The Office of Halo Intelligence (OHI) has spoken out on the official Halo Waypoint blog to give a heads up on the reasons why Master Chief has undergone a mini-makeover for his new fight in the upcoming Halo 4 – the first Halo title from 343 Industries.

With all eyes on the new Master Chief design at the NY Toy Fair, rumours were flying around the internet that a new Chuck Norris has been born in the shape of a Spartan! (or maybe not)

Quoted by Kenneth Scott, Senior Art Director of Halo 4:

Above all, we wanted the player to really feel what it’s like to be the Master Chief. This manifests itself in a lot of ways, and for those who read the Fall of Reach, there’s a lot of character depth behind that helmet that has yet to make its way into the game experience. Every person who was allowed to touch him had to, HAD TO, understand his history as a person. The Chief’s origin is pretty sad and grim: A strong, vibrant child stolen from his parents, he underwent dangerous bioengineering that destroyed the weaker of his friends, and trained to stomp out human Insurrectionists. Pretty morally nebulous beginnings for someone who ultimately saved humanity. Of all FPS heroes, he is distinct in that his arc is aspirational and not a cynical view of the universe.

A big focus on the Chief’s armor was his physicality and putting the player in those mighty shoes. Getting that weight across in the design had us looking at a lot of contemporary military vehicles, and we pushed detail and form into the armor that implied that history. This is the bleeding edge of military technology.

This was concluded with the point that a Spartan tossing his chest plate should feel like an anvil dropping, and putting on your helmet should feel like powering up an F-15E….

These are the sorts of experiences 343 Industries want to give the players.

Halo 4 is released this Fall, not from Reach – just before Winter…