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| | Title:
Halo Wars
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System:
Xbox 360
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Genre:
RTS
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Publisher:
Microsoft
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Developer:
Ensemble Studios
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Release:
TBA
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Online:
Yes
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ESRB:
Rating Pending (RP)
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The RTS genre on consoles seems to be the new “fad” all the developers out there are vying for. While in the past, a majority of console RTS's have royally failed (Starcraft 64), there are others who have succeeded (Battle For Middle Earth 2). In theory it makes a lot of sense to try and tap into this genre for the consoles. RTSs are the boon of many computer game companies and if someone can find the perfect way to create an RTS on a console, they just have a hit. Microsoft and Ensemble Studios are the latest pair to jump into this challenge with the announcement of an RTS title centered around one of the most popular (if not the most popular) franchises in the past two console generations. Halo is coming to the RTS genre in the form of Halo Wars.
Announced with a fully CG trailer at X06, Halo Wars is not being built by Bungie. Bungie has made this perfectly clear numerous times; they have their own hands full with Halo 3. Luckily for us, the company that is crafting Halo Wars has had a great deal of success with the RTS genre in the past. Ensemble Studios, the men and women behind the popular Age of Empires franchise, is taking the Halo world and transforming it into what we hope will be a smash hit.
The information we know about Halo Wars deals with the story of Halo. Halo Wars takes place many years before Halo even begins, with the start of the Human Covenant War. As such, there is going to be some very familiar technology and units to be seen on the field of battle. Obviously, there will be Warthogs, Scorpion Tanks, Marines, Banshees, Elites, Wraiths, and other units familiar to the Halo universe. Hopefully, Ensemble Studios will be given enough creative freedom to create some unique units which only work in the RTS genre or even better, find their way into Halo 3.
One such example of this is the flat flying vehicle which looks like it can deploy troops rapidly. Intense Halo fans will remember that this was a type of vehicle Bungie wanted to craft into Halo 2 but ultimately it was left on the drawing table. Will we see other unused units like the Human ATV? Hard to say, but Halo Wars seems like a perfect game to test and see how Halo fans accept new units. Probably the biggest surprise is the fact that multiple Spartans will be available in the RTS. Whether these Spartans will act like hero units or be formed into a squad is unknown but there is definitely some potential for these characters. Also the possibility to play as the Covenant is also up in the air, but in the end, when we think about it, it only makes sense that players will get to control the Covenant as well.
Halo Wars is going to be released for both the PC and Xbox 360. Without a doubt these games will obviously have different control schemes and if Ensemble Studios and Microsoft are smart, not be playable against each other. Can you imagine the beating a 360 owner would take from a PC player? Either way, Halo Wars is going to be a great extension of the franchise and shows that Microsoft is confident that the Halo brand can be applied to other genres and still produce great games.
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