Halo Wars, an upcoming strategy game based in our favorite fictional universe, is slated for release in February 2009 and as with any highly anticipated game, it will be available in both a standard and Limited Collector’s Edition format. Paying an extra $20 for the Collector’s Edition will get you bonus content which includes:
- Three New “Halo 3” Multiplayer Maps – Be one of the first to experience the Mythic Map Pack from Bungie which includes three new maps, “Assembly,” “Orbital” and “Sandbox”
- Halo Wars: Genesis – a beautiful graphic novel by Phil Noto, Graeme Devine and Eric Nylund chronicling the first military campaign against the Covenant. The novel centers around the Sprit of Fire on a mission to discover why the Covenant are so interested in the world of Harvest
- Unique In-game Vehicle – “Honor Guard” Wraith
- Six Leader Cards – Leaders possess elite skills which can turn the tides of battle
- Spirit of Fire Patch – Start the journey as an official Spirit of Fire crew member
Pre-ordering from select retailers will also yield you a card which will enable you to download a special in-game Warthog vehicle with flame decals. As someone who doesn’t play RTS games, the main piece of information I am taking from this is that the absolute earliest the Mythic Map Pack will be out is late February. Fuck, I want my maps and I want them NAOOOOOOO! (Don’t worry about calling the Wahmbulance; I’ve already called it myself.) I suppose the maps could come out earlier than that but that certainly doesn’t sound like a milk-it-for-all-its-worth Microsoft move to me. Ignore my speculating and hit the jump for the official press release.
UPDATE: Suspicions confirmed via Bungie who stated, “… we’re doing everything we can to get these maps on Xbox Live Marketplace as soon as possible after Halo Wars hits retail shelves”. Please join me in praying to the Halo gods that this game actually releases on time because we all know Microsoft will hold onto our maps as long as they damn well please, regardless of how long the game could potentially be delayed.
Today, Microsoft Game Studios and Ensemble Studios announced that the much-anticipated strategy game “Halo Wars” will be landing at retailers worldwide this February in both a standard and Limited Collector’s Edition format. Taking the “Halo” battle beyond the first person, “Halo Wars” puts players in command of the battlefield and combines the intensity of “Halo” with a riveting new story that precedes the events of “Halo: Combat Evolved.”
Developed by Ensemble Studios, the creators of the critically-acclaimed “Age of Empires” series, “Halo Wars” was designed specifically for Xbox 360 and brings a genre that has typically thrived on the PC seamlessly to consoles. From specialized controls to redesigned resource management and unit command, “Halo Wars” will give players the fluid strategy experience they’ve been waiting for on a console.
In addition to the standard retail version, “Halo Wars” will be offered in a Limited Collector’s Edition through participating retailers and will feature:
* Three New “Halo 3” Multiplayer Maps – Be one of the first to experience the Mythic Map Pack from Bungie which includes three new maps, “Assembly,” “Orbital” and “Sandbox”
* Halo Wars: Genesis – a beautiful graphic novel by Phil Noto, Graeme Devine and Eric Nylund chronicling the first military campaign against the Covenant. The novel centers around the Sprit of Fire on a mission to discover why the Covenant are so interested in the world of Harvest
* Unique In-game Vehicle – “Honor Guard” Wraith
* Six Leader Cards – Leaders possess elite skills which can turn the tides of battle
* Spirit of Fire Patch – Start the journey as an official Spirit of Fire crew member
As an added bonus, fans eager for their chance to battle the Covenant will be able to pre-order “Halo Wars” and receive a pre-order card to download a special in-game Warthog vehicle with flame decals from select participating retailers.
The standard edition of “Halo Wars” will have an estimated retail price of $59.99 and the Limited Collector’s Edition will retail for an estimated price of $79.99. “Halo Wars” is rated “T” for Teen.
More information on “Halo Wars” can be found online at www.Xbox.com/HaloWars or www.HaloWars.com.
Posted by CrazedOne1988 on November 6, 2008 at 10:11 am
Honor Guard Wraith……… Weird……..
Don’t worry, I have the Wahmbulance on speed dial.
Posted by mendicantbias00 on November 6, 2008 at 10:17 am
Pre-Order from where?
GameStop doesn’t mention 2 editions. Neither does Amazon, and while GameCrazy mentions the spiffy paint job for the hog, they have no pre-order info either.
:’(
Posted by Qix on November 6, 2008 at 10:18 am
I would assume that the “Honor Guard Wraith” has a different skin on it. Making it look different, but not and better/worse. Just like the flaming chupa-thingie.
Posted by Mopy09 on November 6, 2008 at 10:20 am
I can’t wait for this. I hope Ensemble puts as much effort into this game as they have with their other games. I wish Microsoft wasn’t disbanding Ensemble Studios.
Posted by Stuicide on November 6, 2008 at 10:30 am
Honor Guard don’t know how to use a Wraith!
Posted by Tortacular on November 6, 2008 at 10:32 am
Honor Guard will use whatever we damn well please.
Also… I thought the Mythic pack had more than 3 maps. Pretty disappointing after almost a year.
Posted by Tortacular on November 6, 2008 at 10:33 am
Also… the usual dick move by M$.
Posted by Mjonir on November 6, 2008 at 10:39 am
The inclusion of the Mythic Map Pack is a great news!
However, I’m not sure what the “Six Leader Cards” and even more what the “Spirit of Fire Patch” are? Would anybody know? :o
Posted by PsycheDiver on November 6, 2008 at 10:47 am
You’ve been pretty quiet on Halo 3: Recon. Hopefully we get more info on that soon.
Posted by bs angel on November 6, 2008 at 10:50 am
I’m anxious for those details as well PsycheDiver.
Posted by ragingterror on November 6, 2008 at 11:14 am
Halo Wars………… meh.
I’d much rather have the Mythic Maps, thank you very much.
Posted by CJ on November 6, 2008 at 11:30 am
Im very skeptical about halo wars. The fact that the flood on in the game adds more to it. Did they ever bother reading the halo bible. Im definitley buying halo wars limited edition. It better be a world release, not a america first then 6 fucking months later europe. But gears 2 will keep me busy until then.
Posted by Kato on November 6, 2008 at 11:42 am
*spurt*
Posted by ReverendTiki on November 6, 2008 at 12:06 pm
an additional $20 doesnt seem like a bad deal at all. I am also wondering where i can preorder the LCE, i need to get it, mainly for the maps but i was going to buy the game anyways so..
Posted by Xor1an on November 6, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I was definitely going to get Halo Wars anyway, but with the Mythic maps included, I’ll definitely have to get the collector’s edition. I think I might even need to pre-order it to get the flame decal warthog. I bet there are flaming ninjas hiding inside!
I’m just guessing here, but I imagine the “Six Leader Cards” will be trading cards (similar to baseball cards) for the special leader (hero) characters. I would also guess that the “Spirit of Fire Patch” is probably a patch you could sew onto a garment with the emblem of the Spirit of Fire (the main space ship that supports you from orbit during Halo Wars).
Posted by Socket on November 6, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I think I’ll buy Halo 3: Recon right when it comes out…
By then, Halo Wars: Collector’s Edition will be a bit cheaper, and I might get that if they release a demo and I like it.
Posted by rowboat 000 on November 6, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I’m no fan of RTS’s, but I’ve considered getting this one. The new maps are a great add-on, but I don’t mind waiting ’cause I couldn’t play them in regular matchmaking anyway. The patch could be neat.
Recon will be a definite buy though.
Posted by Skibur on November 6, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Wow… I didn’t think I could want this game more than I did, but now I’m going insane…
I NEED IT!
:O
Posted by SidearmS on November 6, 2008 at 4:24 pm
“Please join me in praying to the Halo gods that this game actually releases on time because we all know Microsoft will hold onto our maps as long as they damn well please, regardless of how long the game could potentially be delayed.”
AMEN, because didn’t the achievements for this map pack already unlock from the last title update?
Kind of hard to unlock an achievement WITHOUT the map pack isn’t it?
XBox 360 – What’s next? Buy Alan Wake to unlock Master Chief’s new Guns? Cross game pricing gouging is here!
Posted by AT-AT on November 6, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Well earlier the Mythic Maps were stated as “Winter 2009″ which meant January, February or the better half of March. Oh, well. At least we have date when we can look forward to throwing the match… I.. I mean trying really hard for that perfection on a mythic map.
Posted by Fezzer on November 6, 2008 at 8:43 pm
So I have to pay $80 something dollars to play only 3 of the 6 maps that were promised for winter release.
Epic fail.
Posted by AusQB on November 7, 2008 at 12:11 am
*runs out of house with towel on to pre-order*
Posted by Europe and Japan Win This Round « Hawty McBloggy Invites You to Play on December 8, 2008 at 12:58 pm
[...] Wars scheduled release date of February 2009 is still standing for those in Japan and the Asia Pacific region (02.26.09) and [...]
Posted by VDA916 on January 8, 2009 at 4:35 pm
This is a message for everyone who has blogged here and will be blogging>_<
I’ve tooken a clear look into the info about the special edition and i perfectly would agree for it’s benifits. the question of the six leaders card is answered as of in a way like this}<If you ever , i mean EVER play Lord of The Rings: Battle for middle earth(Taht 1 RTS game) then it’s easier to explain that the six card leaders are like heros that be added into the edition. If you didn’t catch; it’s like getting DLC items from the XBOX LIVE market place; but the thing is already in the disk. How much easier is that to explain? next is the HALF-Mythic map pack in it.Yes i said HALF…i know we all have been waiting badly that it’s over rated to explain; but if you get the easy part then it’s good for you. look i mean you like go to subway, asking for a foot long but it’ll be over a year till it’s available. Howerever, you can get a six-inch in the meantime. It doesn’t fill you hunger but; dang you getting half of the whole thing. If you would think carefuly though; you’d realise that the outher maps could need MORE work on. These 3 that will be up for grabs may already for proper use but the other 3 might need to get patched, checked for bugs, and stuff like that. you don’t want an awsome map that has an unsolid floor that you spawn on and stuff. On the other hand; if they were keeping the other 3 in thier pocket then i’d asume that they are giving us some of the taste untill it’s about the end of the year.
The Halo3:Recon does sound new but woundering about how it’s going to play out like. the news will be great for us when they have more. The most of this is that i hope that this collector’s edition will have everything it promises for it’s price & materials. These 70 days sound long and it’s lest worst VS. almost a year. Well the leat i have for now is some great stuff to keep me waiting but the least; ALOT of homework(if only it was in college).
Well i’ll be ending this now and i hope for all of you to be ready to land into exitement when that day comes.
[END OF MESSAGE]
Posted by irongravemind on January 24, 2009 at 2:08 pm
i preodeared my limited edition halo wars 2 days ago cant wait to get it i no how to find the assembly skull the sandbox skull and the orbaitel skull that will give me a head started to get vidmaster brainpan i got the other 3 but i dont no where the other ones are i hope hertic longshore and citadel are avalbale at the xbox live place if got 2000 thousnad microsoft points just to get it
Posted by AC3x0FxSPADES on February 1, 2009 at 7:04 am
nice red vs blue ref there Qix. and since when are there 3 maps in the mythic map pack??? Def six achievements for map-skulls