343 Industries explains the reasons behind the recasting of important characters, stating that changes have been made for 'both casting and technical reasons.'

All at once, it seems as though the build-up for Halo Wars 2 is hotting up. After the game spent some time in the wilderness, with the collaboration between Creative Assembly and 343 Industries clearly busy behind the scenes, E3 2016 saw the release of a brand new trailer for the game - as well as confirmation that the title was going into an open multiplayer beta. With the beta underway, many fans have been asking questions of the title, and one of these questions relates to some of the characters that have returned from the original game.

It's clear that both Cutter and Anders have had makeovers between Halo Wars and Halo Wars 2, and gamers have wondered exactly what the reasons are for these changes. Thankfully, 343 Industries is on hand to answer these queries. According to the Q&A posted over at Halo Waypoint, the changes were made for "both casting and technical reasons."

According to the developer, the original Halo Wars game featured characters that were effectively 'made up' by Blur, essentially existing as "amalgams of character, rigging and aesthetics." For the time, the characters were top tier models, but given the improvements made in performance capture, 343 Industries has instead gone with a different design model this time around. "The industry has made geometric leaps forward in technique and technology and the trend, rightfully, has been towards proper facial and performance capture," explained the post. "The end result is much better immersion in the story and far more believable “people” because they are people – recordings of the performance rather than a simulation or cartoon of it."

To help with this, the developer has some new actors on hand to step in for Halo Wars 2's important roles. Gideon Emery is now Cutter, although the actor's features have been grayed and aged to match the game's setting. Meanwhile, Faye Kingslee is now playing Anders, who is replacing Kim Mai Guest due to scheduling conflicts. The duo have a wealth of video game experience between them, with Kingslee most famous for her role as Citra in Far Cry 3, and Emery involved in the likes of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Wolfenstein: The New Order.

Those interested in seeing Halo Wars 2 in action are in for a bit of luck, as 343 Industries has decided to extend the game's beta until Wednesday, 22 June. Of course, the full extend of these new performances will not be truly seen until the game's release, but more information on the title's campaign is sure to be made available in the coming months.

Halo Wars 2 will be released on February 21, 2017, for PC and Xbox One.

Source: Halo Waypoint