Tag Archives: halo wars

Halo 4 and its predecessors are now on sale as part of Microsoft’s Games on Demand sale.

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Halo Wars may not have been original, but it put a neat spin on Microsoft’s well-known franchise. For Ensemble Studios, it was never meant to be a Halo game. Founder Tony Goodman has spent time discussing the difficult situation faced by his team.

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343 Industries boss Frankie O’Connor has said that Ensemble RTS Halo Wars was a “huge success”, but insists work on a sequel has not begun.

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343 giveth, and 343 taketh away.

And then it changeth its mind and giveth again. Eth.

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Microsoft’s announced it’s to close the website for Halo Wars and wipe online player stats for the RTS.

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Amazon’s offering a third game free when you buy two Platinum Hits for Xbox 360, provided it’s an equal or lesser price then the two you’ve already picked.

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Microsoft’s announced it’s added Fable II and Halo Wars to the Classics catalogue for 360.

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Nelson’s confirmed that Halo Wars and Dead Rising are now available on Games on Demand for Xbox Live.

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Major Nelson’s apologised on behalf of Microsoft for Halo Wars’ leaderboards being completely reset on Wednesday, saying the gaffe was “human error”.

Sounds as though there’s no chance of the boards being restored: Nelson said the “unfortunate incident” has “resulted in the loss of all data” related to the strategy title’s online portion.

In a word, “whoops”. Bet the “human” involved feels awesome.

Due to a technical glitch on Xbox Live, the leaderboards for Halo Wars has been wiped clean.

All stats are now back to launch day status, and this includes all singleplayer, multiplayer and Trueskill leaderboards, as well as all matchmaking data.

According to a post on the official Halo Wars website, it’s unknown if the data can be restored. However, the Xbox Live team is investigating the cause, and will provide an update to the situation as soon as possible.

Robot Entertainment issued a statement apologizing for the mess and “any frustration players have experienced in having their statistics disappear from the Leaderboards.”

Grab the link for more.

The Major’s updated to reveal that the Halo Wars Historical Battle Map Pack is now available for download.

The blurb:

Expand your Halo Wars experience with the Historical Battle Map Pack Add-on. These four new maps highlight key turning points in the epic war between the UNSC and Covenant forces. The maps include: Blood River – battle a single opponent over a treacherous natural chokepoint; Barrens – engage your enemy in the midst of the Flood; Memorial Basin – two vs. two team play in one of the bloodiest battles in Halo history; and Glacial Ravine — three vs. three action as you fight to control a narrow corridor flanked by energy walls.

It’s 800 MS Points. Go get it.

Update: CVG‘s also got some screenshots. Head on over there and check them out.

A Halo Wars add-on called Historic Battles has been announced for July 21.

It will run you 800 MS Points ($10.00) and contains four new maps and four new Achievements.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Barrens (1v1 Map): Difficult terrain channels units into killing zones. The side that controls the Forerunner artifacts will have the advantage.
• Blood River (1v1 Map): Secure base locations on nearby cliffs overlook this naturally red-tinged river. The soldiers that fought over its two narrow crossings gave the river its name, which has since taken on a greater meaning.
• Glacial Ravine (3v3 Map): A snow-topped mountain range forms a natural barrier that cuts this region in half. Control of the two energy walls at the narrow central pass often determines the outcome of the battle, though clever use of the Sentinel Factories may play a role as well.
• Memorial Basin (2v2 Map): The high ground in the middle offers good cover for infantry, while the generally open terrain transforms organized battle plans into bloodbaths.

The four new Achievements worth a total of 100 points are:

• Tour Coming Through: Hot drop 50 squads to your Covenant Leader in a single game on Memorial Basin (30 points)
• Never Leave a Man Behind: Finish a game with 5000 net resources contributed to your teammates on Barrens (15 points)
• Drain Cleaner: Kill 20 enemy squads with a continuous Covenant Leader Power on Memorial Basin (30 points)
• Killjoy: Disrupt 5 active Leader Powers in a single game on Blood River (25 points)

Via The Major.

Robot Entertainment has released a list of fixes included in Title Update 3 for Halo Wars.

It is expected to arrive in just a few weeks, and here’s what you can expect:

Balance Changes

• UNSC Warthogs Gauss cannon damage against tanks and other heavily armored vehicles reduced by 25%
• UNSC Warthogs build time increased by 3 seconds to 25 seconds
• Anders research time bonus decreased to 25% from 50%. Her Research cost bonus remains unchanged at 50%
• Covenant and UNSC turrets have 5% increased health and 5% increased damage
• UNSC Elephants have a 20% more health
• Grenade damage type now has 25% additional damage against Warthogs and other medium armor ground vehicles.
• Recycle basic cost return fixed to be 50% for constructed buildings.
• Locked down bases when unlocked will now release units inside very quickly, which means that when under attack a player can now build a fighting force while locked down and then release them much more quickly than before.
• UNSC Leader powers disabled at the start of Reinforcement Matches
• Players no longer receive points for team killing.
• Self Destructing/Recycling buildings now gives points to opponents

Bug fixes are posted after the jump, courtesy of 1UP.

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Killzone 2 may have sold 58,000 units in the US during the month of April, but according to recent NPD numbers, Halo 3 may have outsold it.

A report from Gamasutra divulges that Halo 3 and Halo Wars sold somewhere between 57,000 and 74,000 units a piece.

While exact figures for each were lacking in the report, it’s seems likely that Halo 3 likely topped 58,000 units but then again it could easily have been Halo Wars.

More over on CVG.

The Halo Wars: Strategic Options Add-on Pack is now available on Xbox Live.

It contains the three new game modes:  Keepaway which is a capture the flag game; Tug of War sees who can field and maintain the strongest army; and Reinforcements allows you to adapt your tactics with waves of troops.

The add-on will run you 800 MS Points ($10).

More from The Major here.

Halo Wars gets a patch today – get all details from the official site.

Looks like general stuff to do with balance. Few bug fixes there, but nothing major.

Microsoft just confirmed a first Halo Wars add-on, titled Strategic Options.

It’s to release in the “coming weeks”. It’ll include the following:

• Keepaway Mode is the “Halo Wars” adaptation of Capture the Flag. Teams will battle it out to capture a free-roaming Forerunner Sentinel to score points before the other team. Capture three sentinels to claim victory.
• Tug of War Mode is all about having a stronger army than the opponent. Defeating enemies is essential, but success is determined by a combination of the army, buildings and resources left standing in the end.
• In Reinforcement Mode, all active battle units are provided in successive waves. Players must adapt their tactics and use the ever-changing set of units to outwit and outlast the enemy.

There’s new Achievements in there as well. Get the full lot after the break.

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A Halo Wars title update’s on the way, according to the game’s official site.

A release window wasn’t provided, but the post said players can expect fixes to some matchmaking bugs, and a few other minor bits.

Two things of note though: the Prophet of Regret’s speed on land will be reduced to match the other leaders, which will help balance the Prophet Rush.

Also, the Flaming Warthog and the Honor Guard Wraith will now be available in multiplayer battles against other players.

Hit the link for more.

Xbox games head Phil Spencer’s defended the firm’s decision to publish a Halo RTS, saying the decision wasn’t exploitative but rather a way of introducing new consumers to the franchise.

“With Halo Wars, we thought we had an interesting story, an interesting universe, and we were trying to find ways that we could expose that world to more people, maybe people who aren’t dual-thumb capable,” he told Edge.

“It’s not as if we’re doing something like Halo Kart. That doesn’t seem to move us forward with the IP.”

Spencer went on to say that Microsoft’s approach to developing the Halo IP is a measured one.

“For us, we don’t look at how we can somehow amortize the value that we have in Halo today over as many genres as we can,” he added.

“We think we’re at a point with Halo where the future of the franchise is actually bigger than its past achievements. We’re not really just looking at exploitation. We’re trying to see if there are certain ways that the IP matches with our platform goals, and also what the customer is looking for.”

Tons more through there.

Halo Wars has hit one million sales worldwide, making it the best selling strategy title for Xbox 360.

Released last month, the game has attracted over 2.6 million multiplayer matches via XBL – 118 years of combined time, apparently – with an average of 200,000 users logging in to play daily.

Press release after the jump.

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