We’re not ready to show Master Chief’s face, says Halo 4 developer 343 Industries

Continuing a tradition set by series' creator Bungie in 2001 with Halo: Combat Evolved, 343 Industries has said the studio is not prepared to reveal Master Chief’s face yet, or at all.

Halo franchise development director Frank O'Connor explained that although the studio isn’t ready to reveal Chief’s face, his face itself has been well-documented down the years.

"The funny thing about the Chief is he's actually really well described

"If you went down into that line and found a nerd with a deep cannon Halo t-shirt and said describe the Master Chief to this police sketch artist, that police sketch artist would then produce a perfectly accurate rendering of an older man, almost painfully pale, almost albino white, with pale blue eyes, reddish hair, close cropped to a skin head, and maybe the last remnants of freckles he had when he was a kid."

In regards to the subject of killing off protagonist Master Chief, O’Connor said he can't discuss that, but states in Halo 4, "things happen."

"That’s a conversation I can’t get into. I’ll say that in Halo 4, things happen. Previously we’ve been scared to commit to difficult paths in our game, but good interesting stories have things that happen in them that are not comfortable and that are meaningful and that are permanent.

"I’m not trying to hint at something other than our general philosophy and the shift in the attitude we’re taking about storytelling. We can make the story matter more to people by doing things that matter.

"That’s not rocket science. Luckily we have a publisher and owner that allows us that freedom and they trust us to make the right decisions with the fiction and the universe."

What do you think about the potential of revealing Master Chief's face? Would it be a mistake to reveal what the character looks like without the helmet? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

Halo 4, which will represent the first installment of a planned 343 Industries-developed trilogy, is due for a worldwide release on November 6, 2012.