Canceled Ensemble Project Was Halo MMOG

[Andy Chalk]

Canceled Ensemble Project Was Halo MMOG

More bad news surrounding the Halo [http://www.ensemblestudios.com/] MMOG when the axe fell.

Microsoft [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20153].

Asked about the screens, Michael Zenke of World of Warcraft [http://www.massively.com/] interface. Simplicity and streamlined play appear to be the object of the game, but it's interesting to see so many strange icons on the hotbar. From the choice of abilities, it's easy to surmise that the game would have been some sort of melee/magic brawler. The upper bar has some similarities to the WoW UI modification Titan Panel - a favorite amongst players."

There's not much more about the game, which was apparently halted fairly early in the prototype phase, but more concept art and screens, assembled by the Gone Is Gone blog, can be seen on Flickr [http://www.flickr.com/photos/30784486@N04/sets/72157607452469273/].


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[Eldritch Warlord]

Well, that's actually pretty good.

Don't see how you could make a military sci-fi into an MMO without fracking up the universe real bad.

And that image could easily be a fack, it seems like a fairly easy photoshop.

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

Dear future MMO makers:

The WoW UI is not the only one that works, put just a little thought into it, please

 

[The_Prophet]

I think it looks good

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

Dear future MMO makers:

The WoW UI is not the only one that works, put just a little thought into it, please

Not only should we quote this and not say anything, but I think we should take it a step further by saying we should trash a lot of things MMO's do because they have potential to be much better with only minor things setting them back.

 

[Dealin Burgers]

It's a shame really. I would have loved to play as a grunt.

 

[Surggical_Scar]

Oh dear, the Halo franchise has lost a money-spinning crapfest.

Whoop-de-goddamn-do.

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

Oh dear, the Halo franchise has lost a money-spinning crapfest.

Whoop-de-goddamn-do.

Well, what's more interesting is that the dev team reported to be at work on it was one that led the RTS genre but made nothing outside it, and is now scheduled to be closed down after Halo Wars is released. Very strange news, if not the most reliable. Sounds like they were just kicking concepts around.

 

[TomNook]

Dear future MMO makers:

The WoW UI is not the only one that works, put just a little thought into it, please

Maybe Blizzard's next gen MMO will change the UI =D.

 

[Blind0bserver]

Has anyone stopped to ask why Ensemble Studios, a developer who makes real time strategy games like the Age of Empires series and Age of Mythology, was tasked with making an MMO?

Is it just me, or does there appear to be a problem here?

 

[BaronAsh]

Has anyone stopped to ask why Ensemble Studios, a developer who makes real time strategy games like the Age of Empires series and Age of Mythology, was tasked with making an MMO?

Is it just me, or does there appear to be a problem here?

Indeed

 

[Rosszul]

If this was to ever be released, it wouldn't make that much money. Although what I just said was a conjecture, so it could make lots of money.

 

[Sigenrecht]

That looked obscenely like a World of Warcraft screenshot with a picture of a Marine slapped on instead of a man with cheesy chain-mail, sword and board, and with the UI barely indiscernible from that of the aforementioned MMO monolith except for a little more refined look.

 

[MasterSqueak]

Well, that's actually pretty good.

Don't see how you could make a military sci-fi into an MMO without fracking up the universe real bad.

And that image could easily be a fack, it seems like a fairly easy photoshop.

Setting it during the Human-Covenant war.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Somehow this makes me HAPPIER.

 

[bodyklok]

Wow... (No pun intended) And to think I was upset when Ensemble closed, anyway, I agree, MMOs should stop ripping off wow, Halo was only going to have niece appeal any way; so it should have made it's own interface.

 

[Spirultima]

To be completely fair, i could imagine this being really bad, and not the "meh, im going to stop playing it" more towards "stain in gaming universe" because the devs. would play on the Halo name.

 

[Kellerb]

and a million fanboys cried out in pain.

 

[similar.squirrel]

I have a feeling it would not have been very good anyway. The Halo universe is not suited to it.
Every second franchise is trying to cash in off MMOs these days. Including Twilight. Read a thread about that last night..