Halo Wars

I have mixed feelings about Halo Wars. The main reason why it seems so good is that it was made for the 360 specifically. The Command and Conquer titles were simply shoddy ports from the PC into unfamiliar territory (hence why they were horrible). On the other hand, Halo Wars has a love/hate relationship with the serious RTS gamer because of the fact that there is no micro and there is no yomi. You're pretty much forced to select all your units and hurl them at the opponent, who does pretty much the same. The only variation will be buildings, I think. Unit production will be dictated by what your opponent is building. (i.e. Vultures < Vampires) Also, the fact that one building builds at a time is a limiting, especially when in other RTS games you can build multiple buildings at once. Halo Wars is more of a "real time war game" than a "real time strategy".

On the other hand, Halo Wars is slightly addicting. I must admit that I had some fun with the demo, even though I still believe Microsoft would've made a better move releasing it on PC as well as the 360. The graphics are really good, and the control mechanisms are solid. In terms of pure enjoyment, it's a good game for the "RTS noob", so to speak.

In short, Halo Wars falls short of being a good RTS. While many people will like it, there will also be many people (like me) who will be disappointed because we can see the potential is has on the PC. It's fun, but it's also distancing.

Also, even though it doesn't directly pertain to this...holding off on releasing the map pack was a dick move for Bungie. LCE Halo Wars blackmail FTL.

Oh, and XGCXCASPER. You have the IQ of a dead invertebrate. I laugh at your expense.
 
Now guys, leave Casper alone. I poked fun at him and it was obvious from the start he isn't the type to attack (or defend against) people on the internet. At least not successfully.

And Binarial, I think you're missing a few troop selection methods, since I've never gotten that feeling where I'm forced to send all of my troops. Try RB to select only the units on screen and double tap A to select only the units of that type on screen. Through those two methods I have no problems microing several squads at a time; typically I have a scouting party of ODSTs (late game, obviously) and a couple Gauss 'Hogs, and my main attack wave either behind them or chilling waiting for my command on Lock in the base (love that feature, by the way!). If you know all that and still feel that way...I'll admit micro on the controller isn't easy, but it's definitely doable.

As a side note, I thought the C&C ports were reasonably well done.
 
Binarical said:
I have mixed feelings about Halo Wars. The main reason why it seems so good is that it was made for the 360 specifically. The Command and Conquer titles were simply shoddy ports from the PC into unfamiliar territory (hence why they were horrible). On the other hand, Halo Wars has a love/hate relationship with the serious RTS gamer because of the fact that there is no micro and there is no yomi. You're pretty much forced to select all your units and hurl them at the opponent, who does pretty much the same. The only variation will be buildings, I think. Unit production will be dictated by what your opponent is building. (i.e. Vultures < Vampires) Also, the fact that one building builds at a time is a limiting, especially when in other RTS games you can build multiple buildings at once. Halo Wars is more of a "real time war game" than a "real time strategy".

On the other hand, Halo Wars is slightly addicting. I must admit that I had some fun with the demo, even though I still believe Microsoft would've made a better move releasing it on PC as well as the 360. The graphics are really good, and the control mechanisms are solid. In terms of pure enjoyment, it's a good game for the "RTS noob", so to speak.

In short, Halo Wars falls short of being a good RTS. While many people will like it, there will also be many people (like me) who will be disappointed because we can see the potential is has on the PC. It's fun, but it's also distancing.

Also, even though it doesn't directly pertain to this...holding off on releasing the map pack was a dick move for Bungie. LCE Halo Wars blackmail FTL.

Oh, and XGCXCASPER. You have the IQ of a dead invertebrate. I laugh at your expense.
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I have to disagree on several points. Firstly you said Halo wars would have been better as a port, I played both command and conquer 3 games on PC and they were both garbage, far worse than halo wars. Porting it doesn't make it good on one and average on the other it just makes it bad on both.

Secondly you said there is no micro, as I said before while there is not nearly as much as in SC or WC I do think it's definitely there.

I believe the way they approached base building in this one is one of the game's better features.

As for more potential on the PC? Yes it does have more potential, but then again so does any RTs, I'm glad they brought it to the console exclusively, it's nice to have one that actually requires a bit of strategy and micro instead of some crappy port.
 
i think it has great potential but after playing it for several hours i have found massive flaws...

right out of the gate let me say i had fun. i would not have continued playing it otherwise. but the flaws i found are the kind that i cant imagine being patched or absent in the retail copy.

the AI is a very mediocre player. it will gladly waste weak forces in a hopeless battle against vastly superior forces. it is terrible at trying to seize an advantage if it ever wins a battle. it makes mediocre use of the prophet of regret's special death laser power (arguably, in fact near certainly, the most powerful weapon available to the covenant). it does not micro, at all. it does not retreat weakened units and seems to only focus attack buildings. in short it is TERRIBLE.

terrible AI is a serious strike against the game, but does not have to be a fatal one. unfortunately, there are other significant issues that would also need to be addressed. the total absence of a natural base defense forces each player into an immediate rush strategy, which in turn ensures the victor of whatever initial skirmish occurs should win the game. this can be resolved with the addition of a single free turret at the starting base, but i really doubt that this game will see post launch support.

there are numerous interface tweaks whose absence are noteworthy, such as the ability to remove a spartan from a vehicle or the ability to terminate your own units.

and finally, this is an RTS on a console. i think it has the smoothest interface for a console RTS i have ever seen, but every time i play it, i still long desperately for keyboard shortcuts and hot keyed units.

if this was a PC game i would strongly consider buying it terrible AI and all, but it is a console RTS.
 
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