Cut Halo: Combat Evolved weapons

"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.

Human

Anti-air rocket launcher

Referred to in-game as the SPNKR 108 8AM, 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.

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  The rocket launcher.

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  The front of the rocket launcher.

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.

Bolt-action sniper rifle

Referred to in-game as the SWS99C-S2 and jokingly by developers as the "old shovel", this weapon was to be a bolt-action rifle featured in Halo.

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  The rifle being used by the player.

Excavator

The c excavator is another weapon found in the 2000-era builds, and jokingly referred to as the "boring device". The has a tilted, rotating magazine near the front and was intended to be used by the UNSC. The Excavator would eventually form the basis for the design of the Mauler in Halo 3.

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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.

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 Machete - 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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  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 Spiker in later games.

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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's concept was later revived in Halo 2 as the M7 SMG.

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  The SMG being used by the player.

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.

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.

Gravity rifle

The gravity rifle can be found in the files for released builds of Combat Evolved, though lacks textures, first-person models, animations, stats 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.

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  A Spartan employing the Gravity Rifle on Battle Creek.

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  A closer look at the Gravity Rifle.

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  Another 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.

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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.

Particle beam rifle

Found in the 2000-era builds and labelled c particle beam rifle (also referred to as the "alien sniper rifle"), little is known of this weapon. It presumably fulfills a role of a Covenant sniper rifle, and presumably evolved into the particle beam rifle weapons later included in Halo 2 and subsequent entries.

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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.

Unknown rifle

This weapon appears in a handful of promotional screenshots. Almost nothing is known about it. The presence of fairly final-looking Forerunner architecture and Elite model suggest it was present in the later-era FPS builds of the game.

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  The rifle being held by a Sangheili.