Cut Halo 3 vehicles

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 3 cut content

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Cut content

Cut enemies and NPCs
Cut dialogue
Cut levels
Cut vehicles
Cut weapons

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Development

Halo 3 development
Concept art
Design documentation
Storyboards
Title Updates
Halo 3 Beta
Original script

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To check out cut content for other Halo games, see here!

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During the production of Halo 3, several vehicles were concepted and implemented - though ultimately cut for various reasons.

Human vehicles

Medical Troop Warthog

A Medical Troop Warthog was a variant of the M831 Troop Transport Warthog that was to appear in Halo 3. It was cut from the game during development; however, its files remained in the game's code and can be accessed through modding. It was first discovered in the files of the Halo 3 Beta and is present in the final game as well, although it was never used. Interestingly, Marines will sit on the stretchers like they would do on a normal M831 Troop Transport Warthog, suggesting that it was never fully completed.

Presumably, this vehicle's role would have been to transport wounded troops off of the battlefield to an aid station. It was therefore likely intended to be used during cinematics rather than during gameplay.

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  The Warthog modded into The Pit.

Covenant vehicles

Early anti-air Wraith

In an early beta build of Halo 3 dated March 2007, a very early version of the Anti-Air Wraith can be found. Unlike the version found in the final game, this early AA Wraith is covered in a purple sheen like the regular Wraith, and lacks its fuel rod armaments. Instead, the early AA Wraith boats a pair of top-mounted automatic plasma cannons, though they share the same design as what would become the fuel rod cannons. The vehicle can be found on the map Snowbound in this beta build.

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  Driving the early AA Wraith.

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  Shooting the early AA Wraith.

Mantis/ walker Shade turret

Referenced only as a physics model within Halo 3's code, the "Mantis" (not to be confused with the Mantis AA gun from the campaign or the Mantis mech from Halo 4) appears to have been a design for a cut mech of some kind. The physics model present within the Halo 3 code references parameters for walking and manipulating legs. It is likely that these entries correspond to the early cut version of the Shade turret found in the March 2007 beta for Halo 3. This early model Shade can be spawned in Forge on the map High Ground, and resembles a walker with six legs, a seat and a plasma cannon. The plasma cannon has a very high rate of fire and can quickly destroy a Mongoose, though the overall movement speed for the Shade is slow, and it cannot climb stairs very well.

According to designer Dan Miller, these Shades were intended to walk slowly to allow them to dodge incoming fire. The feature was ultimately cut as the turrets "looked stupid" and the design "didn't make sense".

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  The Shade, as spawned in Forge.

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  The rear of the walker.

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  A Spartan driving the vehicle.

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  The vehicle shooting its plasma cannon.

Forerunner vehicles

Guardian

Main article: Guardian Sentinel

Much like the Enforcer in Halo 2, the cut enemy Guardian Sentinel was to work - behind the scenes - as a vehicle with AI. As such, properties for the cut Guardian enemy remain in the game files for Halo 3 as a vehicle - the enemy was planned to be present on the cut level Guardian Forest.