Halo Wars (computerandvideogames.com)
- computerandvideogames.com -
Who'd have thought that the next game in the Halo series would be a strategy game from Ensemble Studios, the creators of Age of Empires, on a console? The odds against this are up there with Lily Allen turning out to be a man or global warming turning out to just be another crazy prank from the world's scientists. Tch, those zany scientists. So what is Halo Wars?
It's a real-time strategy game where you take control of the human UNSC forces as they battle the Covenant in the years before the first Halo. You aren't running the whole war though; you'll be confined to the Spirit of Fire, a UNSC battleship. Beyond that, the game is still up in the air, though many allies and enemies from the Halo games are confirmed, save the Flood and the Sentinels.
While the trailer may be pre-rendered, it's what the boys at Ensemble want to achieve - the sound and music are near to in-game, the models are in-game and it's based around the concepts that Ensemble and Bungie have agreed fit in with Halo history. Moreover, being set in the time before the Spartans were wiped out at Reach, it's fairly clear how the plot's going to end - it's just the getting there that's yet to be determined. We predict your army are going to be involved in the initial skirmishes against the Covenant at Harvest, before being drawn into the battle proper and escaping the glassing of Reach - that is, the surface of the planet is scoured with high-energy plasma, reducing it to a near-lifeless state.
It'll also be a standard RTS, despite the wonderful screenshots, meaning the control system will be key. But How Xbox 360-specific is it? "Halo Wars was created for the Xbox 360 from the ground up," says Ensemble, "which meant we didn't have to shoe-horn in artefacts from a Windows PC game. We were able to take all the best aspects of RTS games, make them work perfectly on the Xbox 360, and exclude the rest." And why Halo? "Warthogs are cool. Scorpions are cool. Controlling lots of Warthogs and Scorpions and sending them into battle is really, really cool." And a squadron of Spartans doesn't hurt either.
ECONOMIES OF SCALE
From this image it's obvious that the Covenant's other weapons will be making an appearance. The Scarab, a nigh on indestructible walking siege unit with an energy cannon, appeared in Halo 2. Expect to see massive human forces battling against the superior, numerically and technologically, Covenant forces. Confirmed for the human troopers are the Scorpion tank, the various Warthog jeeps, the Pelican dropship, the Longsword fighter, an energy beam turret and two other unidentified aircraft.
A LAST STAND
In this concept sketch, an enormous Covenant ship has landed on a planet's surface (the planet already having been reduced to a wasteland, perhaps from glassing). Human
Scorpion tanks are acting as artillery, bombarding an immense Covenant force consisting of Grunts backed up by smaller infantry, Ghosts and Hunters. Air support comes from Banshees, and there's a trio of heavy Scarabs advancing in the distance. Also confirmed are the cloakable Elites with their energy swords, as you can see in the picture.
A REACH TOO FAR
The Spartans of Omega squadron seems to be wearing Mark IV Mjolnir armour and are toting carbines. Halo lore has it that there were only 33 Spartans, the survivors of a genetic engineering and physical enhancement programme. The only time there were as many gathered together as in this picture, was at the fall of Reach, the UNSC's home base, in an almighty combined space and land battle. After the battle, Reach was partially glassed. What you see here is humanity's last stand.
A BAD HARVEST
The Halo backstory has the battles of the Covenant wars starting with the invasion and glassing of the distant human colony of Harvest. When a small exploratory fleet is sent out to the planet, they are defeated by a single Covenant battleship, demonstrating the Covenant's superior technology and starting the war that climaxes with Halo 3. We reckon Harvest is likely to be the start of the story, from the human side at least; Reach is likely to be the end. Whether the Covenant will be playable, isn't yet clear.
Who'd have thought that the next game in the Halo series would be a strategy game from Ensemble Studios, the creators of Age of Empires, on a console? The odds against this are up there with Lily Allen turning out to be a man or global warming turning out to just be another crazy prank from the world's scientists. Tch, those zany scientists. So what is Halo Wars?
It's a real-time strategy game where you take control of the human UNSC forces as they battle the Covenant in the years before the first Halo. You aren't running the whole war though; you'll be confined to the Spirit of Fire, a UNSC battleship. Beyond that, the game is still up in the air, though many allies and enemies from the Halo games are confirmed, save the Flood and the Sentinels.
While the trailer may be pre-rendered, it's what the boys at Ensemble want to achieve - the sound and music are near to in-game, the models are in-game and it's based around the concepts that Ensemble and Bungie have agreed fit in with Halo history. Moreover, being set in the time before the Spartans were wiped out at Reach, it's fairly clear how the plot's going to end - it's just the getting there that's yet to be determined. We predict your army are going to be involved in the initial skirmishes against the Covenant at Harvest, before being drawn into the battle proper and escaping the glassing of Reach - that is, the surface of the planet is scoured with high-energy plasma, reducing it to a near-lifeless state.
It'll also be a standard RTS, despite the wonderful screenshots, meaning the control system will be key. But How Xbox 360-specific is it? "Halo Wars was created for the Xbox 360 from the ground up," says Ensemble, "which meant we didn't have to shoe-horn in artefacts from a Windows PC game. We were able to take all the best aspects of RTS games, make them work perfectly on the Xbox 360, and exclude the rest." And why Halo? "Warthogs are cool. Scorpions are cool. Controlling lots of Warthogs and Scorpions and sending them into battle is really, really cool." And a squadron of Spartans doesn't hurt either.
 |
From this image it's obvious that the Covenant's other weapons will be making an appearance. The Scarab, a nigh on indestructible walking siege unit with an energy cannon, appeared in Halo 2. Expect to see massive human forces battling against the superior, numerically and technologically, Covenant forces. Confirmed for the human troopers are the Scorpion tank, the various Warthog jeeps, the Pelican dropship, the Longsword fighter, an energy beam turret and two other unidentified aircraft.
 |
In this concept sketch, an enormous Covenant ship has landed on a planet's surface (the planet already having been reduced to a wasteland, perhaps from glassing). Human
Scorpion tanks are acting as artillery, bombarding an immense Covenant force consisting of Grunts backed up by smaller infantry, Ghosts and Hunters. Air support comes from Banshees, and there's a trio of heavy Scarabs advancing in the distance. Also confirmed are the cloakable Elites with their energy swords, as you can see in the picture.
 |
The Spartans of Omega squadron seems to be wearing Mark IV Mjolnir armour and are toting carbines. Halo lore has it that there were only 33 Spartans, the survivors of a genetic engineering and physical enhancement programme. The only time there were as many gathered together as in this picture, was at the fall of Reach, the UNSC's home base, in an almighty combined space and land battle. After the battle, Reach was partially glassed. What you see here is humanity's last stand.
 |
The Halo backstory has the battles of the Covenant wars starting with the invasion and glassing of the distant human colony of Harvest. When a small exploratory fleet is sent out to the planet, they are defeated by a single Covenant battleship, demonstrating the Covenant's superior technology and starting the war that climaxes with Halo 3. We reckon Harvest is likely to be the start of the story, from the human side at least; Reach is likely to be the end. Whether the Covenant will be playable, isn't yet clear.
No comments:
Post a Comment