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Innovation in the gaming industry is a tricky thing to consider. Without it, our beloved past time grows stagnant and old, giving us the same repetitive experiences again and again. If there is too much of it, the developer risks alienating the very people they wish to impress. This becomes doubly true when considering a popular franchise. Do you keep to the tried and true formula, or do you keep pushing the envelope in hopes of creating a greater legacy? Such was the dilemma faced by Ensemble Studios, the brilliant creators behind the revered Age of Empires series made famous on the PC. They were tasked with taking one of the most beloved franchises of the past two generations, and fitting that setting into a completely new genre of gameplay. Halo has been called many things since its rise to FPS stardom, but strategic usually isn't one of them. And yet the crafty minds at Ensemble Studios forged ahead, and in the process managed to create one of the greatest RTS titles to ever grace a console.
The greatest challenge faced by any real time strategy game when considering a console is the medium of input - the controller. Compared to the complexity and control granted by mouse and keypad, the standard console controller seems almost barbaric in its lack of finesse and options. Halo Wars fixes this problem by taking the mold set by the PC experience and completely abandoning it. Instead, it has been built from the ground up for the Xbox 360 exclusively. The controls for Halo Wars are incredibly smooth and intuitive. The left analog stick moves your standard selection cursor, while the 'A' button selects your various units. Once selected, the 'X' button initiates movement, or instigates an attack. Lastly, the 'Y' button prompts the usage of any special abilities you may have. Throw in the option to select all units on screen, or the ability to highlight the entire army with the touch of a single button, and you're left with all the control you could ever need. This layout may be more streamlined when compared to other more complicated systems, but this simplicity allows the overall experience to benefit from it. In fact, that seems to be the defining philosophy of Halo Wars: keep it simple, keep it fun.
Along with the controls, other staples from the genre have found themselves gutted entirely. Base building is restricted to a predetermined grid that connects outward from the main base, where you can then fill those slots with any unit type you prefer. The bulky tech tree is also nowhere to be found. If you want to build a Scorpion tank as the USNC, you simply create the appropriate factory and call in the order. There are three main unit types in Halo Wars - infantry, vehicles, and aircraft, all of which can be produced with limited effort, thanks to the lack of prerequisites. Each one is effective against the other in a rock-papers-scissors arrangement. The only limiting factors to what you can produce are your resources and number of reactors. Reactors work as your power station, and certain units are only accessible when you have two, three, or four at your disposal. This system keeps things balanced without forcing the player to memorize a pattern of what to build in any specific order. Along these lines, resources are gathered by creating Landing Pads, which allows for a constant flow of currency. Reactors and Landing Pads dictate how quickly an army is raised, and a little thought has to be put into their construction. If you have too many reactors, you may not have enough resources to build those uber-tanks, and vice-versa. Though this system is less-complex than others in the genre, Halo Wars still requires a fair amount of thought to play.
As a prequel, this new installment in the Halo franchise takes place before the Master Chief is ever brought into the picture. Instead, the story line focuses on the first encounters between the humans and the Covenant. The story is primarily told from the human side, though a few cut-scenes do give some insight into the Covenant's motives. Players shouldn't fear, however, as multiplayer allows full use of the Covenant's unique units and play style. But from the start, Halo Wars does a great job of establishing characters and fleshing out the conflict they have found themselves in. All this is done with beautifully rendered cut-scenes, which usually follow the beginning or end of a mission. These are always a welcome break from the action, due to the cinematic presentation and finely executed voice acting.
A good story is always a plus, but the real fun in Halo Wars is the action. The console crowd has a slightly different palette than the average personal computer user, and the heavy focus on action reflects this well. Thanks to the efforts to minimize micro-management, all aspects of the action get a significant boost. Combat is fast and hectic, and switching between units is a breeze. Activating special abilities during a skirmish is loads of fun, and really accents the overall feel of the game. Watching a Warthog run over a gaggle of grunts has never been so much fun. These special abilities are all fairly powerful, but are restricted to a timer to prevent abuse. Depending on the mission, the commander of the USNC has access to multiple abilities as well, be it healing units, carpet bombing runs, or access to special 'elite' versions of normal units, and these abilities share the same timer restriction, as well as a price in resources.
While all this action is under way, you are given a very serviceable map that keeps you informed, and although you are unable to 'point and click' to any area within it, the ability to scroll past points of interest keeps you in the loop fairly well. Voiceovers throughout missions help you keep tabs on developments as well, be it reinforcements on the way, or parked troops suffering damage from patrolling enemy units. Control is imperative, and Ensemble has managed to deliver a system that provides users all they could want and more. You never find yourself in search of additional information or wanting a few more options in order to win - all necessary tools are present from the beginning, and they all perform rather exquisitely.
The only qualms with Halo Wars are small, almost insignificant in hindsight. At times there are pathfinding problems with units, especially when large amounts are selected. They go around in circles seeking the best path, which can be frustrating in the middle of a firefight. This problem doesn't appear too often, but is frustrating when it does. Another problem with the game is the lack of difficulty. Once the mechanics of the game are mastered, there is very little stopping you from dominating the inferior AI. This holds true even on Legendary difficulty, but the challenge found in the countless battles on Xbox live easily offset this slight disappointment.
For being the fourth installment of the series, Halo Wars hits a lot of first notes. It is the first non-FPS Halo title. It is the first in the series that doesn't star Master Chief (though the Spartans before him are certainly epic in their own right). Despite the new genre, however, all things Halo ooze predominately from this title. There are skulls to be found, grunts to run over, and Hunters to fear. It should also be noted that this is the last project Ensemble Studios will ever produce. This is an amazing experience, and it is a true shame that the prospects of a continuation are nil. Still, the shot has been fired, and now it is without question that real time strategies can be executed correctly on this generation of home consoles. Other titles will surely join Halo Wars in this fight, but few will likely surpass it for quite some time.
