| Halo Wars - Demo impressions |
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I’m going to say right off the bat that the Halo Wars demo is a brilliantly designed crafting of Halo marketing. For starters, the timing of the demo release has been meticulously placed in a period of few game releases, and more noticeably in a time where Halo has taken a step back from the limelight in favour of Microsoft’s other big games, you know Gears of War 2 and Fable 2. We’re a way off from the next full Halo game, although with ODST on the horizon, this should satiate fans who are suffering withdrawal symptoms from Halo first person shooting – especially the single player antics, because as a multiplayer game, Halo 3 certainly fulfills any multiplayer wants and desires.
Bungie, Ensemble, Microsoft have taken quite a gamble here by developing the franchise into this new area. We all know that Halo originally wasn’t planned to be a first person shooter, but the reality is, years down the line, it’s here. The game that fragments itself from its well established and popular roots, and shimmies into what I would say is a genre which isn’t so popular with the masses, and more importantly a far cry from what fans of the series are used to.
For gamers that play real time strategy games (RTS), then there really is no argument for or against Halo Wars, for those players regardless of whether they are fans of Halo or not, will probably have some interest. The big issue lies on the shoulders of whether the game is going to garner the same sort of interest from those who might not have played or wanted to play an RTS game before. Perhaps the strategy is to not only capture the imaginations of RTS fans but also by offering very familiar pastures, entice the Halo hungry masses.
This is bold move, but one that is quite commendable at the same time, because not only does it appease the RTS player, but also is offering a medium for more gamers to appreciate and understand the genre. So in the long run, this could potentially pave the way for future RTS games on consoles.
The killing blow and perhaps a failure of Microsoft’s vision, is whether the complexities of strategic gameplay is simply lost, regardless of franchise, on the shooter crowd. This is where the demo comes in, as a sort of safety net and introduction pre-release, for gamers to play and begin to understand the nature of Halo Wars’ RTS gameplay.
As a second bold statement, I’m going to say that the Halo Wars Demo is an excellent example of an amazing demo. I played an early TGS’08 build last year and felt rather under-whelmed by the whole experience. Granted, I did not have as much play time as I would have liked, but enough to not really ‘feel’ the game at the time. Well, the Halo Wars demo which releases next week, has most certainly upped the ante from the TGS build, and offers an excellent introduction to the game.
The demo consists of two modes of play, the first being two missions from the campaign. Once this is selected, you are treated to a very well produced piece of introductory CGI that offers plenty of visual and audio familiarity – it’s Halo, as it has all the traits that you would expect with the absence of the specific characters you know and love. You’re the commander and not the ground unit, and this is made very clear by the authority of your character and his age. Captain Cutter is a very battled hardened looking commander, one whose face looks like he’s been around the block to know what he’s talking about. It’s his role that you’re assuming, and his leadership that dictates how the story develops. The full game will offer a campaign that can be played solo or co-op online.
The second mode of play available in the demo is a skirmish 1 vs 1 mode which allows you to choose either the Humans or the Covenant. The full game will offer more modes up to four players with online play. You’re able to choose from three levels of difficulty (easy, Normal, Heroic) and only one of 14 maps (Chasms – an icy battlefield). This mode allows you to develop your forces and strategy as you see fit, away from the confines of any story objectives. The Skirmish mode offers some hefty replay value as you tinker with the different forces and difficulty.
The demo also includes a handy tutorial which serves as a welcome platter of accessibility for newcomers to RTS games. It’s here where the basics of camera control, movement, unit selection and attacking are outlined. For the most part, gamers who are familiar with the genre will have no problems jumping right into the action.
So, how does the game play? There’s no mistaking, Halo Wars is an RTS game and you should never forget this. The campaign missions included in the demo are very action packed and require minimal strategies. You can crank up the difficulty to Heroic and still breeze through quite comfortably. There’s a distinct action flavour to the missions, where it’s obvious that elements that are too taxing have been avoided. So, even if you’re a newcomer, you should get a decent level of enjoyment from what’s on offer. The Skrimish mode is really the heart of the demo, as this offers a truer picture of what the game is really about. You’ll be able to build units, gather resources, scout for other bases and upgrade units and structures, let’s not forget, attack the opposition whilst you’re there. The AI seems to put up a decent effort and will try and grab the additional bases, whilst occasionally mounting an attack on your own base(s). There are lots of options for strategising and no right or wrong way for success, so experimentation is key.
The game offers familiar scenarios but on a grander scale. It’s like having all the action that you’d expect from a battle intensive cut scene in a first person shooter, but brought to life. You can pan the camera close or further away and rotate it to any direction, and with a simple interface, start issuing orders to all of those units you see before you. Highlight a unit with the pointer, and then move the pointer to an area or target and the unit will do your bidding. Press RB and you’ll auto highlight all units on screen. Press LB and you’ll highlight the entire force at your disposal. You can also quick select units of a particular type and move them en-mass, and snap the camera to units and bases using the d-pad. There’s a distinct pleasure gained from watching the battles that unfold before you. The familiarity of the units, audio and visual effects makes for compelling action without you getting your hands dirty. You’ll be rated at the end of the campaign missions based on how well you managed your units and what difficulty you selected. There are also bonus objectives to complete such as killing 100 grunts in the first mission.
The demo is highly polished, and although relies heavily on being familiar, has its own charm that gamers should become tuned to once they start playing for half an hour or so. For those of you who have been a little cynical of the idea, should be pleasantly surprised at how well the Halo universe has made the transition to RTS game. The demo really does serve its purpose well, and I would say it will be instrumental in your decision whether to buy the game or not. In this respect you can see why the demo is well produced, it’s not only selling the Halo franchise but as mentioned earlier is showcasing the genre to a wider audience.
If you’re a Halo fan, then the demo certainly should excite. If you’re a Halo fan who likes RTS games, then the demo is going to provide hours of solid entertainment and hype your anticipation for the full game. If you’re a shooter fan, then there’s still a grey area as to whether you’ll be captivated by the game’s charms. Sure it’s action packed, and on this level you should appreciate what’s on offer. However the jury is out whether you’ll be taken in by the change of how you interact with the game world. Either way, come next week you’ll be able to sample the delights yourselves.
Posted By: Robert Cram
Date: 2009-01-31
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