Halo’s Reclaimer Trilogy Upgraded to a Saga
Seems like the Xbox One is heralding much more than just two more numbered Halo’s. Powwowing with GameSpot, Microsoft Studio’s VP, Phil Spencer, teased bigger plans are in store for the Master Chief. “While we originally said trilogy, we’ve actually expanded this to more of a saga,” said Spencer, “So we don’t want to limit the Reclaimer story within a trilogy.”
Once the FPS franchise was under 343 Industries’ wings – a development studio specifically formed by Microsoft to create and oversee all media labeled “Halo” – Halo 4 was announced to be the first act in a new arc of the main series dubbed The Reclaimer Trilogy.
To catch you up, Master Chief himself has been ominously referred to as “The Reclaimer” within Bungie’s original three games. Halo 4 set up a greater emphasis on the Master Chief as a character by revealing that his destiny plays a larger part in the fabric of the series’ universe than just his role as a military grunt mowing down waves of Covenant. This is reinforced by the implication that (spoiler) his fate has been manufactured by the fabled Forerunners through eons of manipulation (To what end? Well, now we have to wait a whole saga to find out).
Now rebranded as the Reclaimer Saga, 343 has stated, “…We don’t want to limit our plans to a trilogy,” adding, “Our ambitions for the franchise are even broader than that." They do, however, promise the main plot line of the Reclaimer Saga will follow the traditional beginning, middle, and end storytelling structure. Personally, I feel plans for a mainline trilogy are still well in place, but fans should expect several satellite titles (likely a mix of both FPS and other genres) that dart in and out of the Reclaimer story. Think Spartan Ops on a grander, multi-game scale.
As for the unnamed Xbox One Halo trailer shown off at E3, Phil Spencer rejects the notion that it was for a Reclaimer spin-off, calling it a "legitimate” installment…which, of course, makes me want to refer to games like Reach and ODST as illegitimate kids. We’re still not calling it Halo 5, apparently, but Spencer confirms it is the next Halo planned for release.