Steve Downes recorded a lot of death screams for Halo. Like, a lot. A skilled player might not even realize when the death screams are repeating. But there is definitely one death scream for Master Chief that no Halo fan will ever forget.
That’s the Goofy Yell tribute from Halo 2. In this case, Goofy refers to the classic Disney characters who calls out “WAAAAAHOOOHOOOHOOHOOOEEEEEeeee…” whenever he falls from a great height, as used to happen frequently when he starred in short films.
When Steve Downes was recording death screams in Halo: Combat Evolved, he managed to slip in an extra scream during his recording session that imitated this iconic yell. It didn’t make it into the original Halo, but it did manage to make it into Halo 2 where it can be heard on the second to last level in the game. You can also hear it occasionally in Halo 3 on the Valhalla and High Ground multiplayer maps.
Not wanting to leave anything out of the remaster, 343 Industries kept the Goody Yell in The Master Chief Collection, so players who didn’t hear it the first time around can discover it on their 503rd run through the campaign.
It’s not entirely clear what triggers the Goofy Yell, but it seems to happen most frequently when Master Chief suffers a significant kinetic force--either via impact with a solid object or by falling from a great height. Sort of what Goofy would suffer during his films.
The Master Chief Collection on PC has been a very good thing for the Halo franchise, according to 343 Industries. A recent blog update revealed that the remastered collection of Halo titles added more new players to the franchise than Halo 3 which was during the height of Halo's popularity.
This Halo renaissance is even leading to a live-action TV show, and you can see some behind-the-scenes shots of the show right here.
Source: Halopedia