Halo franchise turns to RTS genre
Halo fans across the globe are waiting with baited breath to see if the legendary Halo universe will be as appealing under its real-time strategy cloak rather than under its customary first-person shooter veil.In a genre that’s more suited to PC, the developer has its work cut-out in creating a control scheme for Xbox 360 that makes the most of the game-pad yet still offers an authentic RTS experience.
Designed by Ensemble Studios and rumoured to be released in December 2008, Halo Wars will feature a totally new storyline that will bolster the ever growing Halo Universe. It has also been built from the ground up for Microsoft’s console and will combine some of the species and vehicles from previous Halo games with a number of brand new units, including UNSC vehicles called 'Vultures' and 'Cobras'.
What we do know about the control scheme suggests that moving these units around the world will be far simpler than it is currently in Ensemble’s PC-based Age of Empires series, making it more accessible to the action-thirsty console crowd.
“We were able to take all the best aspects of RTS games, make them work perfectly on the Xbox 360, and exclude the rest,” said Ensemble in a recent interview.
