H2:SMG

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SMG
The SMGs in Halo 2 (top) and Anniversary (bottom).
Gameplay role
Faction:	Human (UNSC)
Weapon tier (?):	Dual wield Loadout weapon
Weapon class (?):	Rifle
Weapon type (?):	Bullet
Firing mode:	Automatic
Effective range:	Close to medium
Counterparts:	Covenant Needler (Brute) Plasma Rifle Forerunner Sentinel Beam Eliminator Beam
Gameplay stats (as of Auto-Update 3)
Damage:	SP: 4.75 x0.75 dual wield damage MP: 4.625 x0.75 dual wield damage
Damage type (?):	bullet_slow
Projectile speed:	400 wu/s
Hitscan range (?):	~13.33 wu
Max range (?):	40 wu
Rate of fire:	15 rounds per second
Spread (?):	Single: 1 to 2.75 degrees (1 degree min error) Dual: 1.5 to 3 degrees (0.5 degrees min error)
Recoil:	0 to 0.7 degrees per shot
Magazine size:	60 rounds
Reserve ammo capacity:	180 rounds (3 magazines)
Auto aim (?):	6 degrees out to 12 wu
Sticky aim (?):	12 degrees out to 18 wu
Melee damage (?):	Strike Melee
Tag name (?):	smg

The SMG was a weapon introduced in Halo 2, and has since gone on to become one of the franchise's staple implements. This page focuses on the original Halo 2 game and the campaign of Anniversary. Information on the SMG in the multiplayer component of Halo 2: Anniversary can be found here.

Universe and lore

Main article: M7 SMG

The M7 SMG is a 5x23mm caseless submachine gun, one of the standard service arms in the United Nations Space Command.

Gameplay

Counterparts

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  Needler

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  Plasma Rifle

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  Brute Plasma Rifle

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  Sentinel Beam

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  Eliminator Beam

Campaign

This section is a stub. You can help Halopedia by expanding it.

Multiplayer

This section is a stub. You can help Halopedia by expanding it.

The SMG is the starting weapon on every Halo 2 multiplayer map, except Midship and Waterworks where it is replaced by the Plasma Rifle. On the map Tombstone the SMG is a secondary weapon, while the Battle Rifle substitutes as the primary.

Variants

The suppressed SMG variant.

Main article: Cut Halo 2 weapons § Silenced SMG and pistol

Alongside the regular SMG, a special sound-suppressed variant of the weapon is included unused in the Halo 2 game files. Gameplay-wise it is identical to the standard SMG, with the only differences being aesthetic in nature. It consists of a regular SMG with a suppressor attached and some altered firing VFX. The silenced SMG was later fully-implemented in Halo 3: ODST.

Production notes

The 1999 E3 SMG cut from Halo (top) and the final release SMG in Halo 2 (bottom).

"In Halo, the pistol behaved more like a rifle than the assault rifle, and the assault rifle behaved like a submachine gun. Now we have a rifle that behaves like a rifle, an SMG that behaves like an SMG, and a pistol that behaves like a pistol. Basically I initiated a 'throw off the shackles of FPS conventions' party and just about everybody showed up."

— Robert McLees

The design for the SMG dates back into the pre-Xbox era of Halo: Combat Evolved. That game's early third-person era builds featured a number of SMG designs, which can be viewed in more detail here. Although the weapon went through several design revisions, one design in particular—the original one from the game's 1999 builds—was used as the basis for the weapon's inclusion in Halo 2.

The decision to feature the SMG in Halo 2 was made as part of a general design re-shift in response to player and developer impressions of Combat Evolved. The developers felt that the Assault Rifle in that game behaved too much like an SMG, so Jaime Griesemer re-saved the AR's weapon tag under the new name of smg. Robert McLees was responsible for designing the art asset for the weapon. He seemingly-used the 1999 SMG as a basis, though changed it up considerably, moving the FN P90-style top-mounted magazine to the side of the weapon and changing the foregrip to an adjustable one. According to McLees his design goal for the weapon was to make it feel like an SMG in the hands of regular humans, but like a small machine pistol in the hands of the Master Chief. The design features a collapsible stock which functions in-game, changing depending on whether the player is wielding the weapon normally with two hands, or dual-wielding it with one hand. Early designs for the model included a transparent polymer magazine that was meant to show the weapon's caseless ammunition feeding into the receiver, though this proved "too ambitious" for the Xbox hardware, and so had to be redesigned as an opaque steel-stamped magazine instead. Similarly, McLees designed a sound-suppressed variant of the SMG which was even featured in the game's art book, though never implemented.

Gallery

Halo 2

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  Rear concept art of the M7 SMG.

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  An angled view of an early render of the M7 SMG. Note the translucent magazine.

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  A back-view of an early render of the M7 SMG.

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  Master Chief John-117 dual-wielding M7 SMGs.

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  Master Chief crouching while dual-wielding M7 SMGs.

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  Render of the M7 SMG.

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  An angled profile view of the final M7 SMG.

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  The M7 SMG with the stock extended.

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  Two M7 SMGs with the collapsible stock in various positions.

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  First-person view of the M7 on Ascension.

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  First-person view while dual wielding M7s.

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  A Marine firing an SMG.

Halo 2: Anniversary campaign

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  Commander Miranda Keyes wielding an M7 SMG in Halo 2: Anniversary campaign.

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  Side view of the M7 SMG in Halo 2: Anniversary campaign.

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  Side view of the M7 SMG with collapsed stock in Halo 2: Anniversary campaign.

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  Render of the M7 SMG in Halo 2: Anniversary campaign.

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  M7 with collapsed stock in Halo 2: Anniversary campaign.

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  M7 with extended stock in Halo 2: Anniversary campaign.

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  First-person view of the M7 SMG in Halo 2: Anniversary campaign.

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  First-person view while dual wielding in Halo 2: Anniversary campaign.