German site Halobase.de has posted a gallery of pics showing the Jackals in Halo 4.

Other than the head they looks the same. It’s the head though that really makes the difference. The beak is really stunted. They look more vicious to me.

I’m guessing the 343 wants to make Halo it’s own so much that they feel the need to change each of the Covies look. The Elites also have stunted heads. The Grunts are really different with larger heads, nose breathing tubes instead of over the mouth, 4 toes instead of 3, scaley skin instead of exoskeleton type skin.

Back to the Jackals though.

Here are some select pics from the gallery (go to the link to see the full gallery):

I do like the look as they seem more fierce. I doubt 343 will explain in-game why the Covie races have changed. We’ll just have to chalk it up to developer design choice.