Cut Halo 2 levels

This page discusses elements of deleted material and cut content. Some information on the page is sourced from game files and may not be verifiable through external sources. Where possible, such information should be clearly-marked and replaced with a proper external source as soon as one is available.

This article is part of a series on
Halo 2 cut content

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Cut content

Early script
Cut dialogue
Cut enemies and ambient life
Cut equipment
Cut gamemodes
Cut levels
Cut vehicles
Cut weapons

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Development

Halo 2 development
Concept art
Design documentation
Storyboards
Title updates
E3 campaign demo
E3 multiplayer demo

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To check out cut content for other Halo games, see here!

v • d • e

During the development of Halo 2, several levels were cut during development.

Milestone 1 levels

Milestone 1 consists of a series of gameplay prototype levels built on the "Halo 1.5" engine, and showcased to industry journalists between 2002 and 2003. At this time, the engine was in a transitionary state between Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, and thus the levels use many assets from Combat Evolved. For the most part, these levels were built to showcase and prototype new gameplay features rather than actually be part of the game's campaign story. They have since been recovered by the Digsite project and made available for both the Halo Editing Kit and Halo 2 Editing Kit for modding use.

M1 - Defensive

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M1 - Explorative

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M1 - Assault

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Cut campaign levels

alphamoon

Main article: alphamoon

"Assault the occupied control room and find the oracle"

A cut campaign level on the September 2003 build of Halo 2. This level seems to have the same story goal as the level The Oracle from the final game, involving the Arbiter securing 343 Guilty Spark for the Covenant. Unlike The Oracle, this level would be set in a heretic camp on Threshold's moon, Basis - the setting of the multiplayer map Burial Mounds.

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  A view of the level.

covenantship

Main article: Covenantship

This level was to take place immediately following Cairo Station. The level would have seen the player, as John-117, board a Covenant CAS-class assault carrier with a team of ODSTs, serving as the main introduction for Miranda Keyes. After opening the airlock of the Cairo Station's docking bay, the player would be blasted toward the Covenant ship and board it instead of destroying it with the bomb as seen in the final game. This level would have involved infiltrating the Covenant ship, taking on and killing its crew and eventually stealing a Wraith and end up destroying the ship by bombarding its power core with the Wraith's mortar.

As mentioned by Joseph Staten, Miranda Keyes and her ODSTs would have also been onboard the ship in order to help you and may have played a big role in the eventual outcome. This level however was cut due to time constraints and replaced by a cinematic that created "just as much work" for Bungie Employees.

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  The level would have taken the place of this cutscene from the final game.

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  A whiteboard showcasing part of covenantship's intended layout - matching known details including the ODSTs, Wraith and Ghost.

Infinite Succor

"This is Eddie’s [Smith] interior design with my heap of corpses. This is the Infinite Succor, which was never used. Here, the Gravemind is basically a giant mass grave of putrescent flesh and bodily fluids."

— Robert McLees, discussing the Infinite Succor's concept.

At some point during early production, concept artists Eddie Smith and Robert McLees investigated the idea of a Flood-infected Covenant hydroponics ship, in which the Flood had taken over and formed a Gravemind from the ship's livestock. This ship, the Infinite Succor, ultimately went unused in Halo 2 and it is unclear as to how much the concept was seriously considered for inclusion as a level. The idea was ultimately taken and reused in 2006 with the release of the Halo Graphic Novel, and the aptly-titled short story within The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor - which takes place aboard a Covenant agricultural ship of the same name and focuses on the actions of the Special-Operations Commander during the events of Halo: Combat Evolved.

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  Early Halo 2 concept of the Infinite Succor.

forerunnertank

Main article: Forerunnertank

Not to be confused with a cut Halo: Combat Evolved vehicle of the same name, the level named forerunnertank was only revealed on the Halo 2 cutscene commentary contained in the Halo 3 Legendary Edition's Halo 2 cinematics commentary. The purpose of the level was to tie in plot between the end of the level Regret and the cutscene after the end of the level Quarantine Zone. The level was said to be placed after the cutscene in Quarantine Zone where the Arbiter is pushed down the index chamber by Tartarus and before the cutscene where the Arbiter meets the Master Chief and talks to the Gravemind. This level was supposed to be the Gravemind's introduction; in the level, the Gravemind's tentacles were going to slam down all around the player, and move behind doors like racing freight trains.

The level would have described the Master Chief's adventure through the bowels of Delta Halo before his eventual capture by the Gravemind; the "Forerunner Tank" providing the namesake of the level was only described as something "... awesome, that blows things up, glows a lot from little windows and moves real fast." When asked why he wanted the Forerunner Tank in the game, Jason Jones' response was, "Awesomeness would ensue". The level's replacement was the short cutscene at the end of Regret; the level's removal resulted in the long series of different cutscenes between Quarantine Zone and Gravemind.

Earth Ark

Main article: Earth Ark

Earth Ark was the name given to the final three missions of Halo 2, including the game's original ending. This last act was ultimately completely cut for time constraints, though would later go on to be used for inspiration in Halo 3.

Early campaign levels

The campaign levels here are all work-in-progress versions of the levels found in the final Halo 2 release, seen in a build of the game from September 2003. As such, they are mostly early editions of the final missions with various changes such as missing geometry, textures and lack of optimisation. The "mission pairs" seen in Halo 2 were originally developed as one mission each, then split into two - as a result, levels share the same internal names (IE Outskirts and Metropolis sharing the earthcity map).

alphagasgiant

"Go to Alpha Halo, find the Heretics and destroy their base"

An early build of the levels The Arbiter and The Oracle, present on the September 2003 build of Halo 2. Upon spawning in, the player is in a dark room with several Special Operations Sangheili. The SpecOps Elites have no weapons and simply walk forward. Falling out of the level can reveal the gas mine geometry. The level has an extremely low frame rate.

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  A view of this level.

deltacontrolroom

"Start the revolution and recover the sacred icon"

An early version of the final level The Great Journey present in the September 2003 build. This level is unlit and untextured, spawning the player by the "Scarab dock" structure from the final level. On spawning, a Banshee, a Phantom and a Wraith attack the player. The vehicles cannot be boarded.

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  An image of this level.

deltatemple

Main article: deltatemple

"Warp to Delta Halo and assassinate the Prophet"

An early version of the levels Delta Halo/Regret in the September 2003 build.

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  A view of the structure's exterior.

earthcity

"Pursue the Covenant through a human city"

An early version of the levels Outskirts/ Metropolis in the September 2003 build, bearing heavy visual resemblance to the Halo 2 E3 demo. A large section of the city is modelled, with Wraiths attacking the player.

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  Earthcity.

forerunnership

Main article: forerunnership

The in-house name for the level High Charity, which would have had Halo 2's Warthog run but was ultimately cut for time. The level geometry remains mostly intact in the final Halo 2 game, and through modding can be rendered playable again.

sentinelhq

"Breach the sentinel quarantine"

A level present on the September 2003 build of Halo 2. The level was not launched in the Halo 2 E3 demo stream, leaving information about the level minimal aside from its name and description. Presumably, this level was an early version of the levels Sacred Icon/ Quarantine Zone.

Multiplayer maps

Around 4-5 multiplayer maps were cut during the development of Halo 2. Most were described by Max Hoberman as cut "for the right reasons" fairly early on in their respective block-out stages, with Hoberman calling this "the right call".

Anchor Point

Main article: Anchor Point

A multiplayer level tested during development. Anchor Point was to be a predominantly 2v2 map, designed for aerial Banshee dogfights. The map was revealed by Vic DeLeon on Twitter, and was scrapped as it purportedly "played like crap". The level files still exist at 343 Industries, with Jeff Easterling having played it as recently as November 2019.

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Bloodgulch_test

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Cloud City

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Cyclone

Cyclone was one of the earliest design exercises done for Halo 2's multiplayer. The map was designed by Max Hoberman with the intent of creating the smallest map humanly possible - intended for just 2-4 players. The map was ultimately scrapped as Hoberman didn't think it would play well, and instead created the final game's Midship instead.

Design documentation for Cyclone references a cut powerup, Adrenaline - though little information exists as to what the powerup was intended to do.

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  Design documentation for Cyclone's layout.

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  Design documentation for Cyclone's layout.

Evergreen

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Fourth Station

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Gauntlet

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Missile Beach

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Overboard

Overboard is a map ill-recalled by Max Hoberman, who remembers little of its existence - and suggested it may have morphed into another map. In April of 2023, he posted several design layouts by Chris Carney on his Twitter, further adding that the reason for the map's cutting may have been due to his preference for mirrored map layouts over rotational symmetry. This is due to his belief that mirrored symmetry is more intuitive for allowing a player to navigate a map - something that is an issue in rotational symmetry style maps.

Hoberman later added that he suspected his original issues with the map in 2003-2004 were that it had a great degree of verticality and use of ladders among the aforementioned issues with rotational symmetry. At the time of production, Hoberman was interested in intuitive player navigation in the maps he shipped, and believed that a map such as Overboard could play well but would require much more work from the art team to make playable.

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  A top-down layout for Overboard.

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Permafrost

The Blastacular Pack was originally conceived to release with three multiplayer maps; two remakes and one original map. The two remakes - Desolation and Tombstone - were able to make the cut but the original map had to be cut, as the map pack's original release date would have clashed with the timing of the Halo 3 Beta. As such, the map was cut for "the wrong reasons" to allow the map pack to release earlier in 2007. Unlike other cut maps, this map was described by Max Hoberman as coming along fairly well and having potential.

This map was to be an asymmetric level similar to Zanzibar, and feature many dynamic elements. A focal dynamic element on the map was intended to be a light bridge which could be turned on or off by the players. As of 2014, Hoberman has yet to resurrect this level, though still wants to.

In 2023, the map was revealed as one of many recovered as part of the Digsite project, with a single released screenshot of the map's raw geometry. The map itself is similar in layout to Halo 3's High Ground, and features a sword dug into a rock.

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  A screenshot of Permafrost's recovered geometry.

Raceday

raceday was the working title of a map that was experimented on early in Halo 2 development, based around the concept of a "Car Wars" style mode. It was cut very early on, still resembling a Combat Evolved level.

Rodentia

"You can check in, but never leave."

Rodentia is a remake of the Combat Evolved map Rat Race, cut from the release of Halo 2 for Windows Vista.

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  Rodentia.

Solitude

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Sunken Temple

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Timberland

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Halo 2 for Windows Vista map editor examples

With the release of Halo 2 Vista in 2007 came a new Halo Editing Kit toolset used to create mods and custom content. On the disc was included one sample map - Example - used to show players how to work with the toolset. However, three additional maps were planned for inclusion on this disc, but were ultimately cut. One of developers from Hired Gun, the studio which ported Halo 2, later finished the maps and uploaded them to halomaps.org under the username NiTrOuSoXiDe2k as free downloads on Halomaps.org.

Earth City (human_sample)

"Earth City", known by the filename human_sample, serves as a small test environment similar to Example set in Old Mombasa. The map consists of a short street surrounded by buildings, with a Gauss Warthog present in the middle. The extremely small nature of the map makes it best suited for 1v1 or 2v2 play, and features weapons such as Battle Rifles.

Earth City can be downloaded for the Windows Vista edition of Halo 2 from here.

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  A screenshot of human_sample.

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  A screenshot of human_sample.

Beach Battle (forerunner_sample)

"Beach Battle" serves as the Forerunner counterpart to Earth City, under the filename forerunner_sample. The map is set on a small coastal outcropping presumably on Delta Halo, and notably features the Suppressed SMG - similarly to Example.

Beach Battle can be downloaded for the Windows Vista edition of Halo 2 from here.

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  A screenshot of forerunner_sample.

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  A screenshot of forerunner_sample.

covenant_sample

A third counterpart to the two prior maps was intended, focusing on a Covenant theme similar to existing maps such as Midship and Gemini. As it was never released by NiTr0uSoXiDe2k, no further information was available until 2023, when the map was unearthed as part of the Digsite project.

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  A screenshot of covenant_sample.

Development and testing levels

These levels were created for the testing of various game features, and were never intended for release.

AI_test

"Test the AI!"

AI_test is a testing environment on the September 2003 build of Halo 2. In the build played by Brian Jarrard and Frank O'Connor, this level simply loaded with two Hunters and a non-flyable Banshee in a small room. The room has some corridors around the outside, and some textures more closely resembling those of the final game - though some objects simply display UV checker textures.

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  In the build, the player spawns with early versions of the SMG and Battle Rifle.

Audio playground

"We almost call it the Matrix of Doom because with the amount of surface types we have in the game vs. the amount of object that we have in the game coliding with each other and against the environment, we will be generating hundreds, and indeed thousands, of sound tracks to try to cover up this matrix."

— Jay Weinland

The audio playground is a sandbox used by Bungie to experiment with sound effects during the development of Halo 2. It consists of a large enclosed space of varied terrain in which the player can test hitting objects and gunfire against the floor and walls, which represent particular surfaces. The surfaces' names are frequently written in the texture pattern. Audio playgrounds have been shown to come in variants for "solid steel", "dirt", "room", ice, water, and reportedly can feature virtually every substance in the game.

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  A Warthog chaingun is used in the dirt room.

Meat Grinder

Meat Grinder was another level used for testing during the development of Halo 2.

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  Marines on the Meat Grinder level.

Space Station

Space Station was a ideation test environment by Paul Russel for a human space station, which would become the final level Cairo Station. It was created very early on in Halo 2's development, to where it's close to a Halo 1 level. It was released by the Digsite team in July 2024.

After the level was released, Digsite member Ludus reached out to Paul Russel on Twitter for any insights. The following comments are his responses:

Ludus: "...not sure if you'd maybe know any fun tidbits about this earlier iteration of Cairo. I personally had to remodel/UV the hallways so they'd actually (sic) ingame and lightmap properly so I figure that these probably stayed as lookdev that eventually led to the final halls?"

Paul Russel: "Oh yeah. I did all of those explorations! There was a lot of downtime in the beginning to experiment. So that’s when I started working on service corridors, vs crew corridors. During that time we were doing dynamic lighting instead of lightmaps. One early version had the station spinning, floors on the outside, space elevator in the middle. We never built the elevator, but I mocked up a rotating skybox, support structures, earth, and sun spinning outside the window. That killed the concept because it made people sick. Thanks for showing these! Bungie wouldn’t let me keep anything when I left so I have no evidence I even worked there outside of what exists on the internet."

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Paul Russel: "The third flat image is close to final geo for the maintenance halls outside the hangars, but untextured. I’d chuck it, it’s not very interesting in that grey box stage, except as an indicator of how we had to make low poly assets look good with textures."

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Paul Russel: "The orange hall, the thing on the right is the door, so that should be inside the doorway gap. This was a service hall inspired by the inside of a shipping container. When I was a kid I lived by a train yard and played on, in, and around parked trains. Very sci fi."

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  Ludus: "...is this the iteration of the level with the big elevator?"

Paul Russel: "That isn’t the one with the space elevator. That was never built. What I built was a section of hallway with a rotating skybox that implies a larger station that was never built. What you’re seeing is an early iteration based on Eddie Smith’s paper concept for Cairo."

Destructo

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A level known as Destructo was released by the Digsite team on June 21st, 2024. It features a modern-city environment, serving as a environmental destruction test for Halo 2. Another version, known as city, was released on July 12th 2024. This version seems to be created solely as an art test, and lacks the destructibles and main playable area. Paul Russel has stated he believes that the city environment was created by Michael Wu, and Destructo was created by Marcus Lehto.