For both the right and wrong reasons, Spartan Assault is one of the most interesting additions to the Halo series in years.
It's a committed departure from the FPS genre that Bungie, Infinity Ward and Valve have painstakingly honed over the years, and it's not available on Xbox either. This is a top-down shooter built for mobiles and tablets, with the iconic sights and sounds you expect, yet as immediately fun as a blast of Smash TV.
Some will argue that Halo on smartphones and tablets would've been a more astute maneuver several years ago when the whole mobile games market was easier to conquer. In 2013, Halo mobile is a tad expected.
But of course there's a catch: Spartan Assault is only available for Windows Phone 8 and tablets such as Surface. And even though this was designed for screens, a Windows 8 version is also available.
Dan Ayoub, the executive producer for publishing at 343, explains that the purpose here is to drive interest in these Microsoft platforms, which is pretty honest and straightforward of him.
It's hardly a crime if Microsoft wants to sell those tablets and phones that it has spent so much of its time and money on building. But perhaps relying on a fairly inexpensive mobile app to negotiate £500+ purchase decision is a tad fanciful.
Whether or not it'll make you buy one of those cool Nokia phones, Spartan Assault is nevertheless a high quality experience when it rolls under your thumbs. Though it plays like it was born in the 16-bit era of top-down shooters, the presentation is excellent.
Ayoub tells CVG that his team's main goal was to, as he puts it, "un-tether Halo".
"We had to let it be something that you can take with you wherever you go. But we also had to make the right Halo game, we couldn't just copy and paste the experience onto mobiles and tablets.
"We also wanted to change the dialogue about what's possible on mobiles. A lot of people have preconceptions about what a mobile game is. They think it's not going to look great and it's not going to sound great. We wanted to crush those perceptions."
Under the thumb
The biggest achievement is the controls. Ayoub tells me that about a dozen designs were considered before the team settled on a simple and intelligent twin-stick layout.
Those familiar with using virtual analogues on touch-screens will notice how, due to the lack of resistance, thumbs will naturally glide away from the analogues. Spartan Assault, however, features virtual sticks that follow your thumbs, meaning that control remains on the tip of your fingers. It's not perfect (nothing on touch-screens is) but it's as close as any mobile developer has come.
Other elements are more traditional. Set within a narrative that bridges the gap between Halo 3 and 4, in Spartan Assault players will command an UNSC Infinity Spartan who is limited to two weapons, an assortment of grenades and a trusty melee attack. Enemies come in waves and shields need to be recharged before the next burst of action.
Other parts are entirely new. There will be microtransactions (calm down) for certain upgrades and new weapons (which you can grind for free if you have the time). The game saves to the cloud, meaning you can start on mobile and continue on tablet or desktop.
The game's 25 levels will take about several hours to get though, and certain milestones will unlock Achievements on Halo 4. This being a mobile game, post-release content is already planned, with weekly challenges in place and content add-ons penciled in.
Series custodian 343 Industries has partnered with Netherlands studio Vanguard Games to build this, which in itself is interesting as that studio was co-founded by Martin de Ronde - the man who helped establish Killzone outfit Guerrilla.
"We are a team of console developers learning a new space, so we had to unlearn things really quickly," says Ayoub.
While it's been a challenge for those console developers to un-think their approach to a project, what they have brought to the mobile games space is encouraging. This is an attractive, light-weight version of Halo for both commuters and hardcore fans of the series.
"My ultimate ambition for this is people to say, wow, this really changes my impression of a mobile game"
"My ultimate ambition for this is people to say, wow, this really changes my impression of a mobile game. I would love people to look at this and rethink what's possible on mobile platforms," says Ayoub.
Though there isn't exactly a sprawling army of gamers who play on Windows Phone, Surface and PC (at least not yet), those few at least have something to look forward to now. Spartan Assault is a breath of fresh air for a series that, like many ongoing blockbusters, has stagnated a little. Whether it's anything beyond that will be answered in a matter of weeks.
Halo: Spartan Assault is due for release in July
