Halo Wars

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Halo Wars is a yet-to-be-released Real-Time Strategy game that begins in 2531 during the Covenant eradication of the Outer Colonies in the Human-Covenant War. This game is currently only for the Xbox 360, there are currently no plans for a PC release.

Background

A SPARTAN in Halo Wars from SPARTAN Group Omega

The Halo Wars control scheme.

In Halo Wars, players can command armies and hordes of familiar and new UNSC units in its first encounters against the Covenant, an alien coalition that threatens to eradicate all of mankind. "Halo Wars" will immerse gamers in an early period of the multi-storied "Halo" universe, allowing them to experience events twenty years prior to Halo: Combat Evolved.

With the guidance of Serina, a spirited artificial intelligence (AI) persona from the UNSC Phoenix-class ship Spirit of Fire, gamers will direct legions of UNSC soldiers and vehicles against Covenant Grunts, Elites, Ghosts and Scarabs, each group having its own strengths and uses in battle. Strategic-minded players who react well under pressure will emerge victorious.

Created specifically for the Xbox 360 console and Controller, "Halo Wars" is being developed by the veteran of real-time strategy developers Ensemble Studios, the team responsible for the best-selling and critically acclaimed Age of Empires franchise on the PC. "Halo Wars" can be played online via Xbox LIVE and through the single-player campaign. Published by Microsoft Game Studios, "Halo Wars" is a title exclusive to the 360. Despite speculation of a version for the PC, Ensemble and Microsoft have repeatedly said that no such plans have been made or even considered for it.

Ensemble Studios began recording the music for the game in March, with Ensemble's Music and Sound Director Stephen Rippy flying to Prague for the orchestral and choral parts and Seattle for the piano and mixing. At this point in time, they are working on in-game units and how they interact with each other. Alpha testing has also begun, with testers having been reported as playing the game over Xbox Live. .

The game is expected to be seen at this year's E3 event, held in July.

A pic of Halo Wars from the Halo Wars website

Plot

"At this point in time, the Covenant is at its most evil. They are hell-bent on the destruction of humanity, on scouring us from the universe."

— Graeme Devine, Lead Designer.

File:HaloWarsGameplay2.jpg

UNSC and Covenant units clash in-game. Note in particular the apparent Halo in the background of the screenshot.

The game's story is told through in-engine cutscenes and in-game moments, as with the other Halo games. The game is set in 2531, it focuses around the Marine forces of the UNSC Spirit of Fire as they engage Covenant ground forces after the discovery of an ancient artifact during a journey to the planet Harvest, the first planet to be attacked by the Covenant.

The majority of the campaign (15 missions in total). will take place in the polar/mountainous and parts of the jungle and ruin regions of the world, allowing Ensemble Studios to "do some great stuff with mountains, snow, ice, forests and some Forerunner structures."

It has been confirmed that Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 will not be making an appearance in the game, although some characters from the Halo games will make brief but important appearances . There will be a group of SPARTANs that are called SPARTAN Group Omega. In contrast, the Spirit of Fire is set to be "full of new characters," such as the AI Serina and the Spirit of Fire's commander, Cutter.

The story will begin with the UNSC's early battles on Harvest, but will also feature another colony world, Arcadia, which holds "something of great interest to the Covenant". The planet is subsequently invaded by the Covenant, and the UNSC must evacuate the planet while engaging the invasion force. While no Halo Installations will be featured in the campaign, they are likely to be present as at least a few multiplayer maps.

Early Plot

File:Mining.jpg

The asteroid that never was...

Originally the storyline was supposed to feature a Covenant mining asteroid that was located at a Forerunner ore refining mechanism, this concept tries to show the scale of the large Forerunner machinery in place, machines that are is still operational (although now controlled by the Covenant). In the end the mining aspect of the story was removed from the game.

Possible Elements

File:Unsc basecamp 1900.jpg

Concept Art released on the 12th of December. Note the large tanks and the building in the distance with a strong resemblance to the Library. Also there's a spartan on the right side of the pelican.

File:Halowars-bkg1.jpg

UNSC forces attempting to combat a Scarab.

The following are elements that may appear within the game. These have been shown in concept art and pre-rendered trailers for Halo Wars.

• It has been confirmed in the February Monthly Update that there will be no space battles in Halo Wars.

• Halo Wars may incorporate the concept of "Socket Bases," in which only specific areas can be used to build specific buildings.

• 'Supply runs' are set to be featured, allowing a regular rejuvenation of supply for the production of units as opposed to a resource gathering system.

• Each multiplayer map apparently takes place on a different "world", each with its own musical theme and playlist. Currently, the only known multiplayer map is Sway.

• During the Alpha test, anti-air units were glitching so that their effectiveness was lessened, and Scorpion tanks and aircraft were extremely powerful. Aircraft strength was lessened to prevent players from sending in air-strikes against the enemy Command Center and crippling them too easily.

• Forerunner structures have been added into the game.

• Ensemble has stated the camera angle and zoom can be adjusted so that the player can zoom in on one unit,while playing, and then see the whole battlefield.

• Downloadable content has been planned for the game, ranging from new units and maps to potentially new campaign levels.

"We have plans for extra units and extra maps, and then beyond that we’ll look at what else we can add further down the track, such as extra campaigns and so on. I think it’s definitely a good way of consistently breathing new life into the product via DLC."

— Graeme Devine

• It may also feature a map editor, either shipping with the game, or downloadable from Xbox Live Marketplace.

"We actually talked quite a lot about that, we’ve got a very powerful map editor, so we’ve talked about whether we could release that with the game or via Xbox Live and allow people to make their own maps, and then work out a way for users to share the maps. I would love for that to be in the final product. Because I think user created content is just fantastic. I think it’s absolutely the future, because people love to tell their own stories, people love to make up their own little war campaigns, and there are a lot of people out there who are incredibly talented.”"

— Graeme Devine

Gameplay Elements

United Nations Space Command

File:Marines.PNG

UNSC Marines

.

• Infantry
  • SPARTAN Group Omega
  • Cyclops "mech"
  • UNSC Marines
    • Flamethrower Marine.

File:Tank.PNG

M808 Scorpion MBT

File:Wartie.PNG

M12 LRV (Warthog)

File:Pel.PNG

Dropship 77-Troop Carrier Pelican

• Weapons
  • BR55 Battle Rifle
  • M6D Personal Defense Weapon System
  • M19 SSM Rocket Launcher
  • M90A Close Assault Weapon System
  • MA5B Individual Combat Weapon System
  • SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle
  • M7057 Defoliant Projector

• Vehicles
  • M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle
  • M808 Scorpion MBT
    • Grizzly variant
  • Behemoth-class Troop Transport
  • D77-TC Pelican Dropship
  • Shortsword-class Bomber
  • Hornet
  • Sparrowhawk
    • May be replaced with Vulture gunship.
  • Rhino - may be replaced.
  • Wolverine
  • Cobra rocket artillery
  • Spirit Of Fire

• Buildings
  • UNSC Supply Pad
  • Missile silo
  • Command Center
  • Vehicle Depot
  • Armory
  • Aircraft Pad
  • Drill Grounds
  • Barracks
  • Firebase

• Other
  • MAC Cannon Bombardment : Can be used to call in a bombardment from the Spirit of Fire . Several MAC rounds batter an area, destroying both friend and foe within it, as shown in the E3 2007 Demo when a Scarab was destroyed .

Covenant

File:Ilmhalowarstheme1SystemBlade.jpg

Concept art for the Elite.

File:Gameprohalowars.jpg

A Covenant Scarab destroys various UNSC vehicles

• Infantry
  • Sangheili (Elites)
    • Minor
    • Major
    • Ranger
    • Zealot
  • Unggoy (Grunts)
  • Mgalekgolo (Hunters)
  • Kig-yar (Jackals)
• Weapons
  • Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword
  • Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol
  • Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle
  • Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher
  • Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon

• Vehicles
  • Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft
  • Type-47 Ultra Heavy Assault Platform
  • Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle
  • Type-25 Wraith
    • Unknown Wraith .
  • DX-class Dropship Spirit
  • Deployable Lookout Tower

Neutral

• Sentinels
• Anti-Vehicle Sentinels

Alpha Test

A screenshot taken of an Alpha playtester in Sway.

An Alpha test was done for Halo Wars, concluding during May, 2008. The test was open only to several thousand Microsoft employees, including Bungie Studios, in order to locate any bugs or glitches, and to test its performance over XBox Live. It consisted of a brief "tutorial" and multiplayer, and was "limited to a specific set of units." It is unknown how long the Alpha test was conducted, or when it began. The Alpha test is over now. Stated in the May Monthly update.

Ambient Life

Although only in the conceptual stages at this point, ambient lifeforms may and will be encountered in the gameplay. They may be found on the battlefield, and might react to the actions of the player's forces (such as firing a weapon, flying around or near them, etc.). Examples include the Space Owl, the Harvest Whale, the Arctic Beast, Ice Hound and some sort of eel-snake creature that has yet to be named. The Ambient life forms will be on the Multiplayer Maps and they will be interactive.

Multiplayer

File:1209090473 Screenshots 1280 003.jpg

A possible multiplayer map showing Covenant as playable characters.

Such as the Halo 2 & 3, Halo Wars will have the strong characteristic of online gaming. Halo Wars' live gaming characteristics include Direct voice communication & Online leader boards. There's no specific information regarding to the player ranking. It has also been stated that online games would be rather quick, estimated at around 20 minutes per game.

Multiplayer Maps

• Sway

• It was also said that while the Halo Rings won't be in the story, they would be maps for multiplayer.

Cut Content

Two units, the UNSC Cougar and the Covenant Air Artillery, were under development early in the game, but were later cut, as the developers decided to focus on more recognizable Halo units.

Trivia

• It is still unconfirmed if any of the battles in Halo Wars are any real or factual battles from the Human-Covenant War timeline or if they are their own novel battles that the public has not yet been enlightened about.
• On April 1st, 2008, an "interview" with Graeme Devine implied that the Forerunner as a race would be playable, including a "Rampancy" in the AI and the ability to build a Halo and fire it if the player decided to give up. Although some people took it for truth, it was easily shown to be an April Fools joke due to the article's source which linked to the Wikipedia article for the first of April and Ensemble's own remarks about the articles.
• According to the E3 demo video, soldiers can shoot the Grunt's methane tanks and the Grunt will explode. This does not work in any of the Halo games.
• It is possible to run over enemies with the Warthog, and likely the scarab can step on other vehicles.
• While there will be an economy mechanic for the game, it may play less of a role in the Campaign missions.
• There will be a unit limit.
• It has been confirmed that the Covenant will be a playable faction, at least in multiplayer.
• Halo: Combat Evolved was itself originally a real-time strategy game.
• The Doritos snack food held a sweepstakes where the winner got a voice role in the game.
• Each individual soldier will have his own separate reaction to background stimulation in what is an attempt by Ensemble to add a "human element" to the game.
• In truth, Halo Wars didn't start as a Halo game at all. Six months were spent developing a control scheme for a viable RTS for the XBOX 360, which was later pitched to Microsoft, asking to use the Halo IP, to which Microsoft agreed.
• It appears that "parking lots" of UNSC vehicles were set to be featured. This looks set to be dropped from the final version.
• Orders can be given for troops to take cover and/or take shelter in buildings.
• It is likely that Easter Eggs will feature in a manner similar to the previous three Halo games.
• During the introductory level in the E3 demonstration video, UNSC Marines can be seen doing push-ups behind the barracks, being drilled by a Drill Instructor.
• The Halo Wars Alpha has begun testing on Xbox LIVE among internal testers on the map Sway.
• The Bungie staff played in the Alpha Testing.
• The first rumored release of Halo Wars was July 2nd of 2008, but that was delayed to November of 2008.
• The D77-TC Pelican is the model used in Halo Wars, not the D77H-TCI which is only introduced during Halo 3.
• The Scarab is confirmed to be playable in the multiplayer.
• At this point in time, there are over 5000 sound files for sound and voice in the game. Three more voice-over sessions set to be held over the summer will raise this number significantly.
• The Alpha Testing has now ended, stated in the May monthly update on www.Halowars.com
• More Information on the game was released in the July issue of Gamepro Magazine.
• According to the July issue of Gamepro Magazine--"Ensemble isn't ready to confirm a Halo Wars release date yet, but expects that it will arrive in the second half of 2008." This gives hope to Peter Jackson's statement about Halo Chronicles being released around the time Halo Wars ships.
• There will be no space battles through the course of the game.

Gallery

• HarvestT-1-.jpg

  A scene from Halo Wars.

• GruntEncounterT-1-.jpg

  Grunts encountered in the game.

• HaloWarsCanyon.jpg

  Covenant and UNSC forces in-game.

• Emag halowarsqa 4 d96d0-1-.jpg

  Trouble coming down the hill. Notice the Scarab on the ridge.

• HaloWarsTanks.jpg

  Scorpions and Warthogs vs Wraiths and Ghosts.

• 

  A titanic clash between dozens of ground and air units (the battle seems to be taking place on a Halo installation).

• Concept08 11 1280.jpg

  Concept Art for Forerunner structures.

• Concept08 10 1280.jpg

  More concept art of Forerunner structures.

• 1207654255 Concept08 12 1280.jpg

  More concept art of Forerunner structures.

• 

  An Elite holding a dead marine.

• 1209877878 1154 0002.jpg

  Elites up close.

• Spartan.JPG

  MJOLNIR Mark IV armor.

• HWscreen.jpeg

  Multiplayer Screenshot, revealing that Scarabs will be usable in multiplayer.

• Concept08 1 1024.jpg

  Concept art of UNSC civilians on an unknown colony world.

• Gameprohalowars.jpg

  Gamepro's Image for Halo Wars, note the terrain.

• Hwfuelrod.jpg

  Elite firing a Fuel Rod Gun.

• Hwunscfight.jpg
• Hwgruntattack.jpg
• Hwscarab.jpg

  Scarab Firing

• 2zdua7o.jpg

  A battle between UNSC and Covenant forces, for a Forerunner structure

• 
• 
• 
• 
• HW8.png
• 1213852807 192808-5-2.jpg

  A large Covenant Army can be seen, composed of many species and vehicles such as the Scarab, Wraith, Banshee, and a Deployable Lookout Tower

Links

Internal

• Circle Menu
• Halo: Contact Harvest
• Halo Wars Announcement Trailer
• Halogen

External

• Official website
• Halo Wars announcement
• Halo Wars Fansite
• Halo Wars E3 Trailer
• Extended Halo Wars E3 montage
• Heavengames.com
• Halo Wars Profile Page

Sources

[[es:Halo Wars]

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