When Halo 5: Guardians was first revealed, it came with a piece of promo art featuring a mysterious new Spartan standing above an upside-down Master Chief. As you would expect, this immediately led to all sorts of speculation — some of which has just been debunked by 343 studio boss Bonnie Ross in an interview with Eurogamer.
According to Ross, this new Spartan goes by the name, Agent Locke. And though he will play a "key role" in the upcoming game, Master Chief will still be the grande fromage in Halo 5: Guardians.
Locke's role in the game, Ross explained, will be setup in Ridley Scott's Halo: Nightfall, another live-action Halo series that will debut this fall on Xbox One as a part of the Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Information about Agent Locke will be explained in the series "so when you end up with Halo 5: Guardians you have an idea of the background of this new character," Ross said.
Again, Master Chief will be the main star of the game as Halo 5 is a "continuation" of his story.
"He is human, he's always been human, but at the end of Halo 4 he really is reflecting on who he is and why he exists," Ross said.
"That was very deliberate because the story we want to tell on Xbox One really is an important part and the main part of his hero's journey. It's more about what he's searching for versus what the UNSC is asking him to do."
Whereas Microsoft's venture into alternative media entertainment through the Xbox One originally seemed gimmicky, their overall vision is now becoming a bit more clear. And I'm actually pretty excited to see it unfold. Access to Halo 5's beta will be offered to anyone who purchases The Master Chief Collection.
