Halo Wars

Looking for PROJECT: Halo Wars, the Halopedian project? Halo Wars is a yet-to-be-released Real-Time Strategy game that begins in 2531 during the Covenant eradication of the Outer Colonies in the Human-Covenant War. This game is currently only for the Xbox 360, as there are currently no plans for a PC release. The game, accordng to Gamestop.com, is rumored to be released on October 1st, 2008, although this has not been confirmed or denied by Ensemble Studios.

Background
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 twenty years prior to Halo: Combat Evolved.

With the guidance of AI Serina, the player leads UNSC soldiers and vehicles 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.

Halo Wars can be played online via Xbox LIVE and through the single-player campaign. Published by Microsoft Game Studios, "Halo Wars" is a title exclusive to the 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.

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 is expected to be seen at this year's E3 event, held in July.



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 Designer.

The game's story is told through in-game cutscenes 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, the first planet to be attacked by the Covenant.

The majority of the campaign (15 missions in total). will take place in the polar/mountainous and 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."

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.

The story will 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.

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 is still operational (although now controlled by the Covenant). In the end the mining aspect of the story was removed from the game, for obvious reasons.

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.


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


 * Halo Wars may incorporate the concept of "Socket Bases," in which only specific areas can be used to build specific buildings. In other words, drawing pictures with buildings could prove to be highly difficult.


 * '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. Ensemble, as well as some other RTS developers, seems to be intent on removing the economy based decision making and necessity for worker micro that made Starcraft and Warcraft 3, the top two eSport RTS games in the world, so popular.


 * Each multi player map apparently takes place on a different "world", each with its own musical theme and playlist. Currently, the only known multi player map is Sway.


 * 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". Looking at the track record of the Halo series, expect to see many similar "balance issues" in the final release.


 * 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.

"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 downloadable 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

United Nations Space  Command
.
 * Infantry
 * SPARTAN Group Omega
 * Cyclops "mech"
 * UNSC Marines
 * Flamethrower Marine.
 * Weapons
 * BR55 Battle Rifle
 * M6D Personal Defense Weapon System
 * M19 SSM Rocket Launcher
 * M90A Close Assault Weapon System
 * MA5B Individual Combat Weapon System
 * SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle
 * M7057 Defoliant Projector


 * Vehicles
 * M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle
 * M808 Scorpion MBT
 * Grizzly variant
 * Behemoth-class Troop Transport
 * D77-TC Pelican Dropship
 * Shortsword-class Bomber
 * Hornet
 * Sparrowhawk
 * Rhino
 * Wolverine
 * Cobra rocket artillery
 * Vulture
 * Spirit Of Fire


 * Buildings
 * UNSC Supply Pad
 * Missile silo
 * Command Center
 * Vehicle Depot
 * Armory
 * Aircraft Pad
 * Drill Grounds
 * Barracks
 * Firebase


 * Other
 * MAC Cannon Bombardment : Can be used to call in a bombardment from the Spirit of Fire . Several MAC rounds batter an area, destroying both friend and foe within it, as shown in the E3 2007 Demo when a Scarab was destroyed.

Covenant



 * Infantry
 * Sangheili  (Elites)
 * Minor
 * Major
 * Ranger
 * Zealot
 * Unggoy (Grunts)
 * Mgalekgolo (Hunters)
 * Kig-yar (Jackals)
 * Weapons
 * Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle
 * Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher
 * Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon


 * Vehicles
 * Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft
 * Type-47 Ultra Heavy Assault Platform
 * Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle
 * Type-25 Wraith
 * Unknown Wraith.
 * DX-class Dropship Spirit
 * Deployable Lookout Tower

Neutral

 * Sentinels
 * Anti-Vehicle Sentinels

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 test is over now. Stated in the May Monthly update.

Ambient Life
Although only in the conceptual stages at this point, ambient lifeforms may and 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.

Multiplayer
Such as 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.

Multi player Maps

 * Sway


 * It was also said that while the Halo Rings may not be in the story, they may be maps for multi player.

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.

Trivia

 * On April 1st, 2008, an "interview" with Graeme Devine implied that the Forerunner as a race would be playable, 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. This does not work in any of the Halo games, nor will it work in this game. At least in Warcraft 3, you had a chance of finding that inferno stone from the red creeps as well.
 * It is possible to run over enemies with the Warthog, and likely the scarab can step on other vehicles.
 * While there will be an economy mechanic 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, at least in 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. Halo fans, you'd better hope this is a joke, or winning battles with micro skill will be essentially unheard of.
 * 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 feature 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 5000 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 Alpha Testing has now ended, stated in the May monthly update on www.Halowars.com
 * More Information on the game was released in the July issue of Gamepro Magazine.
 * According to the July issue of Gamepro Magazine--"Ensemble isn't ready to confirm a Halo Wars release date yet, but expects that it will arrive in the second half of 2008."
 * There will be no space battles through the course of the game.
 * Beta testing will start within 2008.
 * The armor 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.

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