“My name is Terrance Hood. I am an admiral in the United Nations Space Command Navy. I have worn this uniform with pride for most of my life. Today... I faced the rewards of my own hubris. I was the man who could have saved Captain James Cutter. Instead, my actions damned him to an unknowable fate.”

- Lord Admirable Hood, Escalation.

Today, February 18, 2017, our long-lost, beloved crew of the 'Spirit of Fire' in Halo Wars 2 Ultimate Edition will be awoken early to those who pre-ordered a copy, while the standard edition will arise on the 21^st. There was a beacon intercepted from a long-range communications buoy among our outer satellite array, it was encrypted, but we managed to decode it -- just of the first four missions, sadly. Nonetheless, valuable information was intermittently and brilliantly woven inside a soundtrack of the incursion. An added precaution, the crewman warned, but necessary. He said it helped him become immersed into it, to understand the beauty of the echoes of war.

A crewmember of ours aboard has unfrozen from cryo sleep several days ago, and he has firsthand accounts of what to expect of our unprecedented, ferocious new enemy, The Banished. Deckhand Haruspis witnessed 12 original missions that took him roughly 7 hours to complete in a straight sprint. Although, he mentioned in the entry logs that there were several side missions and opportunities that, however, do not progress plot in anyway, but the rewards for them are up for grabs, in the end. A whisper of skulls and collectables, I heard him say grimly of the sight.

Indeed, him along the rest of the crew aboard the Spirit of Fire are still at siege with The Banished, Deckhand Haruspis states there is more content coming later to the campaign, a “DLC of two packs, possibly that of The Banished’s point of view,” possibly collected data and recordings from viewports and hacked cameras -- much like the documents and viewings presented to us by the Arbiter. Of course, it is all in theory, and we can only speculate until its time of arrival to the game, if conscripted to the season pass, of course.

In the messages, Deckhand Haruspis did discuss the likelihood of massive opportunities for more media, perhaps printed and maybe animated. He has also attached his journal of many admissions, filled with information and knowledge of our enemies all around us, inside and out, logistically adding to the paths that may lay ahead. This has, of course, caught the attention of ONI Section Zero, and wish to... speak with him via way of their famous “invitation.” They are eager to drown these files in black ink, no doubt, along with him, as well.

Our records show that Deckhand Haruspis has studied literature and writing while enlisted in the UNSC for five years, prior to the time of being abandoned with his crew to the unrelenting void of space, obviously. His evaluation before departure for service was to become a teacher after fulfilling his duties as a soldier.

Perhaps this is all a warning, a way in telling us to stay away, never to follow them into the howling darkness they have been left to -- or conceivably, could it be a request for back-up. Regardless of his intent, we will not allow them to be lost with all hands any further. No more will the unforgivable ocean of blackness be their prison, speckled with false glimmering lighthouses taunting their navigation homeward. Now, all hands on deck, Spartans! We have a ship out there sinking…let’s go get her back.

“On February 10, 2531, his ship, Spirit of Fire, went missing. Every day since then, I have wondered where she might be. I like to believe that she is still out there somewhere. Maybe her crew is safe in cryo sleep, drifting through the ages. I hope some day, we will find her... And when we do... I will beg my friend’s forgiveness... And listen to his stories about their time away...”

- Lord Admiral Hood, Escalation.

The Halo Wars 2 open beta recently released on Windows 10 and Xbox One. The current available game mode, "Domination," focuses on players fighting for territory in a struggle to cover the most ground. Today, on June 17th, the game mode was switched to "Deathmatch," a mode with a much different objective and pacing.

"Deathmatch" is a gametype that focuses on players outlasting one another, and the battle will only end when there is one player left standing. In other words, when one team is completely destroyed down to the last solider and building. 

The Halo Wars 2 beta was ready to download for fans and gamers on June 13th, and will run until June 20th, 2016. The game is a sequel to Halo Wars on the Xbox 360, which was an RTS style game with Halo themed armies and commanders. 

By participating in the open beta, players will receive a Halo 5: Guardians Gold REQ Pack upon completing their first match in Halo Wars 2, and two additional Gold REQ Packs upon completion of their fifth match.  

Halo Wars 2 is set to release February 21st, 2017. 

Halo Wars 2 is pretty damn anticipated among all Xbox fans. The first entry did what it could to mitigate the issues of playing a RTS effectively with a controller and they did a solid job. 

Microsoft has been spending more time recently showcasing Gears of War 4 for its upcoming fall release but as we get closer to E3 they're beginning to talk a little more about Halo Wars 2 and what to expect. 

“The Halo Wars 2 team is anxiously gearing up for E3, where the game will indeed be playable. There’s also – well, I can’t talk about more just yet.”

That's all according to a recent 343 Industries blog post. No one is sure of what that second bit is all about. Maybe the game will introduce Forerunner and/or Flood units and factions? Maybe Microsoft will continue the peripheral game and announce a new trackball or mouse style controller specifically for RTS games on a console? 

Ok, that last one is a bit of a stretch but it'd be pretty damn funny if that does happen. 

This is a brief roundup of all the big news from Microsoft's GamesCom Press-Conference.

Games:

Remedy Studio, the people behind cult classic Alan Wake, new time bending game, Quantum Break is now being released on April 5, 2015.

The first gameplay for the Crackdown reboot, has a lot of explosions.

Platinum Studio's Xbox exclusive Scalebound is being released holiday 2016. The first gameplay trailer is below.

Rash from Battletoads is a new playable guest character in Killer Instinct. He is available to play right now.

From Software showed off some brand new Dark Souls III gameplay.

Gameplay from the long dormant Homefront: Revolution was shown off today. Along with the announcement of an Xbox One beta.

The newest gameplay trailer for Rise of the Tomb Raider.

Halo Wars 2 is coming Fall 2016! Here is the first cinematic trailer.

ID@Xbox announces new games coming first to consoles on Xbox including City:Skylines and We Happy Few.

Features and Hardware:

Xbox backwards compatibility comes to everyone in November. All games with gold games from now on will be backwards compatible at launch.

DVR functionality will let you stream and record to any windows 10 device in 2016.

A new Limited Edition Halo 5 Xbox One is coming October 20, 2015. Pre-orders are up now.

A new Xbox one chat pad is coming in November 2016.

Stay Tuned to GameSkinny for more Gamescom news and impressions.