Halo Wars Review

By Kieron Gillen Published 20 February, 2009

Warthogs and all.

Version tested: Xbox 360

The strange thing about Halo Wars is how understated it all seems. How dignified. There are so many ways that Halo Wars is an important game - it's real-time strategy on console, it's Halo in a new genre, it's Ensemble's swansong, it's another blow in the console wars - but while they could easily dominate your thoughts as you play it, they don't. Instead they just evaporate in the face of such a confident, self-assured and elegantly constructed videogame.

It lacks a little flair at times, but Ensemble has always excelled with this kind of small-c conservative design. If you look at the recent trend of RTS on consoles - taking in everything from the forthcoming Stormrise by Creative Assembly to Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's EndWar - Ensemble's game is most like the traditional RTS. Tweaks for the format are small, but meaningful, and they mostly work. Anyone who's played PC RTS has had a tendency to look on console incarnations as though it's sex with a couple of condoms on, but Ensemble's got it down to one extra-thick Durex: awkward, but still fun.

Halo Wars is also rather neat because it's an RTS prequel to a series originally conceived as an RTS. As expected, it tells the story of armed conflict between the Covenant, the UNSC and The Surprise Guest Oh I Wonder Who They Could Be. The story's not told particularly well, and isn't directly relevant to the game's charms, but it's an excuse to cram all your favourite bits of Halo's universe into an RTS: if you've shot it, shot in it, stole it or been annoyed by it while making your way through the Library, and if those events took place in a Halo game, you'll find it here, converted into an RTS, but working just as expected.

The key conventions of the RTS remain intact. While there are a few missions that vary things a little, it all grows from your management of a base. It manufactures resources, which you can then spend on improving your economy by making stuff that makes more stuff, or by improving your troops in term of quality or quantity. Levels are won when the enemy, who is trying to do the same thing, is defeated. Woo! The controls that would form a traditional PC RTS are crammed onto the controller, scrolling with a stick and selecting with the A-button. Shortcuts include being able to select all units or all units onscreen with the bumpers, scrolling faster with the trigger, and jumping between bases and/or danger alerts with the d-pad.

'Halo Wars' Screenshot 1

You play the game from the perspective of a four-hundred-foot robot. [Stop making things up. - Ed]

What makes it work isn't in the controller configuration, but what you actually control. Judging what you can manage is what makes Halo Wars sing. Take the bases, which you can only construct on pre-designed points. They open slots where you can construct your buildings (for PC veterans, think Kohan 2 or Rise of Legends), so the strategic questions are immediately clear. You have a new base. You have three slots. Which of your buildings do you fill them with? Alternatively, do you upgrade your base to get more? You're not scrolling around the map trying to find bits and pieces, but have a central position where you know they all are.

The base almost acts like a radial selection menu, allowing swift and decisive economic actions. Things are similarly well-judged on the research side. To access more powerful units and structures, you require reactors. Each reactor you build - or capture, as there are some spread around the map to be fought over - opens up further options. In terms of individual units' power-ups, they're mostly found in the same structure that built the unit, on the opposite side of the radial menu. If it's on the right, it's about making stuff. If it's on the left, it's about making stuff better.

'Halo Wars' Screenshot 2

There is nothing more annoying than your Covenant Commander getting offed. You'll learn.

This elegance only really falls apart in one of the research structures, where a few of the more generalised research abilities are collected. It's easy enough to grasp that everything else goes here, but when a few options apply to a specific subgroup (for example, adrenaline boosters to make your troops run quicker) you suspect they may have been better positioned over with the troop-making structures. If you choose to play Covenant - in skirmish or multiplayer, as the campaign is UNSC only - it's a little trickier to get a hang on them. They're really the advanced race, with more things that seem counterintuitive compared to the humans in terms of working out how they advance. Also, playing through the campaign before heading into open play does mean that it acts as an extended training sequence for UNSC - something the Covenant lacks.

The biggest strength for both though is the fact that most people understand the Halo universe. It's not just the geek thrill of seeing a Scarab in action - it's that you understand what the Scarab means on the battlefield (trouble). We know which characters are best against tanks, and which are probably best in special vehicles. Over on the special ability side - also well-judged, with everyone's abilities activated by the Y-button and members of the subgroup selectable with a trigger - some of the more unusual abilities are also familiar. Take the Spartans, who are able to take over most of the Covenant vehicles. You quickly realise in multiplayer that while the Covenant are able to churn out tanks quicker than the UNSC, it's something of a double-edged sword when you're just delivering a spanky new car to our boys in the green hats.

All of which is to say that, as an asymmetrical wargame, Halo Wars performs well. The two sides are both authentically different to one another and offer different challenges which are entertaining to master. It's still too early to talk about absolute balance, but it certainly leads to interesting interactions.

The higher-level choices are fun too. Outside of the campaign, you get to choose which of six commanders you take into action, and these alter your abilities. On the UNSC side, you get a different unique unit, assorted bonuses (e.g. starting with upgrading production centres, easier research, etc.) and an orbital-bombardment side ability. For the Covenant, you get a different specialist unit and get to actually take your leader onto the battlefield. So, rather than the timer-recharging orbital-blasts of the UNSC, your leaders can get involved and use their high-level powers as long as you have resources to fire and they're not dead. The Arbiter's Rage ability, for example, allows you to take manual control of him in the manner of flawed not-classic Rise and Fall, like a mini-game button-basher. It's a rare example of something that a strategy aficionado could describe as an obvious console influence.

If the two main sides are great, it's the third which causes problems. The Flood, turning up in the campaign proper as an antagonist, just doesn't work as an RTS opponent. When everyone's a big old mob, a mob of icky creatures doesn't cut it. Their end-of-the-world-oh-no! nature is basically absent, and in an example of the game's faithfulness not really working out, their pallid yellow colouring means it's difficult to pick them out of the scenery in desert levels.

Bar that, the campaign is smart collection of missions with fine variations on the whole RTS theme. (The missions that have a splash of tower-defence are a good example. The one where an immobilised Scarab plays sentry, with you trying to manoeuvre closer without being destroyed, is another). While not exactly long - expect to get through it in about the time it takes you to play through its FPS-brother's campaign - the fifteen missions are designed to be replayed. Firstly, they're short enough to do so. Secondly, medals - from Tin to Gold - are awarded depending on how well you do, and there are the Halo-traditional four difficulty levels to wrestle.

'Halo Wars' Screenshot 3

Halo fans probably should read Iain M. Banks' Consider Phlebas. Just for the record.

Aiding this is the game's co-operative mode, which allows two people to play any of the missions - or the whole campaign - together. And that's literal. As in, you both control the same base. Whatever troops you tell your base to make, you get, or can gift to your comrade in arms. In terms of actual research and base-management, you both get to spend the same money however you want. Expect lots of rows akin to co-habiting couples of the "You Spent The Rent Money On Games Workshop Skaven?" variety when someone spends all the resources on something the other player considers stupid. In other words, while fun, it seems a sideshow compared to the intricate conflict the multiplayer and skirmish allow.

The other main reservation is that areas other strategy games have explored well are a little more vestigial here - for example, the ability for infantry to take cover in the occasional defensive structure. Where something like Company of Heroes - or even C&C - made claiming and holding them a key part of the strategy with specific counters against troops in hiding, here they're just dropped in so sporadically they feel like an idea Ensemble integrated then never really developed. And while there's detail to consider with the special abilities, a lot of the game does operate in the simple manner of selecting all and then clicking on something to do or kill.

'Halo Wars' Screenshot 4

It's not his best book, but it is - er - the relevant one.

But then, while the original Halo FPS took many of the best PC innovations in the genre leading up to its release and made a game that seemed native to its new format, and genuinely new, Halo Wars clearly isn't doing that. It's a console RTS that thinks the genre was fundamentally fine the way it was. It's happy with that classical design. All it's interested in is making that fly on the 360, and, on that level, you have to consider Halo Wars a genuine success. I can't think of any console RTS that has achieved that seemingly-simple objective as well as Ensemble's final flourish.

As a developer that always seemed most interested in plain craftsmanship, it's a suitable capstone. As a return to one of the 360's most popular universe, it's about as good an RTS as a Halo fan could expect. And as a game, Halo Wars is a genuine pleasure.

8 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kieron.

About Kieron Gillen

Kieron is one of the founders of the lovely Rock, Paper, Shotgun and nowadays writes comics for Marvel starring characters that even his mum has heard of.

Read more articles from Kieron by visiting the Kieron Gillen archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (125) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • local_celebrity #1 3 years ago

    Looks like a bit of a snoozefest to me.

  • DFawkes #2 3 years ago

    I think that's a fair review. I do love the demo, so probably look on it more favourably, but generally a very nice review :)

  • the_dudefather #3 3 years ago

    as good as.....Halo?

  • ThePope #4 3 years ago

    Who's gonna be the first to say 'As good as Halo then?'

    Oh it was me!

    /Oh bugger!
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/09 @ 14:10

  • Chris Gardiner #5 3 years ago

    Damn your lightning-quick fingers, Mr. The_dudefather!

  • PearOfAnguish #6 3 years ago

    "At least the 8/10 score should keep the ridiculous arguing to a minimum!!"

    I admire your optimism.

  • b00n #7 3 years ago

    Good review, was expecting this from the demo and probably going to be the first RTS I play on a console for longer than 10 minutes.

  • Dizzy #8 3 years ago

    Good stuff.

    SC2, DoW2 and this and I have enough RTS goodness to keep me busy all year ;)

    I hope this will do for online RTS battles what Halo 2 did for online FPSes. Plenty of people and plenty of battles!

  • Darren #9 3 years ago

    Well it sounds a whole lot more enjoyable than Halo 3 ever was... well even the demo was actually...

    Has the chuggy framerate of the demo been addressed for the full game per chance? I actually quite enjoyed the demo after a couple of playthroughs but was put off by the clunkiness of the engine. When things got busy, everything seemed to grind to a halt and it was very off-putting (as was the tearing). Otherwise this is a good addition to the growing number of RTS games on the consoles and one that is refreshing for a Halo game because it isn't another by-the-numbers crushingly-dull first-person shooter.

    As for the Flood... how are they in this game anyway... I thought this was set 20 years before the events of Halo and in Halo that was the first time that humans had encountered the Flood? :?

  • JediMasterMalik #10 3 years ago

    :( RIP Ensemble!

  • Benno #11 3 years ago

    Ahh nice, good score. I certinaly enjoyed the demo. I will defo be picking this up.

  • Dizzy #12 3 years ago

    "As for the Flood... how are they in this game anyway... I thought this was set 20 years before the events of Halo and in Halo that was the first time that humans had encountered the Flood? :? "

    Yea it is a bit of a lore breaker. I would have preferred no Flood.

  • electrolite #13 3 years ago

    Gaaaah, you know how sometimes you're just more interested in a game than your brain thinks you should be? It's hard to say why, but I really fancy this. And no, I'm not a big Halo fan

  • Razz #14 3 years ago

    so theye've finally made the game they originally planned to make before they sold out to microsoft. Too little to late imo Bungie, you sell out cunts.

    /is still bitter

  • Wastelander #15 3 years ago

    Halo was already a third person shooter before Bungie were bought out.

  • phAge #16 3 years ago

    "In 1999, Bungie announced its next product, Halo, as a first-person action game for Windows and Macintosh. Halo's public unveiling occurred at the Macworld Expo 1999 keynote address by Apple's then-interim-CEO Steve Jobs (after a closed-door screening at E3 in 1999)".

    Razz are fail.

  • Sir_TimAlot #17 3 years ago

    Had no interest in this untill i played the demo, something to pick up and play if i tire of Killzone 2 before RE5.
    Good job Ensemble.

  • uglygamer #18 3 years ago

    Has there ever been a bad Halo game?

  • UncleLou #19 3 years ago

    phAge fails harder!


    Game sounds good, would buy it on PC, if mostly out of respect for Ensemble.

  • andywilkie35 #20 3 years ago

    thought the demo was quite good. Not a massive fan of RTS and thought the Halo universe (in terms of story telling at least) was absolutely dogshit but for some reason I've been looking forward to reviews of this.

    Will get it I imagine when it comes down in price

  • zuljin #21 3 years ago

    Ah came a bit out of the blue to me. I think I read console rts in all the previews, so ended up ignoring it but looks very lovely. If theres a demo or so where I could test how easy controls are I could well be tempted.

  • gabsta69 #22 3 years ago

    demo was entertaining, i think this one will most likely be a bucket bin purchase way down the line for me. Solid score though, cant complain on that, im sure the dlc will help improve the game though

  • DrDamn #23 3 years ago

    Review seems to confirm what I thought of the demo, a genre which normally doesn't work very well on a console done very well by designing it to work on the a pad rather than shoehorn. That said the genre is not really my thing but its good to see someone show others how it should and can be done well.

  • groovychainsaw #24 3 years ago

    Interesting thing, found a preview of halo in PC Gamer (before microsoft ate bungie) the other day whilst clearing things out, written by a certain K Gillen. You seemed to think it was a good idea then (in '99, i think?) and here you go, finally reviewing a Halo RTS 10 years later ;-)

  • BremXJones #25 3 years ago

    groovychainsaw: Halo's first magazine cover, for the record. Also the lowest selling mag of the year. Was still on the stands when Microsoft had announced buying Bungie out. Ah, those were the days. The very annoying days.

    (I've reviewed Halo and Halo 3 over the years too)

    KG

  • ronuds #26 3 years ago

    "oh God.. what is it with Darren and tearng. lol."

    I was going to say the same! Every 360 game he makes the same comment, and always mentions Halo 3 - even though the only similarities Halo Wars has to Halo 3 is the name Halo. lol

    Razz fails as well for thinking Bungie developed this... :p



  • bmxbandit #27 3 years ago

    So, errr, no Noby Noby Boy then eh?

    j/k ... but still, is it just me or is every new 360 title boring as sin these days?

  • miiiguel #28 3 years ago

    It'll be by 1st RTS on a console ever. Would be nice if we could do some skirmishes here with the friendlyer ppl of EG.net
    ...
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/09 @ 14:54

  • ps3owner #29 3 years ago

    reads more like a 7/10 ?

  • DFawkes #30 3 years ago

    No it doesn't.

    EDIT: What I meant was, "Your face reads like a 7". That'd be better, if less mature. I argue against scores in general all the time, as a number can't ever be a fair representation of a well worded opinion. But if that review did need a number, it'd be 8.

    SECOND EDIT: And I typed that above edit before I saw you'd replied. Your face really does read like a 7 though :p
    Edited by 2 at 20/02/09 @ 14:58

  • ps3owner #31 3 years ago

    it does.

  • miiiguel #32 3 years ago

    "j/k ... but still, is it just me or is every new 360 title boring as sin these days? "

    It's just you. And what's a "boring sin" ?

  • Darren #33 3 years ago

    @trebell - Sorry but after playing RTS games on the PC, I expect certain standards. I couldn't care less about the graphical detail, I don't expect them to look as good on a console anyway, just that the game plays smoothly. Halo Wars failed on that score but was pretty decent otherwise, that's the shame of it.

    But you know I've been through five Xbox 360s already (one only lasted an hour!) so it may well be that this machine is also on its last legs... it certainly wouldn't surpise me as I'm kind of used to it now as you can imagine! ;)

    I've recently cleared the HDD cache manually (which I really shouldn't have to do anyway, ARE YOU READING THIS, MICROSOFT?!?) in order to fix issues with the new GTA IV DLC and Xbox LIVE freezing for up to 30 seconds whenever I check messages or my Friends list. I haven't tried the Halo Wars demo again though so maybe that has fixed the issue... I'll check over the weekend...

  • ps3owner #34 3 years ago

    sorry DFawkes, it reads like a 7, and a boring 7 as well. just my opinion. you obviously can't handle a 7 next to the word Halo *fill in whatever*. I accept that an 8 is ok from your point of view, it's an opinion as well, just like the review.

    EDIT: removed double that, still 7 ;)
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/09 @ 15:05

  • ronuds #35 3 years ago

    Well, ps3owner, don't complain when a bunch of xbots fill the comments section of whatever big PS3 game comes out next.

    @ Darren
    I'm sure MS cares. If what you're saying is even true, you're certainly the minority. Maybe you're doing something wrong - ever think of that? Who the eff loses 5 consoles? lol - you make it more difficult to believe you even own a 360 with each increasingly ridiculous comment you make.
    Edited by 2 at 20/02/09 @ 15:08

  • DFawkes #36 3 years ago

    How are you getting these performance issues Darren? It runs fine on my VGA monitor, with a stable framerate and absolutely zero tearing at all. Very impressive given how bad Battle for Middle Earth II ran at times, though even that was helped when I installed it after NXE.

  • ps3owner #37 3 years ago

    is this meant to be a big game? I though the FPS halo series was big, but this RTS ?

    sorry, credit due if credit is due. I think it's ok, but it reads like a 7.

    I won't complain then. even though I have done so in the Noby Noby thread, but ppl weren't expressing their opinion about the score there, just about the whole concept of the game.

  • ronuds #38 3 years ago

    Well, maybe an explanation of why you think it reads like a 7 would help your case more. I'm up for a discussion, but not a fanboy war.

    Personally, I didn't see that the reviewer had too much to say negative about the game. It was mostly positive. 8 seemed fair.

  • miiiguel #39 3 years ago

    FFS, give it a rest ronuds. It is Halo, it is MS, it is 360, what's not to hate ? Who cares if it's good or bad...

  • peteb #40 3 years ago

    @ronuds

    I'm quite the lurker on the oxm forums and i can vouch for Darren having an xbox and going through 5 of em...

  • DFawkes #41 3 years ago

    How am I an Xbot for thinking this review reads like an 8, when it reads like an 8? It does! I can't see how anyone would see it as otherwise. I couldn't care less if the review was "Is shit, 1/10" that'd read properly!

    I'd never call you, or indeed anyone else a fanboy because they think a review and it's score match properly. I'm not even a big Halo fan, I only got Halo 3 last week. I just firmly believe that review reads like an 8.
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/09 @ 15:14

  • EmiliasHorse #42 3 years ago

    Good review thanks.

    Played the demo for 20 mins before deciding it was a certain purchase so stopped playing and started waiting for the real thing.

    Happy horse

  • BOFH_UK #43 3 years ago

    Oh god, what is it about the Halo brand that gets idiot fanboys up in arms? The review reads like a high 8, maybe even a low 9 and after playing the demo I'd say that seems about right. It feels, for the first time, that someone's managed to get the perfect balance between strategic depth and accessibility for console play (cue the PC gamers complaining about the 'lack of depth' even though there's still a ton of strategic options available). It feels very much like the first two Red Alert games to me - great units, fun to play and all the options you need to go your own way without tripping over its own feet the way Red Alert 3 does at times.

    Oh, and I have no idea why Darren is saying there's performance issues and tearing. Haven't seen anything of the sort even when throwing an entire army at a Covenant base in skirmish mode.

  • ronuds #44 3 years ago

    @ miiiguel

    I'm bored, what can I say? Any comments section related to Halo is a good time.

  • ronuds #45 3 years ago

    @ peteb

    That may be the case, but that doesn't mean he isn't doing something wrong! :p

    If you're still losing xbox's these days at that rate, check its surroundings. The oven probably isn't the best place to keep it. :D

  • ps3owner #46 3 years ago

    I didn't call anyone a Fanboy or Xbot in this thread, just said it reads like a 7. the reason why that is is because of the flood. (mostly). he also mentions that the story is a bit weak. of course there is the well know and hotly debated cover system ;). but that's probably not to much of a problem in an RTS... so that's like 2 (.5 cover sys) points take out of the 10 and the other half is the fact that it's just nothing new, compared to any other RTS. if he compares it to C&C then it's old... that's all.

  • Yossarian #47 3 years ago

    Reads like a 9!

  • DFawkes #48 3 years ago

    "you obviously can't handle a 7 next to the word Halo *fill in whatever*" Kind of implies it. Stick 7 on and put the words to back it up and I'm happy :)

    I agree your views line up as a 7, but I've tried re-reading the review, and if I was forced, at gunpoint, to givee a numerical representation of the reviews opinion of the game, it'd still be an 8. I have a feeling that won't line up with my opinion, that it's possible it'll get old quick and I'd give it a 7 myself, but that revewer gave it an 8.

    And don't you start Yoss :p 8! 8! 8!

    /adopts foetal position
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/09 @ 15:24

  • Darren #49 3 years ago

    @ronuds - Are you 12 or something?

    I can assure you I've been through five Xbox 360s so sorry if that hurts your "fan boy" feelings or whatever. I can't help it if you're immature. But why the bloody hell would I make it up anyway? To piss you off? Hmmm...

    My first Xbox 360, a launch machine lasted 17 months and that one was sent back for repairs so I bought a replacement and sold the older one later. The replacement lasted a month so I got another which lasted just an hour (from GAME). The fourth lasted a staggering two weeks! I've had my current one, an HDMI one, since then and it's been OK (touch wood). The consoles have all sat horizontally on top of a unit with plenty of air around them and they've never been moved except to dust.

    As for the cache clearing thing, it is a well-known solution for stuttering games and other minor issues as I'm sure others will confirm. Indeed, the very tip was suggested to me by a poster in the forum!!! :p

    Tut! Looks like you're another one for the "Ignore Poster" button.

  • DFawkes #50 3 years ago

    Wait until I start posting pictures of my pubic hair shaved into an 8, covered in Mayo.

  • miiiguel #51 3 years ago

    @ Darren:
    I think what ronuds might tried to say is that your comments on 360 games are but to complain about "tearin"; "frame drops"; "da 5th" and variations of the same theme. I mean, don't take me wrong, but maybe you two just don't get along (360 + Darren) no need to be unhappy, me thinks.

  • ps3owner #52 3 years ago

    I think considering that my opinion of the review warrants a 7, DFwakes his idea of ther review confirms the 8 and yossarian throws in a 9 (no reason given) the average seems to be ok.

    8

  • ronuds #53 3 years ago

    @ Darren

    Sorry if your constant gushing over PS3 graphics and mention of Halo 3 tearing in every-single-comments-section makes you come off as a lying fanboy.

    So, yes - I'm 12 and wouldn't mind at all if you ignored me. Some people can't handle being questioned.

  • Yossarian #54 3 years ago

    I didn't notice any framerate drops in the demo. I mean it's not exactly silky smooth, but it's damn consistent. Also no tearing except very briefly in the advanced tutorial. And I am damn sensitive to tearing (as in, I couldn't play the RE5 demo for very long without wanting to vomit).

    360 hates Darren confirmed.

  • Yossarian #55 3 years ago

    Also, I don't know if KG wrote the screenshot captions or not, but as a diehard Halo fan, I did read Consider Phlebas many years ago. Not as good as Player of Games, or Look to Windward, or quite a few others, though.

  • DFawkes #56 3 years ago

    I hate baseball cards.

  • ronuds #57 3 years ago

    @ trebell

    I can be wrong, I'm ok with that. lol

    When you make comments like that, though, people are probably going to make assumptions. Like, mentioning Halo 3 tearing in the comments section of an RTS game...doesn't give off a good vibe, ya know? But I'll drop it!

    So, yeah, Halo Wars - woo! Might pick this up or rent it. I'm not very good at these types of games, so online probably isn't for me.

  • ronuds #58 3 years ago

    Well, I'm on his ignore list anyway so doesn't make much of a difference what I think! LOL

    But that's why I was thinking this might make a good rental. I'm sure the campaign doesn't take that long to beat, so full price might not be worth it for me. I tried BfME:II online once and was probably beaten more quickly than anyone in the history of online RTS' have ever been beaten. :p

    Edited by 1 at 20/02/09 @ 15:45

  • Krelle #59 3 years ago

    Never understood RTS. Its a wonder the genre havnt completely died out yet, like the pointnclick games.

  • Krelle #60 3 years ago

    And the once so nice Darren seems more and more like a complete dick.
    I guess hes fat aswell. Being the number 1 poster in every thread an all.

  • miiiguel #61 3 years ago

    I also suck at RTS's, but I'm going to try to learn to play it better - Ensemble + Halo Universe, it's now or never.
    It isn't rocket science, is it?...

    Is it?!!
    Edited by 1 at 20/02/09 @ 15:52

  • ronuds #62 3 years ago

    "And the once so nice Darren seems more and more like a complete dick"

    His ignore list is going to be huge after today! :p

    @ miiiguel

    No rocket science, but you may get schooled by the veterans of the genre. Troop/supply management is something that takes time to perfect.

  • miiiguel #63 3 years ago

    "No rocket science, but you may get schooled by the veterans of the genre. Troop/supply management is something that takes time to perfect. "

    I'm relying on that fancy algorithm, they call "TruSkill". It works brilliantly on Halo 3.

  • darm #64 3 years ago

    So I played it last night. It's not really that good, I must say. I've just finished playing Red Alert 3 on my Xbox, and it's better in EVERY aspect. Well, maybe the story is compelling to Halo fans, but I don't know shit of this universe and find crazy C&C videos more interesting. All the other comparisons are in Red Alert's favor. Controls are better, maps are larger, there are more unit types, base building is not that dumbed down, music is better...you could go on forever.

    Not that halo wars is a genuinely bad game, but it's surely less enjoyable without previous knowledge of the universe. So I think you need to be a Halo fan to really appreciate this.

  • Rirekon #65 3 years ago

    Will get my fill of DoWII and probably pick this up later, I do like a good console RTS (they have been some before this!)

  • DFawkes #66 3 years ago

    Darm, I think that has to be true, at least a little. Who'll want to go to the bother of building Spartans if they don't know how awesome they are? Og course, they are a useful unit too, as are most of them, so I'm sure a Halo newbie will at least like it a little, but it's probably best for people who have seen the damage a Wraith can do :)

    I do tend to prefer RTS games based on licences, something I've not noticed until now. DoW, Empire at War & Battle for Middle Earth are all in my top 5 RTS games (joined by Medieval II & CoH), and even the ones that aren't licenced it's because I knew some of the settings stuff beforehand.

  • ronuds #67 3 years ago

    "I'm relying on that fancy algorithm, they call "TruSkill". It works brilliantly on Halo 3"

    Good luck to you, sir!

  • Xerx3s #68 3 years ago

    Darren: I'd like to sample some of the stuff that you're smoking.

  • kingofbergamo #69 3 years ago

    HA! So not as good as Halo?

  • Xerx3s #70 3 years ago

    "All that hype for a dumbed down console RTS . Game is so average it hurts . If you dont fap it to the Chief every night knock 2 points off the score ."

    Truer words where never spoken, it seems that the likes of you are physically in pain every time the 360 gets an awesome game. After all, you feel the need to storm into every thread and post such nonsense. Rather sad, just count your blessings and let others have theirs.

  • Mr_Dodger #71 3 years ago

    On the whole tearing issue, add me to the list that has noticed zero tearing or slowdown with the demo. And I do know what it is, because I did notice it on the RE5 demo (was pretty terrible in fact).

    But the RE5 demo is about the only example I can think of since Lego Star Wars. I think a lot of it comes down to the type of tv and the input used, as well as the res you're running at.

    @Darren - if you're getting excessive tearing semi-frequently, have you tried an alternative input or dropping a resolution?

  • miiiguel #72 3 years ago

    Someone is improving, going from the adjective "baboons" to "idiots". It must be hard and lonely to be the uber awesome of all time.

  • Yossarian #73 3 years ago

    "@Darren - if you're getting excessive tearing semi-frequently, have you tried an alternative input or dropping a resolution?"

    I think changing resolution was what stopped Bioshock tearing for me, weirdly. I haven't changed it back since and everything has run pretty much tear-free, with the exceptions of Dead Rising and the RE5 demo. Maybe it's a zombie thing, although L4D is unaffected.

  • Darren #74 3 years ago

    @miiiguel - Now you're being silly with this nonsense about the 360 and I not "getting along" and being "unhappy".

    Why am I unhappy exactly? If I don't like a game demo for whatever reason then I don't buy it, it's as simple as that. It's called "choice". It's not like the Xbox 360 is short of games, and good ones at that! Unhappy is buying a game you don't like and realising you've wasted your money. Fortunately, I don't often do that thanks to these demos and/or informative reviews.

    The Xbox 360 is a great games machine without a shadow of a doubt and it has many excellent games. Unfortunately, like every console, it isn't perfect nor are the games. Halo Wars seems like a fine game but it's not one I'm willing to buy because of the issues I experienced playing the demo. I may pick it up on the cheap at a later date though. ;)

    @Mr_Dodger - I played the demo using HDMI @ 720p, the same setting I use for all my games. Anyway, it's not the tearing that bothered me so much as the chuggy framerate and slowdown. But, as others have said, it may well be down to a failing Xbox 360, although the other games I play seemed fine, e.g. GTA IV.

  • miiiguel #75 3 years ago

    Since Blue Dragon and Saint's Row (the 1st) I haven't experienced tearing again. I also bought a new TV after those, not sure if that has any kind of influence.

    But, I don't do demos (when I know I'll be getting the game) though, so can't realy say if Halo Wars goes back in time or not.

    off-topic: Prince of Persia sucks bad (tell me oh OXM, why did you score that crap 9/10? - FFS! The Prince fukin flies and in a *totally* black level where one has to *guess* where to go!), and Maw's DLC is glitched.
    Edited by 2 at 20/02/09 @ 17:09

  • El-Dev #76 3 years ago

    A Halo game only getting an 8, Satan must have spent a while looking for his coat and gloves today.

  • muscleblade #77 3 years ago

    @miiiguel

    Hmmm. Strange because i loved POP. Cant wait for the more challenging DLC.

  • miiiguel #78 3 years ago

    the last obscenely off-topic, promise:

    @ muscle: PoP is but a QTE experience, without the onscreen prompts.
    It tries to trick one into being a "proper game", but then, when you have that level "flying in the dark", it realy gives up on pretending.

    IMO, of course.

  • drumbaby #79 3 years ago

    Red Alert 3 with silly costumes....

  • liverpoolfc #80 3 years ago

    so killzone2 and little big planets better

  • liverpoolfc #81 3 years ago

    so killzone2 and little big planets better

  • miiiguel #82 3 years ago

    You forgot HOME:

    "liverpoolfc
    12-Dec-08 10:38:14 HOME is better than expcted
    ignore poster "

  • Yossarian #83 3 years ago

    "so killzone2 and little big planets better "

    In other breaking news, Halo Wars is as good as MGS4.

  • Lawlost #84 3 years ago

    No not for me never could get into the best RTS games on the PC so no chance on a console.
    Edited by 2 at 20/02/09 @ 19:43

  • Furfoot #85 3 years ago

    360 got killzownd

  • coolbritannia #86 3 years ago

    So Halo 3 is still the joint bestest game of all time then right PS3fanboys? For fucks sake it's only a review, it's only a score, and I reckon an 8 is fair for a stripped down yet polished RTS that actually works on a console.

    Halo fanboy, out.

  • byron_hinson #87 3 years ago

    Had my promo since yesterday. Well just completed Act 1 and really enjoy it so far, best RTS I've played on a console and very easy to control. Graphics are good though things do slow down a bit when there is a lot on the screen. Story seems pretty decent so far as well. I never played the demo so this is pretty much my first play of the game. Tutorials were good and tended to tell you everything you needed to know.

    Tried multiplayer but didn't connect to anyone. Got a few Xbox Ambassador friends going to add me later on who also have the game early so should get an actual impression of the multiplayer side tomorrow sometime.

  • Yossarian #88 3 years ago

    "a stripped down yet polished RTS that actually works on a console"

    The scores it is getting across the board at this stage suggest it might end up being the best reviewed console RTS ever.

  • figaro7 #89 3 years ago

    Its just bad timing to come out a little before street fighter 4. Ive enjoyed both battle for middle earth 2 and C&C 3 on the 360, although the later wasnt as optimised for the pad as BFME2 was. This looks like a good pickup when theres nothing else coming out for a while.

  • coolbritannia #90 3 years ago

    At ease Yossarian, I am in no way knocking the game, I have the special edition reserved already. I absolutely love the demo.

  • WeeManDan #91 3 years ago

    To be fair I think ensemble have done a pretty good job on this as its an RTS on a console so I will be getting this one. I'm a fan of Halo but not so much of the FPS games more of the Books etc. Because Halo should of been 16 or preferably an 18 rated gritty war game like it's depicted in the books. Not a repetitive storyline with chunky child friendly graphics and colors. Oh well whats done is done.

  • Raz76 #92 3 years ago

    "A Halo game only getting an 8, Satan must have spent a while looking for his coat and gloves today."

    I think you will find this has happened before...

  • byron_hinson #93 3 years ago

    @WeeManDan - surely you mean the books should actually have been like the game and depicted what the story and feel of Halo is actually about?

  • coolbritannia #94 3 years ago

    No WeeMan's right, Halo is grittier than the games suggest. Look at the source material, Aliens, The Culture novels, the events in the Halo games are grittier than the bright graphics really portray.

  • TitusCrow #95 3 years ago

    Hmm played the demo and its pretty decent, clever implimentation of the control scheme for controller. nice graphics too but i did notice a little tearing which was a shame however not re5 proportions. the thing is i have an excellent pc as well and it just cant compare to the controll and depth of this genre on pc.
    I'd say if you have the rig to run it go with pc for your RTS needs its the natural home of this genre, in saying this i dont think i have ever seen a better RTS ever on a console - and i played all of em to a greater or lesser degree. commendations for succeeding to put a square peg (rts) in a round hole ( console) and not getting to many splinters :)

  • byron_hinson #96 3 years ago

    Gritty doesn't always mean it has to be dark and dull though, and remember the novels are based on Bungies Halo world, stories and games. That's what I mean - Halo isn't based on the books.

  • Azazel #97 3 years ago

    Just out of interest, what DO you think is Ian M Banks' best book?

    Of the three I've read:

    Consider Phlebas - Good
    Excession - Good
    The Algebraist - Mostly Shite

  • Yossarian #98 3 years ago

    I'd say The Player of Games. That's the one that's stuck with me, anyway.

  • coolbritannia #99 3 years ago

    Byron, the ODST trailer shows Halo IS going towards a more gritty art direction, I think it's just a case of Bungie being able to create a slightly more realistic aesthetic.

    I would agree that Excession and consider Phlebas are two of the best.

  • TheComedian #100 3 years ago

    I think that's a fair sounding review. It doesn't read like a 7. At all.

    Ensemble created the first ever game I played, and I was obsessed with it for about a year: Age of Empires. When I think of my favourite parts of gaming, I either think of when I played that, Deus Ex, Half-Life, Halo or Grim Fandango.

  • TheComedian #101 3 years ago

    Ooooo, and Zeus: Master of Olympus.


    Aces

  • dryden555 #102 3 years ago

    yet another RTS game

  • RedSparrows #103 3 years ago

    I want this.

    Hurrah.

  • BremXJones #104 3 years ago

    Azazel: I think Use of Weapons is the one which hit me hardest when I read it. I suspect there may be a bit of being a certain age - I read it when I came out, so was in my mid-teens - but it took my legs off. Liked Player of Games a lot too.

    KG

  • coolbritannia #105 3 years ago

    Brem, when you came out or when it came out?

  • BremXJones #106 3 years ago

    Heh. What an awesome typo!

    It came out.

    KG

  • LowEnergyCycle #107 3 years ago

    @BremXJones
    I think Use of Weapons is the one which hit me hardest when I read it. I suspect there may be a bit of being a certain age - I read it when I came out, so was in my mid-teens - but it took my legs off."

    ...The bit where you find out what The Chair is made from perhaps? It's a fantastic book, but I still rate Consider Phlebas as a better all-round story. Use of Weapons took multiple re-reads for me to fully understand. I've read Consider Phlebas countless times and it's still a brilliant yarn.

    I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed the obvious Halo-to-Orbital comparison too. I mean, surely when Ian Banks saw the first Halo details, he was like "Waaaaaait a second...." - cuz I know I did.


    @Azazel
    "The Algebraist - Mostly Shite"

    I thought it was awesome - it was a really cool hard-sci-fi departure from his usual Culture novels. Each to their own though :)
    Edited by 1 at 21/02/09 @ 16:26

  • Yossarian #108 3 years ago

    Ooh, I had forgotten about Use of Weapons and the chair entirely. I wasn't in my teens when these books came out, but I read them in my teens, and although I have since stopped reading sci-fi/fantasy, I have fond memory of Iain M. Banks more than most of the other literary shovelware I read.

    The 'frame' story of the Halo trilogy, which is largely hidden or glossed over by the games and even the novels, but is unpacked in the terminals, is much more reminiscent of Banks for me than the games themselves, Halo/Orbital aside. The scale and grace (and eventual collapse) of the Forerunners' civilisation, the properly-sentient AIs like Mendicant Bias, etc. all make the events of the games seem like a little closing flourish to a much grander story. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but Bungie really do not get the credit they're due for the world and lore they have created, because so few people are aware of these things and make flippant comments about the games' admittedly poor storytelling and the books' admittedly poor writing.

  • BremXJones #109 3 years ago

    To be fair to Bungie, they've always been open about the sci-fi that inspired them. For that first Halo cover I mentioned earlier in the thread they were mutually gushing over Banks even then.

    KG

  • TRUTH #110 3 years ago

    Got Endwar, which is really good - excellent online. Get it!

  • YourMessageHere #111 3 years ago

    Come now, Banks and Halo are both recycling ideas. Isn't credit due to Larry Niven and Dyson in roughly equal measure?

    I wholly support the idea of everyone buying Consider Phlebas. The 90% of fools who don't get it will have less money, my favourite author will have more money, and the remaining people who actually do appreciate literature will hopefully stop banging on about what a great story Halo's got when they see how much better Banks' books are. Then hopefully they'll get onto the other culture novels, all of which are even better IMO, especially Excession and Use of Weapons. Against A Dark Background is more raw fun than any of the Culture novels, though, even if it's not as complex.

  • RedSparrows #112 3 years ago

    I really should get more decent sci-fi.

    I love sci-fi.

  • slivir #113 3 years ago

    I was going to avoid this after that halo 3 travesty but gave the demo a whirl the other night. Changed my mind completely so I preordered.

  • Yossarian #114 3 years ago

    That 83 means it's scoring better than both C&C and EndWar.

  • milky_09 #115 3 years ago


    bit of a suprise given that the demo suffered from huge flaws such as screen tear, pop up and some horrendous slow down. not suprised at all reading eg's review. they lurve microshaft.

  • WeeManDan #116 3 years ago

    Lets face it halo is user friendly or at least aimed at wide audience just to get more money, unfortunately that's what the game industry is turning into... If you had read the books you would understand. And I don't think ODST will be any different whatsoever except maybe more tactical.

  • RedSparrows #117 3 years ago

    What? As if the Halo canon represents a dramatic *downturn* in narrative quality? Sure, Grim Fandango is ancient now, and it's far from a wonderful story, but come on, easy and unthinking response.

  • alexander_light #118 3 years ago

    Consider Phlebas? Ringworld more like...it was the original loop world concept. And anyone who has played Halo 3 will know the other homage to that book - the role of "luck" (Cortana mentions it in the intro).

  • lmephisto #119 3 years ago

    RTS is geting boring nothing special to be honest just another rts title.

  • King_0f_Herts #120 3 years ago

    Where do you start with your first post?

    I want to have The Cole Trains babies.....

  • Yeevle #121 3 years ago

    I like most of your reviews as they are well written but fuck me. You write as if you have never played an RTS before in this review, it's a bucket of shite and you must know it. It's C&C!

  • Azazel #122 3 years ago

    Thanks KG and others for the recommendations.

    And I'm afraid I just didn't get The Algebraist. It's message to me was approximately that of an o2 advert.

  • wayneh #123 3 years ago

    It was Use of Weapons and Consider Phlebas for me but also Larry Nivens Ringworld, another good read. I really need to shake my PC mentality when it comes to RTS. I played Halo Wars this morning about 0430 before I left for work and I was really enjoying it.

  • ChadSexington #124 3 years ago

    Has anyone noticed that in Halo Wars you only kill aliens? That's racist.
    Edited by 1 at 02/03/09 @ 12:27

  • LukeFX #125 3 years ago

    Not worth a 8, the only reason it got an 8 is because its name has "halo" in it.

    The game is wank and so restrictive.

    It doesn't touch C&C which is a massive shame because I fucking love halo.

  • RedSparrows #126 2 years ago

    ^ What rot.