Halo 2 storyboards

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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!

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The Halo 2 storyboards are a early version of Halo 2's story. The storyboards were created by Lee Wilson.

Overview

When Lee Wilson started the storyboards, it was clear to him that the script was not ready for shooting boards due to the numerous script revisions at Bungie. This lead to Lee boarding up the entire cinematic script two to three times. What he opted to do was present the boards in a hybrid storyboard/comic panel style, drawing them in pen to "remove the temptation of erasing and redrawing them until they looked good to me". These boards were for simple communication, not to be displayed on a wall.

Storyboards

E3 2003 boards

These boards were also drawn by Lee R. Wilson. These were for the Halo 2 E3 Demo.

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  Intro 1

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  Intro 2

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  Intro 3

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  Intro 4

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  Intro 5

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  Intro 6

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  Intro 7.1

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  Intro 7.2

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  Outro 1.1

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  Outro 1.2

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  Outro 1.3

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  Outro 1.4

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  Outro 1.5

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  Outro 1.6

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  Outro 2.1

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  Outro 2.2

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  Outro 2.3

First revision storyboards

These storyboards represent some of the oldest work done by Wilson on Halo 2, and bear the least resemblance to the final product. These storyboards are characterised by simple linework and shading often done in pen, moreso resembling the storyboard work done for Halo: Combat Evolved. Due to these boards being produced early in the development of Halo 2, they take many cues from Combat Evolved such as Master Chief, Arbiter and UNSC Marines all using armour derived from their Combat Evolved-era counterparts, as their Halo 2 incarnations had not been designed in full yet.

The Heretic

The early storyboards for the The Heretic cutscene differ little from those in the final game, though have some minor differences. The council chamber of High Charity bears a heavy resemblance to the House of Lords, and the opening panning shot of the city is complete with an excerpt from the Writ of Union. Some camera angles are different, and the Councilors do not bear their distinctive headdresses seen in the final game.

Cairo Station

The level Cairo Station has an opening cinematic mostly similar to that found in the final game, though with one major difference - the Moncton-class orbital weapon platform has a vastly different design and bears the name Torres Vedras, rather than the final game's Cairo. The opening cutscene opens by focusing on a tram on the station's exterior, and the rest of the cutscene proceeds mostly as in the final game. Notably, Lord Hood is shown wearing a cape, and Cortana is shown with short-cropped hair akin to her original Combat Evolved appearance. The cinematic ends with Hood departing the assembly hall and a fade to black for gameplay, and no focus on the UNSC fleet overhead.

Quarantine Zone

An outro cutscene for what appears to be a heavily altered Quarantine Zone can be found in the earliest revisions. The outro cutscene begins at one of Installation 05's "thermal outtake platforms", near the site of a crashed Pelican dropship. Around the crash site are Miranda, Johnson, Master Chief and a small handful of Marines seemingly trying to repair a damaged radio, to little success. The group are ambushed by the Arbiter, who proceeds to engage Chief in hand-to-hand combat though the scuffle is soon interrupted by the arrival of a Phantom and several Brute troops led by Tartarus. The Brutes encircle the group, and are themselves interrupted by the arrival of a "Flood hulk" - bearing a design very close to the known concept designs of the Sharquoi from Halo 2. The hulk begins to smash through the group and swat aside one of the Phantoms, before falling to sustained fire and crashing through the thermal vent - bringing the Chief, Arbiter and several Brutes with it. This encounter would have presumably resulted in Miranda and Johnson being captured by the Brutes, as in the final Halo 2.

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forerunnertank

A set of storyboards publish coincide heavily with the few details known of the cut forerunnertank level also cut from the game. Following on from the radically altered Quarantine Zone cutscene above, the Brutes die from their falls though the Spartan and Elite survive and are now stranded in the underbelly of the ringworld. Master Chief picks up a Brute Shot and the cutscene fades to gameplay - presumably lining up with the details of Forerunner Tank recalled by Joseph Staten in the Halo 2 developer commentary. Given their outro labelling, it is also possible the following storyboards may have served as an outro to the previous level, rather than an intro to forerunnertank.

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A further series of storyboards show two introductions to the Gravemind cutscene, with differing variations, one showcasing the Master Chief's capture by the Gravemind and one showcasing that of the Arbiter's. In the first, the Master Chief is shown stepping over a handful of recently-dispatched Flood forms before entering into a huge chamber full of Flood biomass - revealed to be the Gravemind. The second showcases a similar introduction for the Arbiter, with the Elite attempting to dodge from pillar to pillar to avoid being seen, while observing the Gravemind talking to the Master Chief. The pillars are revealed to be tentacles and the Arbiter is picked up by the Gravemind, with the ensuing conversation proceeding to play out as in the final game. The cutscene in this revision displays increased scope, with the Gravemind having captured several vehicles such as Phantoms subsumed into its mass, and a horde of Flood forms (including Juggernauts) throwing corpses into the pit to become part of the compound entity.

The Master Chief cutscene mentioned prior is labelled "intra", indicating that the cutscene may have been intended to play as a bridge between two parts of the forerunnnertank level (similarly to the tank cutscene at the start of Metropolis), with the first part of forerunnertank focusing on Master Chief and the second on the Arbiter.

Second revision

The second revision storyboards resemble the final game more closely, featuring designs mostly similar to those found in the final game and a drastic reduction of scope compared to the original outline, including the cutting of the majority of the third act to be replaced with the game ending found in the final product. The design of Anodyne Spirit in these storyboards has evolved from the frigate-like entity shown prior to a large tower, though would later evolve again to resemble the Keyship design familiar to fans now.

The Heretic

"Cleaning out basement closets, found some of my #Halo 2 storyboards tucked into a random box. Setting aside embarrassment at my "art" skills:
Interesting to note elements that didn't make it into the final version. For example, we decided not to build a 3D model of the broken ring, opting for simpler matte elements instead--which meant we couldn't pull of the rotation reveal of the broken section. Indeed, Halo 2 had so many complex cinematics that matte paintings were essential in many places. I think our brains would have exploded (in a good way) had we known that, someday, all our work would be remastered in full 3D glory."

— Joseph Staten, regarding the Heretic storyboard featured here.

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  Storyboard sketches for a revised The Heretic, by Joseph Staten.