8 Alternate Endings In Famous Video Games You Won't Believe Got Cut

7. Master Chief & Arbiter Team Up To Finish The Fight - Halo 2

Halo 2's hellish development has become well documented over the years, but back in 2004 you couldn't move for an unrelentingly negative backlash, following its damp squib of an ending. No sooner were you ramping up to a big finish, tracking down the Ark with the help of the Arbiter... that The Chief responded to an enquiry as to his progress with the line, "Sir... finishing this fight" and it was all over. Black screen, no fireworks display, roll credits.

The whole thing felt entirely unnatural given the pace established beforehand, and it wasn't until early 2016 when fans finally get some concrete answers, as now ex-composer Marty O'Donnell spoke out in an interview with IGN, stating;

"Basically, you were supposed to go back to Earth City, find the Ark, and at that point, that was the Ark that opened up... that was where the Ark was, it wasn’t some other place. That thing on the Earth was where the Ark had been buried by the Covenant and the Prophet of Truth had come back to there and the ending was you and the Dervish chasing the Prophet through the Ark and having a grand and glorious conclusion on Earth, finishing the fight right there on Earth.”

And the reason for all this? Bungie drastically over-estimated their own ambition and abilities coming out the original. Eurogamer spoke to multiplayer designer Chris Butcher, who confirmed, "The crunch on Halo 2 was, 'Oh my god, we're f***ed. We're all going to die.' Months and months of that emotional, negative tone was really hard to deal with - but at the same time, we did a lot of awesome work [...] We were still cutting features only four to five months before the game went gold."

The biggest takeaway - which is indicative of how the industry works, and remains relatable in light of No Man's Sky - came from lead designer Jamie Griesemer, "If the creative process is easy, it probably means you're not doing anything interesting [...] It's just whether you're really working on something great, or whether it doesn't come out that well... You never really know until the end."