Hello. It’s 2013. That’s why the next Halo game runs on tablets, has microtransactions and touch controls. It’s a top-down dual-(virtual)-analogue shooter. It’s canon, nestling between Halo 3 and Halo 4.
It’s all combat chopped into short missions, replete with the mix of shooting, grenade-throwing, melee and equipment that’s been part of the franchise since Halo 3. Plus vehicles.
And you don’t have to use touch controls. Controller support is coming.
And you don’t have to play it on a phone or tablet, since it will also run on PC.
And you don’t have to use the microtransactions, since you can spend just $US7 on the game and grind your skills to get better instead of paying for an instant boost.
It’s just that…
…if you’re comfortable riding the currents of modern gaming
…if you’re the kind of person who says, “Hey, there have been six Halo first-person shooter games and I think the world could use a change of Halo genre,”
… if you’re a kid whose parents block you from Halo games that sport an increasingly-inappropriate M rating and would be excited about this new game because it is merely rated T (like Halo Wars!)
…well then there’s just one more thing for you to swallow: the game is coming to a phone you probably don’t have (Windows Phone) and an operating system PC gamers love to hate (Windows 8). UPDATE: Not all PC gamers hate Windows 8. Some say it runs games really well. OK… “the operating system some PC gamers love to hate.”
Look, I want to be excited about this, but until the people making the game say it’s coming to iOS and Android (they’re not saying one way or the other, sticking to just what they’ve announced), it’s kind of hard to be.
Official fact sheet:
Title: “Halo: Spartan Assault”
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Developer(s): 343 Industries and Vanguard Games
Format: Digital download available only for Windows 8 PCs, tablets and Windows Phone 8 devices
ESRB Rating: T for Teen
Price: $6.99 ERP1
Availability: July 2013
Product Overview: Available only for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, “Halo: Spartan Assault” is a new top-down action shooter that brings a “Halo” video game to touch-based devices for the first time in franchise history. Developed by 343 Industries in conjunction with Vanguard Games, “Halo: Spartan Assault” provides an accessible, pick-up-and-play experience for fans and newcomers alike.
Set between the events of “Halo 3” and “Halo 4,” “Halo: Spartan Assault” is a new chapter of the award-winning “Halo” universe that explores the first missions of the Spartan Ops program and dives deeper into the backstory of Human-Covenant wars. Play through the eyes of either Commander Sarah Palmer or Spartan Davis stationed aboard the UNSC Infinity as they fight never-before-seen battles against Covenant forces.
With rich storytelling, intuitive controls, and best-in-class action, audio and graphics, “Halo: Spartan Assault” brings the epic scale and action of the “Halo” universe to mobile devices through unrivalled action and intensity.
Features: Top features include the following:
- · Original “Halo” gameplay. An action-packed, single-player campaign spanning 25 missions in battles never before experienced in the Halo Universe, all played from a top-down camera view
- · New and immersive storyline. An original story set between the events of “Halo 3” and “Halo 4,” experience a new war with the Covenant, the first missions of the Spartan Ops program and the rise of Commander Sarah Palmer, all with best-in-class graphics and audio
- · Built for simplicity. A unique fusion of touch and consolelike controls for easy pick-up-and-play gaming, with the added flexibility of keyboard and mouse controls on Windows 8 PCs and tablets2
- · Integration with “Halo 4.” Earn experience points (XP), all-new Achievements, and unlock emblems for your “Halo 4” Spartan career, with additional integration features available after laun
- · Nonstop competitive fun. Compete against friends in Leaderboards or hone your skills against an onslaught of Weekly Challenges while collecting more than 40 in-game Achievements and Med
- · In-app purchases. Grind to earn upgrades or speed up your training by purchasing credits for boosts, unique weapons or armour abilitie
- · Only on Windows. Available only on Windows 8 PCs and tablets and Windows Phone 8 devices.
Comments
42 responses to “The Next Halo Game Is On Mobile And PC”
As a massive halo fanboy. This looks shit.
But i’ll play it anyway 😉
could of sworn they tried this sort of game of before…………. and it failed massively. Changing the system its on wont change anything.
Nope, that was Halo Wars, an RTS like Age of Empires. This is a top down twin stick shooter. Completely different except for the camera angle.
And Halo Wars was fantastic.
It was very underrated, I only remember having an issue with the camera always feeling too zoomed in. Brilliant cinematics too
IMHO the Halo RTS was great… If it wasn’t stuck on a console with no keyboard and mouse and limited unit capacity…
IMHO the only downfall of Halo Wars was the console only launch 🙁
Only on windows 8! I’m still running windows 7 and I believe a whole lot of other people are too. Massive money loss. I’m not gonna go out and buy Windows 8 just so I can play this game :/
100 million Windows 8 licenses sold, which translates to probably 60 million of those licenses actually in use. Then add another 20 million for the amount of Windows Phones, and then another half a million for Windows RT. So that’s 80.5 million potential customers. I think they’ll do fine.
EDIT – To put that in perspective, as of the 31st of March this year, 77.2 million Xbox 360s have been sold. http://au.gamespot.com/news/77-million-xbox-360s-sold-6407243 The number of Xbox 360s in use may be less though, what with RRODed consoles and upgrades from the fat 360 to the slim 360.
Mind you, I’d say the people that own Xboxes are more likely to buy Halo games than people that own Windows 8.
Is that actual licenses sold though, or does it include OEM system sales? Because a lot of people that buy Win 8 systems downgrade.
Got any concrete numbers to back that up? Anecdotal evidence just doesn’t cut it, especially when there are rather vocal parties involved.
http://www.zdnet.com/windows-8-continues-to-fail-7000016222/
Does that include business/commercial/enterprise sales, where people aren’t using the OS for gaming?
I’m not sure. I think it does. Hence why I said people that are on Xboxes are more likely to buy Halo games.
Haven’t most businesses only just upgraded to Windows 7 though? I’d imagine that not many of those Windows 8 licenses have gone to businesses.
You’ve got to look at it this way, if that does include enterprise (which I believe it does), thats at least fifty-percent of sales right there.
It will be available via the Windows 8 App Store, no way to release a Windows 7 version unless it gets re-done for that type of install…
I hate my Android phone. Despite having access to such “classic” games as “Strip a teen girl 3” and “Touch Boobs: Half Naked woman”, the amount of quality games pales in comparison to iOS. Though I think i feel worse for Windows 8 owners. Maybe this will give them at least something…
You’re not looking properly then. There are plenty of good original games on Android, not to mention all the emulators available (without using a custom ROM) that give you instant (free) access to hundreds of GBA, SNES, MD, PS games.
You’re right… I think I’ll just go play NOVA 3, GTA Vice City, GTA 3 and other such games on my android phone instead of Stripper girl…
Hey at least we can get uncensored stuff on our android phones unlike the apple ones huh? 🙂
lol, ok, i get the sarcasm…but just personally speaking, there are heaps of games on iOS that i’d prefer over what’s available on the android…i mean, yeah we get alot of the same big name ones but there are alot of smaller titles on ios that i’d like to get on my phone…
I’m guessing you’ve never truly checked out the android store. I’ve owned an iPhone, nothing wrong with the games on it but the main problem I have with both is the over abundance of freemium games. The android games I’ve got are stunning so far, Modern Combat series is major fun for instance.
limiting it two platforms (Windows 8, Windows phone) that aren’t very popular sounds like a strange risky idea
Halo on the go for $6.99 and on my Surface and Phone. Colour me happy. No brainer purchase for any halo or halo wars fan.
Anyone that knows me, knows of how much of a Halo Fanboy I am.
Im not going to go into the details of that and bore anybody. So feel free to continue reading.
I encourage 343 in their expansion of the Halo Universe. whether it be live action TV series, Board games, or in this case, a windows tablet/pc only game.
First off , congratulations. I think its great that 343 can step away from the first person shooter aspect and hear fans cry out for something more. I think this is it!
Sure its not the best looking Halo game, with the most amazing graphics. One thing is for sure though , and that is it will have an amazing story that will hook me, just as every previous Halo title has in the past.
Do I like that its going to have xp system that will link and increase my Halo 4 multiplayer ranking, sure. I think its a great idea, and fantastic that if I’m not in front of my XB360 that I can still rank up.
Am I worried that this is PC / Windows tablet / phones being a heavy Mac user? No not really. I think of it this way. If I want to play it , Ill find a way of playing it. Whether that be having Windows running via boot camp on my macbook pro, or taking the plunge and getting a Windows Tablet.
Good on you 343 .
May you continuing making more Halo games. I cant wait to play this when its released!
Note to self: When someone admits they are a huge fanboy of something, stop reading.
I have been VERY Happy with my surface RT, I would happily recommend the Win RT platform to anyone provided that they know this is a TABLET with MS Office, not a full blown win 8 OS.
I wouldn’t get an RT tablet. From what I’ve heard Atom tablets are faster, have the same battery life and are pretty much the same price.
I’d also hold off getting a tablet until the new models with the new intel processors are out, I think that’s around the end of this year? Unless you don’t mind your shiny new tablet being outdated in a few months, that is 😛
Thanks for recommendation @ricadam, Ill be sure to do some more research on it. Its nice to know that there are some people who can give constructive and positive comments in their reply.
@lambomann007 , my comment about constructive and positive feedback wasnt about you FYI.
Noted also about waiting for the new model as well 🙂 Ill be sure to keep my eyes peeled.
Oh, diddums
Gayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
we know you are……
………
This is exactly what Microsoft needs to do to help push Tablet and Windows Phone sales. Just as people bought Apple for iTunes and Apps (with great hardware) People will start to buy Windows Phones for Xbox games (Nokia already makes the outstanding hardware)
Windows 8 and Windows RT support 🙂 Great news,
Its the microtransactions that turned me off. Nothing else.
Requires Windows 8? Fuck off. This reeks of the old GFWL coercion approach. Or trying to coerce us into xbone sales by holding favourite franchises to ransom with platform exclusivity.
Novel idea: Make something that people want to buy for itself, rather than getting them to buy and put up with it because they have to in order to get other things they actually want.
And if there’s one market that is just gagging for more Halo, it’s PC gamers…
so its an isometric shooter? for $7 i think i’m sold
The game itself looks great, but microtransactions… really?
I think it looks good, I’ll probably pick it up. Anything Halo on the PC is a win.
Sad I don’t have a windows phone or Windows 8…
I don’t think many people have any of those.
I think its also worth noting that the W8 version wont have any controller support at launch, but will be patched in later… how do you make a dual joystick shooter and not have joystick support?… especially when the company publishes it also makes the official controller?
I also can’t stand games that use virtual touch joysticks. Any game that uses them is obviously on the wrong sort of device. This game seem way more suited to a download title on the 360 or Xbone… or the Vita? (not that that would EVER happen)