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| Halo Wars; Ensemble's last game soars high | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 8 2009, 10:27 AM (1,723 Views) | |
| Analysis | Mar 8 2009, 10:27 AM Post #1 |
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Birdo
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 Platform(s): Xbox 360 Developer: Ensemble Studios Publisher: Microsoft Genre: Real Time Strategy Online: 2-6 players. Release Date(s): 27 February 2009 (Europe) 3 March 2009 (US) Intro: Set 20 years before the events of Halo Combat Evolved on the Xbox and PC, Halo Wars puts you in command of the Spirit Of Fire's marine squads and vehicles or the vast army of Covenant machinery and warriors. Those who followed Ensemble's past work or even played any of the Age Of Empire's games will have no problem controlling the game, newbs, however may not. The first sight for sore eyes will be without a doubt, the high definition cutscenes, looks a bit like Dreamwork graphics if you ask me. Its actually surprising how smooth it runs and adds a bit if visual goodness to the campaign, despite how short it is. (Can be completed in a little over a day.) The game sets you following the Spirit Of Fire, under the command of Captain Cutter.  Gameplay: Nintendo and PC fanatics will have a bit of trouble getting used to the controls, but its pretty much a basic 'click and click' strategy game with a little bit extra to it, like Red Alert 3. Unlike Red Alert 3, it isn't heavily advanced and there isn't too much to do, which is probably why I found Red Alert 3 a bore. Similar to Ensemble's AOE games, you start out with a fortress, which will be necessary for the construction of your base. Unlike AOE, gathering resources is done so by constructing supply pads, yes there will be resources scattered around the map in crates, but gathering them won't be necessary unless you are in need of a quick boost to your resource pile. Another resource is power, the UNSC gathers power by constructing reactors, Covenant bases receive power by advancing through ages. Its pricey, but is needed for the construction of some deadly vehicles.  Navigation can be sluggish, adjusting the camera angle is done so with the right stick, the left stick moves it, getting used to it will take a while. But its really basic, A is to highlight a unit, X gives an action, and Y enables a unit's special ability, there is nothing too complicated about it. But it isn't all that basic, similar to Age Of Mythology's God power system, you can use a system known as leader powers. They can benefit you by healing units, causing widespread destruction or transportation, the only disadvantage is that they cost a huge amount of resources and take a long time to recharge before they can be used again. Covenant powers differ, their leaders are present on the battlefield and leader powers act as their special ability.  Bases are automatically assigned to you wheter you play Deathmatch or a Standard match, new bases cannot be built where you please, it involves scouting the area and looking for base sites, some are often occupied by rebel or flood bases which may have to be destroyed before they can be used. What is even more of an annoyance is that there is a limit to the amount of buildings that can be built per base, however upgrades are available to increase the amount you can build, unfortunately, turret sites are not affected. There are some rare cases of where you can build structures outside of your base, but only certain maps support this. Once you've readied some military structures, you can begin constructing an army. The majority of units are in squads, technologies can be researched to toughen squads or increase their numbers. There are three kinds of military units, infantry, air and vehicles and it goes in a cycle. Air beats vehicles, vehicles beat infantry and infantry (in large packs) beat Air.  Leaders have their own certain advantages, for example, Captain Cutter has the Mac Blast, his unique unit is the Elephant. While Seargent Forge's unique unit is the Grizzly and his exclusive leader power is the Carpet Bomb. And so on, therefore it can be tricky to choose who will be sufficient to lead your army to victory, UNSC leaders are never present on the battlefield. Visuals: You never really get much visual quality from RTS games, but Ensemble Studios did a good job on this one, the animation of infantry can be wonky and there can be slight frame rate issues, but it doesn't bug the game up. The settings and environments are great, as well the lighting and meaty explosions. Sounds: The clanking of Scorpion metal, the sound of a bullet set off from its initial weapon, the satisfying sound of a huge explosion. Its all here and nothing lacks, the music is great, except during gameplay, when it can be unfitting for a war game.  Online: The online really does shine here, you're guaranteed to get a match within 2 minutes thanks to the speedy servers. Each game mode is represented with its own listing, its layout is quite similar to Halo 3's. There are some issues with lag, and when combined with occasional framerate problems it develops into a bitch of a problem, but its not too frequent at least. But you can have really good fun online if you're not sided with some half wit who doesn't know a single thing about strategy, and I've ran into people like that. The Good: Solid gameplay Great AI difficulty and intelligence. Excellent online. Meaty visuals. (Especially in the cutscenes.) The Bad: The campaign is dreadfully short. There can be issues with frame rate at times. Overall: 9.5 'Epic' A stunning conclusion to Ensemble Studio's work and is probably the best console RTS to date. Edited by Analysis, Mar 9 2009, 02:59 PM.
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The Rist Forums 
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| Olimar001 | Mar 8 2009, 01:46 PM Post #2 |
Clarke.
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Yeah my neighbor got this and says its awesome. Then everyone on my bus says it sucks, but we ignore them becuase they are all dumbass 7th and 6th graders than don't know shit. the point is this game looks awesome. |
| Xbox Gamertag: Capt0limar001 | My Steam (Add Me!)| My YouTube | Games I Beat In 2012, 2013, and 2014 Old Signatures and Pictures
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| Yacht | Mar 8 2009, 06:28 PM Post #3 |
Ang payat ng likod mo
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That's not saying much. |
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Pagasa Pag-ibig  KaalamanPagnanais | |
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| zane09 | Mar 9 2009, 10:00 AM Post #4 |
Burst link!
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Good review. Seargent Forge's unique unit is actually called a Grizzly. |
Holy Crap I'm old 
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| Analysis | Mar 9 2009, 02:59 PM Post #5 |
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Birdo
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Really? I thought it was the Gremlin, I'll edit it. |
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| smoothz | Mar 10 2009, 05:05 PM Post #6 |
Troll?
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Don't mean to sound like a bitch, but you wrote this 5 days after the release date...Maybe I'm wrong, but for most people, if a game is just "good" at minimum, isn't there like an initial 1-2 week period in which you just love the game? And, might I ask, have you ever played any other strategy games either on the PC or the console? I don't know about you guys, but I tried the demo at a friends house and Halo Wars was a very stripped down version of a normal RTS, that was simplified a little to much just so the controls would work out better. In the end, I found that those better controls took a little to much away from the gameplay... |
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| Analysis | Mar 11 2009, 02:44 PM Post #7 |
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Birdo
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Contradicting your first statement, I live in Ireland. We got Halo Wars a week or so before the US, so I could have easily completed the game and played each game mode and map within that period. Also this review is my opinion of the game, I've a soft spot for RTS games, and I have played many console versions. The only disappointment about them is that they were neither boring or weak compared to their PC versions. (bar C. Revolution, that wasn't bad.) Now Halo Wars was really the only decent console RTS I played, and Ensemble did a great job, yes the campaign is short but it does provide a good bit of worthy gameplay on Skirmish both online and offline and I had a hell of a lot fun playing it as did many of my companions on Xbox Live. As for your questions on if I played many RTS games, yes indeed I have. I own all of the Age Of Empires games except the DS spin offs, I own Empire Earth and I played its sequel. I have Dawn Of War and I played its sequel, I loved them both. I also have a few city building games such as Sim City 2000 and I played over 6 console RTS games and about 2 are saved on my Xbox hard drives. Yes, Halo Wars doesn't have many advanced controls such as Command & Conquer, but thats what I like about it, I prefer simple enough controls rather than bastard cameras and navigation and it doesn't take too much effort to get used to it. I'm sticking to my score of 9.5, it might seem a bit over the top seeing as it is mainly receiving scores around 8 but I really liked it and Ensemble did a good job on it. Edited by Analysis, Mar 29 2009, 04:17 AM.
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| smoothz | Mar 11 2009, 04:38 PM Post #8 |
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Troll?
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Oh ok, that makes more sense. I'm just, usually skeptical about stuff. |
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