Halo: Spartan Strike

*Halo: Spartan Strike*

***Halo: Spartan Strike***is a top-down shooter science fiction video game developed by 343 Industries and Vanguard Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios for iOS and PC. It is a sequel to *Halo: Spartan Assault*.

*Halo: Spartan Strike* was first released on April 16, 2015. It is the second game in the *Halo*franchise to be a top-down shooter. Unlike its predecessor, it is not available on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, and it is unknown if it ever will be. Its existence was due to the huge successor of its predecessor, and it serves as a midquel for both *Halo 2* and *Halo 4*. It is one of a few *Halo*games to not be released on Xbox.

## Story

### Plot

The game opens in the year 2557; three years after *Halo: Spartan Assault.*Roland informs the Spartan that ONI has just granted the spartan access to highly classified information from the Battle of Mombasa; because of this, in the simulation, he will simulate the actions of an ODST squad sent to secure a Forerunner artifact called the Conduit; for the purposes of the simulation, the ODSTs are replaced by a single Spartan-IV in War Master armor.

During the Battle of Mombasa in 2552, the Covenant  brings the Conduit into the city. A Spirit dropship carrying information about the Conduit is shot down by UNSC forces and the Spartan (taking the place of the ODSTs) retrieves the datapad containing the intel, which points to it being somewhere in New Mombasa. The Spartan kills the Sangheili carrying the Conduit, retrieving it and taking it to a UNSC convoy. Outraged at the loss of the Conduit, the Covenant assaults the convoy in the hopes of retaking it. During the battle, a Sangheili Field Master escapes in a Spirit, having successfully retrieved the Conduit. The Spartan pursues the Spirit, and eventually manages to shoot it down. Arriving at the crash site, the Spartan kills the Field Master and his Kig-Yar bodyguards. Once again retrieving the Conduit, the Spartan prepares to extract from the city to bring the device to a research facility in New Phoenix. However, at this exact time, the *Solemn Penance* enters slipspace over the city. Fleeing in a warthog, the Spartan attempts to flee, but fails to escape the resulting rapture.

Cutting back to 2557, Roland reveals that the ODSTs (the Spartan) were unable to escape the rupture in time, and were all killed; the Conduit was presumed destroyed with them.Just like with *Halo: Spartan Assault,* *Halo: Spartan Strike* employs a campaign told through a tactical training simulation narrated by Roland; the cutscenes also use artistic slideshows over pre-rendered or game-rendered CGI for cutscenes. Just like *Spartan Assault*, levels are separated into mega levels called Operations. There are a total of five operations, but unlike *Spartan Assault*, there are no co-op specific levels. Also unlike *Spartan Assault*, the player does not take control of any named characters, and instead switches between an unnamed Headhunter and an unidentified Spartan-IV.

In 2557, a faint signal from Installation 03 is detected by Ivanoff Station. In response, a Headhunter was sent to investigate. It was discovered that the source was originating from the Conduit and that, unfortunately, the Covenant Remnant have also detected the signal and have come to take the Conduit for themselves. The Spartan now takes the place of the Headhunter during the Battle of Installation 03. To prevent the UNSC from locating the Conduit, signal jammers were placed throughout the jungle. The Spartan destroys the jammers and the device's signal is soon found to be eminating from a nearby Forerunner structure. Utilizing a stolen Wraith to destroy a power core, the Spartan disables a gate blocking the entrance to the structure. The Spartan is attacked by a Promethean Knight inside the structure and it is realized that the source was fabricated by the Covenant to distract the UNSC. Pinpointing the Conduit's true location through the use of UNSC transmitters, the Spartan departs for it in a Pelican. A terminal on Installation 03 reveals that the Conduit can open slipspace portals throughout the Milky Way. Additionally, it can enter slipspace itself to avoid destruction - explaining how it survived the Battle of Mombasa. Meanwhile, the Covenant Remnant discovers the Altar, where they plan to use it to power the Conduit. Once the Conduit is powered, the Covenant intends to open slipspace portals all across Installation 03 for their Promethean allies, from which they would seize control of the ring from the UNSC.

The Spartan, determined to stop the Covenant, attempts to travel to the Altar in a Pelican. However, before reaching the Altar, the Pelican is shot down. Surviving the crash, the Spartan fights through Covenant troops and reaches a deactivated portal that leads to the Altar. Using nearby power stations to power the portal, the Spartan enters it and appears outside the Altar. Kwon determines that a Scorpion is needed to break past the Covenant's defenses at the Altar. After the Spartan destroys several nearby AA Wraiths, a Pelican drops off the required Scorpion for the Spartan, and he uses it to fight his way to the Altar. Smashing the Covenant forces there, the Spartan manages to reclaim the Conduit. Realizing they have lost the battle, Covenant forces retreat. Delivering the Conduit to a Pelican, the Spartan operates a Spirit to leave the ringworld and link up with a Pelican in orbit. After returning to Ivanoff Station with the Conduit, the Spartan receives an emergency distress call from an ONI facility in New Phoenix, Arizona, back on Earth. The Spartan discovers that when the Covenant used the Conduit at the Altar, slipspace portals opened all over the galaxy; including one in New Phoenix, where a Forerunner artifact was being studied. Because of this, Covenant and Promethean forces proceeded to invade the city through the portal. Realizing the portal could only be shut down with the Conduit, the Spartan left for Earth to stop the invasion.

After landing in New Phoenix, the Spartan makes his way through the ONI facility, completing various objectives to hinder the Covenant and Promethean invasion. In the end, the Spartan and a ONI research team use the Conduit to deactivate the Forerunner artifact powering the slipspace portal, halting the invasion. Before the UNSC can reacquire the Conduit from the artifact's core, it makes an automated slipspace jump to an unknown location.

### Campaign

On average, a player will take 6 hours and 8 minutes and 9 hours and 20 minutes if played leisurely to complete *Halo: Spartan Strike'*s campaign. There are five operations of five to six missions each, the last operation of which does not unlock unless all other operations are completed with gold stars. The game has two playable characters: a Spartan-IV (taking the place of an ODST squad) and a Headhunter, although the majority of the game is spent playing as the Headhunter.

The five operations are:

* Operation A: Orphic Spear
	+ New Mombasa Nightmare
	+ On Top of the World
	+ Conduit
	+ Reversal of Fortune
	+ Wounded Quarry
	+ Last Exit
* Operation B: Steadfast Pursuit
	+ Gamma Halo
	+ Signal Fires
	+ Lockout
	+ Knockin' on a Forerunner Door
	+ Dormant
	+ Run Through the Jungle
* Operation C: Valiant Hammer
	+ All the Way to the Altar
	+ Up in the Air
	+ Til Death Do Us Part
	+ Leave 'em at the Altar
	+ Deliverance
	+ Don't Touch My Ride
* Operation D: Adamantine Shield
	+ The Way Home
	+ Serve and Protect
	+ We Need to Talk
	+ Reverse Course
	+ The Lion's Den
	+ End of the Line
* Operation E: Brother's Keeper (Unlockable)
	+ Behind Enemy Lines
	+ Glyphology
	+ Foothold
	+ Finders, Keepers
	+ Portal Control
	+ Hold the Line

### Main characters

* Roland
* Unidentified Spartan-IV
* Unidentified Headhunter

### Minor characters

* Kwon
* John-117

### Weapons

* UNSC
* Covenant Remnant
* Forerunner

### Usable

* BR85HB Battle Rifle
* Scorpion machine gun turret
* Grenade Launcher
* M41 Rocket Launcher
* M41 Vulcan LAAG
* M45D Shotgun
* M6 Spartan Laser
* M6H Magnum
* M7 SMG
* M9 Frag Grenade
* MA5D Assault Rifle
* Napalm Grenade
* SRS 99-S5 Sniper Rifle
* Stun Grenade

### Unusable

* M7 Silenced SMG
* MA37 Assault Rifle
* MA5C Assault Rifle

### Usable

* Plasma Grenade
* Brute Shot
* Plasma Pistol
* Shade turret
* Needler
* Plasma Repeater
* Focus Rifle

### Unusable

* Energy Sword
* Gravity Hammer
* Plasma Rifle

### Usable

* Pulse Grenade
* Suppressor
* Scattershot
* Incineration Cannon
* Binary Rifle

### Vehicles

* UNSC
* Covenant Remnant
* Ships

### Drivable

* Hornet
* Sparrowhawk
* Kestrel
* Warthog
	+ Warthog
* Scorpion
* Grizzly

### Undrivable

* Pelican
* Genet
* Elephant

### Drivable

* Banshee
* Ghost

### Undrivable

* Spirit
* Scarab
* Anti-Air Wraith

### UNSC

* *Infinity*-class supercarrier
	+ UNSC *Infinity*

### Covenant Remnant

* CAS-class assault carriers
	+ *Solemn Penance*

### Armor Abilities and Powerups

* Active Camouflage
* Airstrike
* Bubble Shield
* Proximity Mine
* Regeneration Field
* Overshield
* Seeker Drone
* Shock Chain
* Teleport
* Autosentry

## Reception

*Halo: Spartan Strike*received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the PC version a score of 66/100 based on 9 reviews and the iOS version a score of 86/100 based on 4 reviews. Another aggregator, GameRankings, gave the PC version a score of 70% based on 6 reviews and the iOS version a score of 86.67% based on 3 reviews.

* **GameRankings**: 70% (PC) and 86.67% (iOS).
* **Metacritic**: 66/100 (PC) and 86/100 (iOS).
* **GameSpot**: 7/10.

## Halo: Spartan Strike Original Soundtrack

The Halo: Spartan Strike Original Soundtrack was composed for the game, *Halo: Spartan Assault*, and was composed by Tom Salta. Altogether, there are 27 tracks on the soundtrack. All the music from the game is present, with very few missing tracks. It officially released on April 16, 2015.

## Trivia

* *Halo: Spartan Strike*was originally meant to release on December 12, 2014, but was delayed due to the matchmaking issues in *Halo: The Master Chief Collection.*
* *Halo: Spartan Strike*is the first *Halo*title to be released on iOS.
* Unlike its predecessor, *Spartan Assault*, *Spartan Strike*was not released on Xbox 360 or Xbox One.
* *Halo: Spartan Strike*is the  third *Halo*title to not be a first-person shooter.
* *Halo: Spartan Strike*is the first *Halo*title, in all related media, to feature the Kestrel. The vehicle was originally cut content that was planned for *Halo 2*, but was cut due to short time.
* The game marks the first on-screen appearance of the Sparrowhawk since their introduction in *Halo Wars.*

## Gallery

Halo: Spartan Strike WallpaperHalo: Spartan Strike Logo

## Links

### External Links

1. ↑ **Xbox Wire** - *Halo: Spartan Strike Launches Today on Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, iPhone, iPad and Steam*
2. ↑ http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/17/halo-spartan-strike-ios/
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 **IGN** - *Halo: Spartan Strike Announced for Windows Devices and Steam*
4. ↑ **Halo Waypoint** – *Halo: Spartan Strike*
5. ↑ **Halo Waypoint** - *Halo: Spartan Strike Coming In Early 2015*