Halo - goes one step further
It was the game, the one everyone had been waiting for since Doom was first developed – the graphics were amazing, the gameplay astounding and the soundtrack biting.
That was back in 2001 – since then there has been Halo 2 and Halo 3 – building to what I think is the best version ever, Halo Wars – but it's not a first-person shoot-em-up.
Launched recently, Halo Wars is the ultimate Real Time Strategy game everyone has been waiting for. It looks amazing and for once I can play Halo without feeling queasy after an hour's gameplay.
The game is based on the Halo universe and you take command of soldiers from the UNCS warship 'Spirit of Fire' in their quest to defeat the Covenant – an alien coalition threatening to obliterate mankind as we know it.
In a style similar to recent Star Wars stories, gamers are treated to a tale of the hallowed Halo universe leading up to the first Halo title for the Xbox back in eight years ago.
The moment I started playing this game I knew I was in for a treat as it was developed by Ensemble Studios – the team responsible for the highly successful Age of Empires franchise on the PC - it boasts the same classy feel as its counterpart.
Taking control of the UNSC forces, you, with the help of Serina (a spirited artificial intelligence persona), get the chance to control legions of soldiers, Warthogs and Scorpions through a series of turn-based adventures.
You still get the sense of gameplay from previous Halo titles even though it is on a somewhat smaller scale as you look down on the action as opposed to seeing it at eye-level.
I've never really warmed to an RTS game before, but Halo Wars for some reason kept me playing and entertained for hours. I think it was because I was familiar with its back story…which is really its introduction if you see what I mean!
Owing to the power of the 360, the graphics are extremely smooth and look fantastic as you move your troops around while trying to outsmart the very clever Covenant – still not much in the alien looks department though…
You can definitely see that this game has been developed from the ground up and exclusively for the Xbox 360 as it just feels right – the sort of game the console has been crying out for a long time. Definitely worth checking out. See http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/h/halowars/ for more information.