Halo Wars
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Halo Wars
Halo is possibly the biggest game franchise in the last decade or so and when it was announced that there are more than just a few games being considered to bear the name of Halo no one should have been surprised. Now with Halo 3: ODST, Peter Jacksons Halo Project and Halo Wars already confirmed those of us who are Halo fans are wondering if the franchise will be milked to mediocre standings game wise. With Halo Wars now released we can now see at least for now the Halo franchise is still going strong and even though the campaign is not as good as I hoped and it is shorter than expected the full game with its co-op and multiplayer modes make this a game for the ages and one of the best real time strategy games on a console.
The story of Halo Wars is full of great potential for those who are fans of the Halo Universe as the game takes place soon after the people of Earth meet up with the Covenant around twenty years before the first Halo Game. There are plenty of Spartans and not Master Chief hanging around to fight for you and instead of taking place on a Halo ring this game takes place on several planets including the planet Harvest which has played a large role in the lore in the Halo universe.
Gameplay
When Halo Wars was being made the designers came up with a brilliant and easy way to solve the long running issue of controlling a RTS game on a console gamepad and that is the “Rule of 8”. When you bring up any building or selection screen in the game there is never more than eight (8) options to quickly select. This might sound like it made the game more of a dumb RTS compared to its PC brethren but to be honest Halo Wars is more than your normal RTS game, it is an action real time strategy game and a more complex control scheme is not needed.
The simplified controls also work side by side by a limited number of buildable units (3 infantry, 3 vehicle, 3 air and 2 from the main base for example a Warthog). With the limited number of buildable units available there is also a limited number of units you can build at 30 (40 with upgrades) and this is a great number for the game. Some units such as the Scorpion tank take 3 units of your max total and others such as a squad of infantry or ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers) which have 4 to 5 men in each are equal to 1.
The single player campaign, which is also playable with a Co-op partner and to be honest the best way to play it for quick victories, is short but offers plenty of replay value when you go after the fabled Halo Skulls (which can be used to tweak gameplay for some extra fun and difficulty), or increasing your score and earning a gold medal. Overall the campaign is well done but the actual story is a bit boring and when you finally see the Flood for the first time you are not surprised nor are you impressed as they feel more thrown in to have a third faction, rather than a real adversary.
There is only one campaign in the entire game that is the “Good” guys or the UNSC and no Covenant campaign which leads me to believe the downloadable (DLC) content which the newly formed company Robot is said to be working on will be releasing. Which to be honest is fine as long as it’s not too expensive and is more that a quick couple of hours in the mud.
Multiplayer skirmish modes are great with plenty of maps for the number of players (1 vs 1, 2 vs 2 and 3 vs 3) and this is where the game shines. Skirmish is more fun than single player especially if you like to tweak your challenge with you against two opponents. Hopefully there will be more maps available soon as the maps we have will become boring in just a couple of months of playing skirmish with your friends.
Graphics
Real Time Strategy games have never been the best looking games because this is one genre of games where gameplay is needed over graphics. But in the last few years of games we have seen the graphics of the Real Time Strategy games improve without sacrificing gameplay and this improvement was most noticeable in the recent Red Alert 3. Halo Wars is also no slouch in the graphics department and even when you are fully zoomed out the graphics are crisp and clean enough you can see your single unit Spartan or if the group of troops also has a few flame units working with them. Every single unit looks just like you would expect from the First Person Halo games and the animation is dead on as well.
Only when you are playing multiplayer versus games did I notice a drop in frame rate when there was four fully loaded armies going at it, I did not even try to do a map with six armies because this would be even worse frame rate wise. Single player wise there was never a frame rate issue in the campaign or skirmish maps which is always nice so perhaps with a patch the minor frame rate issue with multiplayer skirmish can be remedied.
Audio
Bungie’s three Halo games have always had excellent audio and far above all of the games which come out at the same time in a similar genre. The same is easily said for Halo Wars, but then again there are no action Real Time Strategy games out at the moment on any console system, at least none come to mind. With great music, voice acting and sound effects for everything there really is up there one of the better sounding games on the gaming market.
One of my favorite voice acting game series is the Halo games by far, and not just for Cortana and her flirty snipes at Master Chief but the small speaking parts of the soldiers who fight around and beside Master Chief. In Halo Wars there is a lot of speaking by the troops but it does not have the same effect on the game as those who fought alongside you in the Halo Trilogy, but this is also expected as you are not fighting side by side but 50 feet above the battle.
Value
Even though the single player side of Halo Wars is weak, the strength comes from the co-op, skirmish and multiplayer side of things. With potentially hundreds of matches available for you to play against your friends and others via Xbox Live and with the downloadable content coming this is a game no one would regret owning.
Bottom Line
For those of us who are fans of the Halo series this is a great game to play and have to further explore the rich Halo universe. But for those people looking for a deep strategy experience should look elsewhere because this Real Time Strategy title is not your standard RTS but more of an action game with some RTS elements added in for flavor. A must buy for anyone who likes action games, Halo and playing with their friends.Pros
+ Great graphics, animation and overall level design
+ The audio is pure Halo
+ Great controls
+ Very fast and fun
+ Great Co-op and Multiplayer
+ Interesting story in the Halo Universe
+ A lot of replay value
Cons
- Campaign is kind of boring and far from compelling enough to follow
- Built for Co-op and Multiplayer and basically ignored the single player
- Adding the Flood was a bad choice
- No Covenant campaign?
- Very short campaign
- Frame rate issues with 4+ multiplayer skirmishes
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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