Halo Wars to have online co-op, 6-player Xbox Live matches

by Ross Miller on Jun 9th 2008 5:00PM

Some new Halo Wars information has trickled out of the latest issue of GamePro, including news that the game will support Xbox Live multiplayer with up to six players as well as two-player online co-op. The magazine also reveals new UNSC units such as the Vulture, Cyclops and Cobras and the game's current control scheme. Fan site Halo Wars Addict has created a handy chart for your perusal.

You can check out the scans via Salad Hats or, better yet, pick up a legitimate copy of GamePro on newsstands. Halo Wars is expected to deploy in October.

[Via X3F]

Halo Wars is just one of the many exclusive Xbox 360 games coming this Fall. Check out Microsoft Games Studio's 2008 Yearbook.

Tags: bungie, gamepro, halo, halo-wars, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (67)

FINISH THE STRATEGY

Eh, despite the new info I'm still not really looking forward to this. Maybe it's the fact that its a 360 exclusive or maybe because the much better Starcraft 2 comes out later this year (hopefully). Oh well.

Man, how did you get to be a beta tester for both games?

- Scott

Well obviously its all conjecture at this point, I assume Starcraft 2 will be amazing and that the 360 controller just doesn't work that well for RTS control. Who knows, maybe Ensemble will make the contoller work for an RTS and Blizzard will rush Starcraft 2 and it'll suck.

Blizzard Rushes Nothing.

"maybe... Blizzard will rush Starcraft 2 and it'll suck."

And maybe Halo Wars will come out on the PS3 and Wii!

Ha, touche Zertoss.

Who said one had to be good, and the other had to suck?

Keep in mind that Halo Wars is being made by Ensemble, the same studio responsible for Age of Empires.

I suspect both games will be good, and if anyone can make RTS gaming work on a console, it's Ensemble - given their pedigree.

- Scott

"and if anyone can make RTS gaming work on a console, it's Ensemble - given their pedigree."

Right...you might want to check out Age of Empires 2 on PS2.

That was a port of a PC game, unlike Halo Wars, which is being built ground-up for consoles.

Ports always turn out badly (see: Universe at War), because they try to shoehorn the PC controls into a handful of buttons.

- Scott

Well...if it was a PC game, I'd probably declare it better than StarCraft 2 and DoW2.

However it has been confirmed that it is fucking impossible to play an RTS on a 360 controller.

Ensemble or not,that's a big fat MEH for Halo Wars until it can prove otherwise.

I'm sure it will come out on PC eventually, just like everything else Xbox. I mean really if you look at half your 360 games that say "ONLY ON XBOX 360!!!" there is a PC version available. I love RTS games, but there is no way a controller will ever beat a keyboard and mouse for it. I don't care if this game is supposedly being built from the ground up, RTS games just don't work as well on consoles as they do on PC's.

Stop signing your name, Scott; that's what the words below your icon are for.

If you guys payed attention, there was a demonstration vid of Halo Wars, and the control scheme seemed quite good.

I'm still wondering why the hell we aren't allowed to plug in a mouse and keyboard for these types of games. People can make arguments for/against controllers on FPS's all day long, but NOTHING beats KB/M on an RTS.

It's bad enough for the gaming magazines that they have to compete with gaming websites, but pointing out links to scanned pages of their issues is muchly appreciated, I'm sure.

- Scott

Welcome to the internet.

You're missing my point.

While I understand that stuff like this can't be avoided, I would hope that online gaming websites like Joystiq would at least have the respect to just say "go buy GamePro to read more", and not actually direct their readership to unauthorized scans of the magazine.

- Scott

There's more important things to cry about than joystiq stealing a few dozen viewers from their feature article.

October? Huh, i thought it's absence at that MS media event a while back meant bad things for its release chances

I am kinda ready to move past the Halo franchize.
But I love co-op games, so I might pick this up once the price drops later.

MS is faaaaaar from ready to move past the cash cow franchise. I am expecting at least one milking a year.

Says the biggest COD4 fanboy on this site. I'm not trying to be mean, but everytime something Halo-related is posted, you have to come in and either proclaim that COD4 is better or that Halo sucks. We all know your opinion on Halo, so please stop.

Is Halo really as big as it used to be? They just need to let the series breathe and then come back to it...I dunno...4 years from now on the system that follows the 360.

I was hardly bashing, heck I said it would pick it up eventually.

Yes I liked COD4 more now, but back in the day I used to be a HUGE Halo fan, heck I even went to tournaments. But the series is not as exciting as it used to be, and I know I am not the only one that thinks this.

@natsfan

I think if you did a poll on 'stiq on popularity between COD4 and Halo 3, COD4 would win handily. Not that Halo 3 isnt good, its just not relavent anymore

I'm sorry, but didn't you guys get the memo? Buy teh Haloz!

(Thats all I think when I see these stories.)

Gamepro? Seriously?

co-op rts ? lol.

Starcraft 2 prz.

agreed

Consider it sold microsoft, even if I don't have an Xbox 360 yet, although co-op on strategy games is kind of odd. Are people going to take turns telling people what to do, or are they going to give orders at the same time causing the mental breakdown of every soldier in the army.

On a tangential note, I finished the Civ Revo demo yesterday and it is sweetness itself. Soo good. I am definitely buying and pitying the loss of hours and hours to tense concentration.

I don't usually like that kind of game but I must admit I had fun playing through that demo. Not something I'd buy, but I got quite a bit of entertainment from that demo. I'd always make peace with the other leaders at first, then just build up an army outside of them and they ask "what are you doing?" and I tell them to die and I take over their city. LOL. I was playing on the easiest difficulty so it was always a complete massacre.

That is a beautiful strategy. Use it myself with gusto. It will probably not work as effectively against a human, but with roads being so easy to travel in Revo, you could easily pop over without calling first all the time.

I;m not sure about this one, but I will try it, if only because is says Halo on the box!!! =P

Hmmm co-op online on an RTS with the xbox live crowd

Can't. Fucking. Wait.

:(

You and Pojo are the new dedicated Joystiq 360-slanderers, I see.

- Scott

No I just don't think this is a good idea at all. Anyone who's played on Live and isn't insane will agree with me. Granted I've never played on PSN but I'd figure it's close to the same judging from some of the people's reactions on here from the MGO beta.

@Scott

take out the word "new" and your set :)

but seriously, look at the track record of RTS on console, not pretty so far. Online co-op??? have to wait and see how that works. 6-player matchs is good though, as long as the framerate isnt an issue

It's TWO PLAYER co-op Tmac. You mean to tell me you can't find ONE friend (either real or from the internet) to play with you?

Honestly I was starting to wonder why they even have an option to play co-op with random people in games because I didn't think anyone actually used it. I guess those people do exist.

Who the hell plays with strangers? I only play with friends...it helps keep the douchebag factor down.

No kidding, the whole point of XBL is that you don't have to play with strangers because it's a snap to get into a game with friends (and a snap to build up your friends list).

i play TMNT arcade with randoms constantly. it's amazing

Okay then how about I put my two cents in since I own both a pc and a 360 and I have played RTS's on both platforms....The only negative track record to the 360's current rts's is a lack of rts games on the platform...there is only two I can name off the top of my head which are LOTR:BFME2 and C&C3....both got excellent reviews on the pc and 360...I have played both on the 360 and both had decent controls not as good as keyboard and mouse but still pretty impressive for a console I say. C&C's controls were really just an improved version of LOTR controls...but both games were ports of pc games and Halo Wars will be standalone so the developers will be able to concentrate more on how to make the controls work on console...will they succeed? We will have to wait for the game to come out.
And one more note and this is coming from somone who plays a good deal of live what jordan87 says about the xbox live community is true

If anyone has played a strategy game online like Stronghold or Age of Empires you immediately notice that the game starts sucking because everything you’ve leaned during the Single player campaign is effing useless.

As Jhongerkong said “FINISH THE STRATEGY”.Finish the strategy is correct in every Strategy game or RTS I have played online people forgets about strategy defense or even building and start rushing attacks in a suicidal manner. Hell in stronghold some people decided to build next to my base just to attack me more quickly.

While the Single player strategies somehow resemble realism (You try to build fortifications, armies and try to lose as few units as possible) online is so very effing unrealistic is just dumb.

Notice that I’m talking about PC games; with the xbox crowd it is going to be much, much worst.

"I play TMNT arcade with randoms constantly. it's amazing"

Me too the game is cool but it seems I'm playing with noobs most of the time.I'm the only one that can make it to the technodrome.I have never finished the game online.

thing is, that even with friends, at times, you wont agree on a move, or at some point one will think that certain actions are needed....RTS's and co-op are a no-no....

Mr. ESC

Everything you learn on single player is simply an introduction to online multiplayer...

They can't teach you which strategy fits you the best, so that's why the single player campaing is used to familiarize you with all the elements.

Please. If you've been around here at all, tmac is an equal-opportunity slanderer

That I am Mr Khan :D

First off I'm not sure I'll get it cause a) RTS games don't sit highly with me and the only ones I've ever enjoyed were the last few romance of the three kingdom games and b) because it's the halo universe and well....yeah it's halo.

Secondly I'm not sure I could find a friend that would buy this unless they're suckered into buying it cause it has the halo name on it. Gotta remember RTS games still have an extremely niche crowd on consoles and my friends and I don't play PC games.

Which brings me to my third point, the fact that I would likely have to play online with a random person. Like Mr. Esc said it becomes a big kamikaze fuckfest from the very start with no actual strategy. Add in the patented "I'm gonna fuck you up homo n***er blah blah etc etc" that is ALWAYS present when I play on xbox live, and playing online with an RTS would just be 0 fun.

On the scanned image of the cover there is a caption that says: "FREE HALO XBOX 360! P.53."

Could they possibly choose a worse page? I actually thought it said PS3.

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Halo Wars to have online co-op, 6-player Xbox Live matches

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