A host of Halo fans I personally know seemed a bit unsure and distant when it was revealed that 343 Industries’ upcoming Halo: Spartan Assault for Xbox One and Xbox 360 would arrive with a certain twin-stick gameplay. However, it seems like the company is aware of the uncertainties regarding the new game and have announced that these initiatives have been taken as part of something greater since 343 Industries wants to release anything related to the Halo “‘in as many formats” as possible.
Speaking to Venture Beat in a recent interview, Halo: Spartan Assault lead designer Mike Ellis talked a bit about the new game while also addressing the uncertainties among fans related to Spartan Assault’s twin-stick gameplay.
On asked as to why the company is not looking to make another large-scale Halo game, while the company has already headed over to both current and next generation consoles and what exactly are the company’s goals regarding this, Ellis stated:
“343’s looking to have Halo experiences in as many formats as possible. You can look through our portfolio now. We have games. We have books on the New York Times bestseller list. We have toys and things like Mega Blocks and McFarlane figures. Halo is bigger than any one game. We see it as an entire universe of experiences.”
And on the topic of if that means 343 doesn’t necessarily require a change in the skill set for these future Halo games in different formats, Ellis said that all these games “have a lot of the same values.”
“A lot of the building blocks of the core gameplay are the same. It was just a matter making sure that this version of the game was appropriately native to the console. We went in and looked at as if it was a console game from the ground up, and evaluated what changes needed to be made to make it a successful console shooter.”
“I’d say each version of the game is tuned to the platform it’s created for. We try to have a level playing field across all of them. It just depends on where you’re used to playing as a gamer and what you particularly like,” he further added.
“If you’re a casual gamer who’s never experienced playing on a console, you might be happier with the phone or tablet versions. A PC gamer would be more comfortable with a keyboard and mouse. Our console fans should be very happy with the controller.”
343’s upcoming Halo title – Halo: Spartan Assault – is set to arrive in December as digital download for Xbox One and in January next year for the 360, although no specific price tag has been mentioned for the title as of now.
