Two new tracks by Misha Mansoor replace the exclusive original songs by Breaking Benjamin and Incubus in the 'Anniversary' mode, however the original tracks are retained in 'Classic' mode.
Steve Vai, who worked on the original Halo 2 original soundtrack, was hired to re-record his original guitar tracks for the remastered soundtrack. Wataru Hokoyama served as the orchestral conductor. The Halo 2: Anniversary Original Soundtrack was re-recorded with the San Francisco Symphony, a 40-person opera choir, and a 28-person boys' choir. Previews for all the tracks were released on Google Play and iTunes in late October, 2014. Only minute-long samples of the other five tracks- Second Prelude, Breaking the Covenant, Impart, Kilindini Harbour, and Unforgotten Memories-were released. The first track, Halo Theme Gungnir Mix, was released entirely.
On October 13, 2014, as part of their 'IGN First preview' for Halo: The Master Chief Collection, IGN released previews of several of the soundtrack's scores. The original score produced by Marty O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori served as a guide for the production of the new music, and nearly all of the tracks are remakes of the original Halo 2 pieces, re-orchestrated by composer Lennie Moore.
