Screencap of Halo 4 trailer (taken by Terence Huynh/techgeek.com.au)
The new developers of Halo, 343 Industries, has admitted that the they lost their way with the recent additions to the Halo storyline – Halo: Reach and Halo 3: ODST – but promises that Halo 4, the recently announced sequel, will “live up to what gamers fell in love with”.
“We kind of lost our way a little bit, I’ll say. And that’s why I wanted to make sure that at the unveiling of Halo 4, you knew you were playing Master Chief, that John was back. Because Master Chief is the John Wayne character of that universe, and that’s who you want to play,” said Microsoft Games Studio corporate vice president Phil Spencer, talking to the Official Xbox Magazine.
“We really spent time thinking about the story arc that we want to tell, in the world, to get back to Master Chief,” he added. “Make it simple – it’s not Halo-anything, it’s Halo 4. You’re not going to be confused about what it is. Halo 4, playing as Master Chief, beginning of a new trilogy.”
“What we said was: ‘let’s get back to what Halo is about’.”
Spencer added that the game will be a direct continuation of Halo 4, and those who opted not to buy Halo: Reach or Halo 3: ODST will still be able to understand the plot.
Halo 4 will be coming out to the Xbox 360 sometime in the holiday season next year, while a high-definition remake of the first Halo – Halo: Combat Evolved (Gallery and Trailer can be found here) – will be coming out this November, again for the Xbox 360.