'Halo 4' developers discuss upcoming trilogy

Halo 4 developers 343 Industries have revealed details about the upcoming trilogy of games.

The team behind the latest batch of sequels revealed that the new series will span a decade and will collectively be known as the "Reclaimer Trilogy", reports Eurogamer.

The next game in the series is a direct sequel to Halo 3 and takes place on a mysterious Forerunner planet, which features a "different aspect" of the alien architecture found in the previous games.

"It's going to be really interesting to see a different aspect of Forerunner engineering and Forerunner architecture when it's not completely inert and dead and empty," said franchise development director Frank O'Connor.

O'Connor also revealed details about the game's story, saying that it will explore Master Chief's character and personality in greater depth, and will focus on his relationship with Cortana.

"It will deal with the fate of John and Cortana. There's a lot of speculation about Cortana's mind state. There's a lot of relationship between those two characters. Character is something we're focusing on very strongly this time."

It was also revealed that the Master Chief seen in the Halo 4 trailer is not representative of the final design.

According to creative director Josh Holmes, the gameplay remains very similar to past titles, but will feel "fresh and different" thanks to a variety of new weapons, new abilities and new experiences.

"It was important to us to maintain that commitment to the sandbox nature of Halo gameplay, making sure we're empowering players to make choices in how they approach each problem instead of giving them only one solution," said Holmes.

Co-op and competitive multiplayer also makes a return, as well as the Forge toolset.

"Forge has been an engine for the community to create and share amazing creations, and it's something as a studio we believe very, very strongly in. We are continuing to invest and developing that toolset. Definitely that's going to be something that's a big part of what we do in Halo 4."

343 Industries also discussed plans to open up previous games in the franchise for modding and confirmed that access to the Halo 4 beta would not be included in the Halo: Combat Evolved HD remake.

Watch the debut Halo 4 trailer below: