Halo Wars

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Halo Wars is a Real-Time Strategy game that begins in 2531, during the Covenant eradication of the Outer Colonies in the Human-Covenant War. The game is being developed by Ensemble Studios, and is currently only set to be released for the Xbox 360, designed specially for console game play. It has raised concerns from fans of the Halo trilogy as it is not being made by Bungie but rather Ensemble Studios. This fear is effectively grounded as it has been stated by Bungie that Ensemble's track record with their Age of Empires series makes ES a better candidate for making Halo Wars a workable RTS.

Summary
In Halo Wars, players can command armies of familiar and new UNSC units in its first encounters against the Covenant, a coalition of alien races that threatens to eradicate all of mankind. "Halo Wars" will immerse gamers in an early period of the Halo universe, allowing them to experience events 20 years prior to Halo: Combat Evolved.

With the guidance of all the AI Serina, the player leads UNSC soldiers and vehicles against classic Covenant foes, such as Grunts, Elites, Ghosts, Banshees etc. Each group has its own strengths and abilities in battle. Strategic-minded players who react well under pressure will emerge victorious.

Halo Wars can be played online via Xbox LIVE and through the single-player or co-op campaign. Published by Microsoft Game Studios, "Halo Wars" is a title exclusive to the Xbox 360. Despite speculation of a version for the PC, Ensemble and Microsoft have repeatedly said that no such plans have been made or even considered for it. It has been confirmed that the Covenant will be a playable race only in skirmish.

Ensemble Studios began recording the music for the game in March, with Ensemble's Music and Sound Director Stephen Rippy flying to Prague for the orchestral and choral parts and Seattle for the piano and mixing. At this point in time, they are working on in-game units and how they interact with each other. Alpha testing has also begun, with testers having been reported as playing the game over Xbox Live.

The game was featured at this year's E3 event, held in July. It was shown on G4's E3 08 LIVE as a hands on demo.



Plot


"At this point in time, the Covenant is at its most evil. They are hell-bent on the destruction of humanity, on scouring us from the universe."

- Graeme Devine, Lead Writer, formerly Lead Developer.

The game's story is told through in-game cut scenes and in-game moments, as with the other Halo games. The game is set in 2531, it focuses around the Marine forces of the UNSC Spirit of Fire as they engage Covenant ground forces after the discovery of an ancient artifact during a journey to the planet Harvest, at which point has been partially glassed, the first planet to be attacked by the Covenant. The story will thus begin with the UNSC's early battles on Harvest, but will also feature another colony world, Arcadia, which holds "something of great interest to the Covenant." The planet is subsequently invaded by the Covenant, and the UNSC must evacuate the planet while engaging the invasion force. While no Halo Installations will be featured in the campaign, they are likely to be present as at least a few multiplayer maps. The majority of the campaign (15 missions in total) will take place in the polar/mountainous, parts of the jungle, and ruin regions of the world, allowing Ensemble Studios to "do some great stuff with mountains, snow, ice, forests and some Forerunner structures." In addition to striking into new territory, past events not just from the games will be expanded upon.

It has been confirmed that Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 will not be making an appearance in the game. There will be a group of SPARTANs that are called SPARTAN Group Omega. In contrast, the Spirit of Fire is set to be "full of new characters," such as the AI Serina and the Spirit of Fire 's commander, Cutter. At least some of these characters will go planet side to aid the player. It has also been confirmed that the single player campaign is purely from the UNSC's perspective. Co-op for campaign over Xbox Live has been announced too.

Early Plot
Originally the storyline was supposed to feature a Covenant mining asteroid that was located at a Forerunner ore refining mechanism, this concept tries to show the scale of the large Forerunner machinery in place, machines that are still operational (although now controlled by the Covenant). In the end the mining aspect of the story was removed from the game, for many clear and obvious reasons.

Possible Elements

 * It has been confirmed in the February Monthly Update that there will be no space battles in the game.


 * Halo Wars will incorporate the concept of "Socket Bases", in which only specific areas can be used to build specific buildings.


 * 'Supply runs' are set to be featured, allowing a regular rejuvenation of supply for the production of units as opposed to a resource gathering system.


 * Forerunner structures have been added into the game.


 * Ensemble has stated the camera angle and zoom can be adjusted so that the player can zoom in on one unit, while playing, and then see the whole battlefield.


 * Downloadable content has been planned for the game, ranging from new units and maps to potentially new campaign levels. . This could perhaps expand to new game campaigns.

"We have plans for extra units and extra maps, and then beyond that we’ll look at what else we can add further down the track, such as extra campaigns and so on. I think it’s definitely a good way of consistently breathing new life into the product via DLC."

- Graeme Devine


 * It may also feature a map editor, either shipping with the game, or as downloadable content from Xbox Live Marketplace.

"We actually talked quite a lot about that, we’ve got a very powerful map editor, so we’ve talked about whether we could release that with the game or via Xbox Live and allow people to make their own maps, and then work out a way for users to share the maps. I would love for that to be in the final product. Because I think user created content is just fantastic. I think it’s absolutely the future, because people love to tell their own stories, people love to make up their own little war campaigns, and there are a lot of people out there who are incredibly talented.”"

- Graeme Devine


 * It is stated so far that the currency featured in the game will be Energy and Resources. It is a strong certainty that large Vehicles such as the Covenant Scarab will be costly.


 * It is unknown whether or not the Covenant Drone race will be included for the Covenant.


 * It has been confirmed that there will be a "Scout Warthog", not to be confused with the troop or civilian models.


 * In multiplayer, certain vehicles and powers are only available for certain leaders. You have to choose from at the beginning of the match.

United Nations Space  Command

 * Infantry
 * SPARTAN Group Omega: SPARTAN-IIs are individual units who are superior to Marines. They can receive the ability to dual-wield weapons and can hijack enemy vehicles, so the player can control them. They can also be upgraded with Chainguns and AIs which can increase their speed, much like Cortana does for John in Halo: The Fall of Reach, and help them hijack vehicles faster. When a SPARTAN hijacks an enemy vehicle, their rank is added to the vehicle's rank and the captured vehicle's stats are increased. Only three Spartan's can be deployed at a time. It has been confirmed that their health will regenerate over time; Spartan's do not have shields, as they are outfitted with the MJOLNIR Mk. IV, although this should also mean that they couldn’t support AIs, a fact that has been apparently overlooked.
 * UNSC Marines: Marines are the basic infantry of the UNSC who have the special ability to throw grenades. They can be upgraded to include a Rocket Launcher. . They usually operate in teams of fives.
 * Flamethrower Marine: These are Marine specialists with heavier armour and flamethrowers which can be used to torch entire infantry units. They can be upgraded with Flash Bang Grenades, which stun enemies when hit, napalm ammunition that will most likely increase the damage they caused and oxide tanks, which also increase damage.
 * Machine Gun teams: These are Marines who carry about an AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun that can be deployed and fired.
 * Medic: This is a unit capable of healing injured infantry. These are gained when a infantry unit reaches a large size.


 * Weapons
 * M6D Personal Defense Weapon System (Magnum)
 * M19 SSM Rocket Launcher
 * M90 Close Assault Weapon System (Shotgun)
 * MA5B Individual Combat Weapon System (Assault Rifle)
 * SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle
 * NA4 Flamethrower
 * AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun
 * Weapon/Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle (Spartan Laser)
 * M7/Caseless Submachine Gun (SMG)
 * Vehicles
 * M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle: Can be up graded to carry a M41 LAAG or a M68 Gauss Cannon at a reduction of speed. Can jump gaps.
 * M808 Scorpion MBT: The M808 Scorpion is the basic human tank that can be upgraded to the 'grizzly' variant
 * Variant 1: The Scorpion mounts a much larger cannon
 * Variant 2: Same as above but the coaxial gun has been upgraded.
 * Grizzly variant : The upgrade of the Scorpion, it packs two cannons and a flamethrower.
 * Behemoth-class Troop Transport : The Elephant, as it is more commonly known, can carry squads into combat and can fulfil the role of a barracks out in the field, along with having the ability to upgrade to pack a cannon and a twin engine to upgrade speed. It is Captain Cutter's unique unit.
 * D77-TC Pelican Dropship: Pelicans can carry units into combat and provide fire support
 * Shortsword-class Bomber: Shortsword bombers operate low level bombing runs that can decimate enemy units
 * Hornet : The Hornet is a light gunship that can get extra passengers to provide support and fire on enemy ground and air targets.
 * Sparrowhawk: The Sparrowhawk is a tank busting aerodyne that provides heavy fire power in a air fight.
 * Rhino: The Rhino is a heavy unit that has a greater defense but lower attack than the Scorpion. (Unconfirmed in final game)
 * Wolverine: The Wolverine provides anti aircraft fire to shoot down enemy aircraft, like Banshees.
 * Cobra rocket artillery : The Cobra provides rocket artillery that can bust tanks open but can deploy to provide heavier fire at longer ranges.
 * Cyclops "mech" : The Cyclops is a re-appropriated support exoskeleton, usually used for construction and ammo carrying purposes that can crush enemies in close combat. It is a faction-specific unit.
 * Vulture: The vulture is a large gunship, rivaling the Pelican in size that can deliver heavy amounts of fire against both infantry and tanks
 * Albatross: The Albatross is used to ferry supplies from the Spirit of Fire to ground side facilities.
 * UNSC Heavy Dropship: The new dropship, larger than both the Pelican and Albatross, delivers extremely large objects to ground positions, such as portions of firebases.
 * Spirit Of Fire: The Spirit of Fire provides both direct and indirect support by sending down troops and buildings, sending bombers or directly firing one of its MAC guns on the surface.


 * Buildings
 * UNSC Firebase: Provides the basic base of the UNSC with optional 'add on' buildings that can increase its usefulness.
 * UNSC Reactor: The Reactor provides power for a UNSC base to run on.
 * UNSC Air Pad: This provides UNSC air units along with upgrades for them.
 * Missile silo
 * Vehicle Depot: A Vehicle depot provides heavier vehicles for the UNSC to use.
 * Field Armory: A Combination of Machine Shop and Laboratory that provides high tech upgrades for the UNSC.
 * Drill Grounds (unconfirmed)
 * UNSC Barracks: The barracks can provide a number of infantry types for combat.
 * UNSC Supply Pad: Supply is used to get supplies from the Spirit of Fire via Albatross dropships.
 * Base Turret: The Base Turret appears to be a light autocannon that provides heavy anti-infantry defense and light anti-vehicle defense.


 * Spirit of Fire
 * MAC Blast: Varying numbers of slugs can be used to cause varying levels of destruction, with each being individually aimed.
 * Carpet Bomb: A Shortsword bomber is called in, bombing a region on the battlefield.

Covenant



 * Infantry
 * Lance: Lances consist of a Sangheili Minor or Major, leading groups of smaller Unggoy. They have the secondary power to throw plasma grenades.
 * Ranger: Rangers possess the ability to go anywhere on the map and destroy enemy infantry.
 * Stealth Sangheili: Armed with dual energy swords and an Active Camo generator, they can tear apart UNSC infantry.
 * Honor Guard Elites Possibly leader specific units.
 * Lekgolo (Hunters): Hunters are heavily armoured and armed with Fuel Rod Guns, like they are in Halo: CE. They are excellent anti-tank infantry.
 * Kig-yar (Jackals): Jackals come in large lances of around ten or more and provide decent defence against marines armed with conventional weapons but little defence against grenades, explosives or vehicles. Can also be armed with Beam Rifles.
 * San 'Shyuum (Prophets): Prophets fight from their Gravity Thrones and can attack enemy infantry with their destructive plasma weapons.(Multi-player only)
 * Jiralhanae (Brutes): In battle the Brutes wield Brute Shots, which are devastating against infantry and effective against light vehicles. Due to their limited battlefield use prior to the events of Halo 2, they may be leader-specific units, and may be able to upgrade to cheftain.
 * Jiralhanae Minor.
 * Jiralhanae Major/Ultra.
 * Jiralhanae Chieftain.
 * Unggoy (Grunts): Armed with Plasma Pistols that can be upgraded to Needlers. They have an Elite sergeant in the group. They can have 1 member of the squad carry a Fuel Rod Gun. Same as Marines being able to have a Rocket Launcher.


 * Weapons
 * Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword (Energy Sword)
 * Type-2 Energy Weapon/Hammer (Gravity Hammer)
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol (Plasma Pistol)
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle (Plasma Rifle)
 * Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher (Needler)
 * Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon (Fuel Rod Gun)
 * Type-25 Grenade Launcher (Brute Shot)
 * Type-51 Carbine (Covenant Carbine)
 * Type-50 Sniper Rifle System (Beam Rifle)


 * Vehicles
 * Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft: The Banshee can attack infantry, tanks and other air vehicles due to its mixture of twin plasma cannon's and fuel rod.
 * Type-47 Ultra Heavy Assault Platform: The Scarab is a super-unit that can destroy ground /air vehicles, along with infantry with ease. The scarab is extremely resilient to fire but not MAC strikes.
 * Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle: The ghost is a light attack vehicle that excels against infantry but not other vehicles.
 * Type-25 Wraith: The wraith is the main battle tank of the Covenant and is armed with a plasma mortar and a plasma turret and can decimate enemy vehicles and infantry and can be upgraded with a shield. Its special ability is plasma burn.
 * Type-52 Wraith May not appear in the final game.
 * DX-class Dropship Spirit: The Spirit is the rival to the UNSC Albatross, capable of carrying both vehicles and infantry and giving them fire support.
 * Covenant Flyer: A Unnamed Covenant Flying vehicle, a potent vehicle against air vehicles
 * Covenant Carrier : Used by the Covenant to support ground operates and to glass the surface of a planet.


 * Buildings
 * Deployable Lookout Tower: Can be used to garrison units from either player (in co-op), increasing their combat capabilities.
 * Covenant Firebase: Provides the basic base of the Covenant with optional 'add on' buildings that can increase its usefulness.


 * Ship Support
 * Glassing: This appears to be used as a Covenant superweapon. The glassing ship can fire this from orbit to destroy ground positions and units. Can be upgraded for an even more devastating effect. This is named the "cleansing beam" in the most recent demo.

Neutral

 * Sentinels
 * Sentinel Shop: Produces Sentinels for the player, which controls it.
 * Forerunner Supply Elevator: Produces limitless supplies for the player who controls it.

Technology Advancement
The tech tree will be a different experience for both factions. When playing as the UNSC, the player advances by building reactors, upgrading buildings, and purchasing upgrades in a fairly standard, though streamlined, manner. The Covenant moves through the tech-tree in Ages rather than small steps.

Alpha Test
An Alpha test was done for Halo Wars, concluding during May, 2008. The test was open only to several thousand Microsoft employees, including Bungie Studios, in order to locate any bugs or glitches, and to test its performance over Xbox Live. It consisted of a brief "tutorial" and multi-player, and was "limited to a specific set of units." It is unknown how long the Alpha test was conducted, or when it began. The Alpha testing is now complete, as stated in the May Monthly update.

During the Alpha test, anti-air units were glitching so that their effectiveness was lessened, and Scorpion tanks and aircraft were extremely powerful. Aircraft strength was lessened to prevent players from sending in air-strikes against the enemy Command Center and crippling them too easily, ruining many a protocol player's chances of victory. This actually isn't an element of the game, but in fact a "balance issue".

Ambient Life
Although only in the conceptual stages at this point, ambient life forms will be encountered in the gameplay. They may be found on the battlefield, and might react to the actions of the player's forces (such as firing a weapon, flying around or near them, etc.). Examples include the Space Owl, the Harvest Whale, the Arctic Beast, Ice Hound and some sort of eel-snake creature that has yet to be named. The ambient life forms will be on the Multi-player Maps and they will be interactive. However, in a recent interview, some Thorn Beast were observed. The Thorn Beasts seen in the game, merely run away from units, not battles; if there is a bombing next to it, it will not flinch. However, since the game is still in development, this lack of a reaction may be changed in the near future for a more surreal gaming experience.

Multi-player
Just like Halo 2 & 3, Halo Wars will have the strong characteristic of online gaming. Halo Wars' live gaming characteristics include Direct voice communication & Online leader boards. There's no specific information regarding to the player ranking. As of now, multi-player is said to be up to 6 players at a time in a match. Two player online Co-op for the campaign story will also be in the game. It has also been stated that online games would be rather quick, estimated at around 20 minutes per game. All the vehicles change colour on multiplayer to match their team eg. Scorpions on the blue team are blue.

Multiplayer Maps

 * Sway


 * Each multiplayer map apparently takes place on a different "world", each with its own musical theme and playlist.


 * The Halo Rings won't be in the story, but will be included in future maps for multiplayer.

E3 2008 Trailer


Five Long Years is a Halo Wars cinematic preview released on the July 14th of 2008 depicting the five year long struggle to reclaim Harvest from the Covenant. The trailer can be downloaded from the Halo Wars official website or here. 300px

Cut Content
Two units, the UNSC Cougar and the Covenant Air Artillery, were under development early in the game, but were later cut, as the developers decided to focus on more recognizable Halo units. Other units, such as the Sparrowhawk and Rhino, may have been replaced by other units, such as the Vulture and Cobra respectively.

Trivia

 * It has been confirmed that Master Chief will not return. This is most likely because he was involved in different missions at the time the game takes place.
 * On April 1st, 2008, an "interview" with Graeme Devine revealed Forerunner would be a playable faction, including a "Rampancy" in the AI and the ability to build a Halo and fire it if the player decided to give up. Although some people took it for truth, it was easily shown to be an April Fools joke due to the article's source which linked to the Wikipedia article for the first of April and Ensemble's own remarks about the articles.
 * According to the E3 demo video, soldiers can shoot the Grunt's methane tanks and the Grunt will explode, much like in Halo 3.
 * It is possible to run over enemies with the Warthog, and it's likely the Scarab can step on other vehicles.
 * While there will be an economy mechanic, including one resource, for the game, it may play less of a role in the Campaign missions.
 * There will be a unit limit.
 * It has been confirmed that the Covenant will be a playable faction in skirmish and multi-player.
 * Halo: Combat Evolved was itself originally a real-time strategy game.
 * The Doritos snack food held a sweepstakes where the winner got a voice role in the game.
 * Each individual soldier will have his own separate reaction to background stimulation in what is an attempt by Ensemble to add a "human element" to the game.
 * In truth, Halo Wars didn't start as a Halo game at all. Six months were spent developing a control scheme for a viable RTS for the Xbox 360, which was later pitched to Microsoft, asking to use the Halo IP, to which Microsoft agreed.
 * It appears that "parking lots" of UNSC vehicles were set to be featured. This looks set to be dropped from the final version.
 * Orders can be given for troops to take cover and/or take shelter in buildings.
 * It is likely that Easter Eggs will be featured in a manner similar to the previous three Halo games.
 * During the introductory level in the E3 demonstration video, UNSC Marines can be seen doing push-ups behind the barracks, being drilled by a Drill Instructor.
 * The Halo Wars Alpha has begun testing on Xbox LIVE among internal testers on the map Sway.
 * The Bungie staff played in the Alpha Testing.
 * The D77-TC Pelican is the model used in Halo Wars, not the D77H-TCI which is only introduced during Halo 3
 * At this point in time, there are over 5,000 sound files for sound and voice in the game. Three more voice-over sessions set to be held over the summer will raise this number significantly.
 * The armour worn by the SPARTAN Group Omega closely resembles that of the early design model for Halo, while it was still new, in production and an RTS.
 * A cinematic called Five Long Years was released on 7/14/2008 and contains the first depiction of the Halo Wars Campaign.
 * According to halowars.com, Halo Wars will be released sometime during Spring 2009.
 * As seen in G4's hands-on coverage of Halo Wars on July 14th, Spartans can hijack enemy vehicles and Shortswords are used to deliver the UNSC carpet bombing ability.
 * Many new UNSC units were seen on G4's hands-on coverage of Halo Wars on July 14th.
 * In the E3 08: Five Long Years video the Pelicans seen airlifting marines have the Legendary symbol on their noses.
 * E3 '08 Halo Wars gameplay has proven the existence of Prophets and Honor Guard Elites in Halo Wars.
 * An image of E3 gameplay has also proven that Brutes will be in Halo Wars.
 * There is also a possibility that the Brutes will have Halo 3 Power Armor in Halo Wars. This would be correct seeing how this is the armour they wore into battle.
 * The Elites seen in the Halo Wars teaser have shoulder pads similar to those of the armour in Halo 3 despite the fact that Halo Wars is 20 years before Combat Evolved (in which the Elites wore pads similar to those of Assault class which is more compact).
 * The unknown variation of Wraith seen in certain Halo Wars screenshots may in fact be the downgraded Wraiths that were encountered in Halo: Combat Evolved.
 * The UNSC forces can order supplies for the ship Spirit of Fire while Covenant forces get supplies from Gravity Lifts
 * An article released by ShackNews states that Halo Wars is Ensemble's last game, and that they are laying off any personnel not essential to the game's completion.
 * A prototype of the Elephant will be in Halo Wars.

Internal

 * Circle Menu
 * Halo: Contact Harvest
 * Halo Wars Announcement Trailer
 * Halogen

External

 * Official website
 * Halo Wars announcement
 * Halo Wars Fansite
 * Halo Wars E3 Trailer
 * Extended Halo Wars E3 montage
 * Heavengames.com
 * Halo Wars Profile Page
 * "Halo Wars" GC 2008: Halo Wars Hands-on