| Halo: Spartan Assault | |
|---|---|
 Spartan Assault cover art, featuring the main character Sarah Palmer | |
| Developers |
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| Publisher | Microsoft Studios |
| Composer | Tom Salta |
| Series | Halo |
| Platforms | |
| Release | |
| Genre | Twin-stick shooter |
| Modes | |
Halo: Spartan Assault is atwin-stick shootervideo game developed by343 Industries and Vanguard Games. Part of theHalo franchise, the game was released on July 18, 2013, forMicrosoft'sWindows 8 andWindows Phone 8 platforms. The game was subsequently released onXbox 360,Xbox One,Steam, andiOS.Halo: Spartan Assault is set between the events ofHalo 3 andHalo 4. Players control the human soldiersSarah Palmer and Edward Davis as they fight a new splinter faction of the alienCovenant. The game launched with 25single-player missions; an additional campaign was released asdownloadable content. The console versions also feature an exclusive cooperativehorde mode.
After years of rumored or cancelled handheldHalo projects,Spartan Assault was the franchise's first mobile game. The developers spent time adaptingHalo's distinctive elements to a touchscreen game meant to be played in short bursts. The game received mixed reviews on release. Reviewers praised the game for its success at replicatingHalo's aesthetic; the mobile versions of the game received lower average scores.Spartan Assault was followed by a sequel,Spartan Strike, in 2015.
Halo: Spartan Assault is ashooter game where players experience gameplay from an overheadtop-down perspective.[6] Players assume the role of human supersoldiers fighting against a splinter faction of the former alien alliance known as theCovenant. The control method for the game depends on the host device.[7] Ontouchscreen mobile devices, players control the character through virtualjoysticks—the left stick controls movement and the right stick controls the direction of the character's fire—along with buttons along the edge of the screen.[7][8]Xbox 360 andXbox One players use a physical gamepad, while Windows players can use either a gamepad, or keyboard and mouse.[9] To assist players, many weapons auto-target enemies in the direction the player is firing.[7]
The game's campaign mode is divided into chapters, then further subdivided into individual missions.[7] The game features classic weapons and vehicles from the franchise.[10] PlayingHalo: Spartan Assault earns the player experience points and content for use inHalo 4.[10][11] Completing missions or rotating weekly challenges award credits that can be used to buy boosts or different weapons for each mission.[11][12] In lieu of spending credits for upgrades, players can use real currency.[13]
The Xbox 360 and the Xbox One versions of the game feature an additional cooperative game mode, designed to be different from that of the main campaign. Two players team up to survive against waves of enemyFlood on five different stages.[14][15] The game mode features new Spartan abilities and weapons.[15] The Windows Phone and Windows PC version support cross-play, allowing players to start missions on one device and resume on another.[11]
Halo: Spartan Assault takes place in the 26th century between the events ofHalo 3 andHalo 4.[16] Following the events ofHalo 3, the human UNSC and alien Elites (Sangheili) signed a ceasefire to end a decades-long war. Gameplay follows through the perspective of theSpartan supersoldiersSarah Palmer or Spartan Davis.[17] Canonically, the events are played from the perspective of human military cadets, reliving the events inside abattle simulation.[18]
Spartans Palmer and Davis are stationed on the planet Draetheus V when it comes under attack from a splinter group of the Covenant who have ignored the ceasefire. Palmer and Davis work to repel the invaders. This new Covenant faction led by Merg Vol discovers that Draetheus' moon is actually a weapon built by an ancient race known as theForerunners. Merg Vol's Covenant activates the weapon, tearing apart Draetheus and triggering an evacuation. Spartan Davis gives his life to allow the remaining human forces enough time to escape. Spartan Palmer tracks down Merg Vol, kills him, sabotages the Forerunner weapon, and escapes the moon.
In the Operation Hydra campaign, Spartan Palmer returns to X50 in search of a mysterious signal. She discovers that the signal is actually a distress signal from Spartan Davis. Palmer reaches the core of X50, but finds Davis dead; the moon is using his remains to create an unknown device, which Palmer extracts for study.
Over the years, rumors swirled of a handheld or mobile version ofHalo for theGame Boy Advance,[19]Gizmondo,[20][21]Ultra-Mobile PC,[22] andNintendo DS.[23][24][25] Then-Halo developerBungie quashed speculation they were developing anXbox Live Arcade title in 2006.[26] WhenHalo overseer343 Industries was interested in developing a mobile game, Franchise Development Director Frank O'Connor recommended an arcade shooter, having wanted for years to see aHalo game in the vein ofMoon Patrol.[27] Having come up with the idea for the game, 343 Industries approached Vanguard Games, who had prior twin-stick shooter experience, to develop it.[28] During development, the game was known by the codenameBootcamp.[27]
343 Industries Executive Producer Dan Ayoub described the challenge of adaptingHalo for a portable device as crafting the right experience for the device.[29] "If we'd gone down thefirst-person shooter route, we might have built something compelling, but it couldn't on its own merit play as well as a traditionalHalo game," O'Connor recalled.[27] While focusing on optimizing the game for touch controls, the developers wanted to make sure the elements that madeHalo distinctive—its weapon sandbox, abilities, and look—remained.[29]: 4'35" The focus on a mobile game experience also meant that the developers broke up the game's missions into smaller chunks for short playthroughs.[29]: 4'45"–5'15" More than fifteen control variations were tested.[30] The developers designed adaptive controls that move around the screen to match the drift of player's hands on the touchscreen and reduce frustration.[31] For the console release ofSpartan Assault, the developers took feedback from reviews to further tune the controls and adjust balance and scoring.[15]
Tom Salta composedSpartan Assault's music. The game was the first time Salta had worked on a project where the sound had been established by another composer—Salta called the original music of Combat Evolved "sacred ground for me" and his inspiration to compose for video games. Previous toSpartan Assault Salta was part of the team that reorchestrated and recorded the music forHalo: Combat Evolved Anniversary.[32] Because the game was designed to be played on mobile devices, Salta and the music team worked to make sure audio quality would be high on small mobile speakers as well as through headphones or higher-end hardware. Since there was a limited budget for the music, Salta chose which sounds and instruments he would record live.[32] Salta starts composing on a keyboard and usesLogic.[33]
Spartan Assault was announced in June 2013 atSan Diego Comic-Con.[34][35] The game was released inNorth America andEurope on July 18 and 19, respectively. In theUnited States, the game was initially restricted toVerizon phones before being released to all Windows 8 enabled devices in August.[36] The game's release coincided with a tie-in comic series,Halo: Initiation, which detailed Palmer's path to becoming a Spartan.[10]
AnXbox One version of the game—running at 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second—was released on December 24; theXbox 360 version was delayed and was released January 31, 2014.[3][4][37] Players who already purchased the mobile version received a discount on the console pricing.[15][38] It was released onSteam on April 4, the first game in the series to be distributed on the platform.[39] It was a free title forXbox Live subscribers as part of the "Games with Gold" program in June 2014.[40] On April 16, 2015, the game was released foriOS.[41]
Operation Hydra, a free update to the game, was released August 29. The update added new missions and achievements, the ability to buy certain power weapons with XP rather than real currency, and support for the Xbox 360 controller. A demo version of the game, featuring a tutorial and single mission, was released on August 30.[42] The update also added compatibility for Windows Phone hardware with 512MB ofRAM, and enabled play using an Xbox gamepad on Windows computers.[43]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | PC: 70/100[44] XONE: 53/100[45] X360: 51/100[46] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Destructoid | 7/10[47] |
| Eurogamer | 7/10[48] |
| Game Informer | 8.25/10[18] |
| GameSpot | 6/10[16] |
| IGN | 6.7/10[49] |
| Maximum PC | 8/10[50] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 58/100[51] |
| Pocket Gamer | 9/10[52] |
Spartan Assault received mixed reviews upon release. The PC version has a weighted aggregate rating of 70/100 onMetacritic, with the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions having lower scores of 51 and 53, respectively.[44] Critics including Harry Slater ofPocket Gamer and Chris Carter ofDestructoid wrote that whileSpartan Assault was not going to be a Windows 8killer app, it was a worthwhile purchase for gamers on the Windows 8 platform.[47][52] Geek.com's Russell Holly wrote that the game was a milestone in mobile gaming, with Microsoft producing a high-quality mobile experience of an established property.[53] Digital Trends considered the mobile version satisfactory, but found the ports underwhelming.[54] More critically, reviews such as those forPC Gamer andX-One considered the game a disappointment.[55]
Reviewers praised the game for its authenticHalo look and feel.[8][18][56][57]Game Informer's Kyle Hillard calledSpartan Assault "a trueHalo game, even if the series' signature scope and size are scaled down", with the game featuring familiarHalo moments, enemies, and sounds.[18] Destructoid's Christ Carter praised the game for successfully adaptingHalo's gameplay formula of guns, grenades, and melee attacks to the new genre.[47] In comparison,Polygon's Philip Kollar called the appeal "illusory", asSpartan Assault did not contain any ofHalo's "subtlety or strategy."[58] IGN's Dan Stapleton considered theHalo trappings the main appeal of the game, as without it,Spartan Assault would be just another competent but unremarkable twin-stick shooter.[49] The console co-op missions were considered a highlight of the game;[58][59]GameSpot andPolygon's critics noted that the cooperative mode demanded different tactics than the regular campaign.[14][16]
Reviewers were divided on the controls.VideoGamer's Simon Miller found the on-foot sections excellent but controlling vehicles difficult on PC and even harder on mobile.[57]The Verge's Tom Warren agreed the touch controls were awkward.[60] Stapleton recommended playing the game with a keyboard and mouse if possible,[49] a sentiment echoed by Hillard, who felt the touch controls became more of a liability as the game's difficulty increased.[18] The lack of controller support at launch was criticized.[51]TouchArcade's Eric Ford found the touch controls serviceable once players had acclimated to their sensitivity.[56]
The microtransaction features ofSpartan Assault were generally negatively received.[51][61] While reviewers such as Carter felt that the microtransactions could be ignored and did not impact enjoyment of the game,[47] Hillard wrote that "it’s hard not to feel as though an important part of the game is being withheld after buying into the agreed-upon price of admission."[18] Kollar considered the upgrades necessary to completing levels with a high score, and considered them "exploitative and unnecessary" in a game that cost money upfront.[58]GameZone's Jake Valentine agreed, feeling XP was a scarce resource and the game heavily prodded players into shelling out real money instead.[62]
Vanguard Games and 343 Industries announced a sequel toHalo: Spartan Assault,Halo: Spartan Strike in late 2014. This game was released as a digital download for Windows devices and Steam in 2015.[63][64]
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