I have a feeling that the reception Halo Wars has garnered from game critics isn't exactly what Microsoft was hoping for.While it definately hasn't been received poorly (it has an 82 on Metacritic),I would imagine Microsoft was probably hoping for something in the 90's considering the power of the Halo brand.In contrast,C&C3:Tiberium Wars also garnered an 82 on Metacritic.No offense to the good guys and gals at EA,but this was supposed to be the RTS game to end all RTS games on console.
So who's wrong,Microsoft or the game reviewers?
As usual, the answer to that question rests with us,the gamers.So as a gamer who's played quite a bit of Halo Wars at this point,I've decided to throw my $.02 in and give folks the perspective of someone who is completely new to the RTS genre.
Ensemble said from the very beginning that their goal was to finally bring the RTS genre to consoles in a way that makes them a staple like FPS or RPG's.In this respect I feel that they achieved that goal.Halo Wars is my very first RTS.I've played strategy games like FF Tactics or Vandal Hearts,but this is my first real time strategy game.I've never had any interest in RTS games because,to be honest, they looked boring to me.I mainly bought Halo Wars for the Halo backstory (I'm a huge Halo fan) and the new maps for Halo 3.
But on the day the game released, a good friend of mine, who also happens to be an RTS fan,came over to play some Halo Wars.He immediately went online for some 1v1 multiplayer.I was somewhat surprised to see how good he was.Most of his opponents would quite once they saw that defeat was inevitable.I still don't know if he was really good or if most of his opponents were Halo fans that were new to the RTS genre,like me (my friends modesty had him saying it was the latter).
After several hours of watching him play (I actually enjoyed just watching,as the whole experience was new to me) and him giving me pointers along the way,I was starting to have a grasp on how this whole RTS thing worked.Once I got back to playing on my campaign,I was rolling through the AI pretty handily (although I was only playing on normal).For someone who's never played this type of game before,I was really enjoying myself.
Halo Wars is easy enough to pick up and play that my 7 year old son was able to pick it up and have fun with it having never played an RTS before.But there is depth to be found as well for those who wish to really test their skills online.What I really like about the game are the leaders.The game's two playable factions:UNSC and Covenant,each have three unique leaders.In multiplayer you must choose which faction you want to play as and then what leader you want to use.Each leader has their own benefits and weaknesses.Sgt.Forge,for example, gets the Grizzly super unit and starts off with heavy supply pads whereas Dr.Anderson gets the Hawk super unit and can upgrade units for half the price and in half the time.
I like the rock/paper/scissors approach to combat as well.The manual breaks it down as:vehicles beat infantry,infantry beats aircraft and aircraft beats vehicles.I remember one game I was playing on Xbox Live where my opponent had attacked me with nothing but Grizzlies,whereas I had tried to make a mix of all unit types.I was able to fend him off and was given enough time to build a whole fleet of nothing but Hornets and Vultures.So the next time he brought all his Grizzlies over,they were no match for my air units,allowing me to finish off his base and win the game.
I've also found it to be key to use all the quick select buttons for selecting units and moving around the map.Things like pressing left on the d-pad to quickly cycle through your bases,right on the d-pad to get to where the fighting is,RB to select on screen units,and LB to select all units followed by the RT to cycle through individual unit types have helped me become far more efficient at commanding my army.
Ensemble also did a really great job of implementing key features from the Halo franchise.Things like having your Spartan jack an enemy vehicle,skulls hidden on each level,and taking control of the Arbiter to wreak havoc on the enemy with dual energy swords are all great fun.The Cg cutscenes are all amazingly well done,allowing you to see the Halo universe as you've never seen it before.And as someone who has read all six novels,I really like the Halo timeline feature,a literal timeline depicting events that happened between the year 2498-2552 (2552 is when the first Halo game took place).
It saddens me to see so many reviews punishing Halo Wars for being simplistic and comparing it to PC RTS games.Ensemble said from the beginning that they wanted to make an RTS that was easy and fun to play on consoles.This game will likely never see a PC release and therefore should not be compared to RTS games on that platform.If Ensemble's goal was to make a game that would get gamers who had never touched an RTS game interested in that genre, then I think they have succeeded.After finishing Halo Wars I went onto Xbox Live and downloaded the demos for Tiberium Wars and Red Alert 3,games I normally would have no interest in.
Halo Wars has beautiful graphics,varied and interesting missions and tons of modes to keep things fresh for a long time to come.If you play alot of PC RTS games then this might be too simple for you,but if you've never played this type of game and you like the Halo universe then I definately recommend checking it out.
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