Halo: Spartan Strike

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).

Characters and setting
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
Spartan Strike begins in 2557, with the '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 sent 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
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
{{Featurelist|secondcolumn=title-5
 * title-1=Characters|
 * John-117
 * Kwon {{1st}}
 * Roland
 * title-2=Species and entities|
 * Human
 * Kig-Yar
 * Sangheili
 * Unggoy
 * Yanme'e
 * Forerunner
 * Promethean
 * Promethean Knight
 * Promethean Crawler
 * Promethean Watcher
 * title-3=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
 * title-4=Locations|
 * Earth
 * Kenya
 * Mombasa
 * New Mombasa
 * Portal at Voi {{Mo}}
 * United Republic of North America
 * New Phoenix
 * Installation 00 {{Mo}}
 * Installation 03
 * Altar {{1st}}
 * title-5=Events|
 * Human-Covenant War
 * Battle of Earth
 * Battle of Mombasa
 * Post-Covenant War conflicts
 * title-6=Weapons|

UNSC

 * Usable
 * M41 Vulcan
 * M6H magnum
 * M7 SMG
 * M9 fragmentation grenade
 * MA5D assault rifle
 * Napalm grenade


 * Unusable
 * M7S SMG
 * MA5C assault rifle

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


 * title-7=Vehicles|
 * AV-14 Hornet
 * AV-22 Sparrowhawk
 * D77-TC Pelican
 * Genet
 * Kestrel
 * 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
 * Type-52 Anti-Aircraft Wraith


 * title-8=Technology and equipment|
 * Conduit
 * 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
 * Bubble shield
 * Proximity mine
 * M2705 regeneration field
 * Shock chain
 * 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.