No shocker here: Halo: Spartan Assault, that top-down twin-stick shooter released over the summer on Windows 8 PCs, phones, and tablets, is jumping over to consoles in time for Christmas.

The Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions of Halo: Spartan Assault will be released via digital download this December. In addition to more than 30 campaign missions, here are the features you can look forward to only on Xbox:

– Play longer than ever in a new online Co-op mode, and watch each other’s backs with all-new Co-op missions

– Engage in Operation Hydra, the expansion from the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 game that brings mystery and a chilling addition to the single player Campaign

– Wage war against a persistent and overwhelming enemy – encounter the Flood for the first time in Halo: Spartan Assault

– Go in strong with an expanded arsenal that brings you more weapons, more armor abilities, and more upgrades – it’s the ultimate Spartan Assault experience!

It’s a shame Microsoft has not yet unified its digital download marketplaces as this would’ve been a great title to introduce some form of cross-buy functionality. As it stands, if you want to play Halo: Spartan Assault on multiple platforms, you’re going to have to pay full price for each standalone version. Cross-platform online multiplayer between Xbox One and Xbox 360 also will not be supported.

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New Halo alert. New Halo alert. New Halo alert!

No, this isn’t about a new Halo for Xbox One. Something that huge–if it happens–won’t be revealed until Microsoft’s E3 presser. Halo: Spartan Assault is a new series installment in development at 343 Industries and Vanguard Games exclusively for Windows 8 PCs and tablets and Windows Phone 8. It’s a top-down twin-stick shooter sandwiched between the events of Halo 3 and Halo 4.

Windows gamers will do battle against the Covenant as Commander Sarah Palmer or Spartan Davis, blasting through 25 campaign missions from bird’s eye view. Integration with Halo 4 will allow players to earn experience and unlock emblems for their Xbox 360 Spartan career, while leaderboards and weekly challenges will provide a nonstop source of online competition.

Halo: Spartan Assault will be available starting in July for $6.99, supported by in-app purchases for players who prefer to pay their way through the grind of unlocking new upgrades and weapons.

Money-grubbing microtransactions aside, Spartan Assault looks spectacular. To be perfectly honest, Halo as a top-down shooter is way cooler than Halo as an FPS if you ask me. Too bad the game’s only coming to Windows 8 and Windows Phone, because those are two platforms I currently have no interest in owning. I get that they want to push their new Windows 8 devices, but why Microsoft isn’t also launching this on Xbox Live Arcade, where it would no doubt rake in big bucks, is beyond me. If only because a twin-stick shooter is best on a console controller with, you know, twin sticks.

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