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Posted on: Mar 03, 2009
Halo Wars
WORDS BY: Ryan McCaffrey
Later, you’ll be up against an under-construction Super Scarab that can’t move but whose pivoting-head turret works. Amassing a sufficiently capable army and destroying the beast before its unstoppable deadly beam chews through the protective cover separating it from your base is exhilarating and tense. And without giving anything away, the campaign’s final battle is an epic struggle against both the clock and overwhelming opposing forces that succeeds in being tough without deteriorating into controller-throwing frustration.
Multiplayer, meanwhile, is frustrating only in the sense that there are just two modes: skirmish (a genre staple) and deathmatch. Nevertheless, what’s here is a load of fun. A healthy 14-map complement — split into 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 blocks — awaits you, and team play is the star of the show. For instance, when playing as the Covenant in a 2v2 match, we chose to work on heavily upgraded units — including the havoc-wreaking Scarab — while our partner cranked out the lower-tech mass quantities of grunts. Adding more humans to the mix (though you can also play against the A.I.) only adds to the welcome sense of unpredictability.
In addition to the unfulfilled story potential and lack of overall multiplayer options, a few other minor issues mar Halo Wars’ otherwisesuccessful bow. Unit pathfinding is a bit weak, so both big and small allies can have trouble navigating around other friendly units. The framerate, meanwhile, runs a bit chunky almost all the time, although it never actually hampers the fun. Finally, the lack of Covenant and Flood campaigns seems like a missed opportunity when each would seem like a natural fit for the real-time-strategy framework that Halo Wars establishes.
Though it’s not a first-person shooter, Halo Wars packs all the Halo fixings you’ve come to expect: an engaging campaign, co-op play, engrossing multiplayer, efficient party-friendly matchmaking, hidden skulls, Legendary difficulty, and impeccable controls. We can confidently say that it’s the foremost example of a real-time strategy game done right on a console. It may or may not be your gateway game into other RTSs, but it will almost certainly be an RTS you’ll feel compelled to play to completion. And though it won’t affect your enjoyment of what’s in this game, it’s a shame that Microsoft is shuttering Ensemble upon its completion of Halo Wars — they’re clearly the right people to handle what deserves to be a stellar franchise. Their thank you/goodbye message to their fans at the onset of the end credits is a heartfelt touch and shows a lot of class. Their swan song deserves your time and attention.
PREVOn Xbox 360
- Despite jumping genres, still feels like a Halo game.
- Easy and engaging to pick up and play.
- Minor A.I. and pathfinding annoyances.
- Where are the Covenant and Flood campaigns?
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 03:21
Posted by mindspring
played it... meh... Its a very standard RTS... From what i found very poor AI as well; it would have been a bit more acceptable if released after C&C 2 but this day players to do less babysitting on dumb ai...
Sat, 10/17/2009 - 20:56
Posted by wickland
This game is insane! I've been waiting for it for a long long time!
Mon, 10/05/2009 - 14:06
Posted by jpstevenson
Man! This games kicks some serious A*S! I have never been so addicted to a game before...Nice videos and graphics really kept me playing!
Sat, 08/29/2009 - 11:13
Posted by juicerx
Thanks for sharing this information. I found it very informative as I have been researching a lot lately on practical matters such as you talk about...
Mon, 07/27/2009 - 07:17
Posted by gameguruu
my faforit best game :-)
Sun, 04/26/2009 - 00:42
Posted by zombo09
I got bored playing the demo. But i did like how you can build up your base quickly with this game. I don't think I'll buy this game but i will for sure likely rent it.
Tue, 04/21/2009 - 00:15
Posted by Bobafettboy
This game is the same as each and every other strategy game, and brings nothing new to anything! Holy shit those voices are already annoying after the first half hour of gameplay!
But for a game that I picked up for 15 bucks at a local pawnshop, and sold for 45 bucks on E-BAY, it was pretty much fun to play for two weeks.
Fri, 04/10/2009 - 15:55
Posted by GRUNTSMASHER
I don't have the game but I see that the graphics are incredible and hear the gameplay is awesome. GO EARTH!!!!!!!!
Sat, 03/14/2009 - 06:41
Posted by skulllord129
I'd like to appolagize for my previous post. I just realized it wasn't you guys who did that vid.
Fri, 03/13/2009 - 08:18
Posted by skulllord129
I totally agree with Nate66613. The release of that vid pretty much screwed up the whole game. I mean, rushing is a strategy that ppl use but when you guys released that vid it made it so that now almost EVERYONE uses it. Its extremely annoying and I have difficulty trying to counter it, especially when both teams do it. I sure hope that defense vid you are working on gets released very soon and I hope its pretty damn good because if it not then congratualtions... You just ruined a game for thousands.
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 18:31
Posted by ThunderChief66
hey, It is possible to stop the rush you know...
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 16:51
Posted by Nate66613
I would like to say FUCK YOU to the faggots that released the UNSC and Covenant rush techniques. You have succesfully ruined the game because now thats all people do. Why the fuck didnt you release the defense techniques first? Again, FUCK YOU OXM! EAT A FUCKING DICK COCK SUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 16:35
Posted by Spybreak
Yea I think they just wanted to see if it would work first before they put in all their time and effort to get Cov and Flood campaigns. It would be nice to see these or new multiplayer modes, (like CTF or something new like Assault/Defend, Gold Rush or something like that) as DLC but with the closing of Ensemble I don't think this is going to happen. I'm guessing the only DLC that will come out for Halo Wars will be map packs. >< Love the game and you didn't even mention the automatic dif feature which is a dynamic difficulty setting that always changes whenever you play the AI and win or loose.
Wed, 03/11/2009 - 08:33
Posted by Halo...IEP
I loved the demo. Bought the game, and love it more! The campaign is addictive. The multiplayer is very fun. Skirmish mode is great(possibly my favorite part). I've played 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 with both AI and human players via xbox live. All worth your time.
The cutscenes are very impressive too.
My knocks on the game are: traffic jams with your units in certain spaces, the lack of a split-screen multiplayer, no campaign mode for the flood or cov., and no flood mode for multiplayer.
I think they felt like they needed to make a particular deadline, and put in what they could. It could've easily been a 9.5 or 10 with a little more work. I do not have a problem with the review score.
ScreamngSilence
Sun, 03/08/2009 - 14:46
Posted by Frostbite9294
Civilization Revolution is indeed a TBS (Turn Based Strategy) game, and in no way an RTS. It is rather shocking that someone who is considered a professional video game reviewer would not know this.
OXM will, on occasion, have spot-on reviews, however as of late they seem to be inflating the scores of Xbox exclusive games, such as Gears of War 2 and Fable 2, and lowering multi-platform release games, such as Dead Space. Dead Space, in my mind, was one of the best new IPs in recent memory, with a captivating environment, fun gameplay and an overall enjoyable experience.
Back from the tangent, while Halo Wars does seem to be a successful console RTS, its' console accessibility seems to have come at the cost of features, leaving a stripped down strategy game that seems to leave an easy, repetitive experience, with the exception of an entertaining multiplayer.
As such I believe that a game that should be a 7.5 or 8 has been pushed up to a 9- due to what I believe is a bias for Microsoft published games by a company that is endorsed by none other than Microsoft.
I continue to read and enjoy many OXM reviews, that's just my two cents.
Wed, 03/04/2009 - 14:37
Posted by LIG GUNNER
I agree with insomniak 100%. Civ Rev is most definitely a turn based strategy. At no point is it real-time. And I would know, I played it extensively. You could only move a certain number of 'spaces' per turn, whereas in RTS's, it is REAL-TIME. Live action. I would've figured a gaming magazine would know that. But no worries, still love you guys.
P.S.- One thing I love about OXM is they seem to give games scores based on how fun it is versus the technical aspects like many others judge by. I don't care how great the voice acting is in a RTS. I care about FUN!
Tue, 03/03/2009 - 20:28
Posted by Cronos501
Yeah,yeah but WTF are the rock band and guitar hero DLC Reviews
Tue, 03/03/2009 - 18:43
Posted by insomniak
Civilization Revolutions is not an RTS it is a TBS.
Most definately buying this game I love the demo. I love RTS but they dont usually transfer well to console but this game definately works.
Tue, 03/03/2009 - 17:32
Posted by xpects the xpctd
I haved played the demo dry and I'm getting this from Gamefly hopefully tomorrow. I can't wait to try the full campaign and multiplayer, and if it's anything like the demo, I could just be making this just the second RTS game in my collection (EndWar).
Tue, 03/03/2009 - 15:30
Posted by Hustlinonradio
i really think its a good game but not the best RTS on the 360. I think that belongs to civilization revolution
Tue, 03/03/2009 - 12:58
Posted by thedude8591
I got bored playing the demo. But i did like how you can build up your base quickly with this game. I don't think I'll buy this game but i will for sure likely rent it.