armor remained familiar but still new. Real-world military vehicles inspired some of the details. The armor of Master Chief and his fellow elder Spartans was intended to look more utilitarian and tanklike, contrasting with the more streamlined look of newer characters. Despite the visual differences between the character's armor in Halo3 and Halo4, the developers intended it to canonically be the same armor. 343 Industries redesigned Master Chief's armor for Halo Infinite, drawing inspiration from his previous looks. Actor Bruce Thomas returned to provide motion capture for the character, as he had in Halo4 and Halo5. Voice acting Downes, who voices the Master Chief, is a disc jockey and voice actor who had never played video games before Halo. Downes's previous experience with video game voice work was a small part for Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator. During production of Halo, Martin O'Donnell, Bungie's music director, recommended Downes for the part of the Chief based on his experience working with Downes on Septerra. Downes never interviewed for the part, describing his acceptance as a phone call. After Halos success, Bungie briefly considered recasting the role with a celebrity before deciding against a change. Downes believed he came close to losing the role with Halo4 as well. "When I did my first 'demo' session for Halo4 in early 2012, I knew it was really an audition to see if I could carry the additional emotional weight that John was going to endure," he recalled. "I knew my future as the voice of Master Chief was on the line that day." Downes was more involved with the Halo4 sessions, seeing the script in advance for input and recording sessions in person over a longer duration, with him and Jen Taylor (Cortana) playing their roles in the same space for the first time. For years Downes never appeared at Bungie or Microsoft events and believed the Master Chief was left masked because "[the character's identity] is really in the eye of the player." He has called the role the most rewarding of his voice acting career. Attributes Downes's voice for Master Chief was based on Bungie's character description, which specified a man of few words similar to Clint Eastwood. The actor noted that during recording, he was given creative leeway to develop the Chief's personality. In the early games, Master Chief rarely spoke during player-controlled gameplay, making him an almost-silent protagonist. Even