343 Guilty Spark (level)

### Location

In a swamp on the surface of Installation 04, within and around a Flood Containment Facility

### Depicts

The Master Chief's discovery of the Flood while searching for Jacob Keyes

### Enemies

* Covenant
	+ Grunts
		- Minor
		- Major
		- Ultra
	+ Jackals
		- Minor
		- Major
	+ Skirmishers
		- Minor
		- Murmillio
	+ Brutes
		- Commander
* Flood
	+ Infection Forms
	+ Carrier Forms
		- Grunt
		- Jackal
	+ Combat Forms
		- Brute
		- Elite
			* Elite Runner
		- Human
			* ODST

*"Creep through the swamp to meet the only enemy the Covenant fear."*

**343 Guilty Spark** is the seventh mission (sixth in a straight playthrough) of the Installation 04 Campaign in *Halo SPV3*.

This level takes place in and around a Flood Containment Facility. The first chapter of the level is set in a swamp and the second chapter, "The Flood" is set in the Alpha Halo containment facility. The third chapter is outside the containment facility. In this chapter, John-117 is dropped from Echo 419 to search for Captain Jacob Keyes who has been out of contact for over 12 hours. Soon, John-117 stumbles upon a structure and ventures within it, only to find out that the Marines accompanying the Captain have been slaughtered by an unknown force. After realizing the fate of the Marines, John fights his way out to the swamp and encounters a questionable ally.

## Overview & Background

The mission takes place in a facility deep inside a swamp, where the main objective is to locate Captain Keyes and call out for evac. However, Covenant are seen running away from unknown attackers. Throughout the mission you encounter the Flood for the first time, as well as a new weapon known as the M247 Machine Gun.

## Gameplay Information

There are 5 loadouts available for the player to choose at the beginning of the level:

 Grenadier
 Stealth
 Marksman
 Breacher

## Trivia

* There are 9 terminals scattered throughout the level
	+ 1 Covenant datapad belong to Braktanus
	+ 1 Covenant datapad belongs to Flozoz
	+ 1 Covenant datapad belongs to Vol 'Mdama
	+ 1 UNSC datapad belongs to Jacob Keyes
	+ 1 UNSC datapad belongs to Manuel Mendoza
	+ 1 UNSC datapad belongs to Avery Johnson
* During Jenkins' Helmet Cam recording of the Pelican ride, the song *Shreddin'* is replaced by an instrumental version of Rolling Stone's *Paint It Black*. This is a reference to the developer commentary in the Halo 3 Legendary Edition bonus disk, where Marty O'Donnell revealed that *Paint it Black* was originally planned to be licensed for use in the cutscene.
* Upon encountering the AWOL Marine and walking a distance away from him, a loud gunshot can be heard and the Marine can now be found dead on the floor. This is another reference to the developer commentary in the Halo 3 Legendary Edition bonus disk, where Joseph Staten revealed the above scenario to be an idea early on in the level's development.
	+ Interestingly enough, the AWOL Marine only has a few shots left in his pistol's magazine and will continue to fire the empty weapon without reloading (implying that he has completely run out of ammo). How he manages to conjure up the additional pistol shot to commit suicide with is unknown.

* This level is the last time you will be using loadouts.
* The Flamethrower is first introduced in this level in a secret area, alongside Johnson's datapad.
* This mission, along with None Left Behind, are the only missions in the game to feature Marine versus Flood combat.
* With the addition of None Left Behind, The Commander and The Commander: Evolved in the SPV3.2 update, this mission, along with The Library, feature the only level designs in the game that are not reused for another mission.
* On Noble difficulty, the final part of this mission, in the swamp with the Marines against the Flood, is considered to be one of, if not, *the* hardest part of all *SPV3*. The sheer number of enemies wielding high damage weapons, such as the Brute Plasma Pistol, and lack of player durability, that comes with Noble, makes the sequence highly dependent on luck to survive. It has even been compared to *Halo 2*'s notorious Legendary difficulty.

## Walkthrough

None Left Behind • The Commander • The Commander: Evolved • The Maw