Review: Bringing strategy to Halo in "Halo Wars"

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Though it’s a fairly old game, I bought “Halo Wars” during the recent Xbox Live Games on Demand sale and wanted to write a bit about it.

“Halo Wars” is a real time strategy game for the Xbox 360 released all the way back in 2009. Developed by Ensemble Studios, “Halo Wars” lets you take sides in the human/Covenant conflict and gives you control over both factions like never before. Usually, the Halo universe is experienced through the perspective of the Master Chief and though we were able to play as the Arbiter in Halo 3, we’re rarely given the chance to play as the Covenant.

I haven’t played much of the single player portion of this game but what I have played I found to be similar to most other RTS campaigns. It starts slowly, introducing you to units and powers before moving onto larger engagements and ultimately, the basics of base building. Being both an RTS and Halo enthusiast, I tend to opt for Skirmish battles or online multiplayer battles with friends.

“Halo Wars” streamlines its approach to the RTS genre by only allowing you to build bases at predetermined sites around the map. Each base has a set amount of buildings it can support and can be upgraded as the game progresses to support more. And rather than building units specifically to harvest resources (as in “StarCraft” or earlier “Command and Conquer” games), resources are gathered when specific buildings are attached to bases (supply pads for humans and warehouses for Covenant). Vehicle, ground and air units can be built to protect your bases and harass your enemies, all of which have specific upgrades depending on your style of play.

Each faction has three Leaders to play as, each granting unique powers and abilities. Covenant leaders appear on the battlefield and are powerful units that also can make use of special abilities. The Brute Chieftain, for example, has a energy whirlwind that deals massive damage to whatever it touches and can be exploded to deal even more. The Brute Chieftain can also build unique Brute units that wield Brute Shot grenade launchers and can be upgraded with jump jet packs. Human leaders don’t take to the battlefield themselves but instead each have two unique units. Captain Cutter, for example, has the MAC Blast attack which deals a massive damage and can be upgraded for more shots and damage. He also can create the Elephant, a sort of mobile barracks to create troops anywhere on the field, as well as being able to upgrade infantry to ODST troopers that can be dropped anywhere on the map. Choosing a Leader wisely can be the difference between victory and defeat. This is especially true when playing against multiple opponents, as you’ll want a wide variety of powers and troops available between you and your teammates.

I’m usually pretty picky when it comes to RTS games. Well, that’s an understatement. I usually tend to stay away from RTS games on consoles completely. Using a controller to build and command my army just feels too clunky and detached compared to using a mouse and keyboard on the PC.

But after playing “Halo Wars” a considerable amount, I found the controls to be very intuitive with many options that let you instantly move your view about the battlefield. The shoulder buttons are used to select all your units or just the units currently onscreen. Selected units appear at the bottom of the screen and once selected, the right trigger can then be used to page through the various types, allowing you to direct one type of unit even if you initially selected your entire army. Though it’s a bit bulky, selecting units this way for directed or concentrated attacks is very easy to accomplish and very useful.

Also, the D-Pad can be used to cycle through your bases as well as groups of units. Though there isn’t a mechanic specifically for the creation of groups, I found that if you move groups of units apart, the game will cycle through the groups of units in close proximity with a click of the D-Pad. While it may be a bit bulkier than how the same thing would be accomplished on a PC RTS, it serves the same function.

Online or Skirmish games can only be played up to 3-on-3 and there doesn’t seem to be a free-for-all mode – unless you’re playing 1-on-1, you’re going to have a teammate. And while there are a decent number of maps, there are only three 3-on-3 maps which is a bit disappointing. I also found the AI difficulty to be a little unbalanced. While Heroic is a slight challenge, Legendary is nearly impossible to topple with no kind of option in between. And since human opponents online always manage to build massive armies before I manage to build a second base, AI opponents are unfortunately my usual competition. Luckily, two friends of mine bought “Halo Wars” when I did so we can at least make a good attempt at beating the computer on Legendary before getting discouraged and playing on Heroic.

If this game were brand new, I’d be a little bummed by how flimsy the single player effort is and how few options there are in terms of multiplayer. But given that I was able to get it for a steal of a price ($10), I’m more than happy with the purchase and found it to be an excellent addition to the Halo universe.