As the final act of Ensemble Studios, Halo Wars is a great addition to any game library.
The game's story picks up several years before the original Halo. The Covenant have invaded the planet Harvest for unknown reasons. You play as Captain James Cutter, controlling the UNSC from the ship Spirit of Fire. The campaign is not extremely hard or lengthy, but Halo fans will enjoy the story nonetheless. The graphics are very good, and the art style stays true to the Halo universe
The most interesting part of this game is the combination of genre and system: an RTS on a console. Usually, RTS games don't fare well on controllers, but Ensemble has done it. Halo Wars' controls are easy to pick up and flow smoothly. Units and bases are easy to interact with, and assigning a task is never a problem.
Multiplayer is the crown jewel of the game. Players can choose from 3 UNSC and 3 Covenant leaders to play as, each with their own special units and abilities. Unfortunately, this is where multiplayer stumbles a little bit. While both sides are fun to play, it feels as though the Covenant is slightly overpowered. Covenant units, though weaker than their UNSC counterparts, use less resources and less time to build. The population cap for the covenant is also 10 units higher than the UNSC. The unit that makes the Covenant seem all powerful is the Scarab. While they weren't entirely difficult to take out in the Halo trilogy, in Halo Wars, they are near unkillable without a full army and leader powers. If the enemy gets one or more Scarabs out, you're done, unless you've got some good tricks up your sleeve.
Online multiplayer is just as fun as offline- when it has good intentions, that is. I am referring to all those people out there whose strategy relies on a single word: RUSH. I will not explain how to rush here, but leave it by saying that it is catching the enemy off guard early in the game. While this strategy is by no means cheating, it is unfair, as it is an easy way to move up the leaderboards with no skill.
Perhaps, with wht remains of the Halo Wars team, a Halo Wars 2 can be made that addresses some of its few issues. For now, I am content to enjoy the wonderful game put before me, as we send a final thank-you to Ensemble Studios.