Comic-Con 2014: Halo Nightfall Directly Leads Into Halo 5 Guardians

At the Halo: Nightfall panel today at San Diego Comic-Con, we got a first look at the Ridley Scott-directed film project. Whereas Forward Unto Dawn looked at Halo's past, Nightfall will focus on the "present," in terms of game chronology, and lead directly into the events of Halo 5: Guardians.

The Nightfall character Locke, who was revealed to be played by Mike Colter earlier this week, will play a major role in Halo 5: Guardians. During the Q&A, the actor for Locke--who will be playable in Halo 5--said he "can't confirm whether he's a friend or foe of Master Chief." Frank O'Connor, Halo's franchise development director, says Nightfall will work as an origin story for the character. "You will see some new Spartan armor on Locke in Halo 5," he adds.

The show won't include the Pelican vehicle seen in the games, but the panelists did talk about a new vehicle known as the Condor, a mid-range transport that'll be a major part of the action. O'Connor says they originally referred to it as a "Super Pelican."

Talking about the game's world, O'Connor said, "Earth has been through a lot, but the colony worlds are a bit of mixed-bag." He then brought up the problems experienced on the planet Reach, but the colony in Nightfall is a "scrappy group trying to make it work."

Nightfall will also link back to the first Halo. O'Connor said that the story is set on a "partially functioning fragment of the original Halo ring," which has crashed onto the colony planet.

We'll hear more details about the film project during this year's Gamescom in August, when the team promises we'll learn about some of interactive features the team wants to incorporate into the project.