The Pelican dropship, so famously piloted in the first installment by Foe Hammer, can carry troops, weaponry, as well as a single Warthog jeep. Once rumored to be pilotable in-game, although that is currently unconfirmed and now unlikely. In the first game, all the human vehicles were indestructible, as were Covenant dropships. Vehicle destructibility has been added into Halo 2, but it is still unknown whether or not dropships are included.

The Warthog is a four-wheel drive combat vehicle. It holds at least one driver and two passengers, one who mans a rear-mounted gun, which can be a rocket launcher, a chain gun, or a Gauss gun.

In the first game, the Warthog was indestructible, as were all human vehicles, both in the single-player campaign and in multiplayer. In Halo 2, it can be destroyed in stages, killing or wounding the occupants and other nearby units.

Other configurations (not shown) forego the rear-mounted gun and instead carry extra passengers.

The Scorpion tank made difficult sections of the first game seem like shooting fish in a barrel, with only Wraith tanks and Banshee flyers posing any serious danger. In multiplayer, using it was more of a tradeoff, as the tank could be slowed by the effects of plasma weapons, and the driver was vulnerable to being sniped, as are Warthog drivers.

In Halo 2, that trend continues; although the Scorpion cannot be simply boarded like the other vehicles, it is possible to jump on the tank and melee the driver.

The image appeared on Halo2.com; at the time, it was speculated that this was an orbiting space station of human, rather than Covenant or Forerunner design.

In the released game, the Malta is a station similar to the Cairo that has a MAC gun and is part of Earth's orbital defenses.