Halo Wars

[MrBj]

GameSpot gave it really poor rating... wonder if anybody else played it? I want to get it but only if it's worth getting?

[CoFree]

not yet

[Backslash]

its good, but lacking different control abilities seems you are only pressing "X" and "Y"

[technoe]

I love Halo Wars!! It's very exciting to finally see a Halo event from other than perspective of Master Chief. Now I'm not saying that Master Chief is not a bad ass (because he is) but it's cool to see more of the story and take advantage of all the other aspects of the Halo universe. If you're a C&C fan or just a straight Halo fan I think you'll enjoy this.

[HaGGardSmurf]

ITS AMAZING GET IT! (If you like RTS' if you only want it because its halo, dont think about buying it.)

The reason for the mixed reviews is simple. Its a CONSOLE RTS. My theory:

People rate it as a normal RTS, which you cant do. I agree this game would be better on the PC, it is impossible to make an RTS better on console than pc. RTS' are about controlling units etc, which is ALWAYS easier and faster on pc. Think about it, on an xbox controller you have 12 buttons you can use (ABXY, Dpad, Bumpers, Triggers), on a pc you have close to 100 (Double and triple this is you want to use Shift + key or Alt + key etc) keys. Therefore, you can set hotkeys to units, hotkeys to areas on the map etc.

Halo wars does of course lack ease of individual unit control relative to pc rts' but its still very fun on console. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying its hard to control units, because this is not the case. It is quite easy, and they have done their best to combat this, in pc rts's you build units (1 person at a time) in halo wars you build squads (multiple units that you control as 1) so you dont have to zoom in, click say 5 units, and send them off, you can just click a on 1 squad (5 units), and send them.

I am not a hardcore RTS player, so this is great for me, its not as complex as a PC rts, because if it were, it would be a pain in the ass to do many things using your controller.

For me, I love the game, if you have played the demo, and enjoy it, buy the game. 2/3 of an RTS is about playing other people, something you cant do in the demo.

[dalecheesy]

I'm going to give this one a try. I've been an rts fan since the age of empire days so hopefully i can get my head around using the gamepad. What's strange for me is that i've never been a Halo fan. (godamn you motion sickness) oops

[HaGGardSmurf]

Yea, I have been a fan since Age Of Mythology haha.

One thing with halo wars that I think discourages people is you need to be experienced to be good... A couple of my friends dont like the game because they get hog rushed, or hawk rushed. If you start the game look at who your playing against its usually a dead giveaway at their strategy.

[DirtySkunk]

Age of Empires was a great game. Age of Mythology wasn't bad.

Don't kid yourself though, dale. This is nothing like an old PC RTS.

They did what they could with a controller though.

One other note, the competition is pretty weak atm. (I don't know how many halo fans even know what an RTS is)

[dalecheesy]

Shhh that means theres more chance of me winning online. . I'm going to give it a whirl as i found Command and Conquer nigh on impossible to get the hang of but the control system of this has supposedly been streamlined to the controller. Plus i'm sick of playing Dark Crusade on the pc so its time for a change.

[HaGGardSmurf]

My brother used to play Age of Empires, dont think I ever played it...

When you play online, you come across people who have no idea what an RTS is and only bought it because its Halo.

I remember 1 game I was playing with my buddy, I build my supply pads reactors etc, and some large turrets, and like 5 marines, then went upstairs and ate. Came back 10 mins later and they had not attacked me or my buddy, I then build a fleet in a couple mins, we attacked the guys and won probably 3 mins later.

I looked at my recent player list the next day and those same guys were playing halo 3, it was quite funny

I quite like the game, I prefer console gaming rather than PC. RTS's are better on PC, but I would rather go in my basement, hop in my lay-z-boy, put out the foot rest, relax and game. Rather than sitting in my spinning comp chair...

[thcbuzz0915]

fun game but you can only make 40-50 units at a time..probly makes sense with lag on xbobx live but if you'd like to try a great rts give starcraft a try on pc GREAT game...the people that made halo wars basically took command and conquer and starcraft and combined the games with halo units. pretty fun game overall but if you wanna check out a real rts play starcraft on the pc, one of the best games ever made.

[technoe]

I really think having a limited number of units make it more of a strategy game than C&C or Starcraft because you have to use whats available without having unlimited troops.

[HaGGardSmurf]

Well TBH its actually kinda f**ked... The more I played, the more I noticed...

The game was supposedly based on the triangle:

..........Air..........
.Infantry...Vehicles..

So infantry is good against air, air is good against vehicles, and vehicles are good against infantry. Well if you bring in super units thats not the case, Hawks overpower ODST's and if your covy, hunter's cant shoot air units.

The system is pretty messed, and if you play people that mass produce any 1 super unit, its almost impossible to win. (Even if you mass produce its counter unit)

They are making a patch to fix this though (from what I hear)

Also, the less units you control the more strategic it gets. If you were at your pop cap of 40, sent all units in, and they got funneled down, or even all came from the same way, most of them will die. If you split them up and have 20 come from the left 20 from the right, you will save alot of units.