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halo wars

e308

Halo Wars Is In Control

Halo plus real-time strategy plus gamepad controls may sound like a recipe for a franchise misfire, but Ensemble Studios has polished Halo Wars to the point of an immediately playable console title. While some may argue that, like first person shooters, RTS games should only be played on a mouse and keyboard, Ensemble has done an admirable job of nailing the controls. We got a chance to go hands-on with the game at E3 and came away surprisingly pleased. More »

halo wars

Halo Wars: Two New Clips


And the Microsoft media just keeps on coming. Latest are these two clips for Ensemble's Halo-based RTS, Halo Wars, which we hear is due in early 2009. Above, some pre-rendered stuff. Looks nice, but if you're after more of an idea of how it'll look while you're playing it, a gameplay vid's after the jump. More »

halo wars

New Halo Wars Screens, Unit Info

The Halo Wars team over at Ensemble have updated their site yesterday, adding some shots and info on two of the units set to feature in the game. One, the Warthog, I'll imagine you're somewhat familiar with. It's fast, it's iconic, it's cheap, you can upgrade it. The other, though, is the UNSC firebase, your base of operations if you're playing as the human forces. It builds, it powers, it slices, it dices. Concept art and in-game model shots of both below.


halo wars

Halo Wars Addict Meets Supplier

Halo Wars Addict got an interview with Graham Somers, Ensemble Studios' community manager. Naturally, this outreach is in his job description, and a blog titled "Halo Wars Addict" will probably deliver a positive piece. But it's still worth a look if you're interested in the real-time strategy version of the Halo universe, due out sometime this year, hopefully, or early next year.

Somers speaks at length about the pitfalls of RTS design, the responsibility the dev team feels in working with Bungie's existing Halo universe, and other things that make up a great RTS game experience. But he doesn't drop much in the way of confirmable news tidbits, just:

• Halo Wars and Ensemble Studios will have a presence at E3 this year. (We'll keep our eyes peeled).
• The game will ship "when it's ready," so, nothing specific on the date.
• No promises, but developers are aware of Machinima enthusiasm and may ship Halo Wars with tools to assist in its creation.

Halo Wars Addict Exclusive Interview: Ensemble Studios


gamepro

Halo Wars Gets Two-Player Co-op

The latest issue of GamePro magazine features cover story treatment on Ensemble Studios real-time strategy take on the Halo universe, Halo Wars. According to the mag, by way of TeamXbox, the Xbox 360 game will feature multiplayer for up to six via LIVE, with a two-player co-op campaign to keep things interesting. If you want more info beyond that, you'll have to seek out the July issue of GamePro for more.

In the meantime, the online arm of the publication has released four new Halo Wars screen shots—four obscenely watermarked and painfully blurry screen shots with a very odd perspective, but four screen shots nonetheless.

Halo Wars Screenshots [GamePro]


halo wars

Oh, New Halo Wars Info!

Courtesy of this month's GamePro, which is as you read this working its way to subscriber's mailboxes. While the cover feature promises news on all future Halo titles, it only dishes out hard information (and gorgeous new screens) on Halo Wars. But that's OK. We'll take it. Because a console RTS is a new experience for Ensemble, they've stripped back their traditional playstyle in favour of something a little more Halo-esque. Which means only one economic unit - "supplies" - and fast, fast, fast battles, with the team promising you can be fighting "within ten seconds" of hitting the battlefield. Also revealed is at least a partial list of the units that'll be available. More »

halo wars

New Screenshots: Halo Wars and Mafia II

Gamercenteronline begged and pleaded and got its hands on three screens for Halo Wars, the real-time strategy prequel still under a TBA release date for this year. One looks like a close crop of a Sparrowhawk that we've done before. Not sure what exactly is going on in the other two. More »

halo wars

Spring Can't Come Soon Enough

You can't act offended if you already laughed.

My Master Chief Snowman [Hawty Mc Bloggy]


rumor smashed

Dreams Of Halo Wars PC, Shot Down, Trampled, Exploded

Yesterday we posted the rumor that Halo Wars might be coming to PC and offer cross-platform multiplayer with 360 players. We figured that given Ensemble Studios' PC heritage and the mouse/keyboard RTS experience drawing in computer gamers, maybe the rumor had some merit. We've since talked to Microsoft, and here is their "Dear John" letter response to the rumor.
Halo Wars" is being developed from the bottom up for the Xbox 360 and its control scheme to ensure that we deliver a groundbreaking console RTS experience. Given that, we have no plans to develop "Halo Wars" for Windows Vista at this time.
Sorry PC readers. But it probably would have been like 2 years late anyway.

rumor

Halo Wars To Offer Cross-Platform Multiplayer?

Juicy rumor of the moment: According to CVG, Ensemble Studios' RTS Halo Wars may support cross-platform multiplayer. Why is this rumor filled with so much sweet nectar? The game hasn't even been announced for PC yet. Apparently that tidbit may come during GDC next month.

And given Ensemble's rich history in the PC world along with the fact that many RTS fans will not touch the game without a proper keyboard and mouse, we wouldn't call any of this potential future all that crazy. Well, just maybe the part that we're supposed to care that a game offers PC/Xbox 360 cross-platform gaming. With all the LIVE users out there, such only seems like a benefit if the infrastructure supported lesser-played titles...which as of yet, it does not.

Is Halo Wars going cross-platform?
[CVG]


ta da!

Halo Wars = "Magic in Disc"

We don't generally turn to developers for our game reviews, but if we trust Ensemble Studios' Graeme Devine, lead designer on Halo Wars, then the game is gonna be pretty good. How good?
I think we've got magic in the disc.
Err...could you be more specific? Do you mean like, rabbit out of hat level magic, or being trapped in a case of water for a week only to fail your trick magic? More »

e307

Eyes On Halo Wars

The Halo series has always focused on one man's role in turning the tide of a conflict. There've been plenty of bit players who've come and gone, but it's always been about Master Chief. Halo Wars pans out from that battered green suit of armor to focus on the conflict as a whole. I got to sit in with Producer Chris Rippy and Lead Designer Graeme Devine from Ensemble Studios earlier today to take a look at the first real demo for the Halo-flavored RTS.

Halo Wars takes place before the events of the first Halo title, during the 27 year war that followed the UNSC's first contact with the Covenant, which for the uninitiated did not go well. The player takes control of the resources and crew of the UNSC ship Spirit of Fire as she participates in the first battles against the aliens.

More »

tease

A Taste of a Halo Wars Battle

Halo Wars moderator Thunder updated the official Halo Wars forums with a bit of news and a taste of what battles in the Halo-themed RTS will be like when it releases. The ever-so-slight news is that the July 6 monthly update will have some more game details and that July will also see the relaunching of the Halo Wars website which will include a new look and "something cool going on the side as well." Hit the jump for Thunder's description of his Halo Wars match against programmer Rob Fermier. More »

dont feel like gaming

Scissor Sisters Pwning Halo 3 Beta Noobs

If gaming with NSFW naked ladies is not your thing, then how about gaming with glam rock disco inspired pop stars? Jake Shears and Babydaddy from the Scissor Sisters will shoot up the Halo 3 Beta on May 30, 2007 at 11:00 BST from their hotel in France. And they're doing this right before a concert that same night. The Scissor Sisters and Halo go way back — To February, actually! The band helped launched Xbox Soundtracks with a remixed version of She's My Man for the Halo Wars trailer. Press release after the j-u-m-p. More »

big in japan

Age of Empires Goes To Asia, Wacky RTS Misadventures Ensue

Microsoft announced today that the hugely popular Age of Empires III is getting the expansion treatment, again, with the fall release of Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. In development at Rise of Nations developer Big Huge Games—as the AoE III team at Ensemble Studios slaves away on Halo Wars—the expansion will provide "new gameplay elements" and a chance to experience unspecified Asian civilizations. More »

halo wars

Halo Wars to Support Ladder Seasons?

In a brief update over on the official Halo Wars forums, Ensemble Studios lead designer for Halo Wars mentions something about "seasons" when talking about the game. More »

halo

EGM Hints At New Halo Halo Spin-off

The latest Electronic Gaming Monthly unceremoniously plopped into my mailbox last night, containing a fresh batch of rumors with it. Most pressworthy? I wish it were the Samba de Amigo for Wii tease, but a totally new Halo game is probably juicier. Yes, another Halo-themed game. According to EGM's Quartermann, Microsoft is going to the cash squirting udder one more time for an unannounced title. More »

microsoft

Microsoft Teases Two Days Of Exclusives

Channel 10, the Microsoft owned and operated blog about all things Microsoft, is teasing its readers with two exclusive midnight unveilings. One hits tonight, the other tommorrow. More »