Phone Detective

Who was there: With PAX Prime playing home to Halo's 10th anniversary party, 343 Industries trotted out some of its franchise leads to part the curtain on Halo 4, calling it the first game in The Reclaimer Trilogy. Moderated by content producer David Ellis, the panel featured franchise director Frank O'Connor, marketing director Kenneh Scott, executive producer Kiki Wolfkill, creative director Josh Holmes, and audio director Sotaro Tojima.

Master Chief will play front and center in The Reclaimer Trilogy.

What they talked about: Ellis started out the panel by responding O 'Connor on the history of 343 industries, with the franchise head, the studio that started three years ago, technically. 343 was charged with the publication Halo 3: ODST at first, but they knew they needed a team to continue the Halo franchise.

Holmes was asked why Halo 4 has been announced as the first in a trilogy. He said it was important for 343 to signal to fans that the studio is committed to the franchise. When she started, a little more than two years, they knew the story, she wanted to tell. A lot of what is at the center of this trilogy is to explore the character of Master Chief, he said. "It 'sa little about the approach to the characters than we have in past games," he said.

Wolf Kill was then asked about the structure of the team from scratch. She said there were two goals: to build a team to create Halo 4, and build a studio with the right culture for the movement of the game. It was difficult because she had to find talent with the level of technical and creative know-how for execution. And then there was the challenge that people with the maturity to accept this long-term challenge.

"From a studio and culture perspective, how do we find that deep talent that has a collaborative spirit and a craftsman approach, so that we could build a studio for the long term?" she said. She also emphasized the amount of passion that's necessary to be in this game for the long haul.

Holmes was then asked how Halo 4 would play. "Well, it plays like Halo," he quipped. However, he said it's important to take risks and evolve the feel of gameplay. He said it's all about the question of balance and maintaining the core feel of Halo while also adding in new weapons and abilities. The team also wants to provide new experiences that players haven't had before. He said that it's important to give players options to solve problems in a variety of ways.

The question of Cortana's role in Halo 4 was then brought up, and Holmes said that Master Chief's personal artifical intelligence definitely has an important role in the game. Though the game is largely about Master Chief and his story, Cortana plays an important role in the character's development. Wolfkill followed that by saying the two have a unique relationship that hasn't been addressed in other games, so continuing that and fleshing it out further is important to the team.

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