Who needs a Porche when you can have a friggin' Warthog? Halo 4 was teased to all of us at this year's E3 and we'll be playing it next fall. It's revamped version of the franchise staple vehicle, the UNSC Warthog however, will make an appearance much sooner in Forza Motorsport 4. How sweet is that?

After the disappointing news that EA wouldn't work out a deal to share their licensed Porche brand, the news that the Warthog will show up as a hidden Easter egg in Forza 4 makes up for it. So, just what can you do with this nifty war vehicle in the game?

As it turns out, not much. You can't even drive it.

Being an Xbox 360 exclusive, Forza 4 including a piece of the console's flagship franchise is just plain smart cross-marketing. The Warthog will be viewable in the game's Autovista mode which lets players get up close and personal, to the point of digitally touching it with Kinect.

Microsoft made sure to clarify that even though the Halo 4 vehicle is in the game, you can't take it for a spin. What a tease! Why put a vehicle with wheels in a highly anticipated, beautiful racing game such as this just to say that you can't turn on its engine?

While we are a little bummed that we can't drive it, the vehicle looks awesome, much more detailed and realistic than past iterations and it's a very cool tease of the game, regardless. Check out the screenshots below for your first look at the 343 Industries' updated Warthog in Forza 4:

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The model looks cool but it's unfinished, missing a lot of the texturing, especially on the green panels. It looks more conceptual than real and this is likely a reason why Microsoft doesn't want players driving it - that and it drives entirely different than any sports vehicle from the Forza series. What Turn 10 Studios and Microsoft should do instead is offer a driveable version of the Warthog in Forza 4 for those who purchase Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and/or pre-order Halo 4.

I really want to jump on that gun and shoot some Ferraris. You know, the car brand that Turn 10 actually shares its license with other racing games. Take note, EA.

Halo 4 sees the return of poster boy Master Chief and Forza introduces what now has a good chance at being a top racing sim franchise - check out the Forza 4 E3 2011 trailer to see why.

Forza Motorsport 4 releases October 11, 2011 exclusively for the Xbox 360.

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Follow me on Twitter @rob_keyes.

Source: Wired