Halo: Spartan Strike tablet game has Warthogs, Kestrels — and no microtransactions (hands-on preview)

Microsoft has announced Halo: Spartan Strike, a new Windows 8 smartphone, tablet, and Steam game that will often a brand-new adventure in the Halo universe. It is a follow-up to last year’s Halo: Spartan Assault mobile game, and thankfully Microsoft has nixed the microtransactions in the new top-down shooter title.

I got a hands-on preview of the game, which you can play on a touchscreen device such as a Microsoft Surface tablet. You won’t see this on iOS or Android devices anytime soon as Microsoft is using it to promote its own platforms. Microsoft’s sci-fi first-person shooter has sold more than 60 million units (or billions of dollars at retail) since 2001, and it has helped Microsoft sell millions of Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One game consoles. By making the game exclusive to the Windows tablet and smartphone platforms (at least for now), it hopes to sell more tablets and smartphones as well.