Related Articles
The big Season 5 update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection is nearly here, and among its new additions are a whopping 80 new armor pieces for Halo 3 and Halo: Reach. 343 Industries has now revealed a number of these and spoke more generally about where they came from.
The new armors stem in part from the canceled Russian free-to-play game Halo Online, which was based on the Halo 3 engine. When they are released for Halo: MCC in the Season 5, they will officially become canon, 343 said.
Season 5 is called Anvil, a name that is inspired by the Anvil Station from Halo lore. “At Anvil Station, the UNSC would test skunkworks technologies and clandestine prototypes, some destined for full and successful production runs, other merely serving as a stop-gap in the development pipeline of Mjolnir components, weapon advancements, and more,” 343 said. “Warriors from both sides were eager to face off in field test simulations, hoping to not only advance their respective technologies, but hone their personal proficiency in battle.”
These new armors will be available in Halo 3 and Halo: Reach’s customization menus. One of them stands taller than the rest, if you ask me.
The Mister Chief helmet, pictured above, is described jokingly by 343 as, “The absolute zenith of human endeavor and a perfect encapsulation of human talent.”
Mister Chief is famous in Halo media, with the designed having been created by Halo franchise manager Frank O’Connor earlier in his career.
In the blog post, 343 joked that Mister Chief “might not be hard canon.” You can see the rest of the helmets and armor pieces in the gallery below.
Players who don’t want to see any of the new armors can toggle them off, along with any of the previously added skins for weapons and vehicles.
The MCC Season 5 update is scheduled to release on January 27 for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. It’s a big week for Halo, as 343 will follow that up with the next reveal for Halo Infinite where the developers will discuss the game’s sandbox elements.
