Halo Wars: Platinum Hits Reviews
- New take on a legendary world
- Strategic command of armies
- Skirmishes using the New Xbox Experience
- Groundbreaking strategy game
Halo Wars is an exciting strategy game based on the legendary Halo universe. In campaign mode, command the armies of the UNSC warship Spirit of Fire, with familiar and new UNSC units in its initial encounters against the Covenant, an alien coalition threatening to obliterate mankind. Halo Wars will immerses you in an early period of the storied Halo universe, allowing you to experience events leading up to the first Halo title for Xbox.
List Price: $ 19.99
Price: $ 17.31
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Tags: halo, Hits, Platinum, reviews, Wars
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Dumbed down RTS, but surprisingly fun.,
Executive Summary:
The controlls are VERY intuitive. All of your favorite Halo chars are in this, but they don’t just make a Real Time Strategy (RTS) with Halo characters to sell the game, like the Star Wars franchise has been well known for. Quite to the contrary, this is definitely a RTS that can stand on its own merit. I would recommend to anyone that the best way to get an idea if you like the game is to download the free demo off of XBOX live. Play the “Skirmish” mode. The Demo does not have online play, but it should be very clear to you in a game or two if this is something you will like.
The one major drawback is base building. For those who enjoy creating unique bases, defenses, etc. this game will definitely not be for you as all bases are given cookie cutter slots in static pre-defined areas. That said, the game is very diverse, and there isn’t one “Whoever builds this first and mass produces them.” wins character/class. Also, each side does have “God mode” abilities. By that I mean “Super Ray Beam of death from above that are unstoppable” that can do major damage. Over all, I have a lot of fun playing, just as long as I don’t expect it to contend with a computer RTS. It is what it is, a console RTS, and if you except that before you buy it…you will like it.
Full Review:
Halo Wars has all the tell tale signs of “Lets try to sell this product based on the brand name alone, and don’t worry about the game play.” ala Starwars (with a few exceptions) for the past 15 years. I’m pleased to say that is definitely not the case here. I’m sure some Halo purists will disagree with me after purchasing the game, realizing it’s not a First Person Shooter (FPS), (EDIT 3/4/09: I see this has already happened) and giving it one star in disgust. This is a Real Time Strategy game and real time strategy games are not in the slightest bit like first person shooter games…I suggest if you don’t know what a RTS is, that you Wikipedia it. RTS games have long been my favorite, and the king of all RTS games in my opinion was Age of Empires 2 (AOE2). AOE2 is available only for the computer. I think that the best way to review Halo Wars is to go over the 7 aspects of the best RTS I have played and compare.
1) AOE2: There were no “God like” abilities. IE, the Nukes in Command and Conquer, the Plasma cannons, etc. In other words, anything that does major damage that is completely unstoppable. I feel this detracts from the strategy concept of the game, when you can just blow away an entire base without even stepping foot in it. I’m sure some people will disagree with my take on this, and that is fine.
Halo Wars: There are the “God like” abilities in this. One of them is preventable, the other is completely unpreventable and is absolutely game changing once at the highest tech tree tier. I’m sure some people love these parts of RTS’s as they are often on the box specifically stating that they exist.
2) AOE2: There was not one “Make this/Mass produce this and you win” class. Everything had balances and counter balances. If you made a lot of Char X, I will just make Char Y at half the cost, and destroy them.
Halo Wars: Is very much like this, every class has an opposite class designed to kill it. This keeps the game strategy filled, and not an arms race.
3) AOE2: Base Building was unique, fun, and 100% customizable. From building three levels of walls for the enemy to get past, to making defensive towers everywhere and anywhere you could predict an invasion. It was 100% up to you on what your base looked like.
Halo Wars: The bases are cookie cutter and completely uncustomizable. They are also in predefined locations. You are given 4 slots for defensive turrets and 8 slots to put your bases buildings on, all huddled together. This is far and away the weak part of the game and the reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars. That said, on a console, it does seem to fit and make the game much more manageable, however the inability to really create your own base and the bases being in static, not dynamic, locations will turn a lot of the RTS purists off (As if an RTS purist would even consider an RTS on a console in the first place, so this might be a moot point).
(EDIT 3/7/09) Let me say you can choose what you want in those 8 slots (IE, something that makes resources, something that makes troops, something that makes aircraft’s, etc). There is no limit or minimum requirement to what you have to have on a base. This is the only, very limited, form of customization in your bases.
4) AOE2: Very easy to setup/find online play with seemingly unlimited opponents.
Halo Wars: Absolutely it does, and the never ending stream of people on Xbox live make this a spectacular online experience. Of course you’ll run into the people that quit just as you…
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|War is so NOT hell!,
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.
Without reading a thing about it (‘also lazy apparently) I popp’d the game in and started a skirmish on “Normal.”… With some limited experience in RTS games (Age of Empires, Starcraft, etc.) I had the general principles down before I played. And by god, the controls are so intuitive that I didn’t need to read a thing! Well, for basic gameplay mastery anyway. In minutes I was gathering supplies, building up the base, creating troops, etc. All with this fantastic design style that flows perfectly with the Halo universe I know and love.
To date I’ve played maybe 30 skirmishes, and run the entire campaign on Normal. Yes I’m the only person on Earth who is not online with his Xbox. All in all, even with having to read up on a few details and nuance questions, the game is fantastic. Smooth gameplay, awesome graphics, terrific sound (ok the music is the only downside, it’s more moody / somber than it should be) and simple controls. For a gamer like me? it’s very near ideal. bring on Halo Wars 2!
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|Halo Wars: Console RTS Evolved,
Having just completed my first play through, I can say that Ensemble Studios did a remarkable job bring usually complicated RTS genre to a console. The controls are nearly flawless. I say nearly because there is no way to create subgroups or set way point paths for units to patrol. Though once you get several groups or bases scattered around this is less of an issue.
As far as the story, it’s passable. The characters are pretty cliche but the narrative solid, if a tad predictable. The moment you catch your first glimpse of a Spartan is pure Halo gold, though.
The one thing that makes the game rise above this in my opinion is the music and sound. The score of Halo Wars sounds like it came straight from the mind of Marty O’Donnell, who composed the scores for Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3. The sound effects for explosions, weapons fire, and everything else combat related sounds right out of any of the previous Halo games.
All in all Halo Wars is very good console RTS that deserves to played. Halo fan or not. Though it may be a little too simple for RTS veterans.
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