eXpert Review

by Linkwick

Halo fans rejoice, the much-loved series is back!! However there’s a twist, a shift in genre. Will this breathe new life and gather new fans, or should Ensemble leave Halo to the experts – Bungie?

Ensemble has a history of great console real-time strategy (RTS) games, having developed three successive Age Of Empire games (as well as numerous expansions). And with this as their swansong before disbanding, they’ve gone all-out to ensure they wind up with a bang, not a whimper.

Halo Wars (obviously) takes place in the same universe as Bungie’s acclaimed series. However, this game is set some 20 years before the Master Chief’s actions in that trilogy, leaving Ensemble with plenty of room to weave their own grand story. And a grand story it is, being captivating right ‘til the end and fitting in with the whole Halo ethos. The adventure starts with the UNSC’s efforts to reclaim Harvest, the first scalp taken in the Covenant’s holy war on humankind, and quickly escalates into another desperate quest for survival – both for the immediate participants and the species as a whole. That may be fairly standard for a Halo game, but it’s an enthralling plot none-the-less.

Ensemble have strived to make this RTS as console-friendly as possible. Designed from the ground up to work with a console controller, the game features streamlined controls and simplified economics and construction. Bases are only constructible in set spots, and have a number of spaces to erect the usual RTS buildings – barracks, armories, supply pads and the like. Choosing upgrades and producing units are done through quick selection menus at each building, and works well. In fact, despite their simplistic nature, all the controls are responsive and easy to pick up on. Sure, if you’ve played a RTS game with a “mouse and keyboard” combination before you’ll feel short-changed with the options, but for a console game it works wonderfully. And such a construction template does slant the focus onto army battles rather than in an economic or development direction, but this is by no means a bad thing.

The game looks positively divine – the maps are nicely rendered and game units are easily recognizable. Even zooming right in on units still retains a high level of attention to detail. Special mention must go to the pre-rendered cinematics – they’re almost a reason to finish campaign levels in themselves. Unfortunately, when a mass of forces clash there can be some slowdown, but on those few occasions it can hardly be held against Ensemble when things get extremely busy.

Accompanying this is the audio, and again they’ve taken great care with this aspect of the game. The sound effects are top-notch, and the background music continues on with the masterful scores that first resonated from the speakers way back in Halo: Combat Evolved. There’s also enough deviation with the music to make it seem its own score, yet still tie in with the series as a whole.

Beside the usual campaign mode, there’s also a multiplayer aspect as well. Due to restrictions on playable factions (unlike those seen in the campaign, only the UNSC and Covenant are available), games are limited to two opposing sides. To vary games up, a selection of leaders with different perks and skills are available for both sides, and each can have a dramatic impact on how an army functions best. Matches also allow up to three players on each side co-operatively, letting up to six players (or AI-controlled characters) battle it out. This is where the true replayability of the game is, and is great for both large staged battles or small, quick skirmishes. Even better is the fact that you can team up locally with other players for co-op matches or campaigns, or simply go it alone against the AI if you feel like a game offline.

As always, there are the occasional downsides to this game. Beside the occasional framerate slowdown, the lack of playable sides in multiplayer games is a tad disappointing – the variety simply comes down to different leader selections and can seem a little monotonous at times. And despite an engaging campaign, playing an extended story as the Covenant would be a treat. But like the rest of the game, the only faults you’ll really find are due to wishful thinking and preconceptions you bring to Halo Wars, about how different it is to PC-based RTS games. And on that score, as a console RTS game, once again the Halo series reigns supreme.

9/10