Halo returns in RTS form
From the developers of the Age of Empires series comes a console exclusive RTS (real-time strategy) set in the Halo universe. Instead of running around as the Master Chief you will control squads of different unit types from your airborne view fending off the Covenant during the campaign. You’ll also have the option of controlling the covenant, but only when playing skirmish or online. There is no Covenant campaign which is a little disappointing.
The story is set 20 years before the events of the first Halo, where you’ll follow the small cast of characters through gorgeous CGI cut scenes to flesh out any dialogue that leads up to each mission. It’s a competent story, but nothing too spectacular. The campaign has only 15 missions as well, so for an RTS Halo Wars is relatively short. Each mission will take an average of about 30 minutes, with a few missions lasting around 10 minutes.
Halo Wars is one of the few console RTS games to feature a decent control scheme. The reticule will snap to enemy targets (which is also adjustable if it bothers you), making them easy to attack, and selecting your own units is very effective. I wish they had more unit selection options however. I found it bothersome that I couldn’t deselect only 1 unit, I could only deselect everything I had already selected or reselect.
Units in Halo Wars are also fairly competent. If you are busy managing your base, units will attack anything that comes into range automatically. There are a few exceptions to this. If something that is outside their range attacks, they will just stand there and take the beating. I also had some difficulty getting certain units to perform an action properly. Trying to get the warthog to rush units just wasn’t working to my satisfaction. They’ll drive around aimlessly till they find an ideal path, and then finally attack. Even if they are right in front of the enemy, they delay for a reason that isn’t clear to me. Another big issue for me is trying to move units around other units. Since units can’t go through another unit, they have to go around. I found many times I would try to retreat a certain unit from battle, they would get stuck on a unit behind them and be unable to move. In other games, units will move out of the way to allow the unit you commanded to move but in Halo Wars they just get stuck. You would need to manually move your other units out of the way.
Building your base options are kept to a minimum to increase the pace and simplicity of the game. While this makes the game much better for beginners, RTS veterans will find a serious lack of depth. There aren’t a significant amount of units, nor a large amount of building options. You mostly spend resources upgrading existing buildings and units as opposed to discovering new types.
There is a good amount of multiplayer options as well. You can choose to play co-op, but co-op is a bare bones extension of the single player. You are forced to share resources, so communication is a must. If you have a bad partner, you’re in trouble. Also available to you locally or online are a couple multiplayer modes. You’ll have skirmish and deathmatch. Skirmish is the typical RTS versus match where you’ll build your base(s) and defeat your opponent(s). Deathmatch is a little different; you’ll start with a large amount of resources ready to go allowing the attacks to start much sooner, and making the rounds much shorter.
If you are looking for replayability, and online multiplayer isn’t your thing Halo Wars still has plenty for you. There are skulls and black boxes to find to unlock game modifiers or timeline information. Also the scoring system seems pretty robust, allowing you to shoot for different medal awards. There certainly is plenty to do, and it’s fun enough to warrant going back a second time.
