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.

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

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

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.

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.

forerunnership

Main article: forerunnership

In-house name for the level High Charity, this level was to have 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.

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 of 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

"Warp to Delta Halo and assassinate the Prophet"

An early version of the levels Delta Halo/ Regret in the September 2003 build. The player spawns with an SMG and a sniper rifle, but no enemies populate the space. The art in this level was likely created by Paul Russel. When playing, the level has a low framerate.

Curiously, when entering the multiplayer lobby of this build, deltatemple is available for play as a multiplayer map. In the menu, the level's preview images are those of early builds of the final level Ascension.

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  A view of the structure's exterior.

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  deltatemple in the custom game lobby. Note the Ascension screenshot in the map preview.

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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  The level.

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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Untitled Blastacular map

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.

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. Dennis Powers, 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.

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.

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

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.

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. However, it was never released by NiTr0uSoXiDe2k, so no further information is available.

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.