Halo Wars 2
Publisher:
Microsoft
Developer:
The Creative Assembly
Platforms:
Xbox One, PC
Genre:Real Time Strategy
Release Date:2016
Halo Wars 2 is a real-time strategy game that is being produced as a collaboration between Creative Assembly and Microsoft. The game is a sequel to the original Halo Wars and will be done in the same style of its predecessor. The game was announced early in 2015 but so far, neither company is able to say exactly when the game will be made available but it is expected to be launched during the Holiday season of 2016. When it finally is completed it will be available as a console exclusive on the Xbox One but will also be offered as part of Windows 10 on Windows PCs. The game had an official reveal trailer at Gamescom 2015 with the promise of more information coming early in 2016.
343 Industries is the developer for the Halo franchise and was expected to be enlisted for the sequel but the second title was eventually handed to Creative Assembly, which is a development team best known for its work on the Total War series and Alien: Isolation.
Imag
Development
After the official announcement of Halo Wars 2, Creative Assembly made it very clear that they did not want this game to be a Total War clone that was set in the Halo universe. The developer has said that they will be looking at the first Halo Wars for creative inspiration and then will be taking the game to the next stage. Creative Assembly’s Tim Wheaton was quoted as saying that they have been working closely with 343 Industries. “As we’re learning about the universe, we’ve been working closely with 343 Industries, and that’s been a really interesting learning experience.”
When 343 was still the lead developer for Halo Wars 2, the company insinuated that they might actually be able to use some kind of integration with the Kinect. Since that company made those comments, Microsoft has taken a large step back from leaning on the Kinect and 343 bowed out of direct development. It is unclear whether any concrete plans were made for Halo Wars 2 to include Kinect integration and nothing has been mentioned during the development to insinuate it’s still in the cards. In addition to the work that Creative Assembly is doing on the main game, with some help and suggestions from 343 Industries, it has been confirmed that Blur Studios is going to work on the cutscene artwork. Blur was the company that did the cutscenes for the original Halo Wars.
Story
There is not a great deal known about the planned story for Halo Wars 2. The original Halo Wars was set about 20 years before the original Halo game and served as a kind of prequel. The game depicts the outbreak of the war between the Earth’s military forces and the Covenant. This game is said to be a continuation of the first Halo Wars, but it isn’t clear whether that means the sequel will also be set before the introduction of the Master Chief, or at some other point in the Halo storyline.
The original game had the goal of taking ground in a number of small skirmishes but there was also a goal of acquiring Forerunner starships. The Covenant wants these highly advanced craft in order to wipe out the human race. Earth’s battle forces are looking to find a way to stop the Covenant and get their own hands on these powerful weapons.
We do get a bit of the Halo 2 story from the reveal trailer where a badly injured Douglas-042 is being carried/dragged by another member of Red Team, away from covenant forces and one rather foreboding enemy in particular, most likely the Brute Chieftain seen later in the reveal trailer. Another soldier, Jerome-092 radios in that they have been the victims of an ambush and they need an evacuation.
Another scene shows the soldiers sweeping a save and encountering a large, hostile Jiralhanae, who picks a SPARTAN up by his throat, and throws him. The scene then cuts to Red Team being attacked from several angles by an unseen enemy. A few more shots of Red Team battling in the caves and apparently losing are shown and then there’s the Brute Chieftan activating a weapon similar to a Gravity Hammer before ordering his forces to “Hunt them down”.
There is no indication whether this game might be more about the Red Team operating from a position where they are greatly outnumbered and outgunned, or whether this is just a scene from a larger engagement.
Gameplay
There are not a lot of details about the gameplay of Halo Wars 2. This is a real-time strategy game that should have the same kind of operations as the original Halo Wars. Creative Assembly has said that they want this game to be a true followup to the original Halo Wars, which indicates the control structure should be the same as its predecessor. There are also a number of cut scenes in the game but there is no indication that these will be controllable and allow players to dictate the action.
Characters
There were a couple of characters that were confirmed through their appearance in the reveal trailer, though Creative Assembly hasn’t made any comments on who we will see in Halo Wars 2. Douglas-042 features prominently in the trailer for the game, appearing in a number of different scenes. There is also a soldier that appears to be Jerome-092 who is the one calling command for help after an apparent ambush. The Brute Chieftan appears to be a main villain of the game. There are also a number of human and Covenant soldiers that will be unnamed other than their classes in the game.
Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game