Halo Wars, sadly the final game from Ensemble Studios, creators of the seminal Age of Empires franchise, will be released on Xbox 360 on March 3, 2009, according to Microsoft.

North America will be the last region to get the game, surprisingly, with the Europeans to be the first February 27. Gamers in Japan/Asia Pacific will get it one day earlier on February 26.

The latest entry in the long-running Halo franchise, Halo Wars will offer strategy gameplay, having players beat back the aliens using Spartans and other weaponry.