Editing Halo Wars announcement trailer

{{Title|''Halo Wars'' announcement trailer}}
{{Status|RealWorld}}
{{Pageimage|HW X06Covenant.jpg}}
{{#widget:YouTube|id=uGQjPGZbhmo|width=300|right}}
{{Quote|If they want a war, we'll give 'em war.|Commander of [[Team Omega|SPARTAN Group Omega]]}}
The '''''Halo Wars'' announcement trailer''' was revealed on [[2006|September 27, 2006]] at the [[Microsoft]] X06 media briefing. It was the official media release to announce the development of ''[[Halo Wars]]''.{{Ref/Site|URL=http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/events/x06/halowarscomingtoxbox360.htm|Site=Xbox News|Page=Halo Wars Coming to Xbox 360|D=05|M=10|Y=2006}}{{Ref/Site|URL=http://halo.bungie.net/news/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=bungieatx06|Site=Bungie.net|Page=Bungie's X06 Announcements|D=14|M=10|Y=2014}}

The trailer is used as B-roll background footage on the [[main menu]] of the final game.

==Transcript==
[[File:HW X06Covenant.jpg|thumb|250px|The Covenant army emerges from the fog.]]
The [[trailer]] begins with an [[Ensemble Studios]] logo, before showing four [[M12 Warthog|Warthogs]] and two [[Scout Warthog|turretless Warthogs]] leaping over a rise in a snowy night landscape. The camera shifts to the two [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] in the lead Warthog, dressed in arctic uniforms.

*'''Passenger:''' "[[UNSC Spirit of Fire|''Spirit of Fire'']], this is [[Blue Six|Blue 6]]. We're joining [[Blue Five]] and are en route to the recon patrol's last known position. Six out."

''The Warthogs catch up to an outfit of five [[M808B Scorpion|M808B Scorpion]] tanks (Blue Five). The camera then pans ahead to two members of the recon patrol. The two seem to have re-established contact, as they radio in to Blue Six.''

*'''Recon:''' "Blue Six, Blue Six! We're under attack!"

''As they flee from an unidentified figure towards a waiting Warthog both Marines are promptly gunned down by [[plasma]] fire. The passenger gasps as he hears it over the radio. One recon Marine is shown to have survived and is attempting to crawl away. He then turns on his back and witnesses an [[Sangheili|Elite]] uncloaking and drawing an [[energy sword]]. The passenger listens intently as screams are heard over the radio.''

*'''Passenger:''' "What the?"

''It is revealed that the last remaining patrol member has been killed. The Elite picks the Marine up and inspects him, letting out an animalistic snarl. It then tosses the dead Marine aside. Additional Elites [[Active camouflage|uncloak]] behind him as eleven [[Oghal-pattern Banshee|Banshees]] rise into the air and charge forward. An all-out battle breaks out as several [[D20 Heron|Heron]] dropships land, accompanied by [[B-65 Shortsword|Shortswords]], Scorpions, and Warthogs. A group of Banshees is shown wreaking havoc upon the UNSC air forces, while several Marines taking cover behind an overturned Warthog gun down the leader of an Elite [[lance]] using what appear to be [[BR55 battle rifle|Battle Rifles]]. A Banshee strafes them, hitting one Marine and sending him flying into the camera.''
[[File:HW X06SpartanOmega.jpg|thumb|250px|Spartan Group Omega.]]
''The camera then cuts to an over-the-shoulder view of a Spartan. Several columns of smoke are seen rising from the destruction. The camera then flips and pans back revealing five Spartans standing in front of what appears to a platoon of Marines.''

*'''Spartan:''' "This is Spartan Group Omega. If they want war, we'll give 'em war!"

''Four Shortswords fly overhead.''

[[File:Halo Wars Logo Large.png|center|400px|link=Halo Wars]]

==Music==
The music begins with a restless violin section almost reminiscent of the music omnipresent the Matrix series. The music then shifts into a triumphant, driving drum beat that takes a distinctive minor turn when the recon team is gunned down. When the surviving recon soldier is stabbed with the energy sword, perhaps the most recognizable piece of music is heard: the Gregorian chant section of the original Halo theme song is reworked into a mournful section that depicts the hopelessness and despair of the fight against the [[Covenant]]. As the Elite tosses aside the body, the music takes a distinctive modal shift into what sounds almost Middle Eastern, but immediately shifts again into what sounds increasingly reminiscent of the beat-driven riffs of [[Martin O'Donnell]] of the Halo series, despite the fact that O'Donnell did not work on ''Halo Wars''. After a desperate violin arpeggio, drum beats accent the brave words of Omega Leader, and the trailer ends with a simplistic low note that seems to be inspired by the simple tones of the [[Halo 3 announcement trailer|announce trailer]] for ''[[Halo 3]]''.

==Production notes==
The trailer, as with the cutscenes in the final game, was produced by [[Blur Studio]].{{Ref/Site|URL=http://www.blur.com/halo.html|Site=Blur Studio|Page=Halo Wars|D=04|M=02|Y=2007}} It features the debuts of several new assets including the [[B-65 Shortsword|Shortsword]] bomber, [[D20 Heron|Heron]] dropship, an {{Pattern|Oghal|Banshee}} variant with more pronounced details and headlights, a winter weather [[UNSC Marine Corps Battle Dress Uniform|Marine uniform]], and the first visual (albeit non-canon) debut of the [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark IV|Mark IV MJOLNIR]] outside of the [[Halo novels|''Halo'' novels]]. Many of these assets went on to be heavily featured in other ''Halo'' media between 2006-[[2009]], with the Marines and Elite designs in particular being heavily featured throughout various episodes of ''[[Halo Legends]]''. As with many other animated features for ''Halo'', the Elites are not depicted using any kind of [[energy shielding]], something which would carry over into Blur's final cutscenes for ''Halo Wars'' alongside their contributions to ''[[Halo Wars 2]]'' and ''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]''.

In the short, the Marines' battle rifles are depicted as firing in fully-automatic rather than the three-round bursts featured in the ''Halo'' [[first-person shooter]] games. After the trailer's release, fan backlash to the supposed canonical inaccuracy of the weapon (which at the time had been described in ''[[Halo: First Strike]]'' as first entering service in late [[2552]]{{Ref/Novel|HFS|Chapter=14}}) being used in the [[Harvest campaign]] meant that it was removed from the final game.{{Ref/Site|URL=https://games.kikizo.com/features/halo-wars-ensemble-interview-p1.asp|Site=Kikizo|Page=Halo Wars: Ensemble Studios Interview|Quote=We put out an X06 trailer - at the end, we gave the Spartans battle rifles. And we got nailed to the wall by fans, because they didn't get battle rifles until 2552, and oh my goodness it's 2526 and what the hell are you doing! So the fans are very aware of the story and the canon, the IP, they are extremely aware of all the events and how the events played out.|Quotee=Graeme Devine|D=06|M=02|Y=2026}} Later ''Halo'' media including ''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'', ''[[Halo: Collateral Damage]]'', and the ''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition)]]'' have established the battle rifle (and its derivatives like the [[XBR55 battle rifle|XBR55 prototype]]) in use in the early war era.

==Gallery==
===Press images===
<gallery>
File:HW Announce Shortsword Concept.jpg
File:HW Announce Scarab Concept.jpg
File:HW Announce Army Concept.jpg
File:HW Announce UNSC Render.jpg
File:HW Announce Covenant Render.jpg
File:HW Announce Battle Render.jpg
</gallery>

===Miscellaneous===
<gallery>
File:Halo Wars - Mark IV.png|The model for the Mark IV armour used in the trailer.
File:Halo Wars - Elite.jpg|The model for the Elites in the trailer.
File:HaloWars-SangheiliRender.png|Extracted crop of the Elites.
File:Blue 5.jpg|Blue Six.
File:1206800790 Halowars.jpg|The Elite holding the dead Marine.
File:Halo Wars - snow marine.jpg|A closeup screenshot of the Marine winter uniform.
File:HW Trailer Battle.jpg|Marines battling in the snow.
</gallery>

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061221045249/http://halowars.com/trailer.html ''halowars.com'': Halo Wars Trailer]

{{Trailer/Game|HW}}

[[Category:Halo Wars trailers]]