Released in 2009,Halo Warswas a fairly experimental departure for the franchise, but it’s an experiment that paid off. Arguably one of the best real-time strategy games for consoles,Halo Wars' greatest strength is its accessibility, easing players into the wider world of strategy games through easy-to-learn, hard-to-master gameplay.Halo Warsalso featured a compelling story that continued to flesh out the widerHalouniverse. Though it wasn’t perfect,Halo Warsgot a lot right, and its approach to the greaterHaloseries could still be adopted today by several Microsoft franchises.
ThoughHalomay always be Microsoft’s heavy-hitter, the company isn’t without its other iconic first-party IPs. While Microsoft certainly doesn’t have as many beloved franchises under its belt as its competitors, there’s still a handful that could work surprisingly well withtheHalo Warsformula, though some may need a little tweaking before they get the real-time strategy treatment.
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Other Microsoft Franchises That Could Work With the Halo Wars Formula
The most obvious Microsoft franchise that could adopt theHalo Warsformula isGears of War. Debuting all the way back in 2006,Gears of Waris still one of Microsoft’s most beloved franchises, with entries still releasing every few years or so. Beinga Sci-Fi military shooter,Gears of Warnaturally shares a lot of similarities with theHalofranchise, and that makes it the perfect candidate for aHalo Wars-like spinoff. Players could control either the Locust or the Coalition, both with their own sets of unique units. Throughout theGears of Warseries, fans see a variety of different Locust ground and air units, along with many different Coalition soldier and vehicle types, meaning that the groundwork is already there for an RTS adaptation.
Another popular Microsoft-owned franchise that could get aHalo Wars-like spinoff isMinecraft. TheMinecraftseries has already seen a number of genre-bending spinoffs, and the upcomingMinecraft Legendscould pave the way for even more strategy-focused titles. ThoughMinecraft Legendsdoes have some RTS elements, it’s technically an action-strategy game, meaning that the player is in direct control of a character on the battlefield. IfMinecraft Legendsdoes well, then a fully-fledgedMinecraftRTS in a similar vein toHalo Warscould be on the table; it could even borrow units and structures fromLegendswhile using them from a new angle.
Crackdownis one of the most under-utilized franchises in Microsoft’s arsenal, and it’s one that’s primed foraHalo WarsRTS spinoff. While the real hook ofCrackdown’s gameplay has always been controlling the agent on the field and using all of their enhanced abilities first-hand, these powers lend themselves well to an RTS game, much likeHalo Wars' Spartans. Admittedly, theCrackdownuniverse would need to be tweaked a little to fit with the RTS genre, but there’s plenty to draw from when it comes to factions and units, and at this point, anyCrackdowngame would be a win for fans.
One of the more tricky Microsoft franchises to adapt into aHalo Wars-like RTS, but potentially one of the most exciting, isSea of Thieves. The general gameplay loop ofSea of Thievesmight not immediately lend itself to a real-time strategy spinoff, but with a few tweaks, it could end up being the most intriguing RTS project. Players could control a fleet of ships and attempt to scavenge from islands while fending off ghostly threats and fellow pirates, essentially following the same premise asSea of Thieves' regular gameplay loop, but condensing it down into a more streamlined format based onHalo Wars.
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