In the second of this series of concept art, I take a look at a few civilian vehicles and ships as well as a few Covenant concepts. As always, click on pics to make them bigger.
Let’s start with the Spade. The Spade is a mix between a dune buggy and pickup truck. It’s a utility vehicle for various tasks on Reach. In fact it can even be seen in Halo 4, via the multiplayer map “Landfall” in the garage area.
In the above pic we see multiple early concepts for the Spade. I gotta say, those are pretty darn cool. The designs (other than top right) look like they have great suspension and could handle a varied array of terrain. Perhaps though, they looked a little to futuristic or advanced beyond the previous games which take place LATER than Reach. Still, I’d love to see some of these designs make it into a future Halo game. The one at top right would make for an excellent civilian car.
This pic shows the Spade in a much more advanced stage of concept closer to the in-game version. The biggest difference being the absence of the engine area in the front of the vehicle. Note though that the color scheme is on par with the final version.
And here we have a concept that was perhaps the latest concept before the final design. It’s VERY much like the Spade seen in the game. It’s missing the front wheel guards shown in the previous pic.
We were fortunate to also have variants of the below industrial cart. These can be seen in the campaign at Sword base. Did you know these are drivable? They can’t do much, but it’s kind of fun to tool around in them (for a few seconds).
Next up we come to the civilian transport. This craft was seen during the campaign as you come around an area being attacked by wraiths and banshees. Several on seen on the landing platform while one tries to get away, only to be hit and take a nose-dive into the water below.
These look a lot like our modern large airplanes. Though these are capable of VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) and space flight. When you play that campaign level, make note of the different color schemes on the same ships on the landing pad.
Now here we have a concept that looks like nothing seen in the game. Perhaps this was the early design for what would become the airplane design. The top design is somewhat reminiscent of a Pelican. The bottom design is quite a departure from any other human craft seen in Halo game. The top one looks more practical, while the bottom one is definitely more futuristic. Either would have been neat to see in the game.
Now we move on to the Covenant ships.
This was posted as a concept, though I have a feeling it was the final. This Covenant Corvette looks exactly like the one in the game. Regardless, the design is very alien. You can view this in the campaign as well as on the multiplayer map “Corvette.”
While this wasn’t given a name, it seems to be a concept for the Revenant. It’s thin profile and overall shape make this ship seem like it could out race any UNSC ground vehicle. Unfortunately it wasn’t included.
Finally, we have why would seem to be a near-final design for the in-game version of the Seraph. This is much more “flying-saucer” like than any other ship seen in Halo. I thought these were kind of clunky looking. Indeed, in the game, they do not seem to be built for speed, but rather power. I find them easy to take down, even though they have shields.
See any concepts that you like? Are there any you would have liked to see in the game, or preferred over what made it into the game? Let me know. Reply below!
Tomorrow we’ll take a look a Halo 4’s ships and vehicles. I think I’m going to stick to that format. Show a subject topic from Reach, then it’s counterpart in Halo 4. This will let you see the progression from Bungie’s last Halo game (that chronologically happens first), to 343’s first Halo game.
-Sal