New Halo Wars gameplay trailer [Update]

by Ross Miller { Aug 27th 2007 at 1:24PM }

Was that thirty seconds of Halo Wars gameplay footage from July not enough to quench your thirst for wanton Spartan vs. Covenant destruction? A new, ten-minute gameplay trailer with narration is now available ~~in HD over Xbox Live.~~

The trailer goes over how the controls currently work, as well as show off some of more acute details of the game (spoiler: UNSC troops do push-ups). If you can't fire up your Xbox 360 (either because of circumstance or an irksome Red Ring), the new video is embedded above for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to check out our impressions of the game from this year's E3.

[Update: D'oh! Due to extenuating circumstances -- our Xbox 360s are sleeping with digital fishes -- we took the word of the press release that the Halo Wars trailer would be available on Xbox Live. You can still enjoy the video, in standard definition, via the embedded video above.]

Tags: bungie, ensemble, halo, halowars, microsoft, xblm, xboxlive

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

mr nimblewick @ Aug 27th 2007 1:38PM

I want to see a "halo wars: the homefront" game, where the wives of soldiers have to work in steel mills and children wander the neighborhood in search of tin.

Sky_Shark @ Aug 27th 2007 1:40PM

This game just looks sucky!

mike_p @ Aug 28th 2007 5:58AM

You don't know a good game from your own asshole.

Triforceowner @ Aug 27th 2007 1:42PM

There's no way I will be able to be any good at this game. I can't play RTS's well even when you give me a mouse, so I have no hope for myself in this thing. I don't think they did anything to fix unit selection. Maybe the double A hit will work.

GRANTED @ Aug 27th 2007 1:45PM

looks nice. i hope these controls end up working out--i miss playing RTS games, and if they can get it to work effectively on a console we may finally see some successful forays into console RTS.

and i like having a slick, light laptop way more than an obsolete-in-2-years gaming rig.

Jake @ Aug 27th 2007 1:55PM

Looks decent. I liked the C&C controls on 360. Not as good as mouse, but still totally playable once you memorize the different shortcuts and stuff.

Bungie usually makes good games, but I remain cautiously optimistic on this particular one.

Homer 918 @ Aug 27th 2007 4:03PM

Bungie is not developing this game, they are only providing reference material and providing suggestions to keep the game in the Halo universe. The game is actually being developed by Ensemble Studios.

mike_p @ Aug 28th 2007 6:03AM

... and Ensemble Studios have produced some classics on the PC. I think it's a safe bet that this game is going to be a winner given that RTS controls on a gamepad aren't nearly as impossible as everyone thought (though a mouse and keyboard owns all). C&C3 played pretty damn good.

Neebs @ Aug 27th 2007 1:55PM

Eh. I don't see any sort of success if this is just released on the Xbox. People don't buy consoles for RTS, and do you think the average Halo player will be interested in an RTS?

The paintbrush is creative, but there's no really micro and it looks like the game will just be a noob massfest.

Neebs @ Aug 27th 2007 1:59PM

Odd, my avatar didn't show and it gave me profile 0.

Word of the street. @ Aug 27th 2007 2:02PM

Well that was kind of disappointing.
The problem with this game is that well I guess you will only have 2 races to choose from the Humans or the Aliens (I forgot the name of the Halo Alien race).

The Alien units are strong that’s a plus but the humans count with every type of heavy machinery available to counter them, WTF?

Is like Ensemble studios tried to do a Halo Age of Empires but they ended with this Starcraft Rip-off and not a really good one, only 2 races phff I really hope the single player campaign is long.

Well maybe if it counts with a 2 local player split screen mode and Xlive connection I might play it. It has been a while since I don’t play Split screen, the Last game I played Split screen was Gears of War.

I cant Imagine the average Halo player really getting into this sort of game, I mean unless your troops count with a hidden option to Tea bag the defeated enemy troops or a really embarrassing scene appears in front of your opponent when you win I guess the Halo l33t players will pass, I guess that’s a good thing I don’t think anyone wants to hear a kid screaming in the mic “I pwned joo nd jor trups f4g” when playing a RTS.

Dash @ Aug 27th 2007 2:10PM

Bungie isn't going to let anyone mess with the Halo cannon. There are two major forces in the Halo universe: The Covenant, and the UNSC.

Oh, and if you think Halo players are bad go try and play some Counter Strike. :)

Word of the street. @ Aug 27th 2007 2:33PM

Well I hope the UNSC troop get some limits or is going to be a pain to play as the Covenant (Thanks for the tip).

I used to play Counter Strike and FEAR when my Connection was good and when I had a lot of time, Yeah it was bad at the beginning but when you get used and start to fight back it was a lot of gun, One guy that I pwned 21 times in a row though I was hacking, IT was so funny also In FEAR in the Campus map I was untouchable hehe.

My problem with halo is that my actual connection for gaming sucks, I’m getting lag all the time and since I’m almost new to the game fighting against better players than me, the lag and the lack of knowledge about the game is just awful and MS brilliant Idea of Voice chat only adds insult to the injury. Even as a host I get lag and with Halo players being B**ches to newbs is hard to concentrate or you fight with insults of your concentrate on how to pwn them.

Really I’m not that bad in Games like FEAR ,Counter Strike or The Darkness even Team fortress. I’m Mediocre in Gears of war but I can’t stand Halo. Many times I have to challenge Halo players to Counter Strike to shut their mouths.

I really Miss counter strike as well NWN I used to pwn so good in those games but It took too much of my time, I had to uninstall them 

a ham sandwich @ Aug 27th 2007 2:02PM

i dont see it on the xblm. somebody let me know when its up?

AlanRickman @ Aug 27th 2007 5:54PM

Its not on there, if it was, MajorNelson wouldve talked about it on his blog, and obviously he hasnt.

I think Miller is just misguided.

Slvrgun @ Aug 27th 2007 2:09PM

Hey

Neebs @ Aug 27th 2007 2:11PM

Sup?

xXFenixKnight13Xx @ Aug 27th 2007 2:25PM

Huh?

Helloimbob @ Aug 27th 2007 4:35PM

Hi!

Cache @ Aug 28th 2007 5:26AM

Yo!

FoxHoundADAM @ Aug 27th 2007 2:14PM

OK first off, there are 3 confimed races, Humans, Coenent, and Flood. Secondly the controls for LotR: BFME2 and C&C3 were both surringly good. Not as good for micro as a keyboard and mouse but they did well for what they had.

However, with Halo Wars being built for a console I can only imagine the controls as being better, and frankly from that video I'm very excited, and I don't even like Halo (I never owned eiter).

DeadPlasmaCell @ Aug 27th 2007 2:22PM

I wonder if they will integrate the new Chat-Pad into the game some how.. That could work really well.

WiNG @ Aug 27th 2007 2:31PM

Is it just me or should someone start making Wii RTS games, given the control is almost just like a mouse?

Word of the street. @ Aug 27th 2007 2:35PM

Please dont give them Ideas,I can see a Mario RTS in the works already.

Neebs @ Aug 27th 2007 2:46PM

It may be like a mouse, but there's no keyboard.

Patrick @ Aug 27th 2007 4:10PM

what is so great about a mouse keyboard, i dont feel anymore accurate on mouse then on controller and keyboard has to be the worst for games, its in no way ergonomic, even the ergonomic ones! the controller conforms to your hands and just feels great. Maybe its just me but i don't want to play where I work, same mentality behind dont shit where you eat.

Word of the street. @ Aug 27th 2007 2:34PM

Wha?

HB96st @ Aug 27th 2007 2:35PM

This will be the first RTS I cop... Sign me up.

Phillip @ Aug 27th 2007 2:42PM

Wish this was a PC game.

Word of the street. @ Aug 27th 2007 2:48PM

IT will be ported.

Phillip @ Aug 27th 2007 3:16PM

Sweet. You've made my day better.

Neebs @ Aug 27th 2007 5:22PM

Well here's Neebs to make it worse.

It probably will be ported, but it will bomb on Xbox and take 3 years with the same graphics and the developers won't even put in any hotkey support.

Right now, it's supposed to be 100% Xbox only.

Phillip @ Aug 27th 2007 6:08PM

Thanks.

Oh, and don't forget that it will run on DX7 but require Windows Super Ultimate 2010 Craptastic edition to run.

Einhanderkiller @ Aug 27th 2007 2:46PM

REAL-TIME DAMAGE, OH SHI-

shamgar @ Aug 27th 2007 2:49PM

I don't see what building the game for the 360 from the ground up has to do with anything. The only the difference between this and a PC RTS is the paintbrush, and perhaps less need to micromanage (direct units to fire at particular targets). Also am I the only one who thinks the narrator sounds REALLY bored? I don't expect him to be as excited as cortana (or whatever her name is) but he just doesn't sound very enthused.

kinshadow @ Aug 27th 2007 4:25PM

"Also am I the only one who thinks the narrator sounds REALLY bored?"

No, he's just British.

Cellien @ Aug 27th 2007 3:01PM

Looks cool to me.. probably be one of the first RTS games I've played in ages...

Sky Shark @ Aug 27th 2007 3:05PM

Looks good.

elmersglue @ Aug 27th 2007 3:26PM

The way i see it is this..... it's safe to assume that the majority of console owners don't play RTS games. But since it's a halo RTS, it will sell, and it seems like the approach theyre taking for this particular RTS is to make it as Halo "mission based" as possible. It's pretty much playing as the UNSC AI in the Halo games, and from what i can tell, they're taking a really streamlined and simple approach to make it accessible. My guess is that if you're a hardcore RTS fan, you're going to think this game sucks and if you're not a hardcore RTS fan, you'll probably enjoy it for the content and story line.

I mean think about it, people are so into the Halo universe, and thats one of the reasons why Halo action figures exist. Now just imagine being able to play around with your action figures in a videogame! (kinda like that).

Hannibal @ Aug 27th 2007 3:35PM

It definitely has potential. Now they need to make the units seem more powerful and a few more tweaks.

Brian @ Aug 27th 2007 3:41PM

The less like a standard RTS they make this, the better. I like the more intimate feel of that battle. I might get this. It'd be nice if they incorporated cover and flanking. Hide behind rocks and send a squad to flush the enemy out.

GoldenS1104 @ Aug 27th 2007 4:59PM

Looks like it's gunna be good. As long as the controls are good I'll probably get it. I like that paint brush thing he was talking about. I'm sure most Halo fans won't like this though. I can just see the ignorant Halo fans that know nothing about anything getting this game, putting it in, and being like, "WTF is this ****? I've gotta build my ****ing army before I can fight? This is the stupidest **** ever." Sigh... at least not all Halo fans are like that, but the majority are.