Halo: Spartan Assault Reviews
Vanguard Games gives Halo fans something to cheer about in 'Halo: Spartan Assault,' distilling the essence of the first-person series into fun top-down shooter play.
It’s not surprising that Spartan Strike is an incredibly fun game to play, and 343 Industries certainly has the experience under its belt to produce high-quality action games. Can it compare to the upcoming Halo 5? Of course not. Spartan Strike is an stylish little package, and is being sold for an amazing price. As such, 'true' Halo game or not, it is easily one of the best games to come out on the iPad this year.
As long as your expectations are tempered, Halo: Spartan Assault is a serviceable game. It works as a top-down shooter, but you'll miss the enemy intelligence of the older games. The bite-sized missions can be good, but unfortunately, that means the whole game amazingly short. The presence of co-op is nice, but when you see how limited it is and how little online community engaged there is, the mode might as well be invisible. Most of all, the presence of microtransactions that are not only highly disposable but also pricey is hurtful when you consider that this is the most expensive version of the game. If you already have the game on a Windows 8 device, then it isn't a bad idea to get the Xbox One version if you're a fan or just want to share progress back and forth. Otherwise, wait for a sale or wait for another first-person Halo.
I thought that Spartan Assault would be a great addition to the Halo universe while expanding the audience with a new genre. In the end the short campaign, lack of storyline, and ease of gameplay make this a tough sell. I enjoy dual stick shooters like this, so I did enjoy my time with the game. However, you might have to lower your expectations with your purchase.
It does some things very well, but drops some stitches. The single player is roughly entertaining, but isn't made for long play sessions: the missions are often very short and simple in form. The co-op makes up for a lot, only this mode has a big lack of content. This is a great pity, as it is precisely that multiplayer that brings out the fun. Halo: Spartan Assault doesn't impress as much as had been hoped for beforehand, but it's worth it. Even if you don't have anything with Halo.
Review in Dutch | Read full review
In the end the game isn't bad but unfortunately I just found it a little boring and that to me is one of the worst things a game could be.
Master Chief is on vacation, and with no intergalactic war to fight we'll have to settle for a simulation. Not a facsimile, nor a cheap knockoff, it isn't even something in the middle. It's something off to the side. Understanding that virtually any genre privy to guns and bad guys, that 'Halo' technically works as a twin-stick shooter isn't surprising. It's just there isn't much surprising beyond that either. It works, and those with a propensity for some laid-back, arcade-style gunplay will certainly be happy, if not happily overwhelmed, with the result. The best thing you can do is find a friend and go after the flood.
I don't know that I'd be disappointed by a game like this if it didn't bear the weight of Halo moniker. That's the double-edged sword of cashing in on name recognition. Spartan Assault is an installment of a venerable franchise whose technical savvy and artistic flair are marred by missed the spectre of missed opportunities. Even as a dumb college kid I couldn't have played this game for hours, because you just can't lose yourself in a shooter where all there is to do is shoot.
Even though there are a few moments where the game is quite satisfactory, you're always wishing for more than it ever truly delivers.
A reasonable twin stick shooter elevated from complete mediocrity by the licence - not really worth the asking price due to limited amount of content on offer but at the discounted rate for Windows 8 game owners it's probably worth picking up, if only for the addition of co-op and the inclusion of the DLC for free. Halo fans will purchase regardless and likely love every minute of it, this is the nature of adoring everything about a franchise, for anyone who doesn't live and breathe the franchise though there just isn't enough content and what there is has been done bigger and better many many times over.
The game, as an extension to the history of the Halo universe, contributes little and leaves some loose ends in its attempt to narrate the origins of the Spartan Ops that the colossal Infinity fleet conceived for the Spartan IV project in Halo 4. In the end, Halo : Spartan Assault has a lot to do as a member of the imposing franchise to which it belongs, and it definitely does not feel like a new generation. If you're a fan of the series, you don't want to miss it, but if the Master Chief saga doesn't fascinate you, skipping it won't affect your everyday life.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
If you own a Windows tablet or Windows phone, just play this on those devices instead if you must. Even if you are a huge Halo fan, there is absolutely no reason to shell out $15 for this game when you can play the exact same game for $7 on mobile devices. It's a shame because I feel like Halo: Spartan Assault could have been a great game if they took the time to add more features to the game. Make the game more challenging, add tons of new levels, make the game feel like a real twin stick shooter where I am shooting all over the screen to avoid being killed. That, to me, would have been worth the price increase, but as it stands, Halo: Spartan Assault on Xbox One is just an expensive port of a game that was released months ago.
Ultimately, however, it feels like a mobile game, containing breezy missions that aren't much to look at and provide little in the way of a challenge. Oh, and it costs twice the price to access.
This Xbox One port of the top-down Windows Phone shooter has fizzy gunplay but mediocre missions and questionable monetisation
This game does nothing for the reputation of a series that was already shaken after the departure of Bungie – it would serve Microsoft well to re-focus the Halo franchise purely on what it does best.
Just remember before going in where this game originated, and set expectations accordingly.
A cheap port of a mobile game with glaring flaws at its very core that does a disservice to the Halo brand, Spartan Assault should be avoided like the Flood.
Still essentially the same game as released on mobile, but at twice the price and with microtransactions that are even more cynically-designed than usual.
At the end of the day Spartan Assault is not a bad game, but there are a few hiccups that hamper what could have been.