New Halo Mixed-Reality Experience Announced

Microsoft has announced a new Halo mixed-reality project called Halo: Recruit. It's not a game, or part of a game, but instead it's described as a "fun little arcade experience" that serves as an introduction to Halo's world.

The five-minute Halo: Recruit experience features some of Halo's "most iconic characters," which is no doubt a reference to Master Chief and Cortana, at least. There will also be some weaponry (Battle Rifle and Magnum, probably) and the Warthog, developer 343 said in a blog post. Additionally, you'll get to stand next to an Elite, which is probably going to be a frightening experience.

You can try Halo: Recruit at Microsoft Stores (a list of locations was not mentioned) or by downloading it for free from the Windows Store starting on October 17. You need a Windows Mixed Reality headset to try it. All of the headsets that will be available this holiday are now up for pre-order, and you can visit this page to see a full rundown of available models.

Halo: Recruit was made by 343 in partnership with VR developer Endeavour One. 343's Kiki Wolfkill said in the blog post that she was initially skeptical about mixed reality/virtual reality, in part because she was concerned about feeling claustrophobic with a helmet on. "Boy was I wrong," she said. "There are precious few opportunities as a creative team to get to explore a truly brand new medium--the mixed reality space is exactly that, and it's magical. Here at 343 Industries, we are just starting to dip our toes into the mixed reality space but we are hugely passionate about the potential to truly explore and play in our universe with this technology."

Wolfkill also teased that more Halo mixed-reality experiences could come to be, though none have been officially announced as of yet.

Microsoft brought a Halo experience for its HoloLens headset to E3 2015. A few GameSpot editors tried it and came away generally impressed. That demo was a primer of sorts for the Halo world, letting you walk through a physical environment while wearing the headset and virtually become a Spartan. We had some qualms about that demo, so it will be interesting to see what Halo: Recruit does differently.

No new Halo games have been officially announced, but Halo 6--or whatever it might be called--is no doubt in development. Microsoft already confirmed that the next Halo FPS game will have split-screen, so that's pretty good to hear after Halo 5 left it out.