Halo Wars includes online co-op and 6-player multiplayer. Spartan facts listed

Halo Wars screencap
The latest issue of GamePro magazine has revealed the Xbox 360-exclusive RTS game Halo Wars will support Xbox Live multiplayer for up to 6 players as well as 2-player online co-op. The American magazine has also revealed new UNSC units like the Vulture, Cyclops and Cobras will be included in the game.

Here are the latest Halo Wars Spartan facts:
1. Master Chief Is Alive And A Spartan. Halo Wars is set some 20 years before the events of Halo: Combat evolved, and Emsemble have confirmed that Master Chief is a practicing Spartan during this time Period. Ensemble wouldn’t confirm whether the iconic Halo star would make a cameo appearance in Halo Wars, however.

2. Spartans Are Powerful, But Not Unstoppable. Spartans are special, but they need a role, a focus in the battle” Ensemble Studios’ Dave Pottinger says. “You won’t automatically win by building a huge gang of Spartans” The Ensemble team is still working hard to make the Spartans a badass, but fair, fighting unit in Halo Wars.

3. You Earn Them Faster Than You Think. In 2531, the MJOLNIR technology is still in its infancy, and the spartan program is just kicking into gear. Even though the Spartans represent the cutting edge of the UNSC’s military technology, you won’t have to wait long to unlock them in the game. “The Spartan is the best unit, cost-for-cost, in the UNSC”, Chris Rippy says, “And we want you to use them in pretty much every game”

4. Spartans Will Turn Heads On The Battlefield. It’s not every day that the UNSC deploys cybernetically enhanced super soldiers. When you send Spartans into the field, nearby marine units will respond with relief and awe (“Look, Spartans!”) via the game’s battle chatter system.

5. Spartans Don’t have energy Shields. But they’ll heal anyway. Since Halo Wars is set before the invention of Master Chief’s shield-imbued Mk. V MJOLNIR armor, Ensemble had to balance player expectations with staying faithful to the Halo Timeline. Though Halo War’s Spartans won’t have shield technology, Ensemble says they will quickly recover from combat wounds.

6. Spartans Don’t Kick Enough Ass Yet. Halo’s iconic Spartans have quite a reputation to live up to, and Ensemble knows that expectations are high. The studio is still busy balancing the skills of the Spartans, but promises that they’ll be one of the coolest, most distinctive units in the game.

As for the release date, your guess is as good as mine. Halo Wars went from October 1st 2008, to sometime in 2008, to being completely absent from Microsoft’s release list the coming 9 months. Sounds like a first-half 2009 title.

Transcribed by Halowarsaddict & Joystiq