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.

Human

Anti-air rocket 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.

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.

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.

• Halo 072199.jpg

  The first-ever screenshot released from Halo.

• Halo original 4.jpg

  Master Chief wielding the chaingun.

• Halo chief 1099.jpg

  Another screenshot of the chaingun in use.

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. The concept was revived in Halo Infinite with the 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's concept was later revived in Halo 2 as the M7 SMG. The SMG in the 1999-era builds sports a side-loaded magazine akin to a Sten, which holds 50 17.7 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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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

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.

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.

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 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.

• HCE MA5OICW Hologram Screenshot.jpg

  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.

• HCE MA5OICW GrenadeLauncher Screenshot.jpg

  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.

• HCE CornerPeek.jpg

  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.

• HCE Gamestar2000 Cover.jpg

  The MA5B on the cover of Gamestar magazine in 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.

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  The MA5B seen in the final game.

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 Technologies 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.

• Early Render Of Engineers.jpg

  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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  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.