Master Chief’s new Halo 4 armour explained

Posted February 17, 2012 by James Haresign in News.

343 Studios have come out and offered an explanation of exactly why Master Chief has taken on a new look, and he’s put on a bit of weight too.

When the announcement trailer for Halo 4 was revealed last year one question rose high from the Halo fans. What’s with the new armour? Well 343 Studios have given us some of the reasoning on the Halo Waypoint blog. At least from a design perspective anyway. Basically it’s all in a effort to portray the fact that you’re wearing nearly half a tonne of armour.

“One of the Master Chief’s most notable physical characteristics is that he’s wearing 800 pounds of tank and jet fighter. So we pulled that design into the armor and HUD. When you play Halo 4, it’s important you understand that you’re more than just a gun on the screen. To give you that feeling, we have represented that weight with player physics, without interrupting crosshair and shooting accuracy.

“When we first looked at the Chief’s armor, we studied what was done in Reach. We knew he needed to be understood as a nimble yet heavy superhero, and contrast that with Reach armor design that was more on the bulky side. Our goal is to hit that sweet spot where we represent what is fictionally true about the Chief while making sure you feel like you’re a super-powerful human being when you’re playing him. ”

There’s still no explanation given of how the Chief’s armour has changed, even though he’s been sat in cryogenic status since the end of Halo 3. Maybe will have to wait till the game arrives to find out that minor detail.

For the latest news on Halo 4 keep an eye on BeefJack.

Tagged as 343 studios, Halo 4, Master Chief