Master Chief, the legendary Spartan warrior and star of the
Halo shooter franchise, returns this year in Halo 5: Guardians.
Confirming a worldwide release date of 27 October, Microsoft has begun the pre-release onslaught with a pair of striking live-action trailers.
The two clips form a diptych of sorts, showing each side of what's shaping up to be a contentious instalment. The first, named "The Cost", sees Master Chief predictably getting the focus, wandering a wasteland while seemingly questioning his own choices before pulling a gun on a downed fellow Spartan.
Perhaps more interestingly, the other trailer, called "All Hail", shows the reverse. That downed Spartan is Locke -- who first appeared in the Halo: Nightfall digital series, played by Mike Colter -- and the short flips perspective with him in a position of power.
Angrily recounting John-117's legend, he seems set to put an end to the fallen hero, who now lies broken and defeated at the base of his own statue. "The Cost" and "All Hail" were created by British director Rupert Sanders. While visually impressive for their depiction of the sheer scale of the devastation facing the heroes, they're most successful in grabbing the viewers' attention and making them question which series of events represent the truth.
It's clear Microsoft and developer 343 Industries want to build Halo 5: Guardians up as the most narratively important, revolutionary instalment in the sci-fi series, and the level of mythologising found in these mirror image teasers reflects that. Uncertainty over the truth is central to the game's single-player story, which sees humanity's colony worlds attacked, Master Chief missing, and Locke hunting him down for his possible connection to the invading enemies. "We wanted Halo 5: Guardians to be the game that pays off the epic promise of the Halo universe in scope and scale and drama," said Bonnie Ross, head of 343 Industries. "We want to amaze players with the sheer size of the worlds and battles they'll experience, even as they question everything they thought they knew about its heroes, marvels and mysteries."
Halo 5 is undoubtedly going to be a hugely important benchmark release for Microsoft, being exclusive to its Xbox One console. Although a not-inconsiderable 10m units had sold by December 2014, just over one year after launch, that number still drastically trails the 20m plus units Sony's PlayStation 4 has shifted as of 1 March this year. A major release in a hugely popular series like this will likely do much to bolster the hardware.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
