Halo Wars add-on leads XBL update

Ensemble Studios may not be around anymore, but its swan song lives on this week with the first batch of downloadable content for the Xbox 360-exclusive Halo Wars. The Strategic Options add-on pack includes three new game modes--Keepaway, Tug of War, and Reinforcement--for the sci-fi...

Ensemble Studios may not be around anymore, but its swan song lives on this week with the first batch of downloadable content for the Xbox 360-exclusive Halo Wars. The Strategic Options add-on pack includes three new game modes--Keepaway, Tug of War, and Reinforcement--for the sci-fi real-time-strategy game's online multiplayer component. The pack is now available through Xbox Live for 800 Microsoft points ($10).

Two new games will join the Halo Wars add-on pack on Xbox Live this Wednesday. Vector 2 Games' Blazing Birds satisfies gamers' itch for a robot badminton simulation and is available for 400 MS points ($5). The game features 60 computer-controlled opponents on three different difficulty levels. Along with The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, Blazing Birds was named as a winner of Microsoft's inaugural Dream-Build-Play XNA development contest.

The second game hitting XBLA this week is Gastronaut Studios' Gel: Set & Match for 800 MS points ($10). A match-style puzzle game, Gel: Set & Match offers three different modes. Puzzle and Action mode both support cooperative play, with the former attempting to confound gamers with unique block arrangements and the latter introducing a side-scrolling element where players attempt to keep a path clear of bricks. Gel: Set & Match also supports competitive online multiplayer through a battle mode variation.

44 Comments

  • Ehggsz

    Posted Jun 12, 2009 1:09 am PT

    Add-ons are like moths, making holes in your pockets. This should be free. But, as always...

  • cool_beans1

    Posted Jun 11, 2009 12:21 pm PT

    I completely agree with Killer2401 on this on.

  • Killer2401

    Posted Jun 10, 2009 11:21 am PT

    Game modes are not DLC, it's missed oppurtunities.

  • beymod

    Posted Jun 6, 2009 5:42 am PT

    thanks....

    http://www.beymod.com.tr

  • Suicide-Panda

    Posted Jun 4, 2009 10:06 am PT

    ouch bad price....

  • ZT3V3

    Posted Jun 1, 2009 1:14 pm PT

    Who cares about Game Modes?!?!? Wheres the Flood faction??? No new maps, no new faction, i'll NEVER buy modes. what are they thinking!?!

  • ElectrolightSH

    Posted May 28, 2009 9:50 pm PT

    I LOVE Halo but I will NOT pay $10 or 1/6th the price of the game for a 2.12MB file that is 1/2,938th the size of the 6.23GB game. This is why I call them Micro$haft because of the s&*t like this that they do that pisses me off. I as well as many other players have felt that multiplayer was lacking and that these three extra game modes should have been included already.

  • koskey06

    Posted May 26, 2009 4:17 pm PT

    I'm with you on the covenant campaign!!!!! but $10 for content??? come on now, they jip us on live prices an now for online content!!!!

  • gnrlstuart

    Posted May 21, 2009 4:46 pm PT

    wow 10 bucks for some new modes. thats a sixth of the games price for a 20th of the actual content it shipped with, that should be free or cheap.

  • TheAustrian

    Posted May 21, 2009 7:08 am PT

    Great! New modes! Now give us the Covenant Campaign!

    @nurse_tsunami
    Amen to that.

  • boxofwit

    Posted May 21, 2009 6:25 am PT

    newb16, it just means more stuff has been added to the marketplace.
    Also, I want a playable flood and covenant campaign.

  • jordan_johnson

    Posted May 21, 2009 4:29 am PT

    Damn you MS! I wish we got new maps with it. THEN I would be willing to pay.

  • noclue_27

    Posted May 20, 2009 6:03 pm PT

    http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=201886

    That explains why it's only 2mb...

  • mc007

    Posted May 20, 2009 5:22 pm PT

    bs, a couple game modes, no new maps, for $10???!!! damn you M$!!!

  • newb16

    Posted May 20, 2009 2:07 pm PT

    My question has not been answered yet. What is the XBL update?

  • chappy_man

    Posted May 20, 2009 11:46 am PT

    okay

  • Blackwatersoul

    Posted May 20, 2009 11:04 am PT

    Sweet new game modes for Halowars, even though I would rather play a new campaign or new maps this is alright too, unlike certain people who just post random, negative posts I believe Halo Wars is a good RTS, better then the others on the 360, thats right I said it command and conquer sucks on the 360. it ruined the franchise.

  • Willceace

    Posted May 20, 2009 8:15 am PT

    I'd rather suck on a frozen turd.

  • eynonz

    Posted May 20, 2009 7:05 am PT

    Halowars = yawn :/

  • -HCMF-

    Posted May 20, 2009 4:35 am PT

    so where is the update?

  • jenguando

    Posted May 20, 2009 2:02 am PT

    @ PointlessFool

    I completely agree.

  • newb16

    Posted May 20, 2009 12:15 am PT

    So what is the XBL update?

  • SalarianChemist

    Posted May 20, 2009 12:09 am PT

    Halo Wars is one of the Top 10 favorite games I have this generation.

    This add-on is a great example that shows how Microsoft still has "employees" doing the work on software, even though the actual company called Ensemble is no longer in existence.

    I love the way Halo Wars uses the awesome Halo story and plot to its advantage. I wonder if Halo Wars is going to add in more add-ons relating to to Halo 3: Orbital Drop Shock Trooper when that game is released later this year.

  • nurse_tsunami

    Posted May 19, 2009 11:27 pm PT

    I'd rather be playing Age of Empires 4

  • rann89

    Posted May 19, 2009 11:12 pm PT

    lol @ selling a game, not finishing it, and then selling the rest of the game a few months later and calling it an "add-on"

  • gatsbythepig

    Posted May 19, 2009 11:06 pm PT

    Great news for anyone that owns Halo Wars and actually enjoys it.

  • THE_BIONIC_ARM

    Posted May 19, 2009 10:50 pm PT

    a covenant campaign would be sweet

  • console-deity

    Posted May 19, 2009 10:04 pm PT

    It's a little surprising that the guys who gave us Halo Wars (though they're now another developer supporting it) haven't given us a Covenant campaign yet and people keep asking for it.

  • PointlessFool

    Posted May 19, 2009 9:57 pm PT

    "very mediocre"...Really...I agree that Halo Wars would not be good on PC, but I would never call it mediocre. Any RTS that can be understood by the typical non-gamer in under an hour deserves praise, even if it isn't that deep. Hell, better to have a simple RTS that anyone can jump into than another life-suck like Starcraft where Koreans obsess over the game to the point where the game becomes unapproachable online.

  • firehawk998

    Posted May 19, 2009 9:51 pm PT

    I WANT THE COVENANT CAMPAIGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Diernes

    Posted May 19, 2009 6:55 pm PT

    why would you want this very mediocre RTS on PC when there are countless good ones already on it.

  • feliscele

    Posted May 19, 2009 6:46 pm PT

    Or a playable Flood?

  • feliscele

    Posted May 19, 2009 6:46 pm PT

    Yes, where is a Covenant campaign?

  • UdderJuice

    Posted May 19, 2009 6:41 pm PT

    Agrees with svaubel, Where is the Covenant campaign or a true expansion pack with new missions?

  • Franko_3

    Posted May 19, 2009 6:30 pm PT

    This is not much better than the resident evil 5 versus mode. For 10$ they could atleast pack 2-3 maps... A 10$ dlc should give you 20% of the content of the full 50$ game, stupid rip-off

  • svaubel

    Posted May 19, 2009 6:22 pm PT

    Blah. Where is the Cov campaign.

  • Chris_555_TK

    Posted May 19, 2009 6:07 pm PT

    Hey! $10 for something that should be free!

  • Killer2401

    Posted May 19, 2009 6:04 pm PT

    Wow, just modes? A SINLGE programmer probably made those modes in (like sparta said) in 20 minutes. Look at Garry's Mod and tell me if you would pay $10 for every new game mode that came out. No.

    I'll wait till new maps are released.

  • DC_Sparta

    Posted May 19, 2009 5:52 pm PT

    10 dollars for a new set of rules that probably took 20 minutes to make is too much.

  • DarthEthong467

    Posted May 19, 2009 5:51 pm PT

    Halo Wars wasn't that great, especially not for $60. Why should I drop another $10 for this? I'll pass.

  • green_dominator

    Posted May 19, 2009 5:43 pm PT

    Someone should bring Halo Wars to PC.

  • moose_knuckler

    Posted May 19, 2009 5:36 pm PT

    Not paying $10 for it but looks pretty fun.

  • TexasAnMGrad2K

    Posted May 19, 2009 4:49 pm PT

    Sweet.

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