'Halo 5: Guardians' News: TV Commercial Shows Master Chief Death (VIDEO)
Microsoft recently released a TV commercial for its upcoming "Halo 5: Guardians," depicting the death of the game's protagonist, Master Chief.
A promotional ad for 343 Industries and Microsoft Studios' latest "Halo" franchise first-person shooter, "Halo 5: Guardian," made its debut during NBC Sunday Night Football, and showed the death of Master Chief, the video game series' main hero.
The upcoming military-sci-fi adventure video game is set to launch for Xbox One in late October, upping the console competition between Microsoft and Sony's PlayStation 4.
As the live-action teaser ad begins, a female announcer pronounces the death of Spartan John-117, also known as Master Chief, who is reported to have been killed in the line of duty on October 27, 2650.
"We must end this, not be ended by it," the broadcaster intones, revealing Master Chief's death may not be the be-all and end-all of "Halo 5's" storyline.
"Halo" series players who follow the novels speculate the trailer announcement is meant to be a ploy by ONI to spread propaganda. In the previous games, the UNSC made it a policy to announce fighters dying on the battlefield, as "missing in action," and not KIA (killed in action) as a tactic to boost soldier morale, and to foster the hope the Covenant does not kill Spartans in combat.
"Halo 5: Guardians" is reportedly going to focus on treason and abandonment themes and offer players two campaign modes: one featuring Master Chief leading the Blue Team, and another showing Agent Locke upgraded to a Spartan.
The upcoming game will allow co-op gameplay for up to four players per campaign, but continues to hold out on split-screen features from the previous titles. 343 and Microsoft did away with the much-asked for split screen to retain as much quality for the game's graphics as possible, also citing that more and more players prefer playing online as a reason for removing the feature.
"Halo 5: Guardians" is expected to arrive as an Xbox One exclusive on October 27.