 I played around with Halo Wars this weekend, and I’m going to be honest, I’m excited for the release. Very excited. They did it. I’m not entirely sure how they did it, but they managed to create an RTS for a console gaming system that ISN’T a computer. I’m sure they used voodoo or something. Perhaps the heavy psychotropic agents they were on allowed them a glimpse into an alternate reality where consoles are all that exist and RTS games MUST be played on them. Either way, I enjoyed playing Halo Wars on the Xbox 360 as much as if I were playing it on a computer. In order to combat the awkwardness of having to use a joystick to control the cursor, they merged camera and cursor controls. Now when you move the cursor, the camera goes with it, keeping the cursor in the center of the screen. I was surprised how well it worked out. The game isn’t as pretty as one might expect from the franchise, but it might just be that it’s a demo, so it’s not full graphics. The units are a little smaller than I would prefer, and you don’t have quite as much freedom as you do in, say, Dawn of War, but you do have the ability to zoom in and out and swivel the camera. The animation is slick though, and the weapons effects are not too over done which is nice to see. I’ll be honest, I find no greater pleasure than sending 3 Spartans against a hoard of grunt squads and watching them pick the little buggers apart. In terms of control, they really handled the problems presented by the controller well. “A” selects units, “B” de-selects things, “X” is the action button (move, attack), and “Y” is the special button (like throw grenades or what have you). All of the menus are pop up with a wheel selection style. Generally, unit building is on the right, while upgrades are on the left. Base building is a little different than one might expect. Instead of just placing buildings wherever you will, you are presented with a template of sorts, where you get several pads where any building available to you can be built. A fully upgraded base can have 7 buildings, 4 turrets, and the command center. You have 4 spots on your base pad to build defensive turrets, which can each be upgraded with a bonus attack that can focus on infantry, vehicles, or aircraft. This style of base building works really well for the medium. The demo offers one army from each side. As I understand it, there are three armies for both Covenant and UNSC, each with their own unique special units and abilities. The differences for Covenant and UNSC are great though. They aren’t just mirrored forces with different graphics, like I expected. Unit strengths differ greatly, for instance, UNSC units are all slightly tougher than Covenant units, but the Covenant have larger numbers, this makes for a lot of creative strategy when it comes to outthinking your opponent. All in all, this game is great. I can’t wait for it to come out for real. I will definitely by putting aside some cash for this one. If you have an Xbox360, and want to give it a try, go download the free demo. If you’re a fan of RTS games, I doubt you’ll be disappointed. /Remus |
