Every online game has them - moments that you remember long after the scores fade into obscurity, in fact, moments that make the scores all but secondary even as the match finishes. Years after it’s been stashed in the cupboard to gather dust for a rainy day, these are moments that will define the game for each player for years to come. Online games are defined by the players that make up the matches.

After nearly 18 months of online gameplay with Halo 2 I’ve accumulated a whole bunch of them, but today I think I had two in particular that I’ll recount as an example of the often bizarre-then-brilliant style gameplay that made up Halo 2’s mainstay. The design of the game is such that the fine line between brilliance and blind luck is constantly highlighted. There’s the perfectly judged grenade over the towering wall of Zanzibar that prevents the attackers from capturing the flag, or the grenade accidentally released on Lockout that ends up nuking some explosive barrels and throwing the flag carrier off to his doom. Perhaps both aided by luck, but when the intent behind something actually comes off it’s wonderful to witness.

Today the match in question took place on the barren dunes of Burial Mound. After three closely fought rounds the score was 1-0 to my side, and we were placed on defense for the final round. The blue team knew that they had to come up with something special, or at least unpredictable. So, for the first two minutes, we waited for them. Nothing. The clock continued to run down. Someone returned to the base structure and reported that he couldn’t see the other team at all. We took up positions all around the base. I stood on the turret, looking out over the sands.

“…where’s the Warthog?”

Then I heard the Warthog’s sinuous choking engine roaring behind me. I swiftly turned, and promptly ate a mouthful of jeep as the beast motored along the central stage of the base and crushed me against the turret. One down. The other players reacted quickly, and dispatched one of the attackers, but the other two held the sword and the rockets, and they weren’t about to let their plan fail. The sword guy took another life before he was assasinated by a teammate. The rocket guy let off his barrage at that point. Four down. Another blue appeared and made off with the flag, not taking the usual route across the empty stretch of sand in front of the base, instead heading off to its left and under the bridge. His teammates spawned and ran to help him.

A blue hung around for extra kills. He picked three of us off again before he was taken down, finally weakened, by the last of us; myself. This was a game over situation. They were no doubt ammassing on the flag-carrier who was more than halfway home. I had no weapons and I was outnumbered. Then I turned again and confronted the Warthog. Except this time, empty. I strapped in. Beeping the horn frantically at one of my teammates, who leapt in the gunner position, I revved up the beast (which was now covered in flames) and gunned it for the blue base. We sped across the cliffs overlooking the path, trying to spot the carrier. He was nowhere to be seen, which meant he was about to score it. I throttled it for the end of the cliff and we flew through the air, o’erleaping the jubbilant opposing team, careering midway with the flagman who had foolishly jumped to reach the flag spot. INCHES from the base, the Warthog pulverised his body and threw the flag - and us - into the rocky wall ahead. We exploded. Everyone died.

The clock ran down the final seconds as the blue team failed to reach their quarry. GAME OVER. FADE TO BLACK.

What made it a moment was the post-game lobby that followed. Not, for once, full of sweary cross-atlantic banter, but instead full of people repeating ‘holy shit’ in disbelief at how damn close the final moments were. And then the moment was recounted from each person - the gunner in the back who said that I definitely needed to take driving lessons, and the flag carrier who saw the flag spot approaching until he was swept up at 200 miles per hour.

Never let it be said that Halo 2 is not a fantastic game. Now all we need is a bloody sequel..