laying miles outside the window (apparently the opening section is supposed to be the exterior of the High Council Chamber from Halo 2, but it's not like you'd recognize it. I also can't stand all the orange compared to the sickly pale, green bioluminescent Flood of the first two games. That visual style would be a lot more striking and memorable than all the bland orange and yellow). If there's one thing Halo is a victim of, it's definitely wasted potential. I'd love to see a mod completely overhaul the level into something closer to what was imagined though
@@nagger8216 one thing that would be good for the Halo universe is if 343 did a series of prequel games set before Halo: Reach. Like maybe two trilogies of games since the Human Cov- war lasted something like 25 years.
I love how this is the darkest part of the game and BAM there is an 80's dance club sounding Pursuit of Truth that plays. That's why Halo 2 is my favorite soundtrack. It had a ton of different genres in it.
Michael Poirier I think as the whole point of the level is for the chief to get off high charity the music is composed on running through everything as the covenant and flood do battle alluding to the fact that the universe hangs in the balance so it's oddly uplifting. My two cents.
Michael the whole halo series has a bunch of different tones like look at halo ce then to halo odst, two very different tones and yet behind them all is the feeling of halo, it’s just perfection
I'm glad they used that upbeat theme...because it makes what came next contrast so heavily. Things are getting really bad really fast and you gotta get the fuck outta there
I love the contrast from the upbeat tune of pursuit of truth from subsume that follows. It creates the feeling of high charity being taken over at a rapid pace by the flood.
Halo 2 has the creepiest flood soundtrack in the entire series, especially here. Honestly, Master Chief's flood segment was exactly the kind of atmosphere the flood deserved. I got jump scared a couple of times. The Halo 3 version just didn't scare me - they annoyed me more of than than not.
@Max France That's what made them very scary. They used to jump and sprint at you at crazy speeds, sometimes popping up when you least expect them. I think Halo 2 is where it was done best. There were times where you'd clear an area of flood in front of you, but after you pass a checkpoint, SURPRISE! - more flood spawn behind you and in front of you, sometimes with shotguns and rocket launchers (Halo 1 did that too many times!). If you're new to Halo 1, 2, and 3 anyone...please keep your eyes glued to your motion tracker. It saved my life too many times. I never took it for granted.
@Max France About the lighting? There was something profound about in Halo 2's High Charity that gave the Flood the kind of fear factor and depth that they deserved. It really did make a big impact. It was literally terrifying to walk through that place. Thats why Halo 3's version was alot weaker. Flood kept popping out of the seams, but none of it was balanced, let alone paced well. They just kept coming, never letting me immerse myself into how scary the place was supposed to be. If it's scary to walk in, that only enhances how dangerous the place is, and how careful you need to be. Low visibility keeps you on your toes more. I love Halo 3, but High Charity was not what it should have and could have been.
@Max France I appreciate how much detail 343 put into the Flood in the Halo 1 and 2 Anniversaries (even though Halo 1 Anniversary reuses Halo 3 models). BUT, the Flood had a gritty and simplistic detail to them in the classic graphical modes, and its something that made them a lot creepier. If you have active camo on, you can combat forms dripping with green fluid, and you can see infection forms pulsate. In Halo 2, if you do the same thing there, you can see Infection Forms twitch their little legs, like they're adjusting it. I don't recall seeing that in the Anniversary version. Little nuances like that go a long way too. The lighting should make you fear them more. I've been swarmed by them before, and I was scared as hell. Halo's not really a horror game, but it can come very close if done right.
I find it pretty scary that from 3:58 to the end of the mission there isn't any music, there's just.... noises of the fall of High Charity. And the choirs in Subsume terrifies me, it's like the cries of the ENTIRE population being infested that reverberate in the elevator, so the noise of the cries has to decrease from the city to us, I can't imagine the horror it was for the inhabitants to live and die this. The part "Gravemind" is also very well made in my opinion, is shows the fall, but technologically, the great technology of the covenant is useless against the Flood...
Wait, High Charity is a city? With civilians, streets, markets, and all? I had always been under the impression it was a military colony, a giant vessel carrying armies. I had no idea there were women and children aboard just living their lives.
@@abstract5249Yes, High Charity was the Covenant's capital, basically the Halo equivalent of the Citadel from Mass Effect. Just with lots of religious extremism, slavery, and racism. In fact, the Prophets' entire species and civilization were onboard the station when it was infested with the Flood since it had been their home for thousands of years. After Halo 2 and 3 they basically ended up an endangered species. The Covenant losing High Charity was like the Roman Republic losing Rome, honestly even worse considering it was the Flood. What you're thinking of would be more like the Unyielding Hierophant from the book First Strike, which was staging a massive invasion of Earth just before the events in Halo 2.
@@nagger8216 That's interesting. I don't know much of Halo lore outside the games, but it makes sense. You don't see civilians in High Charity for the same reason you don't see them in New Mombasa. There's just no reason to, gameplay wise. Although I'd always assumed New Mombasa was evacuated prior to the Covenant invasion. I guess maybe not?
@@abstract5249 Yeah, we don't see that much of either city in Halo 2, but in ODST we see plenty of remnants of the panicking and rioting people were up to when the Covenant first invaded New Mombasa in Halo 2, and the audio logs in ODST tell us a lot about the evacuation and the discovery of the Ark portal under the city as well. It's just a shame they were never able to properly show off the scale of such an event due to the limited technology and time, even in Reach the most we really see is a dozen civilians running around while a battle takes place in the background miles away. I guess there's also the plane that gets shot down, but that's just one model, not actually like 50 people. But that's also way better than in Halo 2 where it looked like the Rapture had just begun
@@abstract5249 maybe all civilians in the covenant are forced to serve in the military.. which i guess means they aren't civilians at all. either way, the high charity levels in halo 2 are set entirely inside the high council towers and not the city proper
Best flood atmosphere level in the game. I had to use my flashlight in certain areas of the map because the terrain was so dark. The music adds a whole new level of creepiness.
Today, my dad passed away. When I was 6 years old I was fascinated by Halo 2 and my dad bought me an Xbox with Halo 2. It was a good night because the next day I came back from school and played until I had to play "Oracle" mission. I was stuck on that mission until my birthday party. My friend had to help me... Soon I realized I was scared of The Flood. Then Halo 3 came out. My dad bought The first Xbox 360 series months after releasing. I will never forget you dad. That was the best Christmas ever. He also bought my Big Red One of Christmas along with a go-kart. See you soon dad 🕊️ 0:22 I will never forget this sound. Its my childhood my dad brought me.
Mine as well. The entire Convenant point of view combined with choir-enabled music really magnifies the scale of the religious and socio-political clashes present among the Convenant species that the game's storytelling tells so well. If there is ever an opportunity in my life to, I would love to perform amongst an ensemble and choir, the High Charity suite from Halo 2.
God, I love the way this sounds. Like it was made from the Covenant's own perspective. This place was a beautiful home, not just an evil space mushroom, as it appears to us.
what most people don't realize is the song at 1:35 is remix of a song from marathon called leela. Im pretty sure thats the name of the song from marathon.
i agree. having the player see high charity before the flood infection allows this mission to create some horrifying contrast. this once beautiful magnificent holy city is being turned into a tomb. it's haunting.
The two levels surrounding high charity and the multiplayer map Gemini are my favorite sceneries in Halo 2. You just don’t see environmental art direction like this anywhere else.
The High Charity levels were one of the most challenging parts of Halo 2 for me! Without question! Also fascinating to see the covenant civil war break out from the chief’s perspective!
Always felt a sense of hope in this music. Even as a kid I knew that, as high charity fell, it was one of the final nails in humanities coffin. But not it’s last, it’s a depressive tune, but hope remained in it. Hope, a powerful thing.
Halo 2 is the best game of all the franchise, specially for its magical soundtrack which is a masterpiece, this level is incredible how at the beginning looks like Keyes from CE but it turns so darkness, specially in the dark areas where you were alone with your shutgun waiting flood or brute or whatever and then listening the choir and the argue of gravemind and truth while you just see all covenant covering really scary from the flood, damn it's amazing and as a kid I really loved and had so much nightmares
4:01 is the ambient sound of being trapped hiding in terror in the pitch dark with no escape, just the echoes of the screams and groaning as the Flood assimilates High Charity, and it's only a matter of time.
Magical... , i can't explain the feeling, this kind of music was so good worked , and was the childhood of some of us... why don't they make games like this anymore?
@@xMcRolled That’s what makes this part of the game as chilling as it is, because you’re literally witnessing how bad they’re actually losing right in front of you.
"Whosoever is gripped by fear, take heed...I am the Prophet Of Truth, and I am not afraid... Noble Mercy is here, at my side... His wise cousel ever in my ears..." "...We exist together now... Two corpses in one grave..."
Fear not my brothers the sacred icon has been found. It was Tartarus and his brutes who took the icon from the flood. For that they have our thanks. with my blessings the brutes now lead or fleets. They ask for you allegiance, and you shall give it. “Prophet of truth 2004”
Subsume to Falling Up could be in a Halo survival horror game. Hell, should be. If Halo: Gravemind had been real and those songs weren't in it it wouldn't have made any sense.
Tribal Soldier it's because 343 wanted to make their own version, it is a remake after all, the reason it's looks and sounds different is because of that so it comes down to what version has the better atmosphere/ feeling personally halo 2 classic will always be the best
