Halo Wars

We play Ensemble's opus

More Images

It doesn't come any bigger than Halo, and when one of the world's most famous gaming IPs diversified into another genre real-time strategy, it was little surprise that Microsoft employed their own in-house genre veterans Ensemble to mastermind the move. In Leipzig we got our first look and (oh yes) play of Halo Wars, and were pleasantly surprised by the game's Haloisation of the RTS landscape.

Graeme Devine, formerly of id Software, is in Germany to tell us about the new game - and he tells us that the focus here is very much on crafting a 'Halo-style' experience, regardless of the change in genre. Set 20 years before Halo 1, Devine tells us that the focus will be on the world; it's authenticity and interest, rather than on an epic overarching story.

This is a game positively dripping in Halo pomp, the iconic Warthog one of the first units you'll be creating, while you can also pump-out Spartans in order to tackle the Covenant filth. Many have questioned how well RTS games work on consoles, but taking their cues from success stories like Command & Conquer, Ensemble are focussing on a custom-built control system that creates the same feeling as a PC strategy game, via the medium of the Xbox 360 controller. Press 'A' to select units, or hold 'A' to "paint" select them. Other bumper/trigger based short-cuts let you select all your units, or just those on the screen, allowing the player to quickly deploy their forces.

The focus here is clearly on fast-paced fun, with a side-order of tactics thrown in so as to add depth - but not at the expense of the game's super-friendly approach to the genre. The heart of the game's user-interface is in the new circle menu system, which allows you to build and manage your units and structures. Everything in Halo Wars spawns from beneath the ground; from the UNSC base itself deployed by the Spirit of Fire mothership floating high-above.

From your base you can build structures that create troops, vehicles, aircraft, as well as managing 'resources' and generating electricity. Unit creation requires resources and power, although the emphasis here is firmly on-combat, Devine quick to note the micro-management of such matters will be accessible, but only to those hardcore RTS fans that want it. Rather, frenetic action, across colourful, 'Halo' style maps seems to be Ensemble's primary goal - and having played Halo Wars they seem to be accomplishing this aim admirably.

Teaming up with a nice Spanish games journalist, we were tasked with building a base, then a force, to eradicate the Covenant from the map in question. The control scheme, I'm pleased to report, seems to make building and unit productions easy as pie; the circle menu system a highly efficient way of zipping between the multiple tasks required of the player.

At the game's outset, the race was on to build up resources and power, before pumping out Warthogs in order to secure the area. The focus, at least on this map, seemed to be off base defense. Rather it was a case of building and upgrading various vehicles and troopers to send speeding across the medium-sized map in search of foes to battle. Electricity generation issues aside (I had to build two reactors, in the end), building up a small but diverse legion is a fairly quick task to achieve. More over, as resources become more plentiful you can splash the cash to further upgrade your existing units; giving troopers new skills and weapons - enhancing vehicles with better armaments, new cannons, et al. Again, this all seems simple enough to accomplish via the menu system.

Devine admits that many Halo fans may prefer to take an 'RTS-lite' approach to the new title, forgoing complex strategic positioning and timing in favour of the 'select all and charge in' approach. The game has been designed to play well under this mentality, whilst there is also said to be more depth to be tapped for those that want a more involving strategy experience. I, inevitably, opted to dash in all guns blazing with a mixed army of ground and air units - and between me and my Spanish co-op battler, we managed to clean up the Covenant ground units fairly quickly. In a nice nod to the FPS series, Spartans can once again take-over enemy craft, and the control scheme quickly lets you choose your preferred method of attack - enabling you to instruct all your units to use their new added powers against a designated target.

Once the Covenant's fighting ability was seemingly all but eradicated, our combined forces quickly moved on to attack the rather epic Covenant base; a vast, colourful, and highly stylised tower, and related chambers. Clearly Ensemble have been taking design tips from Bungie in order to capture the look and 'feel' of Halo, which they seem to have managed to do so well. Time to speak to the Spirit of Fire then, and finish off the enemy base. Cluster bombing creates a delightful show of fire, while a beam weapon finished off the structure in a gloriously epic final explosion, sending debris scattering across the map. Reveling in our multi-national victory over the alien hordes, we sadly failed to notice the pummeling going on at my comrade's base; which received something of a kicking before we could get there to finish off the last forces of resistance.

Finally, victory was ours, and my base was still looking great. Sorry Miguel.

Devine and his team are clearly working hard to create a credible translation of the Halo IP - from first-person shooter to real-time strategy game. The interface and control decisions all seem very sensible, creating an intuitive scheme, and while Halo Wars looks unlikely to satiate the appetites of very hardcore strategy fanatics, Ensemble look to be including enough detail to ensure battles are diverse and engaging.

Add in a smorgasbord of varying game modes, plenty of customisation, lashings of community support and of course Halo's winning X-factor, and you have what could be an Xbox 360 smash when it arrives in spring 2009.

By Luke Guttridge