A few months back Microsoft launched Halo Spartan Assault on Windows 8 phones, tablets and PCs. The game is a take on the twin-stick shooter albeit using a different button set up. The plot follows Spartan Palmer from Halo 4 as she works her way through various missions and scenarios. The game costs $15 on the Xbox One store, or $5 for those who have already purchased it on other platforms.
The game itself worked well on tablets and phones given the control scheme it needed to work with, but when ported to Xbox One it just feels dated. It doesn’t function as a twin-stick shooter as you’d think it would, you still shoot with the trigger. It almost seems like the game was merely moved over, remapped to a controller, and that’s it. It could have really shown had the team reworked it entirely for the console and made it function like some of the great twin-stick shooters XBLA has been known for. Also the move to console should have seen the removal of micro-transactions within the game. Before each mission you use points to buy different weapons and perks, and when you have no points you can buy them. This is a common mobile method, however it stuck around and is also present on Xbox One. If you don’t want to spend extra cash you rarely get to use the better human weapons and other armor mods. On the up-side the art style is fairly nice and the music is quite good.
Overall Halo Spartan Assault is a decent little game that should have been left to mobile. The control layout and gameplay that worked well on a tablet does not transfer well to a console and could have used some rework. The game isn’t terrible, and is worth a play for Halo fans, but with tempered expectations. It’s a solid game to play for 10 minute chunks, but any more time and the seams start to unravel. In the end all Spartan Assault really did was make me want a true Halo twin-stick shooter.