Halo: Combat Evolved changed the industry forever when it released alongside the original Xbox during 2001. The game's brilliant gunplay and fantastic sound design helped create one of the most memorable shooters ever made. Like most great games, Halo went through many changes during development.
With many changes in development comes cut content. Since Halo: Combat Evolved went through two genre shifts and a different platform before releasing, it has a massive amount of cut content that shows a glimpse at what it once was. From cut weapons to multiplayer functionality, here are 10 crazy pieces of cut content from Halo: Combat Evolved.
10 RTS Game
The development of Halo: Combat Evolved was nothing short of a miracle. Bungie changed Halo from a Mac-exclusive real-time strategy game to the Xbox-exclusive first-person shooter gamers know today. Pre-release footage of Halo shows marines controlling Warthogs, Spartans with a visual appearance more reminiscent of Halo: Reach than what gamers saw in Combat Evolved, and massive levels that never made it to the final game. It is likely Halo's fantastic AI is partially due to it originally being an RTS title before Microsoft bought out Bungie in 2000 and turned Combat Evolved into an Xbox launch title.
9 Vehicles
When Halo was transitioning from an RTS game to a third-person shooter, Bungie ended up removing tons of weapons and vehicles from the game. Most vehicles during Halo's RTS era were never finished, but there are a few that look shockingly close to finished.
The two most noteworthy cut vehicles are an unnamed Covenant vehicle and a stealth UNSC tank. The stealth tank appeared to be a Scorpion tank much lower to the ground without a machine gun. Surprinslgy, the Covenant vehicle looks shockingly similar to the Spectre seen in Halo 2, featuring multiple seats for a gunner and side passengers. Other cut vehicles include the "Horseshoe Crab" tank, a strange orange Forerunner tank that never made it past the RTS phase, and a UNSC bipedal mech. It would have been interesting to see how these vehicles would have worked in multiplayer.
8 Gravity Rifle
As with most FPS games, a few weapons in Halo: Combat Evolved were cut before release. While many weapons in Halo's RTS and third-person shooter phases were removed from the game, one particular weapon that was cut is still in the game's files.
Named the Gravity Gun, this cut golden rifle seems to be a major work in progress. The weapon has no model in first-person, has no sound effects, and fires spouts of flame that deal no damage. It has a golden appearance that can only be seen in third-person. It is unknown what this weapon was used for. The state of the weapon could suggest that this was a prototype of a Covenant-themed flamethrower, a cut Forerunner power weapon that used gravity to kill targets, or a cut Covenant sniper rifle similar to Halo: Reach's Focus Rifle.
7 Flamethrower
One cut weapon that is much easier to understand is the Flamethrower. This weapon would shoot a stream of flame to burn enemies to death. Halo fans likely know about the weapon's finished state in The Master Chief Collection and Gearbox's Halo: Custom Edition, but this weapon is also in the original Xbox version.
Compared to the other versions, the Xbox version of the Flamethrower shows a heat gauge and ammo pool. This suggests the weapon would have an overheat mechanic similar to most Covenant weapons. Considering the model of this weapon appears finished and it has animations, this was likely cut late in development either due to time constraints or the inability to make an overheating mechanic work on a weapon that has to reload.
6 Elites Had Shields
During the E3 2000 demo of Halo, players can see human Marines fighting against various Covenant Elites. One Elite projects a shield on his left gauntlet, similar to how the Jackal shield works. This Elite energy shield consists of three overlapping diamonds instead of a circle. It was likely removed due to balance concerns and given to Jackals instead.
5 Machetes
Nearly every weapon in Halo: Combat Evolved has an enemy faction counterpart. The UNSC's Assault Rifle is comparable to the Covenant's Plasma Rifle, for example. The game follows this design well until players consider the Elite's Energy Sword.
Well, it used to have a counter in the form of a UNSC Machete. Pre-release screenshots of Halo in 1999 and 2000 show Spartans holding these Machetes while going toe-to-toe with Elites wielding Energy Swords. Since the Machete was likely cut early in development, it is likely one reason players can't use the Energy Sword in Combat Evolved since it had no human variant.
4 Wildlife
Wildlife was going to play a much larger role in Halo. Various pieces of concept art and early footage show a wide range of fauna and wildlife that would have patrolled the landscape. Some of these creatures appear to be an early rendition of the Gúta, Rock Worms that blend in with the environment, and the vehicle-smashing Sharquoi.
All of these creatures never made it to the final game, but players might recognize the Sharquoi from Halo's plethora of external lore. Gútas also made a surprise appearance in the "Nightfall" mission in Halo: Reach. Bungie cut wildlife from the game entirely to make the Flood reveal more interesting and impactful.
3 Engineer
Nearly every Halo modding enthusiast knows about the cut Engineer enemy. These floating drones were cut very late in the game's development as evident by their finished meshes and textures.
Bungie has stated they were going to be passive and helpless enemies similar to Grunts. Engineers would later appear in Halo 3: ODST and Halo Wars as support units for the Covenant.
2 Xbox Live Support
Halo 2 took the world by storm with its fantastic online multiplayer that brilliantly used Xbox Live. Combat Evolved had a multiplayer component as well, but it was missing Xbox Live functionality altogether.
That is because Bungie didn't have enough time to support the framework with their game. Bungie never intended Halo to be an Xbox exclusive during development, so when Microsoft bought Bungie out in 2000, the studio had to scramble to get the game released alongside the console. That time crunch meant there simply wasn't enough time to incorporate Xbox Live into the game's multiplayer component. Bungie's development crunch is also why the Magnum is so overpowered in multiplayer.
1 Open World Design
As with most games, Bungie promised a lot of things with Halo: Combat Evolved that would never come to fruition. Back when it was being revealed, Bungie promised that game levels would be comparable to open worlds that had malleable terrain and dynamic weather. Anyone who has played Combat Evolved could tell you that all of those promises were never fulfilled.
With that said, the open-ended level design of Combat Evolved is mostly due to this ambition. Levels such as "The Silent Cartographer" were likely developed when the size and scope of Halo was massive. Bungie would go on to make the same mistake with Halo 2 by promising levels 10 times the size of the first title. For anyone that wonders why the studio is so secretive by today's standards, these unfulfilled promises are likely why.