Master Chief and Cortana Will Have New Looks for Halo 4

Both Master Chief and Cortana will have new looks in the upcoming Halo 4, but the developers will make sure that the characters are still recognizable for long time fans of the game universe.

Frank O’Connor, who is the leader of development on the Halo franchise at 343 Industries, has told Xbox World that Master Chief will have quite a few changes to his armor, with the “fairly radical modifications” mostly “connected to the story” and to the length of time that the main character has spent in deep space.

The developer also talked about Cortana and how the new game will put her in danger, adding, “Seven years is the lifespan for a smart AI before it enters a state called rampancy. Cortana was getting close to the end of her natural lifespan at the end of Halo 3 but she has been exposed to far more information than any other AI in existence.”

O’Connor says that one of the aims for the development process on Halo 4 is to bring back the exploration focus that was very much at the core of the first game in the series, with a lot of surprises thrown in and some deep lore elements.

The story of the game will be focused on the Forerunner although both 343 Industries and Microsoft have been careful not to reveal any important plot points.

Those who play Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary can get sneak peeks at the new Halo game by finding and interacting with newly added terminals.

The Halo series has been one of the most successful shooters launched on home consoles but the latest two releases, ODST and Reach, have failed to reach the performances of the earlier titles in the series.

Halo 4 is being planned for an exclusive Xbox 360 release at some point during late 2012.