Halo Wars is an RTS spinoff by now-nonexistent Ensemble Studios exclusively for the Xbox 360. This is first and foremost, a console RTS title, so naturally, we're not expecting it to require or be structured around the speed and precision that accompany RTS gaming on a PC. Everything is done with a controller and the face buttons pretty much which, if you're an RTS gamer on the PC, will know and probably expect to not handle as tightly as you'd hope.
I was a PC RTS gamer myself. Since the original relic that was Starcraft i've had my shares of top-down carnage in my day. Halo Wars is, for RTS fans willing to give a console RTS a spin, and for those into Halo canon willing to get a cinematic war experience from a Halo backdrop, definitely worth giving a shot.
Resource gathering in this game takes a hint from the Dawn of War games. Similar to DOW's requisition count, Halo Wars follows the premise of building factories and other resource gatherers at your main base while your resources pile up. I liked the old school RTS style that was present in Starcraft and such, but it seems that that system is heading out the door. No more micromanagement of your resource gatherers, engaging in their own small contests for hotspots of resources, its just build and watch the cash grow.
But then again, all that would be tough to do on a controller, and this is a console game after all, developed with that in mind. Environments seem to be varied, with snow-barren Forerunner ruins, and lush-green blood-gulch venues (there's even a map in the game with that name) you've always got a new place to fight. Enemies seem to control differently as far as the demo was concerned, and it was rather fun to play as the covenant for as long as you did in the brief tutorial. The game feels, sounds, and looks like halo, which is good, and gives some backstory for those interested in the tale before there was Master Chief. This is a game more about action than it is about micromanagement, troop co-ordination, resource and base harassment, and other RTS tricks, but thats not to say its not satisfying.
While it may not have satisfied the complex PC RTS antics that I grew to love, Halo Wars fits the bill for a nice RTS on a console with a nice draw. Its just a shame, because I just have a feeling that the game wont sell particularly well even with its Halo name. Its also a damn shame, and a relative mystery why Microsoft didnt just decide to put support behind a PC version of the game, which would have been an entertaining piece of PC fluff. Microsoft has always seemed to make it about making money above all, so why not here? Especially on a Halo title?
But if you've always been thinking about delving into the RTS waters, which I admit always seem to carry an air of intimidation about them due to the horrendously skilled meta-game that always spawns from an RTS title, Halo Wars is a good start. While not incredibly deep, its a nice action-oriented Real Time Strategy game that uses its Halo backdrop quite well, and lets not forget the incredible CG cutscenes and slightly altered art design that definitely had me, a fan of Halo canon, hooked and interested in.
In the end, I was pleased with what I had to play with, im just dissapointed it wasnt with my keyboard and mouse.
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