Despite its recent stumbles, Halo is still one of the most beloved video game franchises of all time. Revolutionizing the console FPS right out of the gate, the first Halo is widely considered to be one of the greatest games ever made, with its intuitive control scheme, fantastic visuals, superb world-building, and open-ended level design. Although it wasn't perfect, the Bungie era of Halo still holds a special place in the hearts of countless gamers, and those fans are desperate for more Bungie-based Halo content.
At the start of 2022, gameplay of an early build of Halo 3 leaked onto the internet. Titled 'Pimps at Sea,' this primitive build gave fans an even better insight into Bungie's development process, and it quickly became an important piece of Bungie/Halo history. Just a few weeks ago, that Halo 3 'Pimps at Sea' build leaked in its entirety online, letting those with a modded Xbox 360 or dev kit try it for themselves. While the footage may not be too impressive on the surface, the story behind this 'Pimps at Sea' build is a long one.
The Halo 3 'Pimps at Sea' Build Explained
Back in 2001, right after the first Halo game released, Bungie joked that the next game it was working on was called 'Pimps at Sea.' What started out as a corny off-handed remark quickly became one of the developer's longest-running inside jokes. For the next few years, whenever Bungie was asked what it was working on, the studio would reply with 'Pimps at Sea.' Eventually, this inside joke became so popular internally that when it came time to develop Halo 3, Bungie named the game's first Alpha build 'Pimps at Sea.'
Back in 2006, when Halo 3 was still in the early stages of development, some fans reported that they saw Bungie employees playing the Pimps at Sea Alpha on their Xbox Live. At the time, no one was really sure what to make of this, but over the years it became apparent that this was a very early build of Halo 3. While several of Halo 3's early builds have found their way online, the 'Pimps at Sea' build never had, remaining strangely elusive until early 2022 when footage from it was leaked online.
Just a few weeks ago, the 'Pimps at Sea' Halo 3 build was finally leaked to the public, and though it requires either a modded Xbox 360 or an Xbox 360 dev kit, the public can technically play it. To some fans, all the years of waiting probably won't have been worth it, but for many it's a neat little part of Halo history, and one that fans had thought they'd never get to see.
When booting up the Halo 3 'Pimps at Sea' build, players will encounter an unfamiliar title screen. Though its text font and layout are almost identical to Halo 3's final release, the background image shows a storm brewing above what appears to be the Ark. The option for Campaign is there, but the button doesn't work. Players only have access to Custom Games in this early build, and though a plethora of maps from both Halo 2 and Halo 3 can be seen, only three can be chosen, those being what would become Snowbound, Valhalla, and High Ground.
Despite a few minor cosmetic differences, these maps are all surprisingly similar to their final iterations, with even vehicle and weapon placement being nearly identical. The biggest difference is this build's weapon models, which seem to have been ripped straight from Halo 2. Maybe the most interesting detail in this build is that there's a leaning mechanic, allowing the player to peek around cover. It's certainly unfinished, but it's interesting to see a mechanic like this in Halo.