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Review: Halo: Spartan Assault

Halo: Spartan Assault is Halo, and it is not. It’s also a mobile game, but again, it is not. First offered on — and, more importantly, designed for — the Microsoft Surface, the game also found its way to Windows Phone 8 and Windows PCs with Windows 8. Flash forward to the tail-end of 2014, and the game has been ported to Xbox One. But really, should this game have been released for the controller set?

In short, no.

I’m one of the (lucky) few that got to enjoy Spartan Assault on the Surface, and it feels like the perfect choice for the game. Placing my two huge thumbs on my Nokia Lumia would have meant I’d be able to see about 1/3 of phone’s still ridiculously massive screen. Its keyboard and mouse control scheme doesn’t feel like it does the trick when playing on the PC, but this changes after hitting up the Xbox One and its controller. After one short tour of duty, I desperately wanted to go back to touchscreen or keyboard and mouse controls. To summarise the controller’s issues, it simply doesn’t provide the level of finesse you need in the game’s later missions. It’s nigh-impossible to aim with any measure of efficiency. It would be better if you could shoot with just the right-stick, but nope, you’ve also got to use the right-trigger to fire off rounds. Grenades and special abilities with the left-trigger and bumper are just as bad.

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If you’ve played Halo Wars, you might be sceptical about an offshoot, non-FPS Halo game. You needn’t be. Even as a twin-stick shooter, Spartan Assault captures the essence of the franchise and puts it into a top-down affair. You’ll be able to use headshots to one-shot Grunts. You’ll be forced to wear down the shields of Elites as they attempt the same on your MJOLNIR armour. Brutes come complete with their devastating Brute Shot weapon, and using it is just as fun as in its FPS format. Pretty much all of the vehicles, turrets, enemies and weapons from the main franchise make their way into the twin-stick shooter, providing for a ton of variety and strategy in a genre that’s usually more of the run-and-gun nature.

In fact, if you decide to rush in, guns blazing, you’ll suffer the same fate you would in a Halo FPS title – you’ll be destroyed in seconds. Just like in the main franchise, you’ll need to take cover at times to recharge your shields, or else suffer the consequences. As in the FPS, you’re much better off trying to take out Elites before finishing off weaker cannon fodder.

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The game has just one difficulty setting, but in true Halo fashion, you can set yourself a bigger challenge by activating a series of skulls. With skulls enabled, you’ll lose shield strength when firing, only be able to regain shielding through melee kills (yes, they made the cut, as did plasma and frag grenades) and more. As in the main franchise, scoring is enabled and more kills mean more XP to spend on armour abilities and weaponry. So many points equates to a different star tier, with your overall goal to obtain a gold star in each level.

Achievements are also attached to the game, and like the Halo FPS, challenge you to complete levels in a certain manner. The tried-and-true Vidmaster achievement makes its way to Spartan Assault, and let me tell you, it’s a bitch to obtain. Which is how it should be.

Spartan Assault does have an extra sixth chapter with five new missions, but they’re nothing to write home about. There’s just more stuff to shoot, really.

Overall, there’s not much wrong with Spartan Assault… provided you can struggle through the controller setup, or, better yet, play the game on the Surface. If you’re desperate for a new Halo game, or something to play on your Xbox One, this might to the trick… but otherwise, it’s best to leave be.

Editor’s note: This review is a amended version of our original Halo: Spartan Assault review for Windows PC, tablet and WP8.


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About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.