Halo: Spartan Strike

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Halo: Spartan Strike is an upcoming isometric shooter video game and the spiritual successor to Halo: Spartan Assault, developed by Vanguard Games in collaboration with 343 Industries. The game is set for release in 2015 on Windows 8 and 8.1 devices and Steam for $5.99 (US).

Synopsis

Character and settings

As with Spartan Assault, Spartan Strike's campaign employs the UNSC Tactical Simulator as a fictional framing device. The story is set in two primary points in the Halo universe timeline, beginning during the events of Halo 2 in New Mombasa in the year 2552. The narrative centers around a Forerunner artifact known as the Conduit and the struggle between the UNSC and the Covenant for control of the relic. The player controls a SPARTAN-IV, under the command of Lieutenant Kwon. After the first operation set in New Mombasa , the narrative jumps five years forward to the year 2557. The Spartan is deployed onto Gamma Halo to reacquire the Conduit from the Covenant forces who have taken the artifact to a Forerunner site they refer to as the Altar. After the player is successful, they must deliver the Conduit to an ONI facility in New Phoenix on Earth in hopes of using the artifact to close a slipspace portal that has unleashed a Promethean invasion upon the city.

Plot

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Spartan Strike begins in 2557, with the UNSC Infinity's AI Roland informing to a unnamed SPARTAN-IV the Office of Naval Intelligence has give the Spartan access to a highly-classified combat simulation of the Battle of Mombasa in 2552. Using a UNSC Tactical Simulator, Roland reveals that the Spartan will simulate the actions of an ODST squad send to secure a Forerunner artifact called the Conduit. In the simulation, the ODST squad is replaced by a lone Spartan clad in War Master armor.

Campaign

The Spartan Strike campaign will feature five chapters known as "Operations" with six missions each.

• Operation A: Orphic Spear
• Operation B: Steadfast Pursuit
• Operation C: Valiant Hammer
• Operation D: Adamantine Shield
• Operation E: TBA

Features

A Kestrel versus a Ghost.

Halo: Spartan Strike includes a number of refinements to the gameplay and graphics of Spartan Assault, including improved controls and having the player's "virtual thumbsticks" as visible circles on the screen. Grenade throwing has been made more precise and new armor abilities will be included. The game sandbox has also been expanded with the inclusion of the Promethean enemy units and weapons, as well as new vehicles including the Warthog (which was unusable in Spartan Assault) and the Kestrel, inspired by a vehicle cut during the development of Halo 2.

The missions and the campaign overall will be longer, the latter totaling at four to five hours whereas Spartan Assault's campaign was estimated to be three to four hours in comparison. The difficulty will increase progressively throughout the campaign more prominently than in Spartan Assault. Like the original version of its predecessor, Spartan Strike will feature no multiplayer mode. The game will have linked leaderboards and weekly challenges.

The game will feature in-game credits which can be used to purchase weapons and equipment, although the microtransactions featured in Spartan Assault have been omitted; credits will be earned only through gameplay, although three Achievements in Halo: The Master Chief Collection will award the player a number of extra credits. Playing Spartan Strike will also unlock exclusive multiplayer content for The Master Chief Collection, including an in-game nameplate, emblem and avatar.

The Windows version of Spartan Strike will support cross-platform integration; a copy of the game will be playable on all Windows 8/8.1 devices irrespective of the platform the game was purchased on along with shared stats. As with Spartan Assault, the Steam version will be excluded from this integration as the Steam platform does not share the Xbox Live gaming profile.

Appearances

Characters John-117 Kwon (First appearance) Roland Species and entities Human Kig-Yar Sangheili Unggoy Yanme'e Forerunner Promethean Promethean Knight Promethean Crawler Promethean Watcher Organizations UNSC UNSC Navy Office of Naval Intelligence UNSC Marine Corps Orbital Drop Shock Troopers Covenant Covenant remnants Jul 'Mdama's Covenant faction Ecumene Warrior-Servant Promethean Locations Earth Kenya Mombasa New Mombasa Portal at Voi (Mentioned only) United Republic of North America New Phoenix Installation 00 (Mentioned only) Installation 03 Altar (First appearance)

Events Human-Covenant War Battle of Earth Battle of Mombasa Post-Covenant War conflicts Weapons UNSC Usable M41 Vulcan M6H magnum M7 SMG M9 fragmentation grenade MA5D assault rifle Napalm grenade Covenant Usable Type-1 plasma grenade Type-25 Brute Shot Type-25 plasma pistol Type-29 Shade Type-33 Needler Type-51 plasma repeater Type-52 focus rifle Unusable Type-25 plasma rifle Forerunner Usable Z-040 pulse grenade Z-130 Suppressor Z-180 Scattershot Z-390 incineration cannon Z-750 binary rifle Unusable Z-510 focus turret Vehicles AV-14 Hornet CAS-class assault carrier D77-TC Pelican Genet Kestrel (First appearance) M12 Warthog LRV M313 Elephant M808 Scorpion M850 Grizzly Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle Type-25 Spirit Type-26 Banshee Type-32 Ghost Type-47 Scarab Type-52 Anti-Aircraft Wraith UNSC Infinity Technology and equipment Conduit (First appearance) Hard light Light bridge Kig-Yar point defense gauntlet MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor MJOLNIR [GEN1] Mark VI MJOLNIR [GEN2] War Master ODST armor Armor abilities Airstrike (First appearance) Bubble shield Proximity mine (First appearance) M2705 regeneration field Shock chain (First appearance) Teleport

Marketing

Halo: Spartan Strike was announced by an article and gameplay video at the video gaming website IGN on October 15, 2014. The following day, an announcement trailer was released on Halo Waypoint's YouTube channel alongside the creation of an official page for the game at the Halo Waypoint website. The game was initially scheduled for a December 12, 2014 release, however on December 5, 343 Industries announced that the game would be pushed back to early 2015 due to continuing issues with Halo: The Master Chief Collection's online multiplayer.

Gallery

Gameplay

• HSS-Main Menu.jpg

  The main menu of Halo: Spartan Strike.

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  All operation and mission briefing screens shown in the reveal video.

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  The player character arrives on Gamma Halo.

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  A Warthog in action.

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  The player using a Warthog on Gamma Halo.

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  Fighting Covenant forces in Gamma Halo's jungles.

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  The player using a regeneration field.

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  The player fighting near a cliff on Gamma Halo.

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  The player faces a Knight at a Forerunner structure.

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  A Covenant lance utilizing a bubble shield.

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  A Kestrel engaging the Covenant and Prometheans.

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  A Kestrel destroying a wall.

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  The player facing a Wraith with a Grizzly tank.

Cinematics

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  A storm on Earth's surface.

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  The player Spartan fleeing from a wavefront of energy in a Warthog.

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  A trio of Promethean Knights.

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  A Hornet VTOL approaches an embattled city.

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  UNSC troops fighting Prometheans in New Phoenix.

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  Knights being disintegrated by incoming fire.

Logos and banners

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  A banner for the game.

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  Official logo.

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  The Spartan Strike logo and icon.