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Reviewed on
March 2, 2009
Ensemble's new Xbox 360 strategy game is heavy on the Halo mythos but occasionally stumbles over its limited control scheme.
Read Brad Shoemaker's full review
Halo Wars is a real-time strategy game for the Xbox 360. Join the Halo Wars crew on the UNSC ship CFV-88 Spirit of Fire and engage the Covenant head-on in an attempt to hold on to the recently taken human colony of Harvest.
Larger scale battles than have been seen in Halo before
Development
The game was developed by Ensemble Studios, best known for their Age of Empires series, and is an Xbox 360 exclusive. During the development, Ensemble Studios stayed in contact with Bungie, the creator of the Halo series, to ensure the game retained the proper look and feel. Some of the specific graphical touches in the game, like getting a scoreboard at the end of each game, the menu system, basic UI and the style of multiplayer lobbies make Halo Wars feel like a Halo game, which is key. Ensemble Studios also took extra care of the game's controls to ensure that the often-complex actions of an RTS are easy to deal with on the Xbox 360 controller. Shortly after the release of the game, the news broke that Microsoft Studios was shutting down Ensemble Studios, the developers of Halo Wars. Two downloadable content packs were released for the game by Robot Studios, which handled post release support of the game, until March 2010 when the newly formed 343 Industries took over all support.
Plot
The game's story is told through in-game cut scenes, and in-game moments like other Halo games. Halo Wars is set in 2531, and focuses its story around Marine forces of a UNSC ship, CFV-88 Spirit of Fire, as they engage Covenant ground forces after the discovery of an ancient artifact during a journey to Harvest.
The story begins with the UNSC's early battles on Harvest, but also features another colony world, Arcadia, which holds something of great interest to the Covenant. The Flood is significant in the storyline and several massive Forerunner structures are also explored.
Although the Master Chief doesn't make any appearance in Halo Wars, several other SPARTANs do, these are referred to as Red Team. Other key characters in Halo Wars are the A.I. Serina, Professor Ellen Anders, Sergeant John Forge, and the Spirit of Fire's commander, Captain Cutter.
Bring incredible firepower to bear on your enemies
Story
While Sergeant forge is patrolling the northern regions, Alpha Base is attacked and destroyed by the Covenant, with survivors fleeing to the countryside surrounding the area. Rounding up the survivors, Forge leads them in an assault to remove the covenant presence and re-establish Alpha Base. Forge then leads an attack on a relic site that the Covenant has occupied, eventually removing any remaining Covenant, and making it possible for Anders to examine the relic briefly. The Covenant makes a counter-attack, forcing the UNSC to retreat. However, the information Anders gathered from the relic shows that the Covenant has been pointed to a second UNSC colony, Arcadia.Following the Covenant to Arcadia, they find that most of the orbital defence ships have been destroyed or damaged in battle with the Covenant. Forge and his forces are deployed to assist the Spartans from Red Team, in an effort to evacuate the civilians from Arcadia City. After they've evacuated, they withdraw to a safer position while waiting for back-up by Spartan Group Omega. Once the back-up arrives, they move in to find out why the Covenant came to Arcadia. Forge and Anders begin to study the area, but suddenly the Arbiter arrives, taking Anders prisoner and wounding Forge; Spartans arrive, but too late to save Anders.
All Units!
Since they had to rip out the FTL Reactor, the Spirit of Fire has lost its ability to go faster than light, making the journey home much, much longer than the crew could survive on their limited supplies. The crew therefore enter cryogenic storage. Here, Sergeant John Forge's cryo-tube is closed by Captain Cutter, who briefly nods, while the camera pans down on the words "Sgt. J. Forge", acknowledging the sacrifice he made.
Serina speaks the final words of the game, in the last moment of the credits, saying:
As the logo appears on the screen.Captain. Wake up. Something has happened.
The ultimate fate of Spirit of Fire is unknown, and unfortunately will continue to remain unknown, as the game's lukewarm sales and the closing of Ensemble Studios make the possibility of a sequel to Halo Wars slim to nil.
Gameplay
Covenant base struck from orbit by Spirit's MAC cannon.
Technology Advancement
Throughout the campaign and while playing skirmishes, the player must advance their technology in order to bring out heavier fire power. When technology is increased, more units, upgrades and buildings becomes available. For instance, infantry squads can receive additional members or stronger weapons. Field Armories or Temples, and their upgrades, can become available when technology is increased.How to advance in technology is different from both factions. The UNSC has to build and upgrade reactors, while the Covenant has to advance in Ages by purchasing upgrades at the leader temple.
Veterancy Points
Veterancy Points, or stars, is a rank-like system that each unit has, they determine a unit's statistics such as attack damage, fire-rate and defense. They are gained after a unit kills an enemy, destroys a structure, blowing up a vehicles or other other combat related situations. They are also gained by upgrading the unit through buildings. A unit can have a maximum of 3 stars. Spartan-commandeered Tanks, Grizzlies, Hornets and Hawks can have a maximum of 14 stars, while all other Spartan-commandeered vehicles can have a maximum of 13 stars. Leader Abilities
Like many RTS games, Halo Wars features special character abilities, unique powers that grant their respective sides a considerable bonus in a particular field. UNSC Leaders |
|---|
 Captain Cutter Captain CutterMain page: Captain James Gregory Cutter Leader Power:
Unique Unit:
Super Upgrade:
Economy Bonus:
|
 Sergeant Forge Sergeant John ForgeMain page: John ForgeLeader Power:
Unique Unit:
Super Upgrade:
Economy Bonus:
|
 Professor Anders Professor Ellen AndersMain page: Ellen AnderLeader Power:
Unique Unit:
Super Upgrade:
Economy Bonus:
|
Covenant Leaders |
|---|
 The Prophet of Regret The Prophet of RegretMain page: Prophet of RegretLeader Power:
Unique Unit:
Combat Upgrades:
Special Upgrades:
|
Brute ChieftainLeader Power:
Unique Unit:
Combat Upgrades:
Special Upgrades:
|
 The Arbiter The Arbiter ( Ripa 'Moramee)Leader Power:
Unique Unit:
Combat Upgrades:
Special Upgrades:
|
Controls
Halo Wars allows the player to play as the Humans or the Covenant.
- Left-stick - Moving around
- Right-stick - Zooming In & Out (up/down), turns point of view (left/right).
- A button - select a Unit (hold down to select with a circle)
- A button (Double click) - select all units of the same type
- X button - target enemy, move units
- Y button - Alternative Fire
- Right Bumper - select all units on-screen
- Left Bumper - select every unit on map
- D-Pad- Each direction on the d-pad is mapped to a somewhere with one direction cycling through your bases, one cycles through your troops, another shows you all known enemy units, and the last calls brings up the leader powers menu or if playing as Covenant goes directly to your command unit.
- Left Trigger - When held down the movement around map (Left-stick) is sped up, allowing for more rapid movement around the map).
- Right Trigger - When all units (Left Bumper), or units on-screen (Right Bumper) are selected the right trigger can be pulled to select types of units form those selected.
Halo Wars Maps
There are 14 maps available in Skirmish. The maps are as follows:- Chasms (available to play in the demo of Halo Wars as of 2.5.09) {1v1}
- Blood Gulch {1v1}
- Pirth Outskirts {1v1}
- Release {1v1}
- Tundra {1v1}
- Beasley's Plateau {2v2}
- Crevice {2v2}
- The Docks {2v2}
- Labyrinth {2v2}
- Repository {2v2}
- Terminal Moraine {2v2}
- Exile {3v3}
- Fort Deen {3v3}
- Frozen Valley {3v3}
Downloadable Content for Halo Wars
Despite the fact that Halo Wars is the last game by Ensemble studios, Robot Entertainment confirmed that they would continue to support the game and have DLC packs. The first DLC for Halo Wars is the "Strategic Options" pack which includes three new Game Modes and four new Achievements. The Strategic Options DLC was released on May 19th, 2009. The three new Game Modes are:
- Keepaway Mode: In this adaptation of Capture the Flag, teams battle it out to capture and hold a free-roaming Forerunner Sentinel to score points before the other team. The number of Sentinels needed to win scales with the number of players.
- Tug of War Mode: Players must build a stronger army than their opponents to succeed. Defeating enemies is essential, but success is determined by a combination of the army, buildings and resources left standing in the end.
- Reinforcement Mode: Players must adapt their tactics and use the ever changing set of units to outwit and outlast the enemy, all the while facing successive waves of incoming enemy units.
The four new Achievements are:
- One and Done (30 points): Score the winning point on a game of Keepaway against the Legendary A.I.'s
- Pull Hard, Pull Deep (20 Points): Win and never trail in a Tug of War game
- Freak on a Streak (20 points): Gain at least 15 population from a single wave in a Reinforcement game
- Living Loving Bug (30 points): Obtain a Scarab during a Reinforcement game
On July 1, 2009 the second DLC for Halo Wars called the "Historical Battle Map Pack Add-on" was released. It costs 800 Microsoft Points and adds four new maps and four new Achievements totaling 100 points.
Glacial Ravine, the latest 3v3 map.
The four new Maps are:
- Memorial Basin
- Glacial Ravine
- Barrens
- Blood River
The four new Achievements are:
- Tour Coming Through (30 points): Hot drop 50 squads to your Covenant Leader in a single game on Barrens.
- Never Leave a Man Behind (15 points): Finish with 5000 net resources tributed to your teammates on Memorial Basin except in Deathmatch.
- Drain Cleaner (30 points): Kill 20 enemy squads with a continuous Covenant Leader Power on Memorial Basin.
- Killjoy (25 points): Disrupt 5 active Leader Powers in a single game on Blood River.
Halo Wars Limited Edition
In addition to the standard edition of the game being sold in stores, a limited collectors edition is also be available. This package includes:
Collector's Only.
- The Mythic Map Pack for Halo 3, which contains the maps Orbital, Sandbox, and Assembly
- Halo Wars: Genesis, a graphic novel about the Spirit of Fire's campaign against the Covenant
- A unique, in-game Honor Guard Wraith
- Six "Leader Cards" with pictures and information about major characters in the game
- A Spirit of Fire crew patch... which is more of a rubber coaster.
Halo Wars Soundtrack
A Halo Wars soundtrack is available to buy. It contains a soundtrack CD, and a bonus DVD. The CD contains the following songs:- Spirit Of Fire
Halo Wars OST - Bad Here Day
- Perspective
- Money Or Meteors
- Flollo
- Just Ad Nauseum
- Unusually Quiet
- Flip And Sizzle
- Put The Lady Down
- Six-Armed Robbing Suit
- Action Figure Hands
- Status Quo Show
- Part Of The Plan
- Work Burns And Runaway Grunts
- Freaked Out
- Rescued Or Not
- Best Guess At Best
- One Problem At A Time
- De Facto The Matter
- Part Of The Problem
- Fingerprints Are Broken
- Out Of There Alive
- Through Your Hoops
- Under Your Hurdles
- Insignificantia (All SloppyNo Joe)
General Information
Edit
| Game Name | Halo Wars |
| Platform(s) | |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Developer(s) | |
| Genres |
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| Themes |
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| Original US Release |
March 3, 2009
need a fuzzy date? |
| Original US Release | February 2009 know the real date? |
| Aliases | HW |
| OFLC |
OFLC: PG
|
| CERO |
CERO: B
|
| ESRB |
ESRB: T
|
| PEGI |
PEGI: 16+
|
Guides
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Halo Wars Title Updates
These are the Title Updates to Halo Wars. |
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Black Box and Skull Guide
A guide to finding all of the black boxes and skulls in the campaign of Halo Wars. |
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