A real time strategy game based on the Halo universe, Halo Wars immerses you in an early period of the storied Halo universe, allowing you to experience events leading up to the first Halo title. Like most fans of the rts genre I have been looking forward to the release of Halo Wars. Due to the success of the shooter game, Halo 3, I was hoping that there would be, finally, a rts game with a new twist. Sadly, I was wrong.
Rts newbies will probably like this game, though. Ensemble Studios has finally made breakthoughs with one of the main drawbacks with playing rts games on consoles, confusing controller functions. The ease of using the control functions in Halo Wars is the brightest spot of this release, one that’s sure to make inexperienced rts gamers happy. You can basically jump right in and start playing with little difficulty. Even the advanced controls are learned in a very short time. And the game is designed to allow a lot of simultaneous action during massive battles. You will direct legions of UNSC soldiers, Warthogs, Scorpions, and more, with the guidance of Serina, a spirited artificial intelligence (A.I.) persona. Each group has its own strengths and uses in battle. Adventurous commanders can also call upon ancient Forerunner technology, if they are fortunate enough to find it hidden throughout the battlefield.
Unfortunately, Halo Wars falls into the same category as so many of the latest rts games. Namely the over the top sci fi aspect. If you’ve played StarCraft, you’ve played Halo Wars. For hardcore rts gamers, this one’s a big disappointment. The graphics are vibrant, in a cartoonish way, but the units offer no real detail and the buildings look so similar its hard to tell them apart. And while the storyline, from the ongoing tale of Halo, is interesting to a degree, the game is just plain stale. This sci fi scenario was cutting edge with StarCraft. But that was then. And Halo Wars is definitely not now. There’s no new twists, just the same tired game with different names. Ensemble should stick to what they are good at, shooter games.
Available on: Xbox 360
March 9, 2009
#1
Halo Wars is a fun, strategic game that incorporates the “Age of Empires” style gaming for the Xbox 360, with missions that keep you playing it for countless hours. It almost reminds me of this old Nintendo 64 game called “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” with the mission styles and I think that’s what made this game just okay and not great for me. I feel that the game needed more stuff to make it stand out on its own instead of simulating other games styles and game play.
March 9, 2009
#2
This game sucks. That simple. If I wanted to move troops around and have probability battles, I’d buy RISK, and not spend over 50 bucks to do so.
March 9, 2009
#3
It has been criticized because it is a slightly stripped down RTS. But it is really great… there is surprising depth. I originally rented this game from Gamerang and then followed through with a buy because I enjoyed it so much. So in the end, do yourself a big favor and give it a try.
March 10, 2009
#4
At my age (32) there is a certain level of difficulty I want to experience; and it’s pretty darn low. Let the young struggle in glorious battle. No thanks. I want moderate challenge with a pretty high guarantee of victory. …and thanks to the savvy makers of Halo Wars, that’s exactly what I have! Whoo hoo.
March 11, 2009
#5
Let’s face it: this is a great game… if you’re not a die hard real time strategy game fan.
March 14, 2009
#6
I’ve tried the RTS thing before. PC, Console, it doesn’t matter. Too much detail to worry about. I don’t really want to build an economy and a civilization just to go blow it up. Way too time consuming. Halo Wars strips a lot of the conventional mechanisms of an RTS away gives us what we really want: all out war. This is perfect for the console and Halo Wars delivers. The controls are easy to master, the economics are easy to understand, and the game is well balanced. I feel like I have fair chance of winning no matter which faction or leader I choose and which strategy I deploy.