Quality Time with the Halo Wars demo

Ensemble Studios is releasing Halo Wars, an RTS (real-time strategy) game take on Bungie's ever prominent Halo franchise. In all three games of the Halo game trilogy, the player takes the helm of super soldier "Spartan" Master Chief, the last of the Spartans from Earth's super soldier program.

Players are used to playing the seemingly invincible Master Chief from a 1st person perspective. Halo Wars however, pans the camera out for you to control either Earth's UNSC army or the Convenant forces in massive battles with you calling the shots over a large area.

The transition for me however, was easy. And by that, I mean the transition from shooter to RTS using the ripe Halo backstory and franchise was great. All the great units I've fought against and alongside with from the shooter are a blast to see in action en masse in an RTS. From the cannon fodder Space Marines to the few but strong Spartans who can be upgraded to wield the deadly Spartan Laser and the Convenant Hunters and Elites; everything that was memorable from the shooter is jusst as iconic and memorable in a large scale RTS.

Just imagine having three Spartans, all wiping out the front lines with this baby.

The only caveat is the question of whether classic Halo fans will bite. Certainly the curious ones will, but what of the hardcore shooters? I'm not even a big fan of RTS, and even I know that RTS games belong on a pc. Picking apart specific units to send into strategic positionsisn't exactly easy when I'm using a control pad instead of a mouse.

However, the one stand out thing to set Halo Wars apart from other RTS are the units' special abilities. You see, sicking a unit on an enemy with the X button may yield predictable results, but using the Y button for it's special ability can be far my interesting and fun. For example, Warthog vehicles will ram, Space Marines lob grenades, The Prophet of Regret calls down a daming space beam.

Yes, that last one was a leader unit. Leader units are above all the best units you'll have, leading the fray with useful skills like the Cleansing Beam, Repair and Regeneration, or a good old fashion murderous frenzy.

Halo Wars is shaping up to be a fun romp if not at least for long time Halo fans. It might not be the easiest RTS to control due to the console's natural limitations on precision, but it'll be one hell of a ride at least.