Watch the Halo Infinite reveal trailer

Microsoft kicked off its Xbox E3 press conference with a doozy: the reveal of Halo Infinite, a new Halo game that is... um... well, it certainly looks pretty!

There are no details on when the game is coming, or even just what Halo Infinite is, though there are a few potential clues we can pull from its reveal. The variety of environments (many wide, open landscapes and expansive vistas) suggests something more open-world in design than the standard Halo games. The lack of a number in the title and the name-drop of a new engine - dubbed "Slipspace" - also suggest this is no ordinary follow-up.

"With Halo Infinite we will join Master Chief on his greatest adventure yet to save humanity," said Phil Spencer as he took the stage. So despite the classic armor design glimpsed during the tease, it would seem this is not a remake of Halo: Combat Evolved, or anything that takes place in the past. (Unless Spencer is saying the Halo universe never saw a threat as great as that first encounter, which I don't think is the case.)

Our last clue requires diverging some Halo 5 spoilers: At the end of that game, most of the UNSC (that's the good guys, in case you needed reminding) was on the run from Cortana and her newly-formed legion of rogue AIs. One of the few ships to escape is the super-class carrier known as "Infinity".

So putting all the clues together, I'd wager this is not Halo 6, but more of a side-project where we play as a Spartan soldier training up and gathering resources before the big conflict, which will come in Halo 6. But that's just my guess.

Be sure to check out the E3 2018 schedule to see when the other major players will announce their news, and keep an eye on our list of E3 2018 games to see all the titles coming your way.