Filed under: Halo Wars

Win early access to the Halo Wars demo

by Xav de Matos { 10 months ago }

On March 3, the final game from famed developer Ensemble Studios will make its way to retail. Halo Wars takes players from the first-person perspective to the real-time strategy realm and has quickly become one of the Xbox 360's most exciting releases of the early 2009 calendar. On February 5, a demo for Halo Wars will drop on the Xbox Live Marketplace but, why wait that long? Planet Xbox 360 and MLGPRO are giving away 10 codes each to get the demo on January 29. Each site has different methods of registering to win, so make sure to check them both out. Good luck to all the impatient gamers salivating at a chance to pick up the demo early.

[Contest: Planet Xbox 360]
[Contest: MLGPRO]

Gallery: Halo Wars (XBL Demo)

Halo Wars is gold, new behind the scenes documentary

by Richard Mitchell { 10 months ago }

click to enlarge

Microsoft announced today that the Spartan-fueled RTS Halo Wars has gone gold and will soon be winging its way to retailers the world over. The company also revealed new details regarding the upcoming demo, which will hit Xbox Live Marketplace on February 5. The demo is set to include the first two campaign missions of the game as well as one of the game's 14 multilayer maps, Chasms, which can be played against AI in Skirmish mode. In skirmish mode, players can play as either the human UNSC or alien Covenant. Don't worry about wrapping your head around the control scheme, as the demo will contain both a basic and advanced tutorial. Curiously, the press release does not mention if the demo will feature any kind of local or Xbox Live multiplayer, which is a disappointment.

Finally, Microsoft has released the first in a series of Halo Wars video documentaries. You can check out the video after the break, and don't forget to take a gander at some new screens in the gallery below.

Gallery: Halo Wars (XBL Demo)

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Halo Wars gets soundtracked for Feb 17th release

by Dustin Burg { 10 months ago }

The musical folks over at Sumthing Else just announced that the official Halo Wars Original Soundtrack will be available at retailers on February 17th. The 50 minute, two disc soundtrack will include 25 original tracks composed by Stephen Rippy and performed by the FILMharmonic Orchestra and Choir Prague. Also, the second bonus disc will come packed with a few Halo Wars trailers, a behind the scenes vid and 5.1 mixes from the original soundtrack. Complete track listing after the fold.

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New off-screen Halo Wars footage

by Richard Mitchell { 10 months ago }

GameTrailers has posted some new footage of Halo Wars from CES. Unfortunately, it's off-screen footage, and portions of the screen are cut off. Still, There's plenty of interesting things to see if you know where to look. For one, you can see the system that lets you cycle through each individual unit type when you've selected a large group of different units -- the player uses it at around 0:35 to select the Warthog and ram the enemy. Another prominent feature is the circle menu, which is used to queue up new units and research upgrades. And, of course, you get to see delicious carnage. Check out the video after the break.

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CES 09: Halo Wars releases March 3, demo available Feb. 5 [update]

by Xav de Matos { 10 months ago }

Update: Looks like a wire got crossed somewhere. We contacted Microsoft and the company confirmed that the official Halo Wars release date for the US, Canada, Mexico and South America is still March 3 as previously announced. The game will ship on February 25 in Japan and Asia and February 27 in Europe.

Just moments ago Microsoft's Robbie Bach announced a playable demo for Halo Wars will be available on February 5 over Xbox Live. According to Major Nelson, the upcoming real-time strategy game will release exclusively for the Xbox 360 on February 28. Previous reports had seen the final Ensemble Studios release slide into an early March time frame but it looks like the first 'T' rated game in the Halo universe is back to making a February shipping date, as originally promised.

Gallery: Halo Wars (11-17-2008)

Halo Wars achievements detailed

by Xav de Matos { 11 months ago }

No less than two Halo titles are hitting the shelves within the next year, beginning with Halo Wars. Set before the events of the first Halo game, Halo Wars throws fans of the franchise into the real-time strategy genre. The team at X360a.org have been tipped off to the achievements for the upcoming game and it includes the usual tasks. Achievements for the single and multiplayer modes are available, eye-rolling secret achievements (because those will stay secret!) and others for career totals in hopes the game will keep spinning in your Xbox 360 over time. The only thing that's missing is an achievement called, "Pour One Out" for Ensemble Studios who were informed in September that Microsoft would close the famed developer down. Yeah, that one still stings a little.

Ensemble's gift to you: Halo Wars units and structures revealed

by Richard Mitchell { 11 months ago }

Late last week, the crew at Ensemble left us a present and we didn't even notice it. The company unlocked every unit and structure in both the UNSC and Covenant field manuals for Halo Wars. If you're hankerin' for some Halo Wars, you might want to browse through each field manual. After all, the game is only a few months away, so you might as well start planning your strategies now.

One strange note, we're not seeing any Brute units for the Covenant. We know they're in there somewhere though. Upgrades from Elites perhaps?

Source - UNSC Field Manual
Source - Covenant Field Manual

Forget February, Halo Wars set for U.S. release on March 3rd

by Dustin Burg { 11 months ago }

Admittedly, Microsoft may have promised those of us in North America that we'd be getting Halo Wars sometime in February. But now, with the worsening economy, lower fuel costs and location of Mars in relation to Jupiter, the game will actually release to retail in the U.S. and Canada the first week March. Europe and everyone else on the globe are still set for a February Halo Wars release. Lucky monkeys.

Officially, Halo Wars will release to "the Americas" on March 3rd, to EMEA territories on February 27th, and to Japan and Asia on February 26th. Europe and Japan, you win this round.

Gamerscore Blog wants your Halo Wars questions

by Dustin Burg { 12 months ago }

Mr. Chris Paladino over at Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog is on the hunt for interesting questions to ask Ensemble Studios regarding their upcoming 360 Halo RTS, Halo Wars. So, he decided to turn to the Xbox community and is ever so humbly requesting that you submit your Halo Wars questions. Specifically, he wants questions from skeptical gamers who either don't think the traditionally PC focused RTS genre works on consoles or Halo fanboys who just aren't all that interested in Halo Wars.

Bunny hop on over to the Gamerscore Blog to submit your pressing Halo Wars questions and earn a gold star sticker* for your question submitting participation.

*Gold star stickers will not actually be awarded.

Halo MMO received green light approval before managment canceled

by Dustin Burg { 1 year ago }

After hearing about the canceled Halo MMO back in September and taking a look at some of the game's leaked assets, Shacknews questioned Ensemble Studios' Dave Pottinger about the project and why it died away.

"We had staffed up an almost-40 person team" says Pottinger, claiming that the Halo MMO "had actually been green-lit", but that new Microsoft management axed the game's development soon after. Pottinger also explained that their approach to the Halo MMO mirrored some of the familiar concepts in games like World of Warcraft, but stayed true to the Halo art style and overall action theme. But no, Microsoft says we cannot haz Halo MMO ... not yet.

Joystiq plays first three missions of Halo Wars

by Richard Mitchell { 1 year ago }

Joystiq recently got the chance to play through the first three levels of Halo Wars. The game is still good, which isn't too surprising given our impressions of the game from E3. It's worth noting though, that the player in question managed to figure out the majority of the "advanced" controls before actually starting the "advanced" tutorial, which is good news for anyone doubting that an RTS can work on a console. Head over to Joystiq for full impressions and a heap of new screens to boot. Now where's that demo, hmmm?

Gallery: Halo Wars (11-17-2008)

McFarlane unveils final Halo Wars figure sculpts

by Dustin Burg { 1 year ago }

Recently, McFarlane unveiled the final sculpts for the mini Halo Wars figures that they announced back in September and, with the unveil, announced the pricing will be between $9.99 and $11.99.

You can view all four sets of new Halo Wars mini-figures including the traditional UNSC troops along with blue and red variants as well as a set of purple Covenant. Seriously, how adorable is that purple Grunt? Each set includes three 2.5" figures with various weapons and will release to retail March 2009.

[Via HBO]

Halo Wars releases in Feb, LE comes with Mythic Map Pack

by Richard Mitchell { 1 year ago }

click to enlarge

Microsoft has announced that Halo Wars, the Halo-themed RTS from Ensemble Studios, will launch in February 2009. Furthermore, the company has announced that a limited edition version of the game will be released and detailed its contents. Retailing for $79.99, the limited edition of Halo Wars includes:

Three new Halo 3 (not Halo Wars) multiplayer maps. The maps include Assembly, Orbital, and Sandbox. You might recognize those maps as the upcoming Mythic Map Pack.
Halo Wars: Genesis -- A graphic novel by Phil Noto, Ensemble's own Graeme Devine and Halo novelist Eric Nylund. The novel details the first human conflict with the Covenant and "centers around the Spirit of Fire on a mission to discover why the Covenant are so interested in the world of Harvest."
The "Honor Guard" Wraith in-game vehicle
Six "Leader Cards." Trading cards, we're guessing, or something like them.
Spirit of Fire Patch. You know, the iron-on kind. Have fun explaining what it means to your non-gaming friends.

The press release also notes that those who pre-order at certain (unannounced) retailers will get a code to unlock a Warthog vehicle with flame decals.

While we're intrigued by the graphic novel, we have to admit the inclusion of the Mythic Map Pack is a pretty crafty move. The announcement says that those with the Halo Wars LE will be among "the first to experience the Mythic Map Pack," which implies that they can get their hands on the maps before they become available to the general public. We get the feeling that a lot of Halo players are suddenly very interested in RTS games.

Gallery: Halo Wars Limited Edition

Video: Halo Wars TGS video now in hi-res

by Richard Mitchell { 1 year ago }

Last month, Microsoft demoed the upcoming RTS Halo Wars at the Tokyo Game Show. The demonstration showed off many new units and abilities, including the Cryo Bomb ability and the massive Vulture unit. The demonstration also revealed the inclusion of the Flood (though the race is unplayable, sadly). Unfortunately, the demonstration was only available in shaky-cam form, complete with icky audio. Now Microsoft has released a high resolution version of the video, free of the graininess and tinny audio. Trust us, it's much more enjoyable than our attempt to recreate the video with Haloclix.

Downer: The Flood not playable in Halo Wars

by Richard Mitchell { 1 year ago }

So, Joystiq put up an article summing up its impressions of Halo Wars. Sure, there are a lot of gameplay details to glean from the article, and Ensemble Studios explains why there are vehicles in Halo Wars that aren't in any of the Halo games. There are lots of things you can learn in the article, but there is one glaring thing that stands out like Cliff Bleszinski in a rainbow clown wig: the Flood is not playable. Again, the Flood is not playable in Halo Wars.

It's a sad reality, and one we're not willing to accept. Already, we're contorting Ensemble's promise of future DLC to mean that maybe, just maybe the Flood will be added in the future. If not, well, there's always Halo Wars 2.