For having broken all kinds of Xbox Live download records I’m surprised there’s no thread about this game yet. Well, I downloaded the demo and have played it a fair amount and I have a lot to say.
For starters, it’s a blast to play. The campaign flowed well with bungie style Halo cutscenes. With only two levels available the campaign demo left a lot to desire. The demo makes up for it with the one map available for Skirmish mode, but more on that later.
The campaign begins with the victory in the battle for the planet Harvest, although victory is not complete as of yet. Many Covenent ground forces still occupy areas around the planet, one in particular crucial to the mission at hand which revovles what appears to be a Forerunner base of sorts. Taking control of this complex is the goal in the two available campaign missions; the first of which has you retaking control of the closest outpost. In these missions you are introduced to both the basic and advanced controls of the game seperated by unit control and base operations in two seperate tutoritals. One can hope these can be condensed into one all-encompassing beginners level. That being said as it stands now the tutorial is comprehensive and stupid-proof.
Controls have been a big concern with the Real Time Strategy genre making its way to the console scene. The building dynamic of Halo Wars works easily. Bases are constructed in a polygonal setting - Human bases are square or rectangular while Covenent bases are on a diamond shaped platform. Principal buuildings (Keeps, Fortress, Citadels and the like) take up the center-most space with adjoining platforms allowing space for support buildings such as Barracks and Spaceport-esque training facilities. Selecting a vacant space around the principal building brings up a circular menu ala Mass Effect, except with bigger, easier to select blocks. In comparison to games of its type there are far fewer buildings to build, making it stretch the responsibilities of your bases to at least two to be successful. Starcraft veterans will find the transistion simple given the common Sci-Fi settings of the stories, especially within the human tree - factories, space ports and reactors make up some of the buildings. That being said, veterans of said game may be confused somewhat by the functionality of some buildings. Given that there are fewer buildings, the tech trees have been compounded to their respective buildings. For example, each individual unit has it’s own tech tree available to upgrade at the building for which that unit is qued for construction or development. It’s really quite simple and is at no expense of depth. As I mentioned earlier the key seems to be in dividing responsibilities between bases, and simple resource management will be involved in effective unit construction (seperating bases between infantry and vehicle production has proven effective).
As I mentioned, the campaign is short so I’ve had quite the time with Skirmish mode, which has both the Human and Covenent forces available for play. WIthout a doubt the Covenent is the superior force. I’ve played on both the medium and hardest difficulties available as both races and the contest has leaned to the Covenent; the exception being when I played as the Humans vs Covenent on Normal difficulty. I played as the Covenent vs the Covenent on Heroic (the hardest difficulty available) and at times the computer toyed with me in an obvious fashion, going so far as to retreat with an overwhelming force from a defenseless base twice in one game. Unlike Ramza, the computer seems to want to play! (zing…!)
The Skirmish mode has all the units available to the player, on both sides. In regards to Starcraft, it’s pretty much the same terminology with Halo lore attached. Protoss and Covenant vs the Terrans, minus Tanks and Goliaths.
All that having been said, I enjoyed the game so much I pre-ordered it.