Halo’s co-creator says Bungie redesigned Master Chief nine times before coming up with the now-iconic look: ‘We tried a lot of things’

While I’m well aware that finished games often rest atop a mountain of cut or heavily revised work, I’m still regularly surprised by how extensively projects can change over the course of their development. A striking example was recently provided by Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto, who revealed that Master Chief’s suit design was revised nine times before Bungie settled on his final look.

Lehto, who is an alumnus of Ohio’s Kent State University, was speaking to Kent State Magazine (via GamesRadar) about the impact his education had on his future career. During that interview, he chatted about the process Bungie went through to design Master Chief’s armour.

“The creation of the Master Chief is something that I went through so many wringers to try to find the right look, the right feel, the right stature for such a character,” Lehto explained. “We tried a lot of things.”

Some of these initial designs have made it to the Internet, such as Shi Kai Wang’s early concept for Master Chief. Apparently, Bungie felt those early designs were too stylised, and Lehto’s later concept borrowed elements from the M1 Abrams tank and the lines of an Apache helicopter. Master Chief’s helmet, meanwhile, was inspired by a BMX helmet, which is pretty evident when you look at it side-on.

Lehto says that his education in illustration at the University helped him “break [the design] down into the most basic visual elements”. Ultimately, the design went through nine different iterations before Bungie got it right. “It took forever, but I wasn’t going to stop because I had learned through the program here that you don’t stop when you’re just on your first iteration.”

Lehto also recalls in the chat how, much like Bungie’s previous FPS series Marathon, Halo was intended to be a Mac game before Microsoft bought the company. “We got up on stage with Steve Jobs at Macworld and we talked about it there,” Lehto says.” Then Microsoft said, ‘Steve Jobs can’t have that. We’re going to buy you and move you all to the Pacific Northwest, and then we’re going to have you build this game for the Xbox.'”

It’s odd that Halo and Marathon have ended up on opposing sides once again, with Microsoft continuing to make Halo games while Bungie is making its extraction-based reboot of Marathon under the watchful eye of Sony. One thing both series’ share, however, is a turbulent recent history. Microsoft seems uncertain about how to move Halo forward following Halo: Infinite, retreating into the warm blankets of nostalgia with a second remake of Halo: Combat Evolved.

Bungie, meanwhile, has faced controversy, delays and layoffs with its reboot of Marathon, all while Sony has tightened its control over the studio, planning to fold it into PlayStation studios. Marathon is still on course for a launch next March, however, with a limited playtest happening in December.