Finishing Halo Wars must have been bittersweet for Ensemble Studios. On one hand, they’ve created a fine addition to the Halo franchise, but on the other hand, it was their final project and they had the pressure of turning a shooter into an RTS for a console. It could have ended up brilliant or absolutely horrendous. But you need only look at their pedigree and know that the franchise was in good hands.
What started out as an indie developer over a decade ago, eventually manifested itself into a juggernaut within Microsoft, but was ultimately disbanded upon completion of this Halo project. They were the ones behind Age of Empires and the studio that built the Genie Game Engine, which was used in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. So the question on everyone’s mind has been whether or not Ensemble could turn a console shooter into an RTS. And the answer is unequivocally, yes. And I don’t even like RTS games.
Just a quick note that the Halo Wars demo is now on Xbox Live. Remember, if you’re at work or whatever, you can queue the download on Xbox.com, and as soon as you turn on your 360 it’ll start downloading. The future!
Looks like there’s a “best of” Halo Xbox 360 bundle on the way, which coincides with the upcoming Halo Wars. Too bad that it looks to be Europe-only. (It was first found on a Swedish Web site.) That’s how it looks right now, that is.
Yes, Microsoft will release Halo Wars here in North America on March 3. Great, right? Sure. But that demo that will be released on Xbox Live on February 5, well, if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to play it a few days early. You can thank the good folks at Major League Gaming.
So Halo Wars, which comes out in North America on March 3, has gone gold. (Unless, of course, Microsoft is lying to us.) That means, for the non-nerds in the house, that the game is all done and Microsoft is busying pressing copy after copy in some plant somewhere.
Microsoft just announced at CES that Halo Wars, the RTS that’s bound to confuse more than a few longtime Halo fans—it’s not a shooter?!—will be released on February 28. A demo will be on Xbox Live on February 5. That is all.
Halo Wars will have a different approach on gameplay, according to Amazon. For example, 28 fun-filled, adventurous mini-games.
Didn’t Microsoft announce a February launch for Halo Wars two months ago? They did, but for some reason they’ve retracted that initial launch date with a new press release this morning. The RTS from Ensemble is set for a March 3 launch in NA and SA. Asia will get it February 26 with Europe to follow the next day. Pricing remains the same at $60 for the standard edition and the LCE being $80.
Who cares about Halo when you have Gears to play? And it’s an RTS! Double snore. Heh.
Today, Ensemble and Microsoft Game Studios announced that Halo Wars will launch in February with a regular retail and Limited Collector’s Edition version for $60 and $80, respectively. This announcement fails to note that Ensemble will dissolve after Halo wars launches. It’s sad, really.
The LCE will include: Read More
We begin this chilly Monday morning with a video game trailer. Currently scheduled for release in the first half of next year, Halo Wars is sure to confuse at least some fans of the series. The real-time strategy game has almost nothing to do with series developer Bungie—those guys are only involved in making sure the game “feels” like Halo.
Yet if Ensemble pulls it off, Halo Wars would be the first half-decent console RTS.
Favorite line: “I care not for your little life!” Poetry!
Isn’t this a kick in the pants? Shacknews is reporting that Ensemble Studios will cease to exist once the RTS based on the Halo franchise is finished. Moreover, employees not working on Halo Wars were let go today while incentives were offered for those on the project to stay on until completion. The RTS is due to come out in the first half of 2009.
Update: Microsoft has just confirmed that Ensemble will be closed after Halo Wars is launched, but fear not for some of Ensemble folks will form another development studio shortly after.
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So begins the Halo Wars hype.
McFarlane toys will produce a line of action figures based on the upcoming Halo Wars video games, a game that will either introduce real-time strategy games to the masses or fall flat. (That’s just my opinion.) The figures are scheduled for release next sprint, and will retail for around $10.
At right, one of McFarlane’s Halo 3 action figures.
Check out other Halo Wars coverage here.
Image courtesy of the Gamerscoreblog.
One more after the jump.
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While I would normally post every single picture from the Gamepro gallery, I refuse to do so for this because there are 54 images and I just don’t have the time. So, I’ve picked six at random, but you can always check out the rest at your leisure. Check out our previous coverage of Halo Wars here.
New Halo Wars details for your Wednesday afternoon. The real-time strategy game, which should come out this fall for the Xbox 360, supports up to six simultaneous players when played on Xbox Live. Better still, there’s an online co-op mode, which is the “it” mode right now. You and your amigo can team up to face the Covenant in some sort of battle against common decency.
That’s about it as far as new info goes. The July issue of GamePro, presumably, will have new screen shots as well.
