Cut Halo 4 levels

During the development of Halo 4, a number of maps were concepted and partially-developed though cut from the game for various reasons. Many of these maps were concepted by company Digital Extremes, contracted by 343 Industries to help with the production of the game's DLC map packs. A number of map ideas and concepts were pitched to 343 but went unused, and have since been released online.

Many of these early level blockouts can be found in the Halo 4 tags build - an early prototype of the game leaked online including many early Halo 4 DLC and non-DLC maps, development and testing levels and even several early levels intended for Halo 5: Guardians - which can be found detailed here. The maps found in the tags build exhibit very early geometry and basic blockouts with very little art or set-dressing, and contain placeholder names and descriptive text - often comprised of jokes written by the game's developers.

Breaking Point
"100% pure adrenaline!"

An original map by Certain Affinity known by the filename.

Deadlock
"Formerly Blood Bath!!!"

An original map by Certain Affinity known by the filename.

Blood Pit
"BLOOOOOOD!!!"

An original map by Certain Affinity known by the filename.

CA Ching
"CA Ching Description"

An original map by Certain Affinity known by the filename, featuring a placeholder map name and descriptive text.

Forerunner City
"Enter description here."

An original map design developed by Certain Affinity and given the filename, was presumably intended to resemble a Forerunner city. Interestingly, the top-down layouts of this map heavily resemble the Castle Map Pack map Perdition in layout.

Dish
"Dish... dish is pretty cool!"

An original map design developed by Certain Affinity, given the map filename, can be found in the tags build. The map takes the form of a long canyon, with multiple levels. The map is complete with vehicle and turret spawns, alongside respawn points for players - though appears not to have progressed beyond the early blockout stages. Interestingly, this map contains spawn points for the Revenant design which was intended to appear in the game. The relatively late cutting of the Revenant from the game indicates that Dish may have been in development relatively late in Halo 4's development cycle.

Escalation
"No, this is not the BlackOps map pack!"

An original map by Certain Affinity and given the filename.

CA_Gorge
This Certain Affinity-designed map is given no map name or description in the files, simply the filename.

Station
"Station... station is hell!"

An original map by Certain Affinity, known in the files as.

Fortress
"Bow to your Master; You are Little"

Known only in the files of the Halo 4 tags build as, this map appears to have a layout similar to that of Sandtrap - featuring the same Shrine defender towers as Sandtrap and Sandbox. The map has spawns laid out for vehicles including the Halo 4 cut iteration of the Revenant, though the map as a whole has no textures.

NoLoad Tower
"Do Not Load; Coming Soon"

Known in the files as.

Pillars
"Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls"

Known in the files as.

Island
"Warthog Crossing; Keep Your Head Down"

Known in the files as.

Sinkhole
"Watch your step; You might could Die"

Known in the files as.

Extinct
"Current path equals Death"

Known in the files as.

Other cut levels
Other cut levels present in the tags build of the game include,  ,   alongside maps  ,   and.

CA_Constant_Strife
"A deadly battle on the UNSC Constant Strife"

A space-based map, intended to be set on a UNSC starship known by the name UNSC Constant Strife - which would have served as the map's namesake. The blockout geometry found in the map's early revisions bear no resemblance to any canonical UNSC spacecraft, and the skybox is reused from the map Impact. The interior layout slightly resembles Rat's Nest from Halo 3's Heroic Map Pack, with either side consisting of a hangar bay containing an F-41 Broadsword strike fighter similar in design to that featured on Ivanoff Station in the opening cutscene of the level Midnight.

CA_Peanut
"Spartans are nuts for this level."

CA_Standoff
"Standoff"

Present in the Halo 4 tags build, this map was in development by Certain Affinity. The map was a remake of Halo 3's Heroic map Standoff.

DLC_Junkyard_Craneswing
"UNKNOWN"

Arrowhead
"Arrowhead" was one potential DLC map concepted, and evidently would have taken place in or around a UNSC facility embedded in a cliffside, though no other details are known.

Covenant underwater technology
This potential DLC map was designed to focus on underwater Covenant technology.

Genessis
Identified in a series of concept art uploads all titled, this map has a similar theme to the release map Vortex, set in a crashed Forerunner ship in a desert wasteland, turned into a makeshift base by the UNSC. In the distance, a Forerunner Keyship can be seen. It is unknown if this pitch has any relation to the planet Genesis featured in Halo 5: Guardians.

Last Resort remake
One map concept shown involves a paintover of the sniper tower area of the Halo 3 map Last Resort. Its filename,, suggests it was intended to be a Last Resort remake. Notably, the map was later realised in Halo 2: Anniversary's multiplayer as Stonetown.

Narrows remake
One concept pitched to 343 involved a remake of the Halo 3 multiplayer map Narrows, redressed in a human architectural aesthetic.

ONI Bog
Concept art for the map suggests it would have had a similar theme and tone to the map Abandon, though it is unknown if the two maps are one and the same, or simply similar.

Other DLC map concepts
Some callout sheets for individual map props have been posted online, of which tie to no particular known map.

Lighting reference test maps
These maps, an interior and an exterior space, were employed by Bungie through the productions of Halo 3, ODST and Reach - and were used by 343 Industries in the production of Halo 4.

Sandtrap
"Don't eat the yellow sand"

While never considered for official inclusion in the final game, the Halo 3 multiplayer map Sandtrap was used in development for testing the vehicle sandbox of Halo 4.

"Stripy room"
First referred to as such in the Halo: Reach Legendary Edition developer commentary by Martin O'Donnell, the so-called "Stripey Room" or  is an audio testing level utilised by Bungie throughout the production of Halo 3 through Halo: Reach, and 343 Industries during the production of Halo 4. The map is almost identical to its Reach incarnation, with the exception of labelled terrain types and water.

VFX test map
This map was created by 343 Industries to test out visual effects such as the disintegration on Promethean weaponry.

Z00_testchamber
"Not For Play; Test Scripting File"

is a map present in the Halo 4 tags build, used for testing. The map is described as a "small box test map".

TEST_DLCHopper01
"[EN] This is the Blue Level"

This is one of three testing maps used to test the functionality of adding map packs into the game.

TEST_DLCHopper02
"[EN] This is the Green Level"

This is one of three testing maps used to test the functionality of adding map packs into the game.

TEST_DLCHopper03
"[EN] This is the Red Level"

This is one of three testing maps used to test the functionality of adding map packs into the game.

TEST_Thepit
"CA Game Mode Test Map"

TEST_Valhalla
"Large CA Game Mode Test Map"