After 18 Years, These Halo 2 Levels Are Being Released

While "Halo Infinite" may be doing its best to persuade players to its side by soon kicking off campaign co-op, players have proven they're willing to stick around "Halo: The Master Chief Collection" after 343 Industries redeemed (per IGN) the title's initially disastrous launch. The game still sees regular updates, for better or worse, as recently seen with both in-game "Fall Guys" cosmetics and controversial mechanics respectively. However, something of real substance is on the way: 343 Industries plans to work with modders to bring back the fabled "Earth City" level showcased in E3's 2003 "Halo 2" gameplay debut.

As if that wasn't enough to excite die-hard "Halo" fans, the team is also looking to revive another cut stage from the series and even hopes to bring back lost vehicles and enemies too. Considering most of the content is being restored from derelict demos and scraps of information, 343 Industries and its modding partners have an ambitious, time-consuming task ahead – but it seems the developer and its secret modding team are prepared to take on the challenge in the aims of delivering the best possible "Halo" experience out there. Here's what 343 Industries is doing to restore lost content to the "Halo" series after it sat in limbo for 18 years.

In a lengthy Halo Waypoint news post, readers were introduced to Digsite: 343 Industries' secret "Halo" restoration project incorporating "Halo" community modders. Digsite pours over old files, demos, concept art, and discarded builds from the "Halo" past looking for forgotten treasures. After tantalizing fans with unearthed weapons, vehicles, and enemies, the real treats were shown off. 

First, fans got a glimpse at "Alphamoon," a cut level that took players through craters and caves of a moon. Speaking to the enormity of the restoration task, Senior Franchise Writer Kenneth Peters said, "Campaign maps require several orders of magnitude more work than a multiplayer map, so being able to get this restored is a source of real pride!" There's even a video posted to YouTube showing a quick run through of "Alphamoon."

The real prize, though, is the rebuild of the "Earth City." While clearly just as exciting news for the Digsite team as it is for fans, Peters prefaces excitement by detailing how much work went into getting the stage in working order. Peters said, "This was NOT a trivial process, and we should probably layer on a whole page of caveats that come with taking a demo map for an engine that no longer exists and getting it to not blow up..." Peters and the Digsite team aren't sure exactly when players will be able to experience the cut content for themselves, but it definitely won't be 18 more years.