Perhaps not like many would hope, but the Covenant, the hierarchical alien race bent on the destruction of the human race has been confirmed playable in Halo Wars, but just in multiplayer. Yup, the Covenant will not be receiving their own campaign, so as it stands, the story will be told exclusively from the perspective of the humans. This is the second confirmed race in Halo Wars with the first obviously being the humans of the UNSC. Many are speculating that the Flood will be the third playable race, although if we remember the Halo history class, the first encounter with the Flood was in the original Halo, which Halo Wars stands as a prequel to.

The problem with not having the Flood in the game will be that multiplayer will be limited to just two races,  leaving hardcore RTS fans begging for some variety, so perhaps they will make a multiplayer appearance if only for variety’s sake. And perhaps there is another race that Ensemble has up their sleeves, a race no one has ever seen before, a race that was dealt with before Master Chief took the reins of saving the world? Who knows. But for now, humans and the Covenant are it.

According to Ensemble, Halo Wars will be available Spring of 2009.

[See also: Halo Wars gallery]