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Halo to hit Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 in July

A new edition to the franchise dubbed Halo: Spartan Assault will be available to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 users next month for $6.99.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
Lance Whitney
2 min read
Halo: Spartan Assault.
Halo: Spartan Assault. Microsoft

The famous Halo game series is making its first assault onto Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 in July.

Known as Halo: Spartan Assault, the $6.99 app is the latest in the Halo franchise, but was designed exclusively for Microsoft's PC and mobile operating systems. As such, people can play the game on a touch-screen device by tapping and swiping their fingers or on a computer by using a traditional mouse and keyboard.

"With Halo: Spartan Assault, we wanted to take Halo out of the living room and create a brand new experience that was built specifically for a different screen," Dan Ayoub, executive producer on Halo: Spartan Assault," said in a statement. "This is an opportunity for us to define what makes Halo unique on mobile platforms and really raise the bar for what is possible."

The shoot-em-up game delivers the action from a bird's-eye view as you battle to complete 25 different missions. Set between Halo 3 and Halo 4, the game lets you play as either Commander Sarah Palmer or Spartan Davis, two characters known to Halo fans.

"This is Palmer's first Spartan Op," Ayoub said. "The story follows her first major mission after her transformation from an ODST to a Spartan-IV and gives more insight into the character that fans got to know in Halo 4."

Players can outfit themselves with Halo's usual array of weapons, including the Magnum, the Assault Rifle, and the Spartan Laser. Vehicles such as the Wraith, Scorpion, Ghost, and Grizzly will also be on hand to help gamers in their struggle against the Covenant Empire.

Microsoft promises that more in-game content be available through the Microsoft Store in the months following the July launch date.