Twelve tracks and every single one of them is essential. Martin O'Donnell's second volume for Halo 2 collects the orchestral score material that the guitar-heavy first volume left behind, and honestly this is where the real substance lives.
Read more
"Unforgotten" is one of the most affecting pieces in the entire franchise, a piano and string arrangement so clean it feels like it belongs in a film score that costs ten times the budget. "Mombasa Suite" captures the chaos of the Earth invasion with layered percussion and that signature Halo choir pushing through the noise.
"High Charity Suite" goes somewhere alien and uncomfortable, which is exactly right for the Flood. The suite format means each track covers a full level's worth of emotional ground. "Cairo Suite" alone shifts moods five or six times.
If you played Halo 2 on the original Xbox and only remember the Breaking Benjamin tracks, this volume is the one you actually need to hear.