Halo 4 originally recast Master Chief and Cortana’s actors, according to Master Chief himself, Steve Downes. Halo is one of the most important video game franchises out there. Without it, it’s hard to say Xbox would exist today or at least not in the way we know it. It was a pivotal launch title for the console and Master Chief is essentially a mascot for the brand now. The sci-fi hero is one of gaming’s biggest icons, known for his brief, but epic dialogue, deep voice, and eye-catching green armor. Master Chief has existed for well over 20 years now and has appeared on every Xbox since the original, and he is still the same legend we fell in love with in 2001. With that said, things almost changed dramatically about a decade ago.
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After Halo: Reach, original Halo developer Bungie decided it was going to be done with the series. It had aspirations for new IP, namely Destiny, and decided to hand Halo off to a new studio known as 343 Industries. Despite Halo 3 having been envisioned as the end of that particular story, Halo was always meant to continue, which is why we got ODST and Reach. 343 Industries immediately decided to wake Master Chief up from his slumber after a five year hiatus and make Halo 4. 343’s vision involved overhauling Halo in pretty dramatic ways by taking the series to a new setting, putting Chief up against a new enemy, and shaking up the gameplay. However, it almost changed one of the most critical aspects of the franchise: the voice of Master Chief.
Steve Downes has played Master Chief since the beginning and is similar to that of Kevin Conroy as Batman or James Earl Jones as Darth Vader. It’s hard to replace him. However, 343 almost did just that. Downes revealed in a recent YouTube video that 343 Industries had actually recast the voices of both Master Chief and Cortana during production of Halo 4. The unnamed actors had recorded their parts and were essentially done with their work. It was only when people began playing the game in internal tests that it became evident it wouldn’t work. The testers claimed they didn’t recognize or connect with Master Chief and Cortana anymore, creating a problem for 343. They then reached back out to Steve Downes and Cortana’s original actress Jen Taylor, who were unaware they had even been recast, to reprise their roles. Of course, the rest is history and the two have continued to play the icons in subsequent Halo games developed by 343 Industries. Taylor even played Cortana in the live action Halo TV series.
This news is a bit surprising, but aligns with a strange trend in the gaming industry during that time. In the early 2010s, a handful of voice actors for iconic characters were replaced (or almost replaced). Splinter Cell: Blacklist saw Michael Ironside lose the role of Sam Fisher after a decade of playing the spy. Agent 47 actor David Bateson was recast in Hitman: Absolution, but fan backlash led to Bateson being brought back at the last minute. Kiefer Sutherland replaced David Hayter as Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, though there were some narrative reasons for this recasting.
As of right now, 343 Industries has rebranded as Halo Studios is working on what comes next for Halo. The developer recently announced a big move to Unreal Engine, which will lay the foundation for the next Halo game. Some fans believe that it will be a remake of the original game or a total reboot. The new game is in the early stages of development, so it will likely be a while before we find out exactly what it is or what it looks like. On top of that, there are rumors Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer Games is working on a new Halo as well, though it could be a spin-off. Hopefully, whatever it ends up being will bring back Steve Downes as the voice of Master Chief. It’s hard to imagine a future Halo game without the actor guiding us through the sci-fi battlefields.
