"halo: spartan assault" is a shooter game where players view gameplay from an overhead top-down perspective. the control method for the game depends on the host device. on touchscreen mobile devices, players control the character through virtual joysticks—the left stick controls movement and the right stick controls the direction of the character's fire—along with buttons along the edge of the screen. xbox 360 and xbox one players use a physical gamepad, while windows players can use either a gamepad, or keyboard and mouse.