Halo Wars demo out now - impressions thread

So ... Is Halo Wars good or what?

I can't download it as my Xbox is dead.

cuddlesofwar

An extremely simplified RTS, but in the Halo Universe.

I suppose Halo Universe Enthusiasts will get more out of it, but I am dissappointed by it's clear lack of depth. However, It is a demo, so we will see how it plays out. C&C is still the console king.

[QUOTE="cuddlesofwar"]

So ... Is Halo Wars good or what?

I can't download it as my Xbox is dead.

SolidTy

An extremely simplified RTS, but in the Halo Universe.

I suppose Halo Universe Enthusiasts will get more out of it, but I am dissappointed by it's clear lack of depth. However, It is a demo, so we will see how it plays out. C&C is still the console king.

Anyone here who likes Blizzard RTS's enjoy this one? Warcraft III and Starcraft are the only RTS's I've ever enjoyed.waynehead895

Ensemble has finally done something other devs have failed at, they brought an RTS to consoles, and it's actually a great game. I'm not even a big Halo guy, but this game is fantastic, period!BioShockOwnz

[QUOTE="BioShockOwnz"]Ensemble has finally done something other devs have failed at, they brought an RTS to consoles, and it's actually a great game. I'm not even a big Halo guy, but this game is fantastic, period!Salt_The_Fries

He loves Too Human. He is not your typical critic.

Anyone here who likes Blizzard RTS's enjoy this one? Warcraft III and Starcraft are the only RTS's I've ever enjoyed.waynehead895

Here! Halo Wars is awesome imo and Starcraft is my favourite RTS ever ;)

[QUOTE="waynehead895"]Anyone here who likes Blizzard RTS's enjoy this one? Warcraft III and Starcraft are the only RTS's I've ever enjoyed.PAL360

Here! Halo Wars is awesome imo and Starcraft is my favourite RTS ever ;)

[QUOTE="Salt_The_Fries"][QUOTE="BioShockOwnz"]Ensemble has finally done something other devs have failed at, they brought an RTS to consoles, and it's actually a great game. I'm not even a big Halo guy, but this game is fantastic, period!SolidTy

He loves Too Human. He is not your typical critic.

It's not about being a "typical critic". It's about having your own mind and opinion on a subject. Also, Salt_The_Fries likes Too Human, so your dig at me won't mean much to him.

[QUOTE="Salt_The_Fries"][QUOTE="BioShockOwnz"]Ensemble has finally done something other devs have failed at, they brought an RTS to consoles, and it's actually a great game. I'm not even a big Halo guy, but this game is fantastic, period!SolidTy

He loves Too Human. He is not your typical critic.

Can't blame him, Too Human is a lot of fun.

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]

[QUOTE="Salt_The_Fries"] This coming from you makes me totally confident about Halo Wars.BioShockOwnz

He loves Too Human. He is not your typical critic.

It's not about being a "typical critic". It's about having your own mind and opinion on a subject. Also, Salt_The_Fries likes Too Human, so your dig at me won't mean much to him.

I'm not digging at him, just trying to get a recipe for the confidence he has.

Props for the inspirition about individuality, and for the record, I love Freedom, hate Pollution, and I want world peace.:)

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]

[QUOTE="Salt_The_Fries"] This coming from you makes me totally confident about Halo Wars.Ross_the_B0SS

He loves Too Human. He is not your typical critic.

Can't blame him, Too Human is a lot of fun.

So you LOVE Too Human?

The Word fun seems to be a nice euphemism.

Anyone here who likes Blizzard RTS's enjoy this one? Warcraft III and Starcraft are the only RTS's I've ever enjoyed.waynehead895

It's not going to be as micro-intensive as Warcraft III, that's for certain. And from all the previews I've seen, it's not going to be as macro-intensive as Starcraft.

That being said, virtually everyone has been saying this game is just fun. There are very few detractors, and if they are, they're talking about the simplicity of the game. There are two things that are problematic with that assessment:

1) It's a RTS. RTSs, like fighting games, take awhile for people to get use to, to come up with strategies and counter-strategies to use in multiplayer, which brings me to the next thing.

2) This demo is for the campaign. The difference between playing a RTS in campaign (not even singleplayer which includes skirmish with bots) and RTS in multiplayer is huge. I'm a massive fan of Warcraft III, but I can't bring myself to even play the campaigns, because I have to switch off my brain. I don't want to do that while playing War III.

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]

[QUOTE="Salt_The_Fries"] This coming from you makes me totally confident about Halo Wars.Ross_the_B0SS

He loves Too Human. He is not your typical critic.

Can't blame him, Too Human is a lot of fun.

Hell yeah it's a lot of fun. My Bio-Engineer looks so badass, and I'm currently working through a Human defender. This game is seriously fun when it starts rolling.

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]I'm not digging at him, just trying to get a recipe for the confidence he has.

Props for the inspirition about individuality, and for the record, I love Freedom, hate Pollution, and I want world peace.:)

BioShockOwnz

Um, that's nice. No offense, but can we stay in the real world, though?

It's all good, I didn't say you were a bad critic, just not a typical one. If anything, that's a compliment. Critics are despised in many fields.

Obama will bring world peace, I can feel it!

Just played a couple Skirmishes.

AI on Normal is absolutely freaking terrible.

Heroic provides a bit more of a challenge, but still isn't all that fantastic(specifically if you even understand the basics of the rock-paper-scissors gameplay)

Economy has a bit more depth than I originally thought, but it is still very much a build an army and watch them fight type of game. No Micromanagement at all is even remotely plausible with the controls(which are OK, but clunky as hell IMO). Macro is moderately possible but only by brute force with you zooming all over the map. Economy has some decent facets but is more timing based than anything. Higher level units are a longer wait(but always the same wait), and lower level units can be pumped out on a constant basis. Energy represents different tech levels and provides good motivation for base expansions. Once you have two bases, economy becomes self-sufficient and you can constantly pump out high level units. 3 bases is game over because you have the resources to basically destroy everything.

Expanding to new bases early on is absolutely necessary when playing against Heroic AI.

The multiplayer will be moderately fun but I wouldn't call it "deep" in even the slightest manner.

Most of the appeal will be in the Campaign and storyline for most Halo fans.

1v1 Skirmish is mediocre at best IMO. Multiplayer may shine when you have bigger battles with 4-6 players, but then again it may completely fall apart with the frantic pace that it could cause at that level... Even 1v1, on Heroic you have to run at full pace. The match is won or lost in the first 5 minutes of play. With 6 people this may come down to a chaotic, nonsensical horde of enemies that is neither fun nor balanced.... Teamwork may or may not pay off, can't really tell from the demo.

I predict an 8.5 at best, probably 8.0 based on the demo(basing off of PC standards of RTS. May or may not get 9.0 on consoles, but I don't think it deserves AAA).

1v1 Skirmish is mediocre at best IMO. Multiplayer may shine when you have bigger battles with 4-6 players, but then again it may completely fall apart with the frantic pace that it could cause at that level... Even 1v1, on Heroic you have to run at full pace. The match is won or lost in the first 5 minutes of play. With 6 people this may come down to a chaotic, nonsensical horde of enemies that is neither fun nor balanced.... Teamwork may or may not pay off, can't really tell from the demo.

horrowhip

Very nice summary horrowhip. This strikes me as interesting though. When you play pro level in RTSes, you're not allowed to even so much as breathe when you play multiplayer. So I don't know why you're saying this is a bad thing, because it's normal when you're playing a skirmish match against a decent opponent.

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]

[QUOTE="Salt_The_Fries"] This coming from you makes me totally confident about Halo Wars.Ross_the_B0SS

He loves Too Human. He is not your typical critic.

Can't blame him, Too Human is a lot of fun.

its more then i could have asked for in a console rts.

I love the controls, very intutitive.

[QUOTE="cuddlesofwar"]

So ... Is Halo Wars good or what?

I can't download it as my Xbox is dead.

SolidTy

An extremely simplified RTS, but in the Halo Universe.

I suppose Halo Universe Enthusiasts will get more out of it, but I am dissappointed by it's clear lack of depth. However, It is a demo, so we will see how it plays out. C&C is still the console king.

ya...........u either didnt play it or refuse to give it a chance. In fact, i found it to have a surprising amount of depth.

Almost every unit has about 3 upgradables, and you gotta really think about how to spend ur initial money when the game begins. C&C is still the console king.....until this is released in march.

[QUOTE="horrowhip"]

1v1 Skirmish is mediocre at best IMO. Multiplayer may shine when you have bigger battles with 4-6 players, but then again it may completely fall apart with the frantic pace that it could cause at that level... Even 1v1, on Heroic you have to run at full pace. The match is won or lost in the first 5 minutes of play. With 6 people this may come down to a chaotic, nonsensical horde of enemies that is neither fun nor balanced.... Teamwork may or may not pay off, can't really tell from the demo.

FrozenLiquid

Very nice summary horrowhip. This strikes me as interesting though. When you play pro level in RTSes, you're not allowed to even so much as breathe when you play multiplayer. So I don't know why you're saying this is a bad thing, because it's normal when you're playing a skirmish match against a decent opponent.

1v1 already provides that fast, focused action. Not tons of depth to it still...

3v3 may get out of control. Hard to really explain it. The little bit of strategy in the 1v1 matches may completely disappear in the frantic pacing of a 3v3 unit spamfest.

Anyway, have started the campaign. Story seems good, the CGI is amazing, and the overall structure of the campaign works well enough. Better than the Skirmish mode and will probably be better than the multiplayer. Still sticking to my AA prediction.

While I am in the RTS on console mood, I will probably also download and play Red Alert 3 on the 360 just to compare.

[QUOTE="FrozenLiquid"][QUOTE="horrowhip"]

1v1 Skirmish is mediocre at best IMO. Multiplayer may shine when you have bigger battles with 4-6 players, but then again it may completely fall apart with the frantic pace that it could cause at that level... Even 1v1, on Heroic you have to run at full pace. The match is won or lost in the first 5 minutes of play. With 6 people this may come down to a chaotic, nonsensical horde of enemies that is neither fun nor balanced.... Teamwork may or may not pay off, can't really tell from the demo.

horrowhip

Very nice summary horrowhip. This strikes me as interesting though. When you play pro level in RTSes, you're not allowed to even so much as breathe when you play multiplayer. So I don't know why you're saying this is a bad thing, because it's normal when you're playing a skirmish match against a decent opponent.

1v1 already provides that fast, focused action. Not tons of depth to it still...

3v3 may get out of control. Hard to really explain it. The little bit of strategy in the 1v1 matches may completely disappear in the frantic pacing of a 3v3 unit spamfest.

Anyway, have started the campaign. Story seems good, the CGI is amazing, and the overall structure of the campaign works well enough. Better than the Skirmish mode and will probably be better than the multiplayer. Still sticking to my AA prediction.

While I am in the RTS on console mood, I will probably also download and play Red Alert 3 on the 360 just to compare.

[QUOTE="horrowhip"][QUOTE="FrozenLiquid"]

Very nice summary horrowhip. This strikes me as interesting though. When you play pro level in RTSes, you're not allowed to even so much as breathe when you play multiplayer. So I don't know why you're saying this is a bad thing, because it's normal when you're playing a skirmish match against a decent opponent.

cuddlesofwar

1v1 already provides that fast, focused action. Not tons of depth to it still...

3v3 may get out of control. Hard to really explain it. The little bit of strategy in the 1v1 matches may completely disappear in the frantic pacing of a 3v3 unit spamfest.

Anyway, have started the campaign. Story seems good, the CGI is amazing, and the overall structure of the campaign works well enough. Better than the Skirmish mode and will probably be better than the multiplayer. Still sticking to my AA prediction.

While I am in the RTS on console mood, I will probably also download and play Red Alert 3 on the 360 just to compare.

Im pretty sure that Tiberium Wars has the majority vote for best console rts. But that was a close 2nd.

[QUOTE="cuddlesofwar"][QUOTE="horrowhip"]

1v1 already provides that fast, focused action. Not tons of depth to it still...

3v3 may get out of control. Hard to really explain it. The little bit of strategy in the 1v1 matches may completely disappear in the frantic pacing of a 3v3 unit spamfest.

Anyway, have started the campaign. Story seems good, the CGI is amazing, and the overall structure of the campaign works well enough. Better than the Skirmish mode and will probably be better than the multiplayer. Still sticking to my AA prediction.

While I am in the RTS on console mood, I will probably also download and play Red Alert 3 on the 360 just to compare.

Keep-the-Faith

Im pretty sure that Tiberium Wars has the majority vote for best console rts. But that was a close 2nd.

Tiberium wars had a horrible console community, everyone was either terrible, or wanted to play that weird games mode where you have to wait 20 minutes until you could fight.

Halo Wars IS AMAZING! i was never into real time strategy like civ4 and command and conquer but this game sets the bar for RTS! awesome controls and great graphics with the combination of high replay value make this game a must buy for me! and it wasnt even on my radar! HALO WARS! FTW!

wow this game is terrible i basically beat the whole thing by letiing my troops build up the telling them all to go to the oblective i didnt have to use any strategy and i played on the highest diffulculty.....claywalker21

wow this game is terrible i basically beat the whole thing by letiing my troops build up the telling them all to go to the oblective i didnt have to use any strategy and i played on the highest diffulculty.....claywalker21

congrats, ur so super smart that the AI couldnt keep up. Never mind everything else the game has going for it.........namely the best controls a console rts ever had.

cmon, man, is that really an excuse to say the game is terrible on the whole? and just face human being on LIVE if u think the AI is sooo dumb (which it isnt.......im doubting you had such a easy time on heroic difficulty).

[QUOTE="cuddlesofwar"][QUOTE="MegaPigeon"]Well, it's pretty damn good. The battles are utterly massive, which is always cool. The cutscenes are brilliantly done apart from some voice acting which is devoid of any of the charm the previous halo games had. MegaPigeon

Lasers ... When's the release date :) Need to get a new xbox, and fast

Lazyness.

no in total comander you had to use strategy and have an extremely well fortified base with mass resources that you had to protect from hundreds of enemies charging at you from land sea and air.claywalker21

no in comand and conquer you had to use strategy and have an extremely well fortified base with mass resources that you had to protect from hundreds of enemies charging at you from land sea and air.claywalker21

.... that strategy sounds like suck lol. I don't think the way Halo Wars is designed it will work like that.

no in comand and conquer you had to use strategy and have an extremely well fortified base with mass resources that you had to protect from hundreds of enemies charging at you from land sea and air.claywalker21

except your comparing a full game to a demo. Anyone can finish a demo easily, specially a C&C game, not to mention your previous description was just basic turtling, something all C&C games (and most RTS' in general) seem to favour when playing the main campaign

Halo Wars IS AMAZING! i was never into real time strategy like civ4 and command and conquer but this game sets the bar for RTS! awesome controls and great graphics with the combination of high replay value make this game a must buy for me! and it wasnt even on my radar! HALO WARS! FTW!

damedash122

This is atrocious. There is nothing correct in thinking this. Nothing about the game is amazing. It doesn't set the bar for RTS, there are 10 year old RTS games that accomplish 10x what this game does.

If this game didn't have the Halo name attached to it, nobody would be paying any attention to it at all. The only people that would be interested in it would be the niche console RTS userbase, and even then half of them would rip it, despite the fact that they are desperate and welcoming of any RTS game that makes it to consoles (similar to SRPG fans).

This game is a cash in on the Halo name, nothing else. Really surprising considering who is responsible for making it.

This is another example of the dumbing down of videogames to appeal to the masses. Its an insult to RTS users and its sad that far better games in the genre will be outsold by this game.

The price breakdown for the LE looks like this:

60 bucks for a half assed RTS.

20 bucks for 3 maps for Halo 3.

They can't make games for **** but they sure can market them.

[QUOTE="Andrew_Xavier"]13 months of xbl gold is $38.99, and provides MS incentive to keep pushing tons of content out...is $2.99 a month really bank burning?SolidTy

12 months of Xbox Live is $50, however, yes, there are sales/deals (Extra free month, etc.) out there.

Also, Xbox Live Gold is $8 a month, not $3, I don't like these breakdown's we see in SW, since you don't pay that a month UNLESS you buy the whole deal. It's very clear, that if you want a month from M$, it's $7.99.

To answer your question, no, $50 for Xbox Live isn't too bad (or $40 if you find a deal at the right time), but it is like skipping over a game for the service.

[QUOTE="SolidTy"]

[QUOTE="Andrew_Xavier"]13 months of xbl gold is $38.99, and provides MS incentive to keep pushing tons of content out...is $2.99 a month really bank burning?death919

12 months of Xbox Live is $50, however, yes, there are sales/deals (Extra free month, etc.) out there.

Also, Xbox Live Gold is $8 a month, not $3, I don't like these breakdown's we see in SW, since you don't pay that a month UNLESS you buy the whole deal. It's very clear, that if you want a month from M$, it's $7.99.

To answer your question, no, $50 for Xbox Live isn't too bad (or $40 if you find a deal at the right time), but it is like skipping over a game for the service.

[QUOTE="death919"][QUOTE="SolidTy"]

12 months of Xbox Live is $50, however, yes, there are sales/deals (Extra free month, etc.) out there.

Also, Xbox Live Gold is $8 a month, not $3, I don't like these breakdown's we see in SW, since you don't pay that a month UNLESS you buy the whole deal. It's very clear, that if you want a month from M$, it's $7.99.

To answer your question, no, $50 for Xbox Live isn't too bad (or $40 if you find a deal at the right time), but it is like skipping over a game for the service.

BobHipJames