Halo Wars looks great, but like all console RTS games, the controller makes it very difficult to manage large armies and the accompanying skirmishes.
I go into the Halo Wars demo with a pretty different background than my buddy cmfl3x. Whereas he’s a big fan of the Halo universe, I actually dislike it a lot. I never got into it, and for some reason almost everything about it puts me to sleep (except maybe The Flood – when those things appear I tend to wake up). So I’m not a fan of the Halo lore and all that, but I love RTS games. I’ve played them for the last decade or so on the PC pretty competitively – ranking highly on ladders, leading clans, etc. Nowadays I’m more resigned to a more relaxed, less competitive lifestyle of playing RTS games on my couch with a controller.
So how does a “Halo hater” but RTS game lover like me feel about the demo?
As already mentioned by cmfl3x, the demo consists of a 1.4 GB download that contains a tutorial, two campaign missions with accompanying cutscenes, and a 1v1 skirmish mode where you can play against the AI as either the UNSC or the Covenant. I made my way through the campaign on the default difficulty of Normal (didn’t know it was changeable), and went through a 1v1 skirmish against the AI on Hard first as the UNSC, and then as the Covenant.
As a non-fan of the Halo Universe, what did I think?
The simplest thing to say is, I liked it. The menu system, interface, etc. all have that Halo 3-style feel, whether it’s the initial load screens, the objective screen, the 1v1 screen, etc. It feels very epic. While the game doesn’t focus on Master Chief, I honestly never cared much for the Halo universe storyline anyway so this entirely new storyline was fine by me. And it works. The cutscenes were very well done and seem to ooze quality. Fans of the Halo universe will probably be eating it up. As a non-fan, even I was able to appreciate the magnificent cutscenes and interface design.
Ensemble Studios did an accurate job with turning the universe and its mechanics into a RTS game. Warthogs, Hunters, Spartans, etc. are all controllable and the Halo fan should definitely be pleased. Even though I didn’t really like the Halo games, I played through them enough to recognize the effort that went into making Halo Wars authentic. I thought it was neat that you could kill Covenant in their sniper towers and then place your own troops in them. I liked the Warthog “bounce” when it lands after catching some air. I especially liked when I had Spartans plowing through infantry with the handguns or the chaingun and hearing their shields recharge. All these nice little details just give the game fantastic presentation value and I have to say that I am impressed. Maybe I should say from now on that I’m not a fan of the Halo FPS games only, because I may very well end up being a Halo Wars fan.
How does it play as an RTS?
Having played Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 recently on the 360, it becomes the RTS game that I can most easily make comparisons to since that game is pretty much a “by the book” RTS game on the 360. Halo Wars is even more simple and streamlined. You don’t have much of an option to build your base out since you have to build your buildings in predesignated spots. It’s weird that you can’t choose to place turrets where you want them – rather, you can only put them on the four corner slots of your base building. Not being able to set up your buildings or defensive structures how you want them certainly lowers the strategy level of the game, but maybe it’s for the better considering its target audience? I personally loved being able to lay out my base in such a way to create chokepoints and all that, but maybe with a controller Ensemble felt that it would be too tedious. I can’t complain that much since neither side is able to build base defense how they would like so it remains fair. Less strategic, but fair.
The game is easy to understand: a food cap, income, a tech cap, and all of the upgrades are generally housed in the same buildings as the troops that can be produced in them. In a sense, it’s a very good “beginner friendly” RTS game. It also doesn’t hurt that it looks great.
Unfortunately, once again, the controller still makes things tougher than they should be. Several units have special abilities that can be accessed by hitting Y, but when you’ve grouped multiple unit types, it’s not clear to me if they’re all using their specials, only using them if they’re applicable, or even not using them at all. The game is perhaps too simple, as there doesn’t seem to be hotkey groups or waypoints either, so it suffers the same fate of most console RTS games – you just mass units and attack. Tactics seem to be sort of at a minimum here.
Unlike Red Alert 3 where there’s a good amount of strategy possible (attacking harvesters, using commandos & engineers, setting up turret forward bases, etc.) but it’s limited due to the controller itself, Halo Wars seems to have less strategic options since you’re pretty much confined to build in predesignated spots and have no options to control your units through groups or waypoints.
One thing I did like was the use of money crates in the game as well as independent enemy mobs like in Warcraft 3. These enemy groups defend expansions and other capturable sites on the map, so to get them, you have to commit a force to attacking them. This adds at least an important layer of strategy to the game, since you can decide whether to hard rush your opponent, or devote your forces early to try to expand. In any case, your units should not really just be waiting around at your base.
My Skirmish Experience
After beating the campaign levels in the demo, I decided to see what the skirmish mode was like. I hope the maps aren’t this small in the retail game because I thought it was pretty silly how close the bases started next to each other on the skirmish map included with the demo. It was a map with width greater than length, but the two bases were pretty much set up in the north middle and south middle portions of the map. West and east of the two bases were expansion areas, but honestly, you just had to walk a short path south (or north, if you were the bottom base) to be at the enemy base. And with no way to set up your turrets or chokepoints, etc. it was pretty much “Oh, hi neighbor…I’m attacking your base now.”
In my first match as the UNSC (versus Covenant on Hard difficulty), the AI would simply send packs of random units at my base, before eventually sending a group of flying units – probably Banshees or something. I didn’t have much anti-air to handle them, but after constructing a couple turrets, I built up enough time and just pumped out anti-air ground units. After keeping them back, I was able to continuously pump out tanks and other vehicles. Eventually when they stopped sending units I just pushed towards their base and it was over. Not much strategy required. But perhaps judging how the AI plays is not the best way to decide on how strategic this game is. And like cmfl3x said, I would be informed by a voice what the AI was up to. What is the point of that? Is scouting not even a needed tactic anymore?
Later on I tried a Covenant versus UNSC match on Hard. The Covenant plays very similar to the UNSC in terms of general building mechanics, but of course their units are a bit different (sadly, no Spartans). I opted for an early expansion strategy this time around, and basically built minimal units while expanding to my sides. I didn’t hear anything from the AI for a while so I figured it was doing the same thing too. I was wrong. While I had a minimal party of units clearing around the map to make expansions, I was hit hard by 3-4 huge UNSC ships called Vultures. There was honestly nothing I could do but let my main base fall. I was resigned to my expansion, but with all of the base slots built up for simply harvesting there, I had a hard time turning it into a main base. I figured maybe I could rebuild at my main once the AI left the area. I went back later on with a few units I created and to my horror, discovered that the AI was building a new base at my old main. I knew it was pretty much over at that point, so I instigated the AI a bit by attacking its new base (“Hey, that’s my old base!”) with my troops before he sent his Vultures in to finish me off. Apparently this second skirmish game I played was far more difficult than the first one.
Parting Thoughts
All in all, the Halo Wars demo left a favorable impression for me (unlike the last two demos I played: Lord of the Rings: Conquest & F.E.A.R. 2). I think Halo fans will certainly enjoy it a lot, and even I, as a RTS fan, was able to enjoy it. I think I like it more than Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 due to its overall package just feeling more epic, but I can’t see it being as strategic as a PC RTS game (or Red Alert 3 on the 360, for that matter). Of course, with no way to play a real life opponent in the demo, it’s difficult for me to judge how complicated or deep it can be.
Part of me wonders though whether this is ideally how a console RTS should play. Any more complicated and it might not really be easily controllable with a controller (see Red Alert 3). But then again, coming from a hardcore RTS player’s background where every key on the keyboard is basically a hotkey, this just can’t compare. Maybe it is possible to be a competitive RTS console player – I just have to accept things as being more simplified.
Whether the removal of more complicated RTS mechanics from a console RTS game is considered a good thing or not is debatable, but I do have to admit that Halo Wars has great presentation. While I may find some slight annoyance with the lack of strategy in the game, it’ll probably be forgiveable just from the way it looks. Plus, if there’s matchmaking, maybe that’s all I really need. 3v3 might end proving to be quite addicting if there’s stats and all that. Guess we’ll see in a month!
