Product Description

Halo Wars is a strategy game based on the legendary Halo universe. In campaign mode, players will command the armies of the UNSC warship "Spirit of Fire," consisting of familiar and new UNSC units in its initial encounters against the Covenant, an alien coalition threatening to obliterate mankind.

With the guidance of Serina, a spirited A.I. persona, gamers will direct legions of UNSC soldiers, Warthogs, Scorpions and more, each group having its own strengths and uses in battle. Adventurous commanders can also call upon ancient Forerunner technology, if they are fortunate enough to find it hidden throughout the battlefield.

Covenant forces are also waiting for players to lead them into battle in multiplayer skirmishes via the New Xbox Experience. Call upon an arsenal of new and familiar Covenant units such as Grunts, Elites, Ghosts and even Scarabs to defeat foes on the battlefield. Strategic-minded players who react well under pressure will emerge victorious.

• New take on a legendary world: Experience the early battles between the UNSC and Covenant, in a time predating the original Halo. Join the crew aboard the Spirit of Fire, a Phoenix-class colony ship converted for UNSC military use, and guided by the A.I. persona Serina. Discover an ancient artifact during a journey to the planet Harvest, the first planet to be attacked by the Covenant. And then get ready for the wars.
• Strategic command of armies in large-scale combat: Gamers are in command of the battlefield, playing as either of two unique civilisations: UNSC or Covenant. Counter and crush your opponent by tactically fielding the superior army. Choose among leaders possessing elite skills that can turn the tide of battle. Use various combinations of leaders and units, and create countless strategies tailored to your preferred playing styles.
• Groundbreaking Xbox 360 strategy game: Since

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #320 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Microsoft
• Released on: 2009-02-27
• Platform: Xbox 360
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Original language: English

Manufacturer's Description
The next journey into the Halo universe won't be to play as regular hero the Master Chief, but as his boss! This real-time strategy game puts you in control of a whole army of soldiers, vehicles and spacecraft as you take on the alien Covenant.

Human forces begin a desperate attack on a Covenant base

A human base easily fends off an attack from Covenant Grunts

Covenant forces launch a deadly air assault with Banshees

The new Elephant transport drops off some UNSC marines

With a story set twenty years before the events of the original Halo game, this features all the familiar elements of the blockbusting originals but from an all-new perspective. Similar in style to games such as Command & Conquer, this has its own unique control system specifically built for the Xbox 360 controller.

What results is an experience that's just as action-packed as any shoot 'em-up, with the resource management elements of the genre made to take a back seat. There's still plenty of tactical depth though, in a game that's good enough to make Halo fans love strategy and strategy fans love Halo.

Key Features

• Before Master Chief: The first Halo game to embrace a new style of gameplay, with a brand new prequel storyline and a whole new cast of characters.
• Be the bad guy: Play as the alien Covenant for the first time, as you take control of all of their signature equipment and units in intense multiplayer battles.
• Console control : Simplified control system has been two years in the making, allowing you to select and direct your units as quickly and easily as any action game.
• This is Spartan: Direct and control all the familiar troops and vehicles from the original games, including human Warthogs, Covenant Banshees and Spartan Special Forces.
• Team tactics: Rope in three friends for the online co-operative mode and battle each other in specially designed maps on Xbox Live.

About the Developer: Ensemble Studios
Based in Dallas, Texas, this developer made its name with the Age of Empires series of real-time strategy games. In 2001 it was bought by Microsoft, but in a surprise move was closed down once Halo Wars was complete - but before a planned Halo massively multiplayer game could be made.

Overview:
“Halo Wars” is a strategy game based on the legendary “Halo” universe. In campaign mode, players will command the armies of the UNSC warship “Spirit of Fire,” consisting of familiar and new UNSC units in its initial encounters against the Covenant, an alien coalition threatening to obliterate mankind. “Halo Wars” will immerse gamers in an early period of the storied “Halo” universe, allowing them to experience events leading up to the first “Halo” title for Xbox.

With the guidance of Serina, a spirited artificial intelligence (AI) persona, gamers will direct legions of UNSC soldiers, Warthogs, Scorpions and more, each group having its own strengths and uses in battle. Adventurous commanders can also call upon ancient Forerunner technology, if they are fortunate enough to find it hidden throughout the battlefield.

Covenant forces are also waiting for players to lead them into battle in multiplayer skirmishes via the New Xbox Experience. Call upon an arsenal of new and familiar Covenant units such as Grunts, Elites, Ghosts and even Scarabs to defeat foes on the battlefield. Strategic-minded players who react well under pressure will emerge victorious.

Created from the ground up for the Xbox 360 console and controller, “Halo Wars” is being developed by the veteran real-time strategy developer Ensemble Studios, the team responsible for the best-selling and critically acclaimed “Age of Empires” franchise on the PC. “Halo Wars” can be played online through the New Xbox Experience and the single-player campaign. Published by Microsoft Game Studios, “Halo Wars” is an exclusive title for the Xbox 360 video game system. "

Amazon.co.uk Review

Developer Bungie long ago promised that Halo 3 would be the last part in the story, but it’s always been pretty obvious that they were only referring to Master Chief’s initial confrontation with the Flood and Covenant. For now though the only indication of how the Halo universe will continue to evolve is this game: a console only real-time strategy game from Ensemble Studios, makers of Age of Empires. It’s a little known fact that the original Halo, when it was still only a PC game, was actually envisioned and initially designed as a real-time strategy, so Halo Wars really isn’t as much as a stretch as it may seem.

The game’s story takes place before that of the original Halo: Combat Evolved but involves versions of the familiar Halo vehicles from the dropships and Warthogs to the Covenant Banshees and Spectres. There are also many new vehicles as well though, such as the Hawk helicopter and Wolverine rocket tank. As with most real-time strategies you’re also able to build your own buildings and support structures with which to recruit new soldiers and build new vehicles.

A properly accurate and intuitive control system is always a problem for this sort of game on a console, but apparently that’s one of the things Ensemble has spent the most amount of time on, with only the one analogue stick and four face buttons needed to control the whole game. One thing’s for sure the Halo saga and universe has only just begun.

Harrison Dent

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Customer Reviews

Carefully crafted console RTS set in the critically acclaimed Halo universe
On paper, Halo Wars doesn't quite look like it should work. This only adds to the surprise that this vibrant, fast-paced RTS really does deliver - despite depriving you of your beloved mouse and keyboard! Ensemble Studios set aside a whole year finetuning the controls alone for the Xbox, and it shows in the gameplay.

Skimming across the map is hardly needed most of the time, due to the simplistic shortcuts bound to the D-pad. Left cycles through your bases, up opens up the circle menu for aerial support (as the humans) or focuses the camera on your leader (as the covenant), and down toggles between unit groups. Pressing right on the D-pad showcases an innovative feature that scrolls through any new developments - such as completed upgrades, incoming attacks, and more.

Controlling the units themselves is also refreshingly straightforward. Holding down the A button causes a transparent "paintbrush" circle tool to blossom on-screen, allowing you to glide it around and group units together accordingly. Getting them from A to B is carried out by panning the camera to whereever you want them to go (or whatever you want them to shoot at/claw at/ram into/etc), and tapping X - there's support for queueing commands too, squaring up to the advanced controls boasted by PC RTS's.

The game has a slick, stylish graphics scheme, which neatly complements the manic scenes of battle it can put out. While it's not as powerful visually as its shooter cousin, it's hardly noticeable when the screen is lit up by hundreds of marines and covenant. I've yet to see the engine get bogged down or choppy, even in larger skirmishes. Which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for most PC RTS's in my experiences!

Halo Wars is, as you'd expect, fully compatible with Microsoft's premium online service Xbox Live, sporting three brackets ranging from 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3. From the week or so I've spent getting my arse handed to me on it (damn you matchmaking, damn you), I've had a great time - it really sucks you in when you've got two team mates yelping themselves hoarse with cries for aerial support, or the inevitable cheery trashtalk at the end of each game, as the other team audibly wonders where in god's name your fleet of tanks sprung up out of the ground. Or the occasional covie grunt impression that everybody has a go at, at some point in their life. Or at least, I hope it's not just me.

Overall, this is one heck of an enjoyable buy for the 360, especially if you're a fan of RTS or Halo (if you're a fan of both, jackpot!), and I heartily recommend you pick it up sometime!

Review of the actual game not the demo
Just received my version in the post a day early and after spending the last few hours zoned in on the TV all I can say is, it's a great little game.

Please note i've never played the Halo games so my review is from a Gamer point of view.

It looks great, works perfectly with the 360 Control pad unlike C&C. It is easy to pick up and play and can be mastered in a very short time. It is the pick up and play game of RTS.

The basic idea (as always but even more so) is build a small army as quick as possible and head off to attack before your enemy has chance to. Doesn't seem to be too time consuming on the first few levels anyway.

One thing I will note is that while it is enjoyable I am unsure as to what the long term enjoyment level will be as I don't think it will have too much replay value on the missions.

Overall 4 stars for this easy to pick up and fun to play game.

the game that most of us wanted?
halo wars is a game i think is fantastic. i liked C&C3 but you can really tell as other reviews say this was made for 360.
the visuals are strong and sharp and despite some things such as base presentation being pre-determined, there is a suprising amount of depth in the upgrades to units and buildings alike.
pretty cut scenes tell a worthwhile addition to the existing halo mythology and most importantly... good fun gameplay and missions. i have rated this game 5 stars for being better than i expected it to be. i at time of writing have not looked too much at the online options but with online coop, team and single player death matches, it as a package appears to have what most will desire and expect in place.