Halo and Sea of Thieves collide in a mod so ridiculous its author had to buy a new PC just to finish it: “It’s a miracle I got it working as well as I did”
Ever wonder what Halo would play like on a pirate ship? Now you can find out.
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What you need to know
Master Chief’s adventures in all six of theHalogames he’s starred in have taken him — and, consequently, the players filling his shoes — across a wide variety of different environments, including everything from Earth’s lush rainforests and human-controlled colony planets to the artificial alien ringworlds that gives the series its name. But while plenty of land and air has been tread on the journey, barely any of it has taken place on or around the sea. Thanks to a hilarious new mod, though, that’s no longer the case.
The mod — a project comically titled “Pimps at Sea” — is essentially what I’ve always imagined the end result would be if you smashed the flagship Xbox shooter and the pirate adventure gameSea of Thievestogether. Built by YouTuberInfernoPlusfor the PC version of Halo 3 available through Halo: The Master Chief Collection, it features a custom campaign mission in which up to four players defend a pirate ship and a small archipelago from invading Covenant forces. You can install it on the Steam Workshophere, with its source code available onInfernoPlus' Patreonfor those that want to mess around with it.
This video(also viewable below) covers the mod in-depth, but the TL;DR of its plot and structure is that players and their UNSC Marine allies commandeer a Man-O-War, sailing it around several islands to search for treasure while fending off Covenant troops with its defenses. Armaments onboard include 20 custom-built cannons, a pair of mounted heavy machine guns, a Missile Pod turret for anti-air defense, two deployable “Boathogs,” and four Mongoose ATVs you can drive out of chutes and onto pieces of land nearby. The ship also comes with several ropes you can use to reach its crow’s nest or come back aboard if you fall into the water, complete with custom climbing animations.
Originally, the mod was conceptualized as a large-scale Big Team Battle-style PvP experience in which both teams had a vessel and would attempt to destroy their opponent’s with clever sailing, broadsides, and boarding action. However, InfernoPlus came to realize that modelling multiple stages of destruction for the ships would be a monumental task, and also discovered a PvP-specific, physics-related desync problem that would have made the mode unplayable.
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From there, it was reimagined as a co-op campaign level, with InfernoPlus hoping to make it somewhat open-world with randomly generated elements and enemies that would swing from their own ships to try and board yours. Due to issues with both Covenant AI and the crafts themselves, though — even now, the ship’s model and physics are so complex that InfernoPlus had to buy a more powerful PC just to stop the 3ds Max project constantly lagging — the mod had to be simplified by giving the vessel scripted sailing paths.
I was a bit sad to learn players can’t control the ship, but whatever disappointment I felt was quickly forgotten when I saw that “Captain” Sergeant Johnson is behind its wheel, brought to life with some humorous top-tier voice acting from the talentedTheVocalButcher. Marines “Dave” (Lucksoar) and “David” (voiced by InfernoPlus himself) have some comical custom dialogue, too, cementing the project’s silliness.
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Ultimately, this mod looks absolutely hilarious, and I can’t wait to play through it with my friends soon. Much like I was withInfernoPlus' Cursed Halo Again modfor Halo: Combat Evolved, I’m amazed by what’s possible in Halo 3 — an Xbox 360 game that’s now 17 years old. The fact this runsat allis an achievement in and of itself, and the fact it runswellis even more remarkable. Note thatInfernoPlus uploaded a developer commentary-style video to his second channelthat goes over many of the mod’s nightmarish code strings and other types of technical info in extensive detail, so give that a watch if you’re curious to learn more about how it was put together.
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To set sail, you’ll need Halo 3 on Steam, which you can eitherbuy standalone for $9.99or get as part ofthe full $39.99 Halo: The Master Chief Collection package. The Master Chief Collection stands tall as one of thebest Xbox gamesandbest PC gamesfor fans of shooter games, as it includes Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Halo 4 (along with the remasters of the first two games) in one awesome bundle. Notably, it’s also available on both Xbox and Windows PC via the Microsoft Store throughXbox Game Pass, though the Steam version that the mod requires is not.
Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he’s been an avid fan since childhood. He’s been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you’ll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he’s not writing or gaming, there’s a good chance he’s either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once.Follow him on X(Twitter).
