Windows Phone Central takes Halo: Spartan Assault for a spin and interviews the developers

Earlier today, Microsoft officially announced Halo: Spartan Set on for Windows Telephone 8 and Windows 8. Just knowing that a real Halo game is coming to Windows platforms with Xbox Achievements is pretty much the all-time gaming news we could take hoped for this year. But of class, Halo fans will want to know more about Spartan Assault. Our fact-filled announcement commodity was just the top of the iceberg.

We really attended a top-secret reveal event just a few weeks ago, where we interviewed several members of 343 Industries, Microsoft's Halo-focused evolution company. Head past the interruption for the full video interview, Spartan Assault In-App Purchase (IAP) details, Windows eight Xbox controller news, and everything else nosotros couldn't fit in the reveal article!

Hands-on experience

During the reveal upshot, Sam Sabri, myself, and other members of the gaming press starting time watched a PowerPoint presentation highlighting Spartan Attack's bones features. The video portion of the presentation was actually delivered from a Surface Pro continued to a lxx inch television.

Once that wrapped, Microsoft passed effectually Surface Pro tablets and so that we could all try the game for ourselves. Sam will provide more detailed impressions later today, but for now I'll relay a quick observation:

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Spartan Assault doesn't include whatever gimmicky touch-screen minigame type features. Y'all don't have to reach into the heart of the screen in order to pick up weapons or anything similar that. The big interact push at the right side of the screen takes care of all that, and information technology helps keep this entry feeling like a real Halo game .

After the Surface was forcibly removed from our grasp, nosotros remembered nosotros had an interview to deport. In the video higher up, nosotros spoke with Graeme Jennings (Senior Producer) and Kevin Grace (Franchise managing director) of 343 Industries. Kevin is besides in accuse of Spartan Set on's story, hence a few interesting tidbits he dropped during our discussion.

Sorry, Prometheans

Ane of those factoids concerned the game's enemies, the Covenant. We naturally wondered whether Spartan Assault would include the Inundation, a parasitic race of aliens first seen in the original Halo or Prometheans, Halo 4's unsafe new group of enemies. Regrettably, protagonists Sarah Palmer and Spartan Davis will just be fighting the Covenant in this game.

The reasoning makes sense though. 343 has already worked out the serial chronology spanning the iv years betwixt Halo 3 and 4. By that fourth dimension, the Flood was already wiped out and humanity had yet to encounter the Prometheans. Canonically, just the Covenant was stirring up trouble at this point in the timeline, hence they play the villains in Spartan Attack.

Weapons and grenades

Pretty much every human and Covenant weapon from Halo 4 will make its mode into Spartan Assault. That includes highly destructive ordinance like the Spartan Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation and Rocket Launcher, plus some new weapons we haven't seen yet. "Just what about the sniper rifle?" you ask. After all, sniping traditionally involves zooming in from a get-go-person perspective. Spartan Attack is a third-person overhead view game, making traditional sniping tough to pull off.

As it turns out, the sniper rifle does show up in this game. It but doesn't zoom, oddly enough. Yet you can run around no-scoping with it. Aiming is a chip harder than with an automatic weapon (as no-scoping has always been in mainline Halo games), though nearly shots outcome in one-hit kills. The sniper rifle might not exist as effective in this installment as it should be, simply it even so packs a dial.

Grenades likewise take a slight hit in the usability section compared to the console games. Toggling between dissimilar grenade types like frag and plasma grenades is a snap because you'll discover the grenade switch and throw buttons on both the bottom-left and bottom-right sides of the screen.

Throwing is the problem. When yous printing the throw button, the grenade flies in the management your graphic symbol is currently looking. Me, I would accept made it so that you press grenade, aim with the right stick, and then release the stick. But I'1000 certain we'll get accustomed to Spartan Set on's throwing mechanics with further practice.

At least melee attacks are intuitive. Just double tap anywhere on the screen to bash your opponent at close range.

Credits and unlocks

Our offset article discussed how in-game Challenges extend the life of Spartan Assault's 25-level campaign. On superlative of that, the game as well has a fairly robust grinding and unlocking system. Every level players complete – as well equally those optional challenges – volition award credits, Spartan Assault's in-game currency.

Those credits can be spent on different equipment to customize your loadout with prior to starting a level. Loudouts include both primary and secondary weapons, armor abilities, and boosters. A few armor abilities we know of: a health regeneration field, overshield, and sprinting. Every bit for boosters, they make the game easier to play by increasing the damage that players deal and other beneficial effects.

IAPs can be used to buy credits with real coin. You can always cull to earn credits merely by playing, so ponying up actual cash is never strictly necessary. It just saves some time. We've heard conflicting reports about whether boosters will be purchasable with credits or only via IAP though. Either fashion, I get the feeling that certain levels will be actually hard to go loftier ratings on without boosters. Along the same lines of supposition, several Achievements volition surely be tied to those tough-to-get ratings.

Windows eight and RT Details

Windows Phone Central broke the news that Spartan Assail will work in Windows RT in our previous article. RT wasn't part of the message that Microsoft pushed during the reveal event, nor does information technology come up within the press materials released today. But for the showtime tablet-oriented Halo game to skip over RT would exist quite a slight for Microsoft'southward struggling tablet-specific OS. Thankfully, Graeme and Kevin did tell us directly that Spartan Assault runs on Windows RT. They described its RT performance as understandably lower than Windows 8 performance (RT hardware is much weaker), but still more than adequate. Surface RT owners can safely expect forrard to an heady and faithful Halo experience.

Command methods are an interesting discipline for Windows 8 and RT. Of course the game supports bear upon controls, as nosotros've described already. But users of Microsoft'southward tablet and PC operating systems besides more often than not have access to mouse, keyboard, and even concrete controllers.

Spartan Set on volition support mouse and keyboard controls right out of the gate. The keyboard handles movement and several secondary functions, while the mouse controls movement, firing, and grenades. That actually makes throwing grenades much easier than with touch controls since players can look and aim before choosing to fire by clicking a mouse button.

Old school controls

What about Xbox 360 controller support? After all, Spartan Assault'southward controls all involve virtual sticks and buttons – no tapping enemies directly or annihilation similar that. The game would map perfectly to a command pad. And it WILL practise so, just oddly not at launch. Instead, Xbox 360 controller back up will come in a future update. If I had to gauge, I'd say the decision to include it came after the launch feature set had been locked in. Silly non to program for it from the start, but at to the lowest degree it's coming.

Windows Phone eight also happens to support a very Xbox-like controller, the MOGA Pro Controller. Information technology would be highly synergistic for the phone version of Spartan Assault to offering MOGA compatibility. However, Microsoft has not confirmed any such support yet. It would probably show up in a patch, just like the Windows 8 game'south controller support.

Halo: Spartan Set on launches onetime in July and will cost $6.99 on each platform. Nosotros'll try to bring more impressions from E3 next week!

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/halo-spartan-assault-interview

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