Cut Halo: Combat Evolved weapons

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: Combat Evolved cut content

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Cut content

Pre-Xbox Halo
Cut characters
Cut dialogue
Cut enemies and ambient life
Cut levels
Cut medals
Cut vehicles
Cut weapons

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Development

Combat Evolved development
Concept art
Storyboards
PC patches
Beta 1749
Beta 2247
Beta 2276

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

v • d • e

"At that time we were just like "what if we did this?" and we built it, got it in the game and it just sat there. Some of them made it into the final game, some of them sat there and withered on the vine."

— Marcus Lehto discussing the weapons found in 2000-era builds of Combat Evolved.

During the development of Halo: Combat Evolved, the game went through many different styles including a strategy game, a third-person shooter and a first-person shooter. Throughout these iterations, many different weapons were cut from the game, some of which presenting notably different design styles from those found in the final 2001 release. Most known cut weapons are from the 1999-2000 era builds of Combat Evolved, during which time the game was intended to be a third-person shooter. However, a small handful from the FPS era are known.

At the time of the game's development, Bungie had a creative attitude to weapons creation - weapons were often designed with a question of what could be done, with details of how it might work in-game left to be figured out later. Due to this, there is no guarantee most of these weapons would have ever made it into a final build. However, the ideas or designs for many of them would later make their way into subsequent Halo entries, in particular Halo 2.

Of particular note is the timeframe at which Halo started development. The initial RTS that would later become Halo begun development in 1997 under the codename "Armor", and as such many of the early designs for human weapons and equipment bear strong visual similarities from real-world Cold War weapons programs active in the 1990s and late 1980s. These include the Objective Individual Combat Weapon, AAI CAWS and H&K CAWS, Denel NTW-20, Steyr IWS 2000, Walther WA 2000 and others. Additional inspirations for human weaponry were based on popular science fiction media of the 1980s and 1990s - particularly 1986's Aliens and 1997's Starship Troopers - the latter of which released the same year as Halo beginning its development.

Human

Chaingun

The chaingun is a tri-barrelled rotary cannon that could be held with two hands by the player. It was frequently seen in promotional material for the game including the first-ever screenshot released, though was ultimately cut. The concept was later revived with the AIE-486H machine gun in Halo 3.

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  The first-ever screenshot released from Halo.

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  Master Chief wielding the chaingun.

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  Another screenshot of the chaingun in use.

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  The restored Chaingun in Halo: Combat Evolved.

Machete

Labelled in-game as the Pattern-2 Composite Sword, the machete was to be a human counterpard to the Covenant energy sword. Early revisions of John-117's armour had a port for the Machete to slot into. Althought the weapon was modelled and animated, it was never made functional as a weapon in-game. Although the machete was cut, it did live on in-game and in-lore as the Pattern-2 composite sword - a UNSC bladed weapon for use in jungle environments and found on all variations of the difficulty sigils for Normal, Heroic and Legendary difficulties.

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  An E3 1999-era Machete design, bearing more resemblance to a Kukri like that featured in Halo: Reach.

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  The MacWorld 1999 Machete model.

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  The machete being wielded by the Master Chief in an early build of Halo.

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  The machete being wielded by the player.

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  Another image of the machete.

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  An image showcasing the Pattern-2 Composite Sword.

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  Early concept art of John-117, featuring the Pre-Xbox Halo machete.

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  Later concept art of the sheathed sword.

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  The crossed machetes on the Heroic difficulty icon for Halo: Reach.

Spear gun

Labelled in-game as the Lamprey Sub-Ed, the spear gun was intended for underwater combat against sea creatures. When fired, its projectiles would stick into enemies akin to those of the Needler and Paegaas Workshop Spiker in later games. The concept was revived in Halo Infinite with the Flaktura Workshop Skewer.

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  The Spear Gun held by the player.

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  The Spear Gun reloading.

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  The fired spears impaled in an elite.

Submachine gun

The SMG (referred to in UI as the 12.7mm MP-99 Para) is an SMG originally slated to appear in Halo. The weapon went through several major design changes, with three distinct models recovered by Digsite. The first is from the 1999 E3 build, boasting a design similar to the M7 SMG later introduced in Halo 2, with a top-loaded magazine similar to the P90 PDW. The second dates to 1999 MacWorld-era, with a radical change in design to now include a side-loaded magazine, while a third iteration from 2000 is more conventional in nature. UI screenshots of the original design state that it holds 50 12.7 rounds, with at least one spare.

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  The SMG being used by the player.

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  An early iteration of the SMG can be seen in this 1999-era UI.

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  The 1999 E3-era SMG model.

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  A later iteration of the SMG, from the 1999 MacWorld build - boasting a side-loaded magazine similar to a Sten.

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  A later SMG design from c.2000.

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  The 2000-era SMG.

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  The 2000-era SMG.

Covenant

Concussion gun

The c concussion gun is another weapon found in the 2000-era builds of Combat Evolved. The weapon appears to have a charge up before firing, and uses the Shotgun sound effect for firing (presumably as a placeholder). In later discussions, the weapon was jokingly referred to as the "drumkey".

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  The player holding the concussion gun.

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  Holding the concussion gun in third-person view.

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  The concussion gun.

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  A 1999-era model for the concussion gun.

Energy shield

While not strictly a weapon, Sangheili wielding arm-mounted shield-generating gauntlets akin to those employed by Jackal infantry can be observed in concept art and screenshots. A similar device lives on in Halo canon.

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  Concept art of a Sangheili with a point defense gauntlet for Halo: Combat Evolved.

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  A Sangheili Major with an arm shield and energy sword in the E3 2000 trailer for Halo: Combat Evolved.

Excavator

The c excavator is another weapon found in the 2000-era builds, and jokingly referred to as the "boring device". The Excavator has a tilted, rotating magazine near the front. The Excavator would eventually form the basis for the design of the Mauler in Halo 3. Although labelled in-game as a Covenant weapon (using the c_ prefix) and visually reminiscent of the alien designs, the weapon is claimed in The Art of Halo 3 to have been intended for use by the UNSC. It is unknown whether this was actually the case, or simply the case of the developers misremembering the facts in the intervening seven years.

The texture for the Excavator went on to be used as a placeholder texture for the Gravity Rifle and the Microwave Gun.

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  The excavator held by the player.

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  The Excavator.

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  Holding the Excavator in third-person view.

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  Firing the Excavator.

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  A 1999-era model for the Excavator.

Flak cannon

The flak cannon was an early weapon dated to around 1999, with the Digsite-recovered model (shown below) from the 1999 MacWorld build. The weapon is notable for its similar appearance to the Pez'tk-pattern fuel rod gun featured in Halo 2 and Halo 3. This is due to the original intent for Combat Evolved to feature both the flak cannon and the fuel rod gun alongside one another as distinct weapons; the flak cannon was ultimately cut and the fuel rod made it into the final game. As concepted, the flak cannon was to be somewhat akin to a Covenant grenade launcher; a magazine-fed weapon that fires explosive projectiles on a projectile arc.

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  The MacWorld 1999 flak cannon.

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  An early Elite (right) using the flak cannon.

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  An Elite using the flak cannon.

Fuel rod gun

The fuel rod gun, as with the flak cannon above, was featured in 1999 Macworld-era Halo, with a design more directly reminiscent of the Zasqi-pattern fuel rod gun featured in the final game. In contrast to the flak cannon, the fuel rod was to fire explosive bolts on a direct path.

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  The MacWorld 1999 fuel rod gun.

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  An early Elite (left) using a fuel rod gun.

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  The final game fuel rod gun, as it appears in the campaign.

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  The multiplayer variant of the fuel rod gun created by Gearbox Software for Halo PC.

Gravity rifle

The gravity rifle can be found in the files for released builds of Combat Evolved, though lacks textures, first-person models, animations or projectiles. The weapon can be enabled on some maps in Halo Custom Edition by using the command cheat_all_weapons. When firing, the weapon emits a bright light and produces flames on its target, and is extremely accurate.

Data gathered from the game files of Combat Evolved reveal a few more details about this weapon;

• It has the maximum rate-of-fire possible in Combat Evolved - essentially acting as a beam weapon similarly to the sentinel beam.
• The weapon has a magazine set up, with a 200 round capacity before needing to reload, and capable of carrying 200 spare rounds.
• The weapon has no additional properties such as spread or magnification set up.

In this manner, the gravity rifle appears to be somewhat of a spiritual successor to the microwave gun featured in the 1999 builds, and somewhat of a precursor to the Disintegrator later cut from Halo 2.

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  A Spartan employing the Gravity Rifle on Battle Creek.

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  A closer look at the Gravity Rifle.

Gravity wrench

Appearing to function akin to a grenade launcher, the gravity wrench features two prongs which charge up and generate an energy ball between them, which is then launched on a projectile arc. The gravity wrench was later canonized in 2022.

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  The player holding the Gravity Wrench.

Microwave gun

The weapon labelled c microwave gun is found in the 2000-era builds of Combat Evolved. The weapon is held in two hands akin to holding the turrets found in Halo 3-onward, and emits an orange beam-like particle effect while firing. When asked about this weapon, Marcus Lehto indicated he did not remember what purpose the weapon had, or if it had even been given one when it was first implemented.

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  The microwave gun.

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  The microwave gun as held by the player.

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  Firing the microwave gun.

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  A 1999-era model for the microwave gun.

Particle beam rifle

Two iterations of particle beam rifle are known to have existed in early Combat Evolved production. The first, known by the codename c particle beam rifle or "alien sniper rifle", appears like an elongated Plasma Rifle. It can be seen in concept art for the Slugmen, and was later canonised as the Wukrshuz-pattern particle rifle.

A second iteration, dating to around 2000, can be seen in promotional screenshots posted in PC Gamer's August 2000 issue.

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  The particle beam rifle held by the player.

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  The particle beam rifle in the third-person view.

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  The particle beam rifle.

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  Concept art for the special purpose sniper, a cut enemy which would have wielded the weapon.

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  The 2000-era particle beam rifle design.

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  The PC Gamer August 2000 screenshot of the weapon.

Early weapon designs

While Combat Evolved ultimately did ship with a diverse set of weapons, these final designs went through a large amount of iteration throughout the game's progression from strategy to shooter. This section covers the early iterations and radical redesigns that some of the weapons went through, before ending up at the versions ultimately found in the final release.

Assault rifle

Early revisions of the MA5B assault rifle seemingly take influence from a number of sources, including the MA–75B assault rifle from the Marathon series and the M41A Pulse Rifle from Aliens - a film which Halo is heavily based upon. Some of these early RTS and third-person era assault rifles also displayed obvious outward similarities to the Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW) program which was active in the 1990s (around the time Halo began development) and the Morita assault rifle from 1997's Starship Troopers - the former of which likely inspired the MA5's in-universe designation "Individual Combat Weapon System" (ICWS), while the latter was similarly-influential on the Halo series as Aliens. This early OICW-inspired design can be seen firing an underbarrel grenade launcher.

The assault rifle design would gradually evolve throughout the rest of 1999 into a design more familiar to fans of the final game. PC Gamer's October 1999 issue would run a piece showcasing an updated screenshot with an assault rifle bearing much heavier resemblance to the final iteration. This version of the assault rifle has a black steel frame and green furniture, similar to the Aliens M41 rifle, and has the addition of a secondary magazine located in front of the trigger - presumably used to reload the grenade launcher. A version of the assault rifle later seen in the third-person builds of Halo boasted the name MA-5 ICW/30mm CGL (possibly standing for something akin to Model A-5 Individual Combat Weapon/30mm Caseless Grenade Launcher).

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  Early 1998-era concept art by Robert McLees.

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  The original 1998 RTS-era revision.

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  The 1999 E3-era revision.

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  The 1999 MacWorld-era revision.

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  The 2000-era assault rifle revision.

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  The MA5B seen in the final game.

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  A May 1999-era screenshot of the map room showcased in that year's E3 event, showcasing an assault rifle more overtly inspired by the OICW program.

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  The OICW-inspired rifle firing its grenade launcher.

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  1999 concept art by Shi Kai Wang - the Marines here showcase more recognisable designs for the assault rifle.

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  Master Chief using the 1999-era assault rifle.

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  Master Chief using the assault rifle in the 1999-era builds of Halo.

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  The MA5B on the cover of Gamestar magazine in May 2000. By this time, the assault rifle resembled the final iteration in all but colour scheme - though still retains its secondary magazine.

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  A later iteration of the assault rifle can be seen wielded closer to mid-late 2000. In this iteration, the grenade launcher magazine has been removed, and the foregrip enlarged.

Pistol

The M6D magnum went through a handful of design phases throughout development. The earliest images of the Magnum originate in 1999 and bear an extremely crude, blocky design - a low-detail weapon intended for third-person viewing. Some brief footage of UNSC Navy crewmen in footage provided by Marcus Lehto showcases a second, alternate pistol design that is much more slimmed down and reminiscent of modern handguns.

Around 2000, a radical design shift can be seen for the pistol, with screenshots and concept art showcasing a pistol seemingly-based on the Luger pistol. Ultimately, the design was scrapped, and the Digsite restoration project has been unable to recover its files for restoration in The Master Chief Collection. Despite appearing in relatively later builds of the game, the Luger design did not make the final cut, and instead the original first design was used as a basis for the weapon that would appear in the final game.

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  The first iteration of the Magnum.

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  Another look at the first iteration of the Magnum.

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  A 1999-era Master Chief firing the first pistol iteration.

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  Un-armoured Marines holding the second pistol iteration.

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  A Marine sergeant holding the Luger-based design in a 2000-era screenshot for PC Gamer magazine.

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  Early 2000-era concept art of a Flood combat form depicting this Luger-based design.

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  The M6D Magnum as seen in the beta builds of Combat Evolved.

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  The final iteration of the Magnum.

Plasma pistol

The earliest known revision of the Plasma Pistol recovered by Digsite dates back to the 1999 MacWorld build of Halo. At this time, the plasma pistol was simply termed the "Energy Pistol".

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  The 1999-era Energy Pistol.

Rocket launcher

The rocket launcher featured in Halo originated as two distinct designs; an anti-armour rocket launcher and an anti-air missile launcher. Both designs can be seen in various early screenshots, before merging later on in development to form the M41 SPNKR seen in final gameplay. The SPNKR takes its name from the SPNKR-XP surface-to-surface missile launcher in Marathon.

Missile launcher

Referred to in-game as the SPNKR 108 SAM, this weapon was described as being a rocket launcher intended for use against aircraft, while the standard rocket launcher was intended for anti-vehicle usage. A similar design was later concepted for Halo 3 as the G4H-DuSH, though was similarly cut. The M57 Pilum would later debut in Halo 5: Guardians, bearing some broad similarities to this rocket launcher. This weapon has been referenced in canon under the name STMPr "Stomper".

The name "SPNKR 108 SAM" presumably stands for "SPNKR 108 Surface-to-Air Missile".

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  The rocket launcher.

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  The front of the rocket launcher.

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  Firing the SAM launcher.

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  Holding the SAM launcher.

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  A side view of the SAM launcher.

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  Various views of the SAM launcher.

Rocket launcher

The original design for the M41 rocket launcher bears resemblance to the final game counterpart in most areas. Its most notable differences lie in the red-coloured housing and the less boxy housing for the rockets. In the final game, the housing from the missile launcher appears to have been kitbashed onto the rocket launcher, and the red trim recoloured black.

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  The 1999-era SPNKR.

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  A group of cyborgs in a Warthog, with the passenger holding the rocket launcher.

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  The HUD icon for the launcher in the final game - note its almost unchanged appearance from the original design.

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  A side view of the 1999-era SPNKr.

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  Various views of the 1999-era SPNKr.

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  The M41 SPNKR in the final release of Halo.

Shotgun

The Shotgun can be first seen in 1999-era third-person builds, though little gameplay has been shown of it. In the HUD seen in these builds, the weapon is labelled the WSTE-M90 sacs, named in reference to the WSTE-M5 Combat Shotgun featured in Marathon 2. The WST name would later make its way into Halo canon with the lore given for the M90A shotgun in Halo 3, with Weapon System Technology manufacturing numerous pieces of equipment for the UNSC. The 1999-era shotgun held five shells in its magazine, with at least one extra magazine in reserve.

The shotgun would make a few minor changes between 1999 and 2000, predominantly graphical enhancements on the same basic design. From here, it would remain largely unchanged until final release in 2001 - save for a re-designation from the WSTE-M90 sacs to the M90 Close Assault Weapon System (CAWS). It is likely that the CAWS acronym was inspired by the real-world AAI CAWS and H&K CAWS shotguns, both predominant during the 1980s and 1990s.

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  The 1999-era shotgun.

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  An early iteration of the shotgun can be seen in this 1999-era UI.

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  The shotgun in 2000.

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  2000-era Master Chief aiming the shotgun at an Engineer.

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  A Marine using the shotgun.

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  Master Chief holding the 2000-era shotgun.

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  The 2000-era shotgun.

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  A Marine holding the shotgun in the final game.

Sniper rifle

Referred to in-game as the SWS99C-S2 (presumably standing for something akin to "Sniper Weapon System 99C-Series 2") and jokingly by developers as the "old shovel", this weapon was to be a bolt-action rifle featured in Halo. The weapon appears to bear some resemblance to the real-world Steyr IWS 2000 and the Walther WA 2000. In-game, the weapon could only fire one round before reloading.

By 2000, the sniper rifle design had evolved massively from the "old shovel" rifle design to something more resembling the final game - based on the real-world Denel NTW-20. A 2011 GDC talk by Jaime Griesemer revealed the following from Halo's original design documentation (quoted verbatim);

Sniper Rifle/ Digital Scope

• Long range, high penetration, high rate of fire with 5 round clip (but clip reloads slowly).
• Small contrail, very loud bang with huge flash and slowly dissipating smoke.
• Second trigger adjusts zoom level (exactly how TBD).
• Head shots kill anything man-sized except flood (these high-velocity bullets pass right through flood).

By the time of the final release, the sniper rifle would gain its magazine and a grey finish alongside general graphical improvements. The final canon name for the rifle is inspired by the original designation, now known as the SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifle.

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  The rifle being used by the player.

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  An early iteration of this sniper can be seen in this 1999-era UI.

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  Master Chief using this sniper rifle.

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  A view of the rifle in gameplay.

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  Master Chief using the 2000-era redesign to hunt thorn beast.

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  Marines in the 2000-era builds using the revised design.

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  Master Chief holding the revised design.

Power-ups

Two power-ups are present in the files of the retail Halo: Combat Evolved (PC port). They can be activated using the console command cheat_all_powerups, and display the tooltip "Picked up flamethrower" when activated.

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  The unused power-ups (left).

Speed boost

A Speed Boost powerup can be found in the files for Combat Evolved. It speeds up all of the player's actions, though entering a vehicle sees the game slow down. It makes a strange sound when activated.

Unused powerup 2

This powerup has no effect when used.