Bungie: Fans Won’t Miss the Chief

master chief badass

Halo: Reach isn’t the first game in the series without the Master Chief, but one might think his absence in the upcoming shooter would be felt more than it was in ODST, the previous Halo game that starred characters other than the iconic super soldier. For one thing, there’s the knowledge that Bungie will never create another game featuring the character, not to mention the plethora of other Spartans in the game emphasizing his absence.

Brian Jarrard of Bungie feels otherwise, though. In fact, he’s certain that fans won’t miss the Chief after all. When asked at a recent Halo: Reach press event in San Francisco whether it was a difficult decision to take the game in a different direction, Jarrard replied that the studio jumped at the chance “to tell a different kind of story.”

“For us, [Reach] is a more character driven story,” Jarrard said. “It’s nice to be able to go and take these people’s helmets off and, for the first time, really, to get to know another group of people.”

Halo Reach Noble Team Jorge Jun Screenshot“Chief was a very quiet, sort of empty vessel, man of few words, and we can just do more things now,” he continued. “I just think it’s a deeper story than we’ve ever been able to tell before.

“I think Noble 6 is still awesome in combat. Noble Team itself is great. I don’t think fans are really going to miss Chief once they start playing the first mission of Reach.”

Bungie will soon be moving on to their next franchise, about which little is known, besides that it will be published by Activision. That doesn’t mean players will never see the Chief in another game, however, as Microsoft’s 343 Studios is hard at work on at least one more game in the series. Knowing Microsoft, the Halo games won’t stop coming until people stop buying them, but will they star the Chief?

“We kind of left him tucked away in a place that certainly leaves the door open for somebody else to continue that saga,” Jarrard said. “We’re still fans of Halo, and we’re just going to have to wait like everybody else to see what’s next for Chief.”

True enough, as Microsoft, not Bungie, has retained the rights to the franchise.

Jarrard also mentioned that Bungie considered making another game starring the Chief, but decided to go with the prequel, Reach, instead. This begged the question: does Bungie know what happens to him after the conclusion of Halo 3? Is there an official story there, even if it’s one that fans may never know?

“Nothing formal or official,” Jarrard replied.

Despite their parting of ways, we can’t wait to see what’s next for both Bungie and the Chief.

Check out both parts of our full video interview here and here, and the rest of our hands-on coverage with the game, as well.