Halo Wars
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Halo Wars is a Real-time Strategy computer and video game. Collaboratively designed by Ensemble Studios and Bungie Studios, the game is set for release on the Xbox 360 [1] on Nov 1, 2007[2]. Announced during Microsoft's X06 media briefing on September 27, 2006, details of the game first appeared on 1UP.com.[3] A pre-rendered [4] trailer for the game was shown at X06. [5] The trailer can be downloaded from the official website or from the Xbox 360 Marketplace. Alternatively, it can be viewed at You Tube Trailer.
The Halo Wars official FAQ states that the game will take place prior to the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, allowing the player to control the crew of the ship UNSC Spirit of Fire in the first battles against the Covenant. Bungie Studios has reported that the game is already in playable form, stating that it is "going to be awesome".[6]
Halo Wars was first hinted at in the art book that came with the collector's edition of Age of Empires 3. The last page of the art book showed images from five different Age of Empires games, including the three titles that had already been released. Two images represented unreleased games, including a hypothetical Age of Empires 4 (depicting a World War 2 or Vietnam War-era soldier) and Age of Empires 5, depicting a distinctly science-fiction character design. This may have been intended to represent Master Chief from the Halo universe.
Confirmed Elements
The following are known elements within the game that have been shown in concept art and pre-rendered trailers for Halo Wars.
UNSC
- Infantry
- Vehicles
- Warthog
- Pelican
- Shortsword
- Unidentified UNSC dropship (possibly an Albatross)
Covenant
Trivia
- The sound in the trailer made first by the Elite is almost identical to the sound made by the Predator from the film Predator
- This is also coupled with the part where all the Elites appear from camouflage from thin air. This is a lot like a scene in Alien Vs. Predator where the Predators all appear from invisibility, which itself is much like a sceen from the film The Fog. This may fuel more of the rumors that the Elite were derived from the Predator, which has seemed to borrow the invisibility system, sounds, and their split jaw from it.
- The dropships that are seen landing have a strange resemblance to the landing pods in Starship Troopers.
- The Elites seen on the trailer do not appear to have energy shields.
- While the soldiers in the trailer use Battle Rifles, the BR55 rifles were not ready for field use until 2552. they may be previous versions of the BR55, or the MA5K/MA2B.
- One of the Spartans speaks in the trailer. His voice is not the same as the Master Chief's.
- The Elite in the middle of the 'Cannon Fodder' picture is holding dual plasma swords. That might be because you *MIGHT* be able to dual-wield swords in Halo 3, although Bungie denies this. Talk about it here.
- There appear to be mobile buildings that can lift off and land for the UNSC. This is similar to the Terran buildings in StarCraft.
See Also
Sources
External Links
Weapons
These are the weapons we know to be in the game:
- Frag Grenade
- Plasma Grenade
- Shield Grenade - Seen in "Starry Night" CGI Trailer for Halo 3
- Spike Grenade - A sticking grenade that shoots spikes.[1]
- MA5C Assault Rifle - A new version, the MA5C [2]
- Battle Rifle
- Carbine[3]- Confirmed in Weekly Update
- Gun Turret - Seen in High Ground screenshots
- Shotgun- Confirmed in Snowbound screenshot
- Sniper Rifle- Confirmed to be on High Ground, Snowbound, and Valhalla
- Spartan Laser - An anti-vehicle weapon.
- Spiker - A Brute weapon.
- Sub-Machine Gun- Confirmed in Snowbound screenshot
- Man Cannon - Capable of catapulting a player across the map
- Plasma Pistol- Confirmed in 1up's 3 weeks of Halo 3 coverage
- Needler- Confirmed in EGM
- Energy Sword- Confirmed in Weekly Update and in EGM
- Rocket Launcher- Confirmed in Weekly Update
- Particle Beam Rifle- Confirmed by Frankie on Bungie.net article
- M6D Pistol- Seen in "Starry Night" CGI Trailer for Halo 3
- Gravity Hammer - Seen in "Starry Night" CGI Trailer for Halo 3 (Carried by a Brute)
Vehicles
- Banshee[4]
- Brute Ghost[5]
- Ghost
- Pelican Dropship and Gunship
- Phantom
- Mongoose
- Warthog
- Wraith
- Gauss Warthog
Multiplayer Levels
Xbox Live Features:
According to bungie in EGM, Halo 3 will be taking XBL to the next level, if you create a gametype, you can advertise it, and if it gets good ratings it will become a matchmade game, and if you have the vision camera you will be able to video chat with your friends, and the ranking system will be based on actual military ranks, instead of numbers, the highest rank you can get is Master Chief, and now you can rank up in custom games.
Confirmed facts about Halo 3
Also in EGM, Peter Jackson announced that the Warthog will be an actual real life vehicle in the Halo movie, and he also said that there will be a Halo side story, Probably about the History of the Forerunners
- The combat AI is said to be in testing
- There will be an ingame video recorder that will allow the player to send and recieve machinima videos over Xbox Live.
- Bungie has confirmed via their Weekly Update at Bungie.net that multiplayer as well as singleplayer testing are currently in progress for the title, in varying stages of completion.
- The Bungie website also alluded to "a devastated and Covenant controlled Earth".
- During the Bungie Weekly update of 8-11 it mentions that the testing of the combat dialog for Marines, Elites, and Brutes was underway. So it can be inferred that Brutes will be in the game. Also it alluded to Ghosts and the dialog that would be said when one was hijacked.
- Bungie revealed that the game would have a new "materials system" so advanced that "you could see light reflect off the ground and onto his armor", which will be able to "[show] the difference between his armor and the Titanium undersuit". The site also includes that "It's so detailed that if you bring the camera close to the Master Chief's visor, you see everything in front of him reflected in it, right down to the ammo counter in his rifle" [1]. In addition, there would be new advanced texturing to reflect permanent, persistent damage.
- In the trailer, Master Chief's Mark VI armor is battle-worn and plasma-scored. Developer Marcus R. Lehto's response: "The Chief is shown as warrior who has seen horrific battle – and it shows. The Earth is dry, barren, ravaged by the Covenant."
- Bungie has confirmed the following basic plot points from what the teaser trailer revealed: Master Chief is back on a thoroughly conquered and Covenant controlled Earth. Cortana is still a prisoner of the Gravemind. Finally, the Covenant ships are hovering over an excavation site only a few miles from New Mombasa. [2]
- Bungie has also stated that the rising structure seen in the trailer should be familiar to fans of their previous games. It may be related to the Jjaro station in Marathon Infinity (an artifact used to contain a being within a sun), though this has not yet been corroborated by anyone with the game. Any assistance with verifying this would be appreciated.
- Bungie has confirmed crates in the game in one of their updates.
- The Master Chief from Halo and Halo 2 is confirmed to be the Spartan in the Halo 3 trailer. Bungie has yet to release any information on the whereabouts of other Spartan soldiers mentioned in the Halo novels.
- Halo 3 and the Halo Movie could come out at the same time, however "The two will not affect each other in terms of release dates." [3]
- Although Halo 3 was planned to end the Halo series, future Halo games haven't been entirely ruled out. On the Halo 3 FAQ from the official Bungie website it says, "Q: Is this the last ever Halo game? A: It is the conclusion to this story arc." Fans note that it is therefore possible that future games could be produced in the Halo universe, even if this particular story arc isn't continued. This was confirmed when Bungie released that the game Halo Wars will be released and is in creation.
- Multiplayer characters have their secondary weapons on their body, visible to other players.[6]
- Halo 3 will ship in 3 different versions:
- Normal version: includes game.
- Collector's Edition: includes game and extra DVD containing extra/bonus content.
- Legendary Edition: includes a replica of Master Chief's helmet, and 4 discs. Disk 1=game disc 2=extra bonus content disc 3=spin-off material(Red vs. Blue, etc...) disk 4=every cutscene from Halo 1, Halo 2, and Halo 3 in high-def.
- Bungie has confirmed a Halo 3 Beta test for the Xbox 360 in spring of 2007
- Bungie has confirmed that the "face" in the Halo 3 trailer was nothing more than reflections of clouds and Covenant ships.
- On November 15, Microsoft and Bungie announced a 60 second TV spot to air on Monday Night Football, December 4th on ESPN. And will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace shortly after.
- On the December 4th Bungie "Weekly Update", Frankie stated "His (Joe Staten) second favorite was a Grunt yelling, “Oh no! The Demon. No wait, he not have enough rivets on glove.”" which would imply that the Grunts (who follow the Elites) will not be helping the humans in Halo 3.
Release Date
The 07 release date for Halo 3 hasn't been set yet but there has been allot of speculation. Some people say that Bungie will release on the 7/7/07 because of Bungies obsession with the number 7. Other large companies like Best Buy and Gamespy are predicting the mid November mark. There have also been a number of websites that are counting down to the date of Halo 3s release. Halo 3 Count Downis a site that is counting down to the days, hours, minutes and seconds until Halo 3 is released. The only thing bungie will say so far about Halo 3s release date is "when its finished".
Sources
november 2nd
