343 Guilty Spark (level)

343 Guilty Spark is the sixth campaign level in Halo: Combat Evolved and its Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.

In the swamps near a Flood containment facility on the surface of Installation 04, John-117 is dropped from Echo 419 to search for Captain Jacob Keyes who has been out of contact for over 12 hours. Soon, the Master Chief stumbles upon a structure and ventures within it, only to find out that the Marines accompanying the Captain have been slaughtered by an unknown force. After realizing the fate of the Marines, John fights his way out to the swamp and encounters a questionable ally.

In Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, upon completion of this level on any difficulty rewards the player the achievement "343 Guilty Spark" and 25 Gamerscore points. Players able to take down 50 Flood combat forms in this level are awarded by the "This One’s for Jenkins!" achievement, which is worth 10 Gamerscore points. If the player escapes the facility in 21 minutes, he or she receives the achievement "Breaking Quarantine", worth 25 Gamerscore points.

In Halo: The Master Chief Collection, completing the level on any difficulty unlocks the "343 Guilty Spark" achievement worth 10 gamerpoints. Riding the Pelican for several seconds at the beginning of the level will unlock the "Get Me Out of Here!" achievement, worth 5 gamerpoints. Beating the level's par time and par score will unlock the "Lightning in a Bottle" and "Circuit Breaker" achievements respectively, each worth 10 gamerpoints. Activating the Terminal found on the level will unlock the "Bearly Contained" achievement worth 5 gamerpoints, while finding the Recession Skull will unlock the "Skulltaker Halo: CE: Recession" achievement, also worth 5 gamerpoints.

Well Enough Alone


{Original Cutscene} {Anniversary Cutscene}

''View flies over a group of Kig-Yar and Unggoy running through a swamp, panicky and obviously in retreat. As it pans over them, the outline of a Pelican dropship can be seen through the fog and rain, which further materializes as the view draws closer.''


 * Flight Captain Carol Rawley (COM): "The last transmission from the Captain's dropship was from this area. That was over twelve hours ago."

{Gameplay}


 * Rawley (COM): "When you locate Captain Keyes, radio in, and I'll come pick you up."

''In certain parts of the level, the player can hear a radio transmission coming from a crashed human dropship and a Covenant communications terminal. As it repeats, it seems that this is some sort of distress beacon. Static pervades the transmission, and the signal fades in and out of clarity.''


 * Dropship Victor 933's Pilot (Recording): "Dropship Victor 933-(static)-Pillar of Autumn-(static)-need assistance. We are under att-(static)-attack by some new kind of hostile-(static)-isn't Covenant. (Static) Captain Keyes has been captured by hostiles. (static) -dug in at a large structure in a swamp-(static)-We need to pull out. Please-(static)-I will set this message to repeat at-(static)-regular intervals. Dropship Victor 933, clear."

''John-117 quickly finds the crashed dropship sending the message. There are weapons and supplies piled nearby, but no signs of life. An explosion in the distance throws the bodies of an Unggoy and a Kig-Yar through the air. He heads off to investigate and finds a crashed Covenant Spirit. The bodies of its passengers are strewn around it.''

''The Chief also encounters a small group of Unggoy and Kig-Yar, which he quickly eliminates, before crossing a log bridge. As he moves across the bridge, he sees several shadowy figures running around on the top of the cliff to the right. Also, his motion tracker shows seemingly friendly units in the swamp not too far from his location, but they suddenly disappear off radar.''

''When he reaches the other side, he hears assault rifle fire nearby. He investigates and sees a mob of Unggoy and Kig-Yar fleeing from a large entrance. A frag grenade explosion throws a Shade turret through the air. The fleeing Covenant regroup nearby and attack him out of fear.''

''John-117 kills the Covenant and hurries to the entrance, but finds no one there. A lift arrives for him. He takes the lift down into the depths of the structure.''

''John-117 passes through several large rooms and many smaller ones inside the structure, filled with Unggoy, Kig-Yar, empty Shade turrets, discarded weapons, and dead bodies - both Marine and Covenant. Curiously there is no sign of any Sangheili, alive or dead. In some rooms, Kig-Yar and Unggoy gather at the doorways as if expecting an attack. In one room, the Chief discovers a strange green-yellow substance falling from the ceiling.''



''As the Chief comes into an area blasted with gunfire and scorch marks, there is the sound of shattering glass. A lone Marine sits leaning against a wall, M6D magnum pointed at him. The Marine shoots at the Spartan if the Chief comes too close, while screaming at the top of his lungs the following phrases. He also fiddles around with his pistol a lot, checking to see if the magazine is full.''

Paranoid Marine:


 * "Stay back! Stay back, you're not turning me into one of those things! I'll blow your brains out! Get away from me!"


 * "Gaaaaahh! Aaaaaahh! Don't touch me, you freaks! I won't be like you, I'll die first! Find your own hiding place, the monsters are everywhere!"


 * "Play dead! That's what I did...played dead. They took the live ones... Oh God, I can still hear them!"


 * (sobbing) "Monsters... Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhaaahhh..."


 * "Just leave me alone!"


 * "Sarge? Mendoza? Bisenti? Oh God...the things took them. Away, away, away, they went away... (mumbles and cries) They're gone! Get it? Gone!"


 * "They won't get me! Oh God... Oh God, I don't want to be like them. Please, please no, nooo..."

''John-117 leaves him, and makes his way into the room, which is covered in dead Covenant bodies, blood, bullet holes and plasma scoring. Some areas of the floor are blackened with blasts from explosions. In some areas, small flecks of a greenish substance are found on the floor. The Chief finds a partially shattered walkway and ascends to the second floor. An assault rifle lies on the ground, pointing like an arrow towards the entrance of a room marked with ominous red Forerunner glyphs. The door appears to have been forced open. The Chief goes in, passes a dead Marine, and walks down a ramp.''

The Chief comes down one of two ramps on either side of a doorway, which has been recently been forced open by a UNSC spoofer.

{Original Cutscene} {Anniversary Cutscene}



''John-117 approaches the door cautiously and listens for any movement inside. Just as he is about to type a command into the spoofer, there is a noise behind him. He turns around, gun ready to shoot, but sees nothing. After a moment, he turns back to the door, places his gun on his shoulder and opens the door. When it opens, the body of Manuel Mendoza falls into his arms. He advances a few paces, places the body on the floor gently while making sure nobody follows him through. He sweeps his assault rifle about the room.''

''The floor is covered in human blood. Discarded UNSC weapons litter the floor. John-117 also notices a helmet lying on the floor, and, crouching, moves swiftly towards it. Once there, he surveys the room one more time, places his rifle on the floor, and picks up the helmet. The name "JENKINS" is stamped across it. There is a large, jagged hole punched through the top of it. The Master Chief shakes his head. He then examines the helmet more closely and notices that the Helmet Recorder, near the Heads-up display, is still intact. He retrieves the Recorder Chip and inserts it into a socket in his helmet.''

> OPEN RECORD VIEW [2552.5.27.5:52:56 L]

> Pvt. Jenkins, Wallace A.

> PLAY >



''The view switches to a night vision-enabled recording. Jenkins looks around the inside of Pelican Victor 933. There are several other Marines seated in the dropship with him. Flip music, Johnson's favorite genre, blares over the cabin speakers.''


 * Private Manuel Mendoza: "Why do we always have to listen to this old stuff, Sarge?"


 * Staff Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson: "Watch your mouth, son. This "stuff" is your history. It should remind you grunts what we're fightin' to protect."


 * Mendoza: "Hey... if the Covenant wanna wipe out this particular part of my history, that's fine by me."


 * Private Bisenti: "Yeah... better it than us."


 * Johnson: "You ask 'em real nice next time you see 'em, Bisenti. I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige."


 * Pelican dropship pilot (COM): "LZ looks clear! I'm bringing us down!"

The Pelican descends to the ground.


 * Johnson: "Go, go, go!"

Fade to black.

> FFW >>

> PLAY >

The Squad advances through the swamp towards the same structure the Chief is in.


 * Johnson: "Stay close, Jenkins!"

They reach the entrance and sweep their weapons across it, wary.


 * Johnson: "Mendoza! Move it up!"

Mendoza advances in a crouch, gun at the ready.


 * Johnson: (to Jenkins) "Wait here for the Captain and his squad, then get your ass inside."

Jenkins look behind the squad.


 * Private Wallace A. Jenkins: "Sir!"


 * Johnson: "Okay, let's move!"

The fireteam heads into the structure.

Fade to black.

> FFW >>

> PLAY >



''The squad stands around a Sangheili carcass. Its chest is torn wide open. Private Mendoza is examining a similar corpse on the left hand side of the screen.''


 * Private Kappus: "--which is weird, right? I mean...look at it."

Bisenti prods the Sangheili with his foot.


 * Private Kappus: "Something...scrambled the insides."

NOTE: In the Anniversary subtitles, Kappus says, "Something tore open its chest and scrambled the insides."


 * Johnson: "What's that? Plasma scoring?"


 * Kappus: "Yeah... I dunno. Maybe there was an accident. You know, friendly fire or something?"

Captain Keyes approaches the squad.


 * Captain Jacob Keyes: "What do we have here, Sergeant?"


 * Johnson: "Looks like a Covenant patrol. Badass Elite units, all KIA."


 * Keyes: "Real pretty... Friend of yours?"


 * Kappus: "Nah, we just met."

Fade to black.

> FFW >>

> PLAY ></tt>

The squad, along with Captain Keyes and his own squad, stand outside a locked door - the one the Chief has just come through.


 * Keyes: "Right. Well, let's get this door open."


 * Kappus: "I'll try, sir... But it looks like these Covenant worked pretty hard to lock it down."


 * Keyes: "Just do it, son!"


 * Kappus: "Yes, sir."

''Kappus removes a spoofer from his pocket and sticks it to the door. He punches a few keys, and the door opens. He waves the squad through. Bisenti takes point through the door, Jenkins close behind him, and the rest of the squad fans out around him. An odd rumbling sound is heard.''


 * Mendoza: "I've got a bad feeling about this..."


 * Johnson: "Boy, you always got a bad feelin' about something-"


 * Corporal Lovik (COM): "-Captain, Sarge (static) can you hear me?!"


 * Keyes: "What's going on, soldier?"


 * Lovik (COM): (panicked) "We've got contacts - lots of 'em - but...they're not Covenant... They're just tearing through us - what the?! Oh, nooooo...!"

The same hissing noises can be heard in the background.


 * Johnson: "Corporal? Do you copy, over?"

No response is given.


 * Johnson: "Mendoza, get your ass back up to Second Squad's position, and find out what the hell is goin' on."


 * Private Mendoza: "But sir-"


 * Johnson: "I don't have time for your lip, soldier! I gave you an order!"

The same noise that John-117 heard before entering the room is heard.


 * Kappus: "Sarge! Listen!"

The odd hissing noise grows louder and louder.

Everyone scans the room, trying to find the source of the strange sounds.


 * Bisenti: "What is that?"


 * Johnson: "Where's that coming from, Mendoza?"


 * Private Mendoza: "Everywhere... I don't - there! (Spanish) ¡Mira!" (Look!)

''Mendoza points to a nearby door, which has just exploded outwards. Small squid-like creatures swarm from it.''


 * Private Riley: "Ahh...augh! Get it out! Get it out- augh!"

''Riley lies on the ground, one of the Pod infectors attached to his chest. Kappus tries to pull it off him.''


 * Kappus: "Hold still, hold still!"

''Kappus pulls the creature off of Riley, who goes limp. Kappus struggles with the creature, which is now trying to infect him.''




 * Johnson: "Let 'em have it!"

''The Marines and Captain Keyes open fire, to little effect. Pod infectors swarm them with overwhelming numbers.''


 * Keyes: "Sergeant, we're surrounded!"


 * Johnson: "God dammit, Jenkins! Fire your weapon!"


 * Mendoza: "There are too many, Sarge!"


 * Johnson: "Don't even think about it, Marine!"

As the chaotic firefight continues, Mendoza dashes for the exit, abandoning his fireteam.


 * Mendoza: "Yo, this is loco!"


 * Captain Keyes: "Get back here, Marine! That's an order!"

''The Marine squad is overtaken, still firing, while their blood sprays as Pod infectors continue to crawl onto them. Another group of infectors drop from the ceiling, right between Johnson, Keyes and Jenkins.''


 * Johnson: "Jenkins!"

''Several infectors attack Jenkins, blocking out his helmet cam. The screen cuts to black.''

'''> UNEXPECTED HALT X [ WND/INCAP/KIA? Ref.a4 3d.3]'''</tt>

> END RECORD VIEW [2552.5.27.6:39:23 L]</tt>

''John-117 removes the chip from his helmet, shakes his head, and tosses the chip to the ground. The noises begin again. He readies his assault rifle.''

The Flood
{Gameplay}

''The door John-117 came through is now locked. Three doors holding dozens of Pod infectors break open one at a time, their inhabitants attacking him.''

''The entrance breaks open. Massive amounts of infectors skitter inside, followed by unarmed Sangheili combat forms.''

John-117 escapes the facility, encountering Flood forms and some Covenant infantry struggling to survive.



John-117 tries to take the elevator he entered with, but while he waits for it to come down, it suddenly falls down and crashes down to the bottom of the facility.

''After some fighting, John-117 arrives at another elevator, but it goes deeper underground and Unggoy blood is seen painted on the elevator's shaft. At the bottom of the shaft, he's attacked by armed combat forms - both infected Sangheili and humans. This detour forces him to fight his way back up.''

John-117 eventually sees three Marines armed with shotguns and assault rifles fighting the Flood.

Although their weapons give them a distinct advantage, a single Pod infector or a single combat form attack can kill them.

If they survive, they hold their position inside the room, saying the following in random order:


 * "This is suicide (man)!"


 * "I'm gone, man!"


 * "I'm not sticking around to get killed!"


 * "We/I can't stop them!"


 * "Forget this!"


 * "Later, dude!"


 * "I've had enough of this crap!"


 * "I'm outta here!"


 * "I'm not sticking around to get killed!"

John-117 reaches the final elevator and rises to an exit from the structure.


 * Rawley (COM): "This is Echo 419. Chief, is that you? I lost your signal when you disappeared inside the structure. What's going on down there? I'm tracking movement all over the place!"

John-117 reaches the top where a group of trapped 10 Marines are holding out.

''It is obvious they used a lot of ammo to escape, and it is all stacked in a pile. Most Marines hold shotguns and assault rifles, one or two have plasma rifles.''




 * Private First Class Chips Dubbo: "Sir! Thank God you're here. We've been lost out here for hours. After we lost contact with the rest of the mission, we, we headed for the RV point, and then these-these....these things...they ambushed us. We've gotta get out of here!"


 * Flight Captain Rawley (COM): "There's a large tower a few hundred meters from your current position. Find a way above the fog and foliage canopy and I can move in and pick you up."

''The Marine squad eagerly follows John-117 outside, where the Flood close in from all sides. Some Marines are attacked by Pod infectors, and their allies are forced to shoot them.''

''As John-117 comes near the tower Rawley was speaking of, an odd blue object and a flotilla of floating robotic automatons descend from the mist. The robots begin to slice away at any nearby Flood with built-in energy beams, avoiding the Marines. After a few seconds of fighting around the base of the tower, the screen fades to white.''

343 Guilty Spark
{Original Cutscene} {Anniversary Cutscene}



''John-117 suddenly finds himself enveloped in a bright gold light, and then appears on top of one of the legs of the tower. The blue object hovers in front of him. The Chief instinctively points his weapon at it.''


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Greetings. I am the Monitor of Installation 04. I am 343 Guilty Spark."

''The Chief slowly lowers his assault rifle. Gunfire is still heard below, and bright beams slice through the dark swamp. The Chief and the Monitor ignore the commotion.''


 * 343 Guilty Spark: "Someone has released the Flood. My function is to prevent it from leaving this installation. But I require your assistance. Come. This way."

John-117 and the Monitor vanish in another series of gold flashes.


 * Rawley (COM): "Chief, I've lost your signal! Where'd you go? Chief? Chief!"

Fades to black.

Level ends.

Glitches

 * If the players play in co-op and use the stay on Pelican glitch, then leave one player in the upper swamp and the other player walks along the tree trunk, then the player that is above can see the Flood up close and kill them easier.
 * When the Covenant run away from the structure early in the level, there are Assault Rifle shots coming from the structure. To see this fully, use the "Stay in Pelican Trick" to get to the higher level of the swamp. Walk towards the entrance and slide down. They will see three MA5Bs floating in the air pointing at different angles firing wildly for a few seconds before disappearing.
 * If look closely at the dead Marine before John-117 lays him on the floor in the cutscene, one can see that the Marine will blink about two to four times despite the fact that he's supposed to be dead.
 * If the player pushes the Shade turret in the way of Jenkins's scripted walk path prior to entering structure beforehand, he will get stuck in the spot where the turret was placed but continue his scripted movement while the rest of the squad moves ahead of him into the structure due to the fact that the recording takes place in the exact same places that the player previously traveled. This is because the game doesn't "clear out" the room and return it to the state that it was in when Jenkins and his companions were in it.

Mistakes

 * Sometimes, after the Master Chief has left Dropship V933's crash site, the emergency distress call will start again prematurely, causing the message to overlap on itself.
 * After encountering the Crazed Marine, there is a Plasma Rifle laying on the ground. There was supposed to be a dead Elite beside it but oddly it only appears in Jenkins' recording despite that same Elite being encountered by John-117 in Halo: The Flood as well. Another theory is that the Sangheili was infected by the Flood before John arrived on the scene.
 * It is odd that the dead Marine in the recording cutscene is still there as the Flood infect anything they find. Of course, Bungie may have just put it there to increase the tense atmosphere that started at the beginning of the level. Furthermore, this dead marine has a hat on during the Cutscene, though during gameplay he doesn't.
 * The date on the timestamp of Private Jenkins' footage is May 27, 2552; months before the game actually takes place, which is September. This is due to the Private not calibrating his helmet cam.
 * In Jenkins' helmet cam, the Marines exit the Pelican from at least 10 feet off the ground.
 * During the Private Jenkins' helmet camera cutscene, when the Pelican dropship lands, crashed Pelican can be seen in the background. It is odd that the Marines do not inspect the downed Pelican. Though, an explanation could be that Victor 933 is one of the other Pelicans that landed to drop off troops for the mission but, probably crashed. In addition, the Chief probably fast forwarded the recording before the player could see the squad inspect the crash site. Another sign of evidence supporting why the V933 is different from Johnson's Pelican would be that the voice of the repeating recording left by the pilot of V933 was male but, the voice of the pilot in the other dropship was female. One additional explanation would be that in the "Jenkin's recording" cutscene, Johnson orders several Marines to wait at the structure's entrance for when Captain Keyes and a "second squad" arrive. Another theory is that either V933 was Second Squad's Pelican or Johnson's Pelican's wingmate.
 * It is impossible for V933 to be Johnson and Keyes' Pelican because the voice in the distress signal was male. However, in Halo: The Flood, the pilot of their Pelican was female. Therefore, the Pelican could have crashed when attempting to takeoff and was later attacked by already escaped Flood since it was also stated that Johnson's squad found evidence of combat before they even arrived. In conclusion, it is more than likely that the V933 was attacked by the Flood before Johnson and Keyes even arrived and was later overlooked by them due to the possibility that the swamps fog was probably thicker when they arrived.
 * According to Halo: The Flood, Jenkins was the one who tried to run, instead of Mendoza. Also, it is unknown how Jenkins helmet got damaged as according to the book, a Pod infector got Jenkins on the back.
 * The Spoofer, which the Master Chief uses to open the door, only appears in the cutscene and not during actual gameplay.
 * Sometimes Sergeant Johnson will be in the surviving second squad, even though he escaped the structure by himself.
 * During the ending cutscene, the Monitor can be seen flying around the tower as well as talking to the Chief. Similar to the previous error, this is because the Monitor is in the level before the cutscene, but isn't removed when the cutscene starts.
 * It is actually possible to see the "chestbursted" Elite from Jenkins' recording during gameplay in both standard and anniversary editions. Simply play the recording cutscene, and then head back to the room you came from (the one with the crazed marine) and through the use of grenades and a Shade turret, you can clip through the door and head back into the room, where the Elite will be. The crazed marine will be gone, but the Elite will be present, along with several others like him littered across the room. It is possible to do this glitch on the original version, but thanks to the Boom skull introduced in Anniversary, it is significantly easier to pull off. To see it fully, click here.
 * The dead Elite bodies are not actual corpses, but collision less objects. This can be seen when throwing a grenade: whereas a normal corpse will be thrown away from the explosion, the dead Elites don't move.
 * In the original graphics, the dead Elites are minors with the standard blue armor. Strangely, in anniversary graphics, the top half is blue, but the legs are silver. To date, no such rank of Elite exists.
 * In addition to the dead Elite corpses, there are dead UNSC marine corpses hidden in the game files for this level, and are unused.
 * For an unknown reason, despite the fact that the room is not supposed to be accessible to the player following the recording cutscene, Flood combat forms spawn in the room regardless.

Easter Eggs

 * During the first chapter of the level, corpses will spawn in the swamp when the player is at some point of the inside of the installation. Walk back outside before the Private Jenkins helmet cam cutscene and bodies of Marines will be scattered through the lower level of the swamp. If one can make it to the upper level of the swamp (around Mendoza and such), one will find corpses of Covenant and Human Flood Combat Forms.
 * There is a hidden Active Camouflage in this level. After killing the Kig-yar on the tree trunk that goes to the next part of the level, get onto the tree trunk. Once in the middle, stop and turn right. Jump down. There is a pipe leading up to a small ledge that is too high to jump to. There is a ramp. Go up it. Go as far back as one can on the ledge, and inside a bush there is an Active Camouflage power-up.
 * Private Jenkin's chip says "Do Not Eat". However it is only visible if the map is opened with HMT and look at the Bitmaps tab.
 * Occasionally a Sangheili Combat Form will jot across the player's path if he/she walks off the tree trunk.
 * After seeing the fallen Spirit dropship, keep moving forward and advance to the fallen tree. Look up and use the pistol scope and a Flood Combat form can be seen. The Combat form can be shot and have pieces blown off, but it cannot be killed, as so not to spoil the surprise of the Flood.
 * This level makes several references to the movie Aliens, such as the banter between the marines witnessed by observing Jenkin's recording.
 * When inside the structure and when you get to the room with the gun turrets, throw a plasma grenade under one of the gun turrets. If you get it just right the gun turret will blast up to the higher level of the room. Then after you've gotten past the spooked marine and your on the higher level, melee the gun turret over to the door that you just came out of and get the back leg in the door. then proceed with the level. When you come back, the door you meleed the gun turret into will be partially opened. Give the gun one more melee and it will start shaking. get into the turret and turn it so that the right is facing the door then get out of the turret and you will be in a hallway (this might take a few tries) then go through the hallway to get to a secret room! (Warning: there is flood in here.)

Miscellaneous

 * The Flood, despite being at the feral stage, does possess considerable intelligence; for example, they deliberately leave some bodies uninfected to lure others into an ambush. This befalls the Marine Squad who investigate dead Elites and Master Chief who investigates the Marines.
 * The song playing during the Pelican ride with Sergeant Johnson and the Marines is titled Shreddin', from the game Marathon: Durandal as "flip music", another Bungie creation rather than their previously planned licensed song which was going to be "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones. Martin O'Donnell stated this on the Halo 3 Legendary Edition bonus disk.
 * This is one of three levels in the entire Halo trilogy where Needler ammunition magazines can be seen and used, the others being the Halo 2 multiplayer map Uplift, and the level Quarantine Zone.
 * The Pelican, Victor 933, is stated in Halo: The Flood, to have been only one of the many UNSC forces sent to investigate the alleged "weapons cache," thus explaining the reason for the large numbers of human Combat Forms.
 * Playing the level on "Easy" is the only way to play the level according to events from Halo: The Flood due to the fact that the player can only obtain a shotgun at V933's crash site as mentioned in the book on "easy" where in comparison to higher difficulties the shotgun won't be encountered until the events that occur after the "Jenkins' recording" cutscene.
 * At the start of the level, the Flood that run into the mist at the big tree and the hill will appear as yellow blips, indicating that they are allies. This may be an error by the motion sensor, as later on in the game, they become enemies. Another possible explanation is that the Friend-Or-Foe tags that are still embedded inside the Flood forms, which could possibly be mutated Marines, however on closer inspection, all of the Flood forms encountered are Elite Combat Forms. This adds to the mystery and tension of the setting, creating an atmosphere of fear in the player, as well as a foreshadowing of things to come. Of course, it could also have been made that way so they would not attack the player.
 * A Flash Parody was made about this level, titled "TISAH: Flood", it features almost each notable aspect of this level. In the part where the Master Chief first makes contact with the Flood, a reference is made about the survival horror game series Resident Evil.
 * If players examine the floor to the right of the unlocked containment door, the player can find the neural chip that the Master Chief tossed aside after the "last recording" cutscene. However, it will disappear as if it was a particle over a short period of time.
 * Before entering the unlocked Flood containment room, there is an object that resembles a vault or door of some type. Its purpose and function is completely unknown though, it is most likely another more advanced lock containing more Flood captives. In addition, on both sides of the "door" there are four mechanisms inserted into the walls. The four mechanisms are believed to be earlier versions of the Forerunner energy cells that appear in Halo 2 and Halo 3, though these variants are indestructible due to graphic limitations.
 * The dead Sangheili seen in the "recording" was specifically made for the cutscene due to it having its own file and model.
 * If the player doesn't enter the installation in this level and choose to linger in the swamps, he/she can hear in the background Flood gurgles and howls.
 * This level is one of the few rare mission levels with red team and blue team symbols. They can be found near the first Flood encounter area and at any similar areas in the level.
 * Inside the building, one will see a Flood containment room blocked off by supply cases. Inside are dead Grunts and Jackals. They were probably there because the Floods couldn't infect them as they didn't have enough calcium so they tossed them aside. There is also the possibility that the Jackals encountered moments before finding the containment room barricaded the gored Grunts and Jackals to prevent the risk of them becoming infected or because they were showing signs of progression towards becoming Flood. The weapons they had, that are now on the ground, are also fully charged.
 * If the player returns to the elevator he/she entered the structure with after meeting the Flood, looking up to where the elevator is, the player can clearly observe that it is on fire and damaged. Activating it will result in debris of it falling down to the shaft, and the Halo soundtrack Lament for Pvt. Jenkins will play again.
 * This is the final level of Halo: Combat Evolved in which Marines are seen alive (with the exception of the non-canon Legendary ending on The Maw featuring Johnson and an Elite).
 * The player will not be able to enter the room the lone marine used to be after encountering the Flood, as the door will be jammed.
 * There is a unique Flood Pod infector used for Jenkin's recording cutscene. In the game's code, it is called a "nopop" and is specifically designed not to pop in the cutscene.
 * The swamp area in the end of the level was later re-used for the multiplayer map Backwash in Halo 2.
 * Playing the level with the Grunt Funeral Skull active in Halo Anniversary causes the Grunt corpses to detonate immediately after they spawn. This results in the player hearing explosions as they proceed further into the complex.
 * Oddly enough, even though the Covenant are present in this level, there is no sign of Elites to fight except those who are already turned into Combat Forms. This, and the subsequent level The Library, are the only levels where the player will not encounter any Covenant Elites.