Halo was originally designed as an RTS by Bungie many years ago. It then shifted development to a third-person shooter, and finally into the first-person Halo we know and love today. The bonus disc included with the collector’s edition of Halo 2 provided some insight into the RTS version of the game. Recently, Microsoft shutdown Halogen, an independently developed, Halo-based RTS mod. This led to speculation that a Halo RTS game was in development by Microsoft. At the end of today’s X06 keynote, these suspicions were confirmed.
Enter Halo Wars, a Halo-based RTS game being developed by Ensemble, the team responsible for the Age of Empires series. Halo Wars is headed to the Xbox 360. Various tidbits that have been pieced together suggest that members of the Bungie team are involved in the game’s development.
A pre-rendered trailer for the game was shown, displaying Warthogs racing across a desert, passing by a group of Scorpion tanks. The occupants and several on-foot soldiers looked very similar to the marines found in Halo and Halo 2–as did the Elite (and his sword) who was responsible for the ensuing death of two marines. A large Covenant force unveiled itself from behind an invisibility cloak, including multiple Banshees, followed up by a large group of Spartans.
So not only will Halo 3 be coming next year to Xbox 360, but now Halo Wars is in development, as is an unnamed series of Halo titles from Peter Jackson’s new studio, Wingnut Interactive. Is this overkill, or is Microsoft just finally getting around to turning Halo into their Mario?
