An excellent RTS that harkens back to games like AoE!!!
Let me begin by saying that Halo Wars is an excellent game. It appeals to many gamers for three reasons: it's an RTS, has controls that will work on the 360, and the Halo characters and universe. Another plus is the developer. Ensemble Studios, who developed excellent games such as Age of Empires/Mythology and other excellent RTS games know what they are doing with a game like this. While it is isn't perfect, its innovation and depth of gameplay forces me to give this a 5/5! So let's dive into the review!
Story
While Master Chief doesn't appear this time around, you needn't worry, the story is still deep without him. The story is set 20 years before the first Halo, as most of you already know, and follows the exploits of a ship called the Spirit of Fire. They discover that the Covenant have discovered a super device (which I can't name, i hate spoilers!) which could destroy all humankind. So as good old marines do they lock and load! While it is quite a good story line, some of the characters get annoying. The women analyst of the Covenant seems a little too persuasive and unbelievable, but other than that you got a rock-solid story here.
Gameplay
As far as gameplay goes, Bungie and Ensemble went to the basics of core gameplay design. Their is only one supply collection resource you must manage, reactors that allows you to upgrade buildings, and a counter allowing only a certain number of units on the battlefield. It does seem simplistic, but Bungie adds an interesting twist. You can't build a building anywhere like other RTS games, you must build your barracks, supply gathering buildings, research, etc. as a part of your main base. Its an interesting twist which forces a player to choose wisely to make certain buildings. While you can have more than one base, this management system is an excellent twist and adds a lot of depth to the gameplay. I do have a couple of minor gripes. The camera zoom is broken. I found the max zoom out was still not enough, and it made unit management difficult. Thankfully, the controls pull that out of the water, as I can auto-select all units with the press of a button. Another gripe is the difficulty. THIS GAME IS HARD! Period. It will take careful planning and resource management if you want to be successful in Skirmish or Online. Campaign is different: it doesn't focus as much on base building but more on objectives, but time limits and overwhelming forces will still provide plenty of challenge in the campaign.
Online
While I haven't played too much of Halo Wars online due to my limited schedule, it works quite well. The online co-op feature in the campaign is a definite plus, and it makes objectives a bit easier. A tip of advice: start on Easy or Normal if you're daring. Without a friend, heroic and Legendary are IMPOSSIBLE! And the online modes and party system is easy to use, but they are a bit time consuming.
While Halo Wars isn't perfect, the innovation it bring to the console is a great thing to see! Starcraft for 360 FTW! 5/5Read full review
