Halo Infinite brings back Cortana

We knew she wasn’t gone for long. Microsoft confirmed in its Xbox E3 event today that Halo Infinite will be bringing back Cortana.

We always knew that Master Chief was part of Halo Infinite, but 343 Industries and Microsoft confirmed that Cortana will play a role in the new game, even though she has been getting near the end of her AI life.

Above: Master Chief in Halo Infinite

Master Chief and a new Cortana-like AI have a conversation about how she was supposed to be deleted but the plan didn’t go as expected.

Cortana made her appearance in the original Halo as the AI for Master Chief, advising him what to do and cracking jokes. Her appearance changed dramatically over the years. But she always comes up with crucial advice and a plan for Master Chief to save the day.

During Halo 4, the romance between Master Chief and Cortana comes to the fore, with the taciturn Master Chief actually saying, “We go together.” But then she begins displaying aberrant glitches. She suffered from rampancy, or going rogue/haywire, as she approaches the end of her seven-year lifespan as an AI. She sacrifices herself to save the chief.

But she makes a comeback in Halo 5, where she explains how she survives her own rampancy and the explosion of the bad guy’s ship by entering a repository of knowledge dubbed the Domain. And she betrays Master Chief in what became a pretty unpopular storyline, at least for me.

When Microsoft last showed off Halo Infinite, fans noted the absence of Cortana and worried she wouldn’t be in the game, replaced instead by a fast-talking human assistant. Here, she seems to have either a twin or some kind of memory wipe, but she’s back.