Halo Wars

Looking for PROJECT: Halo Wars, the Halopedian project? Halo Wars is a strategy game based in the Halo universe.

Background
In "Halo Wars", players will command armies of familiar and new UNSC units in its initial encounters against the Covenant, an alien coalition threatening to obliterate mankind. "Halo Wars" will immerse gamers in an early period of the storied "Halo" universe, allowing them to experience events leading up to the first "Halo" title for Xbox.

With the guidance of Serina, a spirited artificial intelligence (AI) persona, gamers will direct legions of UNSC soldiers, Warthogs and Scorpions against Covenant Grunts, Elites, Ghosts and Scarabs, each group having its own strengths and uses in battle. Strategic-minded players who react well under pressure will emerge victorious.

Created from the ground up for the Xbox 360 console and Controller, "Halo Wars" is being developed by the veteran real-time strategy developer Ensemble Studios, the team responsible for the best-selling and critically acclaimed Age of Empires franchise on the PC. "Halo Wars" can be played online via Xbox LIVE and through the single-player campaign. Published by Microsoft Game Studios, "Halo Wars" is an exclusive title for the Xbox 360 video game system.

Plot
The game's story is told through pre-rendered cutscenes and in-game moments, as with the other Halo games. The game is set in 2531. The game 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, the first planet to be attacked by the Covenant.

It has been confirmed that the Master Chief will not be in the game, although some characters from the FPS games will make appearances.

Possible Elements
The following are elements that may appear within the game. These have been shown in concept art and pre-rendered trailers for Halo Wars.

UNSC

 * Infantry
 * SPARTAN Group Omega
 * UNSC Marines
 * Possibly a crewman as seen the concept art.
 * Weapons
 * Assault Rifle: wielded by SPARTAN Group Omega and UNSC ground forces.
 * Shotgun: Concept Art.
 * M6C Magnum Sidearm: wielded by SPARTAN Group Omega.
 * Sniper Rifle System 99C-S2 AM: Concept Art.
 * BR55HB SR Battle Rifle: Seen with some ground forces
 * M19 SSM Rocket Launcher: Seen with some ground forces
 * Vehicles
 * Warthog
 * Troop Transport Warthog
 * Scorpion Tank
 * D77H-TCI Pelican
 * Shortsword-class Bomber
 * Sparrowhawk
 * Albatross
 * Rhino (Different type of tank, possible artillery, weaker then the Scorpion according to the E3 07 demo)
 * Cougar (Armored Fighting Vehicle)
 * Wolverine (Missile Launching Half-Track seen in Gamespot update.)
 * Elephant
 * Buildings
 * UNSC Supply Pad
 * Missile silo
 * Command Center
 * Vehicle Depot
 * Armory
 * Aircraft Pad
 * Drill Grounds
 * Barracks


 * Other
 * MAC Cannon Bombardment : Can be used to call in a bombardment from space. Several MAC rounds batter an area, destroying both friend and foe within it.

Covenant

 * Infantry
 * Covenant Elite
 * Covenant Hunter
 * Covenant Grunt
 * Weapons
 * Fuel Rod Gun as seen wielded by an Elite in the E307 demo.
 * Energy Sword as seen wielded by an Elite in the trailer and Concept Art.
 * Needler seen wielded by Grunts.
 * Plasma Pistol as seen wielded by Grunts.
 * Plasma Rifle as seen wielded by an Elite in the trailer.
 * Vehicles
 * Banshee
 * Scarab
 * Ghost
 * Shadow
 * Wraith
 * Covenant Air Artillery
 * Spectre

Game Play Demo
At E3 2007, a gameplay demo of Halo Wars was shown. It is below, courtesy of YouTube.

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Trivia

 * Halo Wars may possibly have been first hinted at in the art book that came with the collector's edition of Age of Empires III. 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 IV (depicting a World War II or Vietnam War-era soldier) and Age of Empires V, depicting a distinctly science-fiction character design.
 * Halo Wars takes place before Halo: Combat Evolved, and so weapons available afterwards in the timeline (such as the Battle Rifle) are (theoretically) unavailable. (Although many aspects of Halo 2 may have existed before Halo: CE due to the lack of contact to UNSC forces.)
 * The Doritos snack food is holding a sweepstakes where the winner can get a voice role in the game.
 * It has been said that the UNSC's super weapon is a MAC strike from orbit. However, this is somewhat strange as, in theory, a MAC strike from orbit could create an explosion with the strength of a nuclear bomb or greater as the supersonic speed of the round, combined with gravity and its mass, would create massive forces on impact. A telegraph-pole-sized tungsten bar using only gravity and deployed from orbit has the same strength as a nuclear bomb. In fact, if a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon shot a 600-ton ferric-tungsten projectile with a depleted uranium core at 30km/s at a planet, it could penetrate the crust.
 * Another note about the MAC bombardment is that a UNSC ship can only fire one shot at a time, even so, it will take time (at least a minute) to build up the energy required. The demo displayed the bombardment of six MAC rounds fired within seconds of each other. In addition, the Pillar of Autumn had the abillity to fire three "shredder shots" in quick succession, on a single charge. It is also possible that the Spirit of Fire has multiple MAC cannons on it, but it is unknown whether or not the technology was available to it.
 * From a demo video on Xbox Live Marketplace, you can shoot the Grunt's methane tanks and the Grunt will explode.
 * It is possible to run over enemies with the Warthog, and likely other vehicles.

Internal

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

External

 * Official website
 * Halo Wars announcement
 * Trailer at youtube.com
 * Halo Wars Fansite
 * Official E3 07 gameplay trailer on youtube.com
 * Extended Halo Wars E3 montage