138
rate

Halo MMO unearthed due to Ensemble Studios '09 closure

September 23, 2008 in News comments 10

It seems the closure of Ensembles Studio after they finished Halo Wars has unearthed some interesting details on a Halo MMO that was underway and canceled mid '07.

Check out the site for more information, as well as a huge amount of screens showing UI and character designs.

MS’s will be closing their Ensemble Studios once Halo Wars is finished and on shelves in the 1st quarter of 2009. Many already know this, but of late, evidence has surfaced showing a MMO that was underway at Ensemble for the Halo Franchise. It’s also been reported that many staff have been offered various incentives to stay on until the game finally ships. But whether they do or not is a personal matter for those concerned.

I suppose working for a game you now know has no future (regarding further iterations with the studio) and with a studio you know is doomed to close would make one lose a certain amount of enthusiasm for thejob-at-hand. I know it would with me, no matter how good the job or task was, there would be a certain feeling attachec with it.
XboxOZ360 via xboxoz360gamer.com »
Favourite this article Add source
| More
Report!
Additional sources:

Comments

Register as a member to subscribe comments.
  • 1
    Armed Rebel Sep 23, 08
    No surprise, around the time Age of Empires III was released there were a lot of things on the employment page that hinted towards building an MMO.

    It looks/sounds shitty though, tbh. It's best that it was canceled.
  • 0
    XboxOZ360 Sep 23, 08
    Well youcan't judge a game based on prtotype art and preliminary drafts . jeesseus some gamers see a few earlt alpha object, some ideas of games style and automatically write a game off when it's only about 1/8th the way into its life cycle.

    Games generally have a 3-6 year production cycle, sometimes more. Trouble with the current two generations of gamers is that they expect perfection from the moment a game is begun, which is impossible.

    I'm sure with care and lots of work, the game, if it is to end up becoming one, will not look anything like what you see in these "prtotype Tests" . .
    • 0
      Armed Rebel Sep 23, 08
      Well I'm not just talking about the the screenshots of the game, I mean the whole idea. I think the concept is just bad. That's just me though.
  • 0
    Play ISDF Sep 24, 08
    I gotta kinda side with Armed Rebel here, I find Halo to be a great series and I do enjoy playing it, but an MMO just doesn't sit right, especially after having a look at some of those pictures. Now, IF it was a squad based MMO-ish game, and it stayed 100% true to the Halo universe, then maybe, but it doesn't look like it's like that at all.
    • 0
      Final Blade Sep 24, 08
      You do realize that Halo series was technically a MMO right? If you think about the amount of time and effort Bungie did with the online aspect, where as the offline wasn't that great. Thats partially my reasons for not liking the series offline campaign in the last 2 games. As far as I see Halo 2 and 3 to me is more of a MMO.

      And I think it would be a great game especially how awesome 360 is with online games and the service.
      • 0
        Play ISDF Sep 24, 08
        I wouldn't say it's an MMO just because Bungie put a lot of time into an online aspect. If that's the case then a lot of other games COULD be called an MMO. Besides, it's only your opinion as far as the offline goes. Personally I like the offline a whole lot.
        • 0
          Final Blade Sep 24, 08
          I never said it wasn't my opinion. Im a big halo fan since the first, and it hasn't been as great compared to the first. The ending on H2 was disappointing, and the 3rd wasn't that great either from my perspective. I felt Halo after 1 turned more towards online as a MMO then a great offline game.
  • 0
    XboxOZ360 Sep 24, 08
    I don't like Halo per-se', it's a decent game, but people (well many gamers) only see it from one side, yet it was originally a RTS designed for the Mac, NPOT a FPS. So having it as a possible MMO is in line with what it originally came from, the idea of it being used as a user generated world and the like.

    If we only allow a game to stay in one genre', we stifle the creative spirit within the industry at large. Do you think that many new Franchies are really that new. They aren't. They are adaptations of games or themes from other games or ideas, changed around and made for a difference audience.

    Each genre' has supporters, and each will want something different from their gaming experience. We (gamers in general) clammer for "innovation" and "fresh ideas" but when a developer decides to do that, they are critised for making the change.

    A game like Halo might spark up a whole new slant as a MMO, it's just that gamers, certain ones, don't like change, yet on the same hand want, nay, demand change. I beleive tha Halo Wars will not do as well as some think it will. As there's a storng core Halo fanbase that simply see Halo as a FPS and won't deal with the RTS aspects of the new game.

    That will be their inability to look at something fresh and new and simply try it on, and give it a good go and NOT have expectations. If you come to anything from a level of "expectation" then you've opened yourself up already for disappointment. As you've come to it expecting one thing, and received another.

    Just be open to the possibility of experiencing something new.
    • 0
      Play ISDF Sep 24, 08
      What you say is true, there really is no doubt about that, but there's one thing you have to keep in mind though. When you have created a universe, like Halo, if your going to keep the same series name and try something new, you have to stay true to the series to at least some degree. Granted, this does show Halo based stuff, but because everything in Halo is related to war and fighting, that does leave certain guidelines. The only way they can do otherwise is if they have it pre or post everything Halo at this point.
  • 0
    Killosity Sep 24, 08
    Halo 3 Single Player was sloppy. It was stapled onto an appealing and hyped multiplayer game. For all its shortcomings though, the halo series is awesome. An MMO for Halo is silly. Theres an upcoming RTS (Halo Wars) for the universe, and I think the genre diversity should stop there.

This news story is archived and is closed to comments now.