Halo to become an RTS

When Microsoft cancelled all work on Halogen, an RTS (real time strategy) game based on the Halo universe, people were thinking perhaps they were stopping it all to prevent the modding community from having something new to play around with. But it turns out that this is not the case at all and in fact Microsoft have already been working on something which Halogen was dangerously close to imitating. Yup, Halo is going to be an RTS.

Today at the X0 Conference in Barcelona, Microsoft announced that they had indeed employed Ensemble Studios, those masters of RTS who created the Age of Empires series, to work on producing an RTS game based on the Halo universe. The game will be called Halo Wars and will be an XBOX 360 exclusive, although no release date has been announced as of yet. Microsoft also showed a trailer (pre-rendered, based on concept art only and not powered by the game’s engine) and within moments of their announcement, the official Halo Wars site went live, answering questions and teasing gamers with hints of what may or may not be available in-game.

What we can tell you is that Halo Wars is set before the original Halo (Halo: Combat Evolved) began and gamers will be leading the Spartans in “all out war” against the Covenant. Ensemble, when asked if alien forces will be playable, remained tight-lipped but teasing, adopting a “wait and see” attitude.

For those more than a little sceptical about another console RTS, considering how crap they have been in the past, Ensemble are making some big promises. By building the game from the ground up exclusively to the XBOX 360, they intend to keep all the great bits of the RTS genre and none of the usual hiccups and drawbacks as has often been the experience. After all, Halo was originally meant to be an RTS game before it became an FPS (first person shooter) and Ensemble plan on making Halo Wars everything gamers expect from an RTS game.