Onom.ca

Just got finished with Halo Wars and I have to say, the guys at Ensemble Studios (now Robot Entertainment) make a damned good RTS.

RTSs on consoles have been some of the most frustrating experiences I’ve had in my life, second only to trying to get the Mile High Club achievement in Call of Duty 4, a game pad just doesn’t have enough buttons or the prescision of a keyboard and a mouse. But Ensemble has managed to nail down a control scheme that does what it’s supposed to: control.

I remember games with confusing control schemes in games like Command and Conquer 3 and others, the one thing they had in common? They were all PC ports. Ensemble designed Halo Wars from the ground up for consoles, bringing simplicity to the forefront. 

But enough about controls. I found the story to be a little on the short side even with the option for co-op play and leaderboards to give more replayability, given there is little chance of any DLC being produced now that Ensemble is closed. The game has a skirmish mode allowing you to take on up to 3 AI enemies with 2 AI allies, and an online multiplayer conponent where you can switch the AI bots out for real human beings. 

I hope to have a full review up on my Napalm Riot page in a week or so, stay tuned.