Remember a few weeks ago when Game Rant reported Bungie's claims that they would not be putting Master Chief in Halo: Reach? Yeah, well apparently they weren't exactly telling the truth.

Bungie.net recently released a picture of Halo: Reach's "Initial Armory Inventory" that - oddly enough - features a picture of the Chief. The wears in the inventory can be purchased from day one by leveling your character in the online modes and earning points to buy them. It's a system that works kind of like Modern Warfare 2, but you get to pick what you want to unlock (a la Battlefield series on PC). As you progress and you level your character up, you unlock more pieces of armor for you character to purchase and eventually wear.

Master Chief can easily be spotted at the bottom of the list along with some other pivotal characters from the Halo series such as Cortana, Sgt. Johnson, and ODST's Buck. You can see for yourself just below.

To what extent Master Chief appears in Reach -- be it just a multiplayer skin or sound and armor effects -- is still unconfirmed. The fact that Cortana is an option makes it seem even more unlikely that Master Chief will be in Reach in a playable capacity (especially considering that she is a hologram), but I suppose weirder things have happened.

I for one certainly hope that Master Chief gets one last appearance courtesy of Bungie before 343 Studios takes over the Halo franchise. Bungie created Halo and having the Chief show up for one final hoorah would be a great way to say good-bye to the fans of the series before moving on to their next project with Activision.

I guess we'll see what plans Bungie has with the star of Halo 1-3 when Halo: Reach hits retail on September 14.

What form do you think Master Chief will take in Halo: Reach? Do you care if he's in it or not?

Source: Bungie.net