“First person shooters will NEVER work on consoles.” Not so many years ago that critical attitude towards taking the staple product of PC gaming to the living room was shared by many. Then a little game called Halo came along and shattered whatever doubt was left that an FPS could properly function on a console, leaving PC gamers with their keyboards and mice stuck firmly in their mouths. So can lighting strike twice? Can the Halo franchise once again bridge the gap between these two platforms so that the real time strategy genre may finally cross it?

Obviously, we can’t say for certain yet - the game isn’t due out until the spring of 2009 - but it is safe to say that developer Ensemble Studios is coming closer to achieving the goal of a proper console RTS than anyone before them. It’s also worth mentioning the degree to which Halo Wars feels like a genuine part of the money-printing franchise that Bungie created. Before even getting into the gameplay, the menu alone evokes the Halo theme, with the same ominous score playing and a nearly identical interface, which we were told will carry over to a very similar version of Halo 3’s multiplayer matchmaking system. A stat-tracking function will also be available, but the members of Ensemble didn’t believe that it would be connected to Bungie.net.

Starting up the game, we were shown a UNSC base on a forerunner world whose name was not revealed to us. Ensemble isn’t saying much about the storyline right now, except for the fact that it takes place in the early years of humanity’s war with the Covenant. If you want a primer, it might be a good idea to read the latest Halo novel, Contact Harvest, as events in the book will play a part in the game.

One thing that Ensemble was eager to make clear is the unique nature of Halo War’s storyline, deliberately set apart from Bungie’s trilogy, so don’t hope for any guest appearances by the Master Chief.