Halo Wars (Xbox 360)

[aruljothi]

Release Date: 03/03/2009
ESRB Rating: Teen
Genre: Strategy
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Ensemble

If you told me 10 years ago that the guys who made the awesome Age of Empires II would be making a console-only real-time-strategy game based on a sci-fi shooter, I probably would have at least bitten, if not consumed, my hat at the time. Yet, not only has this come true, but Halo Wars is also Ensemble's last game; so in addition to be needing to be on par with other RTS titles out on the market, it also carries the burden of being held up to the lofty standards set by Ensemble's earlier, and most excellent, titles. There's the whole "make an RTS game that a Halo fan would enjoy" aspect to it as well. While I wouldn't say that it succeeds on all fronts, it does, for the most part, play and feel like a very newbie-friendly RTS game.

Put simply, Halo Wars is a very traditional RTS game, streamlined for people who don't really play RTS games. There's base building, but it's on a fixed floorplan, and you can only establish bases on existing base sites. The economy is just based on magical space bucks generated from a specific building type, flowing from unlimited coffers into your production queue. All units have a clear upgrade path with no confusing tech trees. Units have just a single special ability, not an array that you'd have to heavily micromanage. These kinds of decisions are a pretty good way to help ease people to the genre, but it also makes the game feel a bit scaled down from my perspective.

What's been considered the largest hurdle in console RTS development is the interface. On PCs, hardcore players use their hotkeys so much, the constant click-clacking from the keyboards make the matches sound more like intense IM sessions than game scenarios. For Halo Wars, Ensemble manages to boil down the typical RTS interface into core actions, with each core action corresponding to a single button on the controller. It's essentially a refinement of the circular menu you'd find in EA RTS titles (Battle for Middle Earth 2, Command & Conquer series), but made even simpler. You have a decent array of selection options: tap A to choose one guy, double-tap A to choose multiples of a specific unit type, hold down A for paintbrush-style selection, right bumper for all units on-screen, and left bumper for all units, period. Always use X to specify a target or a location, and always use Y to activate a special ability. The D-pad jumps you to specific parts of the map (bases, armies, latest alerts, etc.). Because the controls are so streamlined and focused, that while it will never rival the Actions-Per-Minute style of RTS play on the keyboard, getting things done via the gamepad is pretty damn easy.

A quick reminder on the story, since the "Halo" name carries with it lore that's been developed through three titles and several novels and comic series: you control the crew of the UNSC Spirit of Fire as it investigates some Covenant shenanigans. It takes place 20 years earlier than Halo, and without getting into spoiler territory, let's just say that some stuff Halo fans take for granted is encountered and treated as new or mysterious, and that there are multiple Spartans. Also, the overall plot is decent, for both a Halo title and an RTS game, and occasionally uses fantastic-looking prerendered cinematics that I hope will be considered for use in future Halo titles. If anything, my main problem with the story is that I'm not fond of the ending, but I won't say more.