Review: Halo: Spartan Strike (Steam)

Halo: Spartan Strike makes you a Spartan supersoldier battling evil forces. Delve into 30 challenging missions through cities and jungles using a devastating arsenal of weapons, abilities and vehicles including the iconic Warthog against the Covenant and Promethean enemies.

Pros:

• Excellent detailed graphics.  much more vibrant colours than the last company.
• Top down shooter gameplay.
• Steam Achievements.
• Earn in game credits to buy special weapons, armour abilities and boosters.
• Weekly missions to earn bonus credits.
• Stats show off how many medals you have unlocked and how many times you have earned it.
• Full 360 pad support.
• Online leaderboards.
• cut scenes are hand drawn art scenes.
• Authentic Halo soundtrack with all sound effects intact.
• Score based 3 star rating upon level completition .
• 30 levels to battle through. 6 levels within 5 areas.
• Huge selection of weapons to pick up in game.  Classics such as the needler, shotgun, grenade launcher to name but a few.
• Drive vehicles!  Including the Warthog, Wraith tank and ghosts and more.
• Bite sized levels.
• buy special weapons, boosters and abilities that are valid just for the next level.  Special weapons include Spartan laser and sniper rifle.
• 3 optional side quests in each level for bonus credits.
• Skulls present that change game mechanics like no Shields,  harder enemies etc.
• Boosters change gameplay with boosters such as score boost for example.
• Tutorial section.
• Video setting options: Resolution, AA and refresh rate.
• Subtitles on/off.
• Auto saves.
• Clear easy to read and understand UI.
• Can re watch unlocked cut scenes.
• Simple controls adopting a twin stick shooter approach.
• Save preferred control type ie controller or mouse and keyboard.
• 5 areas to explore and range from jungles to snow levels.
• Ability items are things like bubble Shields,  healing and even drones.
• level areas are bigger and have multiple routes and more action.
• Constant checkpoints.

Cons:

• No co-op this time round.
• View can feel too close with no camera controls.
• Levels can feel short.
• Cannot re-bind buttons on the controller.
• Driving is tricky at first.
• Buying special weapons can feel wasteful as you may not need them.
• Delay at the boot up as you wait for the pad to sync up, even with wired pads.
• Gameplay can feel slow with some levels having a bit of a no action gap between objectives.
• Missions can feel repetitive.
• No medal voice over like double kill, Killtrocity etc.

in Summary, The game is a huge step up from the first game in the series.  With bigger areas and more vehicle action,  it feels a lot more like a Halo game. Keeping the sound effects authentic and adding a Halo soundtrack keeps the atmosphere intact. The game is surprising really as you soon find yourself just playing level after level without realising it. Lack of Co op is a shame as I was kind of hoping it would get an overhaul like the single player did. That aside the game is a worthy addition to the Halo franchise. Now if we could get a proper online matchmaking version of This game that would be awesome! in short,  Worth the monies for any Halo fan.