‘Halo 5’: Master Chief Still Main Character And Hero, Says 343 Industries


An interview with Mike Colter for Halo 5: Guardians caused a bit of commotion Monday. The voice actor behind Agent Locke stated that he was “the primary character” in the upcoming Xbox One shooter, suggesting that Master Chief would be sidelined much of the game. 343 Industries Franchise Director Frank O’Connor followed up with a “not so fast” statement of his own.

“Yeah, I’m a playable character,” Colter stated in an interview with X-One Magazine posted on Reddit. “Once ‘Halo: The Master Chief Collection’ is released, and then ‘Halo 5’ comes out shortly thereafter, you’re basically going to be playing a game with me as the primary character.”

A Microsoft spokesperson came out later to clarify that “Locke plays a primary role in Halo 5: Guardians. The Master Chief remains an integral part of the game’s story and as a playable character.”

Halo: Nightfall
Mike Colter as Agent Locke in Halo: Nightfall.

Did you notice the difference in the word preceding “primary” in Colter’s interview and Microsoft’s statement? That’s the difference between sidelining Master Chief and giving the Spartan the majority of the playable time.

If Locke is the primary character, then that means the majority of game is spent inside his helmet. If Locke is a primary character, then Chief gets at least equal billing. O’Connor cleared up the confusion in a post on NeoGAF discussing the controversy.

A primary character, Chief is the main character and hero.”

In response to another poster who stated that 343 Industries was testing the waters to retire Master Chief, O’Conner calmly delivered the following statement.

“NO. The end.”

So, that pretty much shuts down the discussion of Master Chief’s role in Halo 5 until 343 Industries starts rolling out more information about the plot line. Meanwhile, Colter has probably already received some extra coaching on the language to use and not use in interviews going forward.

Agent Locke will make his first appearance in the episodic live-action series, Halo: Nightfall. It will be included as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection due out on November 11. It brings together Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 4 into a single package with Halo 2 completely remastered for the Xbox One. The other three receive improved resolutions and some visual upgrades from their Xbox 360 releases.

The Master Chief Collection also comes with automatic entry into the Halo 5 multiplayer beta set to launch sometime this December. This will give everyone the first taste of the series return to an arena style multiplayer shooter.

Halo 5 Multiplayer Teaser

What did you think of O’Connor’s response to Master Chief still being the main character and hero? Did it convince you are you still waiting to see what happens? Let us know in the comments below.

[Images via 343 Industries]

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