RTS games don't work on consoles. But you knew that. Ports of StarCraft, Supreme Commander and C&C have all suffered without the mouse and keyboard interface. Recent console ports (Battle for Middle-Earth II springs to mind) recently made strides, but (voice control aside?) the genre's yet to see a game that nails it. Perhaps until now...
The Halo universe was designed for real-time strategy - literally. Almost ten years ago when Bungie set out to make a Mac strategy game, we doubt they would've imagined their sci-fi series would go full circle to first-person shooter and back again. But here we are.
Thanks to the three solid FPS games under Chief's belt, we've grown a great deal of affection for the characters and critters of Halo. The waddling Covenant Grunts and the electric bark of a Warthog's cannon hold more charm for us than Bruce Forsyth and Well-Hard (RIP) from Eastenders combined. And this makes Halo Wars the perfect platform to attempt a console RTS jump.
From base-building to the horrors of the front line, managing unit construction and sending tanks in for the kill is simple, enhanced by Ensemble's control set-up. D-pad quick-jumps, a 'painting' option (hold down A) and 'Select All' commands make for a robust and manageable control pad solution.
At the game's most intense moments you'll have several fully-upgraded bases pumping out Warthogs, Spartans and Scorpions, LB brings (that's 'select all') them to the front line while the D-pad quick menu enables you to swiftly call in air-strikes. It's very rare that a console RTS achieves this level of meta-management without you pulling out your hair in frustration - but Halo Wars does it well.
Halo Wars does a great job of capturing the spirit of the series. Perfectly recreated noises from the Halo universe make us want to dust off Halo 3 even though Halo Wars' impressive CGI cut-scenes do a great job of fleshing out the prequel. Menus are perfect, complete with sound effects and there's no end of Spartans elbowing Elites in the face. Even though it's an RTS it still feels like Halo.
Construction is simple. Your base has a designated spot (you can't pick somewhere nice for it to go) and is itself divided up into patches for you to build barracks, generators, turrets and other typical RTS structures on. Buildings can be queued up via a pop-up radial menu, which is also used to select unit and base upgrades, in turn giving you access to more building options.
Resources are gathered via supply pads, which in turn can be upgraded to double capacity. There no building resource collectors and sending them off to the outer rim of the map. Reactors upgrade your tech level, giving you new units and abilities. The main base can be used to build warthogs, call for hero units and upgrade the special commander powers.
Because of the limited amount of build slots on your UNSC Firebase (or Covenant Citadel if you're batting for the other side), you need to think strategically about your build options. Should you build two supply pads, a single reactor, a barracks and a vehicle depot? Or drop the vehicle depot to allow for another reactor, thus upgrading your infantry?
Special mention must be made of Ensemble's carefully paced and consistently entertaining campaign, which rarely becomes too hectic to manage.
Instead of lobbing endless typical 'build and destroy' missions at you, the main campaign threads a well-paced selection of mission at you. These include everything from escort missions (tow a bomb up a steep hill - but have the towing vehicle destroyed and the bomb will roll back down), defensive stand-offs and battles against giant bossmen.
Giving units primary and secondary attacks works too. Warthogs will unload their mounted-cannon when ordered to attack with X, but storm in to run down targets when you hit Y. Infantry units throw grenades, Brute Chieftans will raise the ground with their Gravity Hammers and even the Scorpion tank retains its chain gun and turret attacks from the FPS games.
A mission highlight sees your path blocked by a gigantic, mid-construction Scarab. Its giant death laser is more than active though and you have to carefully advance into killing range, dodging its ever-moving gaze like Frodo from Lord of the Rings. Positioning your units behind cover is essential and destroying power nodes will slow its head movement down.
Halo Wars is the most playable RTS on a joy pad, without a doubt. But once the air strikes and deploy orders are at the back of your mind, you're left with an entertaining - if short lived - solo campaign. In multiplayer, with the base building and unit management adapted to accommodate your thumbs, Wars lacks depth and strategy of its PC counterparts.
Skirmish (and sometimes single-player) games are often about as strategic as 'Select All' and 'Attack All', which is a shame considering the amount of thought and polish that's gone into Ensemble's package.
That's not to say you can't have a great time battling with the Covenant across Xbox Live. The brilliant roster of Halo units again fits perfectly into the RTS mould. And although Skirmish is very much the focus of the package, the campaign can also be played in co-op mode.
Co-op missions are identical to single-player but splitting the work between two heads allows Halo Wars to recover some of the strategy lost in the single-player game, such as organising a battle across two fronts.
It's not the saving grace of Halo Wars' issues, but it's one of the best ways to experience the campaign if you've got a decent Halo Wars friend.
As an RTS we can't help but feel that Microsoft's played it safe with its biggest franchise, not wanting to scare off any potential newcomers or fans with a detailed and complex RTS that commands hours of thought and dedication.
But if any game can be forgiven for going down the proof of concept route before throwing out the rulebook and trying something spectacularly different, this is certainly one of them.
Lower than I was hoping for, but about what I expected. I will expect Halo Wars 2 to be a much better game. Still a day-one purchase for me - if only for Sandbox.
I'm more than satisfied with this score. Going by the demo I really can't see how this could have been bettered significantly without it losing it's simplicity with it.
As long as this game scores consistantly around the 8/10 mark, I'm fine with that.
I have it pre-ordered, and can't wait for it either.
Still saying the game has been getting good reviews I think Microsoft have slipped up holding them all back until a week before the game is released.
No I'm not sore, why would I be? I love the demo, have my pre-order in place, and don't really care what scores it gets. I've made up my mind and will enjoy the game.
The scores from other reviews tend to vary depending on how much the reviewer compares it to PC RTS games. I just hope that that comparison never gets in the way of the game recieving well-deserved scores, bias-free.
I see the PS3 owning floodgates are now open and will now be inundate with 'LOLZ' and 'RIP Halo' etc etc.
Strangely, there won't be any mention of CVGs Anti-Sony/Pro-Microsoft bias...
Its pretty sad Marty, eh? Still as long as they get enjoyment from it then let them, ill just be happy playing the games I enjoy whilst they start growing an ulcer or 2.
I've warmed to the demo a lot and I've got a game voucher for my birthday so it's going on the special edition. 7.9 is a respectable score for an experimental concept. They didn't do too bad. RIP Ensemble. Now all they need to do is make the Flood playable and add a covenant campaign, cos it's a little light on content.
Going to see if I can build 'Boarding Action' in the much touted sky bubble on sandbox. Well if they're not ever going to do it themselves..........
Yeah, had to dumb it down massively for consoles as expected. Shame. Nice try by the sounds of it, but the experiment has failed.
I didnt realise you had played the game Mogs?
I didn't either.
Ahh. I see. Your basing your opinion on some PS3 Fanboys who want the game to fail and PC Gamers who have a bit of an inferiority complex. That makes more sense now, thanks for clearing that up for me.
Yeah, had to dumb it down massively for consoles as expected. Shame. Nice try by the sounds of it, but the experiment has failed.
I didnt realise you had played the game Mogs?
I didn't either.
Ahh. I see. Your basing your opinion on some PS3 Fanboys who want the game to fail and PC Gamers who have a bit of an inferiority complex. That makes more sense now, thanks for clearing that up for me.
No, I'm basing it on the review. 7.9 is respectable effort, but it couldn't even scrape an 8. Nice try given the limitations they have to work with, but ultimately this is RTS Lite for Gamer Lites.
Well, I hope everybody enjoys it, regardless of score. Though you must admit, it was inevitable that the fanboys would come knocking because every Killzone 2 thread was chock full of 'generic, boring, grey etc,' comments. It's payback time in their eyes.
Best to ignore them, though I know how frustrating it is.
Yeah, had to dumb it down massively for consoles as expected. Shame. Nice try by the sounds of it, but the experiment has failed.
I didnt realise you had played the game Mogs?
I didn't either.
Ahh. I see. Your basing your opinion on some PS3 Fanboys who want the game to fail and PC Gamers who have a bit of an inferiority complex. That makes more sense now, thanks for clearing that up for me.
No, I'm basing it on the review. 7.9 is respectable effort, but it couldn't even scrape an 8. Nice try given the limitations they have to work with, but ultimately this is RTS Lite for Gamer Lites.
Nice dig, liking your work Mogs .
I must have missed the meeting where a a 7.9 was a failure, could you pass me over the minutes please ?
Yeah, had to dumb it down massively for consoles as expected. Shame. Nice try by the sounds of it, but the experiment has failed.
I didnt realise you had played the game Mogs?
I didn't either.
Ahh. I see. Your basing your opinion on some PS3 Fanboys who want the game to fail and PC Gamers who have a bit of an inferiority complex. That makes more sense now, thanks for clearing that up for me.
No, I'm basing it on the review. 7.9 is respectable effort, but it couldn't even scrape an 8. Nice try given the limitations they have to work with, but ultimately this is RTS Lite for Gamer Lites.
agreed, paying £30+ for laughable console rts with halo skin really does make you a gamer lite
Yeah, had to dumb it down massively for consoles as expected. Shame. Nice try by the sounds of it, but the experiment has failed.
I didnt realise you had played the game Mogs?
I didn't either.
Ahh. I see. Your basing your opinion on some PS3 Fanboys who want the game to fail and PC Gamers who have a bit of an inferiority complex. That makes more sense now, thanks for clearing that up for me.
No, I'm basing it on the review. 7.9 is respectable effort, but it couldn't even scrape an 8. Nice try given the limitations they have to work with, but ultimately this is RTS Lite for Gamer Lites.
Nice dig, liking your work Mogs .
I must have missed the meeting where a a 7.9 was a failure, could you pass me over the minutes please ?
To add to that, people seem to have missed the scores of 9 that it's been recieving all over the place - both Xbox specific and multi-format sites.
CVG is hardly the be all and end all of gaming review sites...
Yeah, had to dumb it down massively for consoles as expected. Shame. Nice try by the sounds of it, but the experiment has failed.
I didnt realise you had played the game Mogs?
I didn't either.
Ahh. I see. Your basing your opinion on some PS3 Fanboys who want the game to fail and PC Gamers who have a bit of an inferiority complex. That makes more sense now, thanks for clearing that up for me.
No, I'm basing it on the review. 7.9 is respectable effort, but it couldn't even scrape an 8. Nice try given the limitations they have to work with, but ultimately this is RTS Lite for Gamer Lites.
agreed, paying £30+ for laughable console rts with halo skin really does make you a gamer lite
I'm a gamer lite then
How can I save face in front of the Mighty Mogs and the chosen one that is Jigsaw?
Wow I guess Halo sucks as an RTS AS WELL as an FPS!
This has gone on long enough, joke's over.
The whole Halo fad must come to an end. There is nothing, and there has never been anything, special about it.
yup but the halo games are made for console gamers who have probably never played on a PC and so those fps's seem absolutely perfect for those people. Same thing for this effort, many people have probably never played an rts ever on the PC so this as well will seem as a pretty good game to them.
An ok game, but Halo on XBOX redefined the FPS genre so this game was never going to live up to it.
as yahtzee once said: "halo came along and revolutionized the genre by adding limited weapon capacity, regenerating health and being generally sh1t". its people like you that make halo sell so well for unknown reasons.
just had 2 edit and add this not trying 2 fight you or anything man so dont take anything personally
An ok game, but Halo on XBOX redefined the FPS genre so this game was never going to live up to it.
as yahtzee once said: "halo came along and revolutionized the genre by adding limited weapon capacity, regenerating health and being generally sh1t". its people like you that make halo sell so well for unknown reasons.
just had 2 edit and add this not trying 2 fight you or anything man so dont take anything personally
How about getting rid of the age old 'press 1 to equip melee, then left click to hit the enemy' and replacing it with one button that melees with any weapon you have. The same goes for grenades, no more pressing 0 to get the grenade out, then throw it after the moment's gone. Same with vehicles, none of this 'on the rails' s**t like with MOH. Pick any vehicle lying around jump in it and cause some damage. It made combat a lot more closer, faster and with more improv.
An ok game, but Halo on XBOX redefined the FPS genre so this game was never going to live up to it.
as yahtzee once said: "halo came along and revolutionized the genre by adding limited weapon capacity, regenerating health and being generally sh1t". its people like you that make halo sell so well for unknown reasons.
just had 2 edit and add this not trying 2 fight you or anything man so dont take anything personally
How about getting rid of the age old 'press 1 to equip melee, then left click to hit the enemy' and replacing it with one button that melees with any weapon you have. The same goes for grenades, no more pressing 0 to get the grenade out, then throw it after the moment's gone. Same with vehicles, none of this 'on the rails' s**t like with MOH. Pick any vehicle lying around jump in it and cause some damage. It made combat a lot more closer, faster and with more improv.
i can see where you are coming from with those changes kind off making everything much quicker but I absolutely hate melee attacks (with rifle butt )as they are always way too powerful in any game. I also always thought the vehicles controlled very poorly which is the case for every fps I can think of (not just bashing halo here). I may be wrong here but there must have been other games for quick access to grenades, soldier of fortune being the only game I can really think had it. If not then ok you have tht one but I am either mistaken or played it wrong but you cant even cook the grenades in halo. I suddenly feel retarded if you can do tht DAMN!
An ok game, but Halo on XBOX redefined the FPS genre so this game was never going to live up to it.
as yahtzee once said: "halo came along and revolutionized the genre by adding limited weapon capacity, regenerating health and being generally sh1t". its people like you that make halo sell so well for unknown reasons.
just had 2 edit and add this not trying 2 fight you or anything man so dont take anything personally
How about getting rid of the age old 'press 1 to equip melee, then left click to hit the enemy' and replacing it with one button that melees with any weapon you have. The same goes for grenades, no more pressing 0 to get the grenade out, then throw it after the moment's gone. Same with vehicles, none of this 'on the rails' s**t like with MOH. Pick any vehicle lying around jump in it and cause some damage. It made combat a lot more closer, faster and with more improv.
i can see where you are coming from with those changes kind off making everything much quicker but I absolutely hate melee attacks (with rifle butt )as they are always way too powerful in any game. I also always thought the vehicles controlled very poorly which is the case for every fps I can think of (not just bashing halo here). I may be wrong here but there must have been other games for quick access to grenades, soldier of fortune being the only game I can really think had it. If not then ok you have tht one but I am either mistaken or played it wrong but you cant even cook the grenades in halo. I suddenly feel retarded if you can do tht DAMN!
Well melee is meant to be overpowered because you can only use it at point blank range, like why the shotgun is so powerful at close range too. I can't remember if you could in Soldier of Fortune, all I remember from that is blowing people's limbs off! There probably was a game before Halo that did it, but my point is that you can draw a clear line before and after Halo; before = 100 health, health packs and armour, carry any gun, change to melee, change to use grenades, no vehicles or pointless vehicles. after = regenerating health, no health or extra 100 armour, limited gun slots, instant melee, instant grenade, all weapons have their day, useful vehicles. It probably didn't create any of those, but it took them all and made them work so well and make it feel so fast and unpredictable and fun that everything since then has copied some of them.
Anyway, Halo Wars is no SupCom but that was to be expected. Hell they made SupCom on the 360 and that was s**tter than Halo Wars so sometimes less is more.
An ok game, but Halo on XBOX redefined the FPS genre so this game was never going to live up to it.
as yahtzee once said: "halo came along and revolutionized the genre by adding limited weapon capacity, regenerating health and being generally sh1t". its people like you that make halo sell so well for unknown reasons.
just had 2 edit and add this not trying 2 fight you or anything man so dont take anything personally
How about getting rid of the age old 'press 1 to equip melee, then left click to hit the enemy' and replacing it with one button that melees with any weapon you have. The same goes for grenades, no more pressing 0 to get the grenade out, then throw it after the moment's gone. Same with vehicles, none of this 'on the rails' s**t like with MOH. Pick any vehicle lying around jump in it and cause some damage. It made combat a lot more closer, faster and with more improv.
i can see where you are coming from with those changes kind off making everything much quicker but I absolutely hate melee attacks (with rifle butt )as they are always way too powerful in any game. I also always thought the vehicles controlled very poorly which is the case for every fps I can think of (not just bashing halo here). I may be wrong here but there must have been other games for quick access to grenades, soldier of fortune being the only game I can really think had it. If not then ok you have tht one but I am either mistaken or played it wrong but you cant even cook the grenades in halo. I suddenly feel retarded if you can do tht DAMN!
Well melee is meant to be overpowered because you can only use it at point blank range, like why the shotgun is so powerful at close range too. I can't remember if you could in Soldier of Fortune, all I remember from that is blowing people's limbs off! There probably was a game before Halo that did it, but my point is that you can draw a clear line before and after Halo; before = 100 health, health packs and armour, carry any gun, change to melee, change to use grenades, no vehicles or pointless vehicles. after = regenerating health, no health or extra 100 armour, limited gun slots, instant melee, instant grenade, all weapons have their day, useful vehicles. It probably didn't create any of those, but it took them all and made them work so well and make it feel so fast and unpredictable and fun that everything since then has copied some of them.
Anyway, Halo Wars is no SupCom but that was to be expected. Hell they made SupCom on the 360 and that was s**tter than Halo Wars so sometimes less is more.
hey everybody has their own thing, if you like halo then thts kl but it gets way too much hype in my opinion but lets stop there coz things like these never finish, just like how me and sum1 else can (and do) fight till we grow old about how trance is now killing the electronic music scene but thts a totally diff thing.
Anyways, one thing that really p**ses me off is tht fight club isnt on blu-ray yet. wtf is with tht?????
Wow I guess Halo sucks as an RTS AS WELL as an FPS!
This has gone on long enough, joke's over.
The whole Halo fad must come to an end. There is nothing, and there has never been anything, special about it.
yup but the halo games are made for console gamers who have probably never played on a PC and so those fps's seem absolutely perfect for those people. Same thing for this effort, many people have probably never played an rts ever on the PC so this as well will seem as a pretty good game to them.
You're way off point with those claims man. I've played both genres on PC and still enjoy the Halo games. You'll find it rings true for others as well.
Wow I guess Halo sucks as an RTS AS WELL as an FPS!
This has gone on long enough, joke's over.
The whole Halo fad must come to an end. There is nothing, and there has never been anything, special about it.
yup but the halo games are made for console gamers who have probably never played on a PC and so those fps's seem absolutely perfect for those people. Same thing for this effort, many people have probably never played an rts ever on the PC so this as well will seem as a pretty good game to them.
You're way off point with those claims man. I've played both genres on PC and still enjoy the Halo games. You'll find it rings true for others as well.
Halo actually convinced me to move away from PC FPS games altogether. And I used to be the biggest PC fanboy, playing CS and BF all the time. Now I let my PC do what it does best, make spreadsheets and word documents.
An ok game, but Halo on XBOX redefined the FPS genre so this game was never going to live up to it.
as yahtzee once said: "halo came along and revolutionized the genre by adding limited weapon capacity, regenerating health and being generally sh1t". its people like you that make halo sell so well for unknown reasons.
just had 2 edit and add this not trying 2 fight you or anything man so dont take anything personally
How about getting rid of the age old 'press 1 to equip melee, then left click to hit the enemy' and replacing it with one button that melees with any weapon you have. The same goes for grenades, no more pressing 0 to get the grenade out, then throw it after the moment's gone. Same with vehicles, none of this 'on the rails' s**t like with MOH. Pick any vehicle lying around jump in it and cause some damage. It made combat a lot more closer, faster and with more improv.
i can see where you are coming from with those changes kind off making everything much quicker but I absolutely hate melee attacks (with rifle butt )as they are always way too powerful in any game. I also always thought the vehicles controlled very poorly which is the case for every fps I can think of (not just bashing halo here). I may be wrong here but there must have been other games for quick access to grenades, soldier of fortune being the only game I can really think had it. If not then ok you have tht one but I am either mistaken or played it wrong but you cant even cook the grenades in halo. I suddenly feel retarded if you can do tht DAMN!
Well melee is meant to be overpowered because you can only use it at point blank range, like why the shotgun is so powerful at close range too. I can't remember if you could in Soldier of Fortune, all I remember from that is blowing people's limbs off! There probably was a game before Halo that did it, but my point is that you can draw a clear line before and after Halo; before = 100 health, health packs and armour, carry any gun, change to melee, change to use grenades, no vehicles or pointless vehicles. after = regenerating health, no health or extra 100 armour, limited gun slots, instant melee, instant grenade, all weapons have their day, useful vehicles. It probably didn't create any of those, but it took them all and made them work so well and make it feel so fast and unpredictable and fun that everything since then has copied some of them.
Anyway, Halo Wars is no SupCom but that was to be expected. Hell they made SupCom on the 360 and that was s**tter than Halo Wars so sometimes less is more.
Bang on the mark there sir. I didn't 'get' Halo for years, and then I actually played it. Halo did for FPS what Sonic did or platforming: moved the genre away from being an excercise in frustration and self-testing, and towards being an experience.
All Halo did was take a mediocre FPS and 'tailor' it for console audiences whose prior experience of the genre was extremely limited, if not simply non-existant. People go on about the most trivial features like they're some sort of redefining of the genre (recharging health bar) when all they are are minor tweaks & variations that ALL games have.
Halo is a triumph of marketing and luck on MS's part. Another prime example of the deftness they have shown in exploiting the ignorance of console gamers.
All Halo did was take a mediocre FPS and 'tailor' it for console audiences whose prior experience of the genre was extremely limited, if not simply non-existant. People go on about the most trivial features like they're some sort of redefining of the genre (recharging health bar) when all they are are minor tweaks & variations that ALL games have.
Edited as being a console gamer does not immediately make you ignorant, like being a PC gamer doesnt mean your horse should get higher.
Wow I guess Halo sucks as an RTS AS WELL as an FPS!
This has gone on long enough, joke's over.
The whole Halo fad must come to an end. There is nothing, and there has never been anything, special about it.
yup but the halo games are made for console gamers who have probably never played on a PC and so those fps's seem absolutely perfect for those people. Same thing for this effort, many people have probably never played an rts ever on the PC so this as well will seem as a pretty good game to them.
You're way off point with those claims man. I've played both genres on PC and still enjoy the Halo games. You'll find it rings true for others as well.
Funnily enough I used to game avidly on the PC but find the Halo series a bore but thats only my own worthless opinion.
All Halo did was take a mediocre FPS and 'tailor' it for console audiences whose prior experience of the genre was extremely limited, if not simply non-existant. People go on about the most trivial features like they're some sort of redefining of the genre (recharging health bar) when all they are are minor tweaks & variations that ALL games have.
Halo is a triumph of marketing and luck on MS's part. Another prime example of the deftness they have shown in exploiting the ignorance of console gamers.
You couldn't be more wrong. I, like a lot of people I know, were an avid fan of PC FPS games. From Wolfenstein 3D and Doom to CS, Quake 3, BF1942, Deus Ex, HL etc. etc. etc. You can't tell me that I don't know a thing or two about the genre. But ever since I bought the original Xbox and got Halo, my play time on PC games has decreased exponentially to the point where I just refuse to play any games on the PC at all (the clincher was the release of the Orange box on the 360 - game over, PC gaming). I might make an exception for Black Mesa Source, and Quake Live during lunch breaks, but that's about it.
All Halo did was take a mediocre FPS and 'tailor' it for console audiences whose prior experience of the genre was extremely limited, if not simply non-existant. People go on about the most trivial features like they're some sort of redefining of the genre (recharging health bar) when all they are are minor tweaks & variations that ALL games have.
Halo is a triumph of marketing and luck on MS's part. Another prime example of the deftness they have shown in exploiting the ignorance of console gamers.
You couldn't be more wrong. I, like a lot of people I know, were an avid fan of PC FPS games. From Wolfenstein 3D and Doom to CS, Quake 3, BF1942, Deus Ex, HL etc. etc. etc. You can't tell me that I don't know a thing or two about the genre. But ever since I bought the original Xbox and got Halo, my play time on PC games has decreased exponentially to the point where I just refuse to play any games on the PC at all (the clincher was the release of the Orange box on the 360 - game over, PC gaming). I might make an exception for Black Mesa Source, and Quake Live during lunch breaks, but that's about it.
you seriously choose to play the same games on the 360 over the PC? I dont get tht unless its a racer or platformer (dont use controllers for PC gaming). And where the fu(k is freakin fight club on blu-ray dammit!
All Halo did was take a mediocre FPS and 'tailor' it for console audiences whose prior experience of the genre was extremely limited, if not simply non-existant. People go on about the most trivial features like they're some sort of redefining of the genre (recharging health bar) when all they are are minor tweaks & variations that ALL games have.
Halo is a triumph of marketing and luck on MS's part. Another prime example of the deftness they have shown in exploiting the ignorance of console gamers.
You couldn't be more wrong. I, like a lot of people I know, were an avid fan of PC FPS games. From Wolfenstein 3D and Doom to CS, Quake 3, BF1942, Deus Ex, HL etc. etc. etc. You can't tell me that I don't know a thing or two about the genre. But ever since I bought the original Xbox and got Halo, my play time on PC games has decreased exponentially to the point where I just refuse to play any games on the PC at all (the clincher was the release of the Orange box on the 360 - game over, PC gaming). I might make an exception for Black Mesa Source, and Quake Live during lunch breaks, but that's about it.
you seriously choose to play the same games on the 360 over the PC? I dont get tht unless its a racer or platformer (dont use controllers for PC gaming). And where the fu(k is freakin fight club on blu-ray dammit!
All Halo did was take a mediocre FPS and 'tailor' it for console audiences whose prior experience of the genre was extremely limited, if not simply non-existant. People go on about the most trivial features like they're some sort of redefining of the genre (recharging health bar) when all they are are minor tweaks & variations that ALL games have.
Halo is a triumph of marketing and luck on MS's part. Another prime example of the deftness they have shown in exploiting the ignorance of console gamers.
You couldn't be more wrong. I, like a lot of people I know, were an avid fan of PC FPS games. From Wolfenstein 3D and Doom to CS, Quake 3, BF1942, Deus Ex, HL etc. etc. etc. You can't tell me that I don't know a thing or two about the genre. But ever since I bought the original Xbox and got Halo, my play time on PC games has decreased exponentially to the point where I just refuse to play any games on the PC at all (the clincher was the release of the Orange box on the 360 - game over, PC gaming). I might make an exception for Black Mesa Source, and Quake Live during lunch breaks, but that's about it.
you seriously choose to play the same games on the 360 over the PC? I dont get tht unless its a racer or platformer (dont use controllers for PC gaming). And where the fu(k is freakin fight club on blu-ray dammit!
Yes. I'd rather play my games without the fear of developing geek-hunch, without having to wait for Windows to load up and without having to fork out to keep my PC gaming-friendly.
All Halo did was take a mediocre FPS and 'tailor' it for console audiences whose prior experience of the genre was extremely limited, if not simply non-existant. People go on about the most trivial features like they're some sort of redefining of the genre (recharging health bar) when all they are are minor tweaks & variations that ALL games have.
Halo is a triumph of marketing and luck on MS's part. Another prime example of the deftness they have shown in exploiting the ignorance of console gamers.
What happened to you Mogs, you used to post some valid stuff, but now you just come up with inane geeky sarcastic comments like 'pc gaming is dead rofl' or just general trolling. I guess you have just gone bitter because of the popularity of consoles and your arch nemesis MS and so you've become a troll, how sad.
As has been pointed put, many people who played Halo had vast experience of FPS's before hand, what on God's earth would make you think otherwise? Do you also assume that people playing Killzone 2 are people who never played an FPS before, or that people playing Battlefield 2 or Half-Life 2 have never played an FPS before? I mean really, what do you base this nonsense on? Surely you are just sour that a game YOU don't like, published by a company YOU hate is so popular and so you try to validate your hatred of the game by coming up with ludicrous games that 'all people who enjoyed Halo were 5 and therefore had never played an FPS before'. Let me guess, it applies to all the people who gave it great reviews too, they were in a high enough position to review the game for various magazines, yet none of them had ever played an FPS before... you're clutching at straws.
I've had a great experience of games on PC, from Wolfenstein, to Duke Nukem 3D, all the Quakes (just the demo of 4, because 4 really doesn't count), original CS, MOHAA, CS:S, BF games and most recently STALKER to name a few. And yet I still really enjoy playing Halo because it's a great stress-reliever and such fun compared to the blood pressure raising and shouting at the screen and all the hackers on CS:S.
As I said this fight can never be resolved. If i say the art style is very poor there's others who think its the best thing in the world. If i say the level design is some of the worst i can remember for a shooter there will be others who think its genius for some reason. If i say the AI (especially friendly) is pretty much retarded then some will say its actually pretty good even though they cant shoot to save their lives or if they drive you off a cliff or under a scarab's foot. I also think character models are basic and sound design and graphics are fairly average (not that bad actually). Story is laughable while some think its deep and characters are extremely shallow but of course people think there's great depth to them. Very clunky vehicle controls, very short campaign (lots of games are guilty of this though), cartoonish physics and a soundtrack that seems to consist of two tracks. Then the multiplayer is pretty standard with not much depth and I know there are people who think its the best online game in the history of the universe (still have to give props to bungie for the design aspect to it). Of course many of these are subjective in nature so many will agree or disagree with me and I acknowledge that but I try to find out why people love it so much and the things I hate others love somehow and so its a endless argument. Just to throw this out there halo 3 was the only bearable one out of the lot and was still only average in my opinion. How it can compare to the orange box and bioshock (score wise) and how popular it is I'll never understand ; just like american football.
anyways this thread is for halo wars so why dont we bash that (or love it as some will )
As I said this fight can never be resolved. If i say the art style is very poor there's others who think its the best thing in the world. If i say the level design is some of the worst i can remember for a shooter there will be others who think its genius for some reason. If i say the AI (especially friendly) is pretty much retarded then some will say its actually pretty good even though they cant shoot to save their lives or if they drive you off a cliff or under a scarab's foot. I also think character models are basic and sound design and graphics are fairly average (not that bad actually). Story is laughable while some think its deep and characters are extremely shallow but of course people think there's great depth to them. Very clunky vehicle controls, very short campaign (lots of games are guilty of this though), cartoonish physics and a soundtrack that seems to consist of two tracks. Then the multiplayer is pretty standard with not much depth and I know there are people who think its the best online game in the history of the universe (still have to give props to bungie for the design aspect to it). Of course many of these are subjective in nature so many will agree or disagree with me and I acknowledge that but I try to find out why people love it so much and the things I hate others love somehow and so its a endless argument. Just to throw this out there halo 3 was the only bearable one out of the lot and was still only average in my opinion. How it can compare to the orange box and bioshock (score wise) and how popular it is I'll never understand ; just like american football.
anyways this thread is for halo wars so why dont we bash that (or love it as some will )
Get over yourself. Why can't you just accept that people are into different things than you? You don't have to understand why, just know that gamers are diverse. Simple.
As I said this fight can never be resolved. If i say the art style is very poor there's others who think its the best thing in the world. If i say the level design is some of the worst i can remember for a shooter there will be others who think its genius for some reason. If i say the AI (especially friendly) is pretty much retarded then some will say its actually pretty good even though they cant shoot to save their lives or if they drive you off a cliff or under a scarab's foot. I also think character models are basic and sound design and graphics are fairly average (not that bad actually). Story is laughable while some think its deep and characters are extremely shallow but of course people think there's great depth to them. Very clunky vehicle controls, very short campaign (lots of games are guilty of this though), cartoonish physics and a soundtrack that seems to consist of two tracks. Then the multiplayer is pretty standard with not much depth and I know there are people who think its the best online game in the history of the universe (still have to give props to bungie for the design aspect to it). Of course many of these are subjective in nature so many will agree or disagree with me and I acknowledge that but I try to find out why people love it so much and the things I hate others love somehow and so its a endless argument. Just to throw this out there halo 3 was the only bearable one out of the lot and was still only average in my opinion. How it can compare to the orange box and bioshock (score wise) and how popular it is I'll never understand ; just like american football.
anyways this thread is for halo wars so why dont we bash that (or love it as some will )
Get over yourself. Why can't you just accept that people are into different things than you? You don't have to understand why, just know that gamers are diverse. Simple.
dont mind at all that people love this game to death but when it is regarded by many to be the best and really push tht belief publicly it feels kind of weird to me. like i love the socom games to death but I never have gone around shouting its the best 3rd person shooter in existence and I never will.
All Halo did was take a mediocre FPS and 'tailor' it for console audiences whose prior experience of the genre was extremely limited, if not simply non-existant.
Yes, because as we all know, Halo was the first ever console based FPS.
There was no Goldeneye, Doom, Quake, Turok, Medal of Honour, Perfect Dark, Duke Nukem etc etc etc...
Even if you make the (HUGE) assumption that most people that had an Xbox and Halo had no exposure to the PC and it's plethora of FPSs, there are still STACKS of that genre to choose from on the consoles...
And that's ignoring the fact that Halo was also on the damn PC too (and generally scored well on that format to boot!).
Get off your high horse Mogs.
And as for 'Gamer Lite', that has to be the most ridiculous, condescending thing I've ever read! Are PC Gamers the only 'true' gamers out there then? All those that exclusively play games on consoles are a lesser breed I suppose?
Gamer LIte. Yes people that play games on games consoles. Machines built specifically for gaming obviously aren't proper gamers.
but people that play games on PCs machines that are built to do a multitude of things, gaming being a pleasurable offshoot are the real gamers.
AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE????
Yes I belive you are, after spending £1000 plus on a rig and taking 3 months to configure/benchtest into oblivion, thats when you know you are a real gamer.
All Halo did was take a mediocre FPS and 'tailor' it for console audiences whose prior experience of the genre was extremely limited, if not simply non-existant.
Yes, because as we all know, Halo was the first ever console based FPS.
There was no Goldeneye, Doom, Quake, Turok, Medal of Honour, Perfect Dark, Duke Nukem etc etc etc...
Even if you make the (HUGE) assumption that most people that had an Xbox and Halo had no exposure to the PC and it's plethora of FPSs, there are still STACKS of that genre to choose from on the consoles...
And that's ignoring the fact that Halo was also on the damn PC too (and generally scored well on that format to boot!).
Get off your high horse Mogs.
And as for 'Gamer Lite', that has to be the most ridiculous, condescending thing I've ever read! Are PC Gamers the only 'true' gamers out there then? All those that exclusively play games on consoles are a lesser breed I suppose?
It must be difficult being a superior being.
Lower than that you are all a bunch of inbreds to boot. Bah bloody console gaming Lite bulbs the lot of you.
As I said this fight can never be resolved. If i say the art style is very poor there's others who think its the best thing in the world. If i say the level design is some of the worst i can remember for a shooter there will be others who think its genius for some reason. If i say the AI (especially friendly) is pretty much retarded then some will say its actually pretty good even though they cant shoot to save their lives or if they drive you off a cliff or under a scarab's foot. I also think character models are basic and sound design and graphics are fairly average (not that bad actually). Story is laughable while some think its deep and characters are extremely shallow but of course people think there's great depth to them. Very clunky vehicle controls, very short campaign (lots of games are guilty of this though), cartoonish physics and a soundtrack that seems to consist of two tracks. Then the multiplayer is pretty standard with not much depth and I know there are people who think its the best online game in the history of the universe (still have to give props to bungie for the design aspect to it). Of course many of these are subjective in nature so many will agree or disagree with me and I acknowledge that but I try to find out why people love it so much and the things I hate others love somehow and so its a endless argument. Just to throw this out there halo 3 was the only bearable one out of the lot and was still only average in my opinion. How it can compare to the orange box and bioshock (score wise) and how popular it is I'll never understand ; just like american football.
anyways this thread is for halo wars so why dont we bash that (or love it as some will )
Get over yourself. Why can't you just accept that people are into different things than you? You don't have to understand why, just know that gamers are diverse. Simple.
dont mind at all that people love this game to death but when it is regarded by many to be the best and really push tht belief publicly it feels kind of weird to me. like i love the socom games to death but I never have gone around shouting its the best 3rd person shooter in existence and I never will.
f**k off. I useed to be a PC gamer but had enough smarts to realise how bloody futile it all is. You end up spending more time and money upgrading your rig than doing any actual gaming.
Then when you finally have it all up to date and configured right. you play for a couple hours and the f**king thing crashes.
The games may be marginally cheaper, but the cost to up keep a decent gaming machine is far more than a few hundred quid every 5 or so years.
i'll get back to actually playing games and you can come get me when your overclocked PC finally stops smoking.
Well I played the demo and thought it was pants. I got bored after about five minutes and deleted the demo within ten.
Nice effort but... well actually it was a pretty poor effort. I'd say about 3 of those marks went to the fact that its a Halo game. Had it been anything else it'd probably have scored a 5/10.
...and that's coming from a fan of Halo, not some PS3 Fanboy numpty.
As I said this fight can never be resolved. If i say the art style is very poor there's others who think its the best thing in the world. If i say the level design is some of the worst i can remember for a shooter there will be others who think its genius for some reason. If i say the AI (especially friendly) is pretty much retarded then some will say its actually pretty good even though they cant shoot to save their lives or if they drive you off a cliff or under a scarab's foot. I also think character models are basic and sound design and graphics are fairly average (not that bad actually). Story is laughable while some think its deep and characters are extremely shallow but of course people think there's great depth to them. Very clunky vehicle controls, very short campaign (lots of games are guilty of this though), cartoonish physics and a soundtrack that seems to consist of two tracks. Then the multiplayer is pretty standard with not much depth and I know there are people who think its the best online game in the history of the universe (still have to give props to bungie for the design aspect to it). Of course many of these are subjective in nature so many will agree or disagree with me and I acknowledge that but I try to find out why people love it so much and the things I hate others love somehow and so its a endless argument. Just to throw this out there halo 3 was the only bearable one out of the lot and was still only average in my opinion. How it can compare to the orange box and bioshock (score wise) and how popular it is I'll never understand ; just like american football.
anyways this thread is for halo wars so why dont we bash that (or love it as some will )
Get over yourself. Why can't you just accept that people are into different things than you? You don't have to understand why, just know that gamers are diverse. Simple.
dont mind at all that people love this game to death but when it is regarded by many to be the best and really push tht belief publicly it feels kind of weird to me. like i love the socom games to death but I never have gone around shouting its the best 3rd person shooter in existence and I never will.
f**k off. I useed to be a PC gamer but had enough smarts to realise how bloody futile it all is. You end up spending more time and money upgrading your rig than doing any actual gaming.
Then when you finally have it all up to date and configured right. you play for a couple hours and the f**king thing crashes.
The games may be marginally cheaper, but the cost to up keep a decent gaming machine is far more than a few hundred quid every 5 or so years.
i'll get back to actually playing games and you can come get me when your overclocked PC finally stops smoking.
Got the Limited ed on friday. As a package i love it. The Steelcase is cool the extras are interesting and awesomely presented. the patch is now sitting next to my PC as a rather snazzy coaster and the graphic novel is a good read too. for only a fiver extra if you were going to pick this up its well worth the extra cost.
The game itself is great. simple and fun, i can understand how it doesn't match up to RTS's on the PC but it was never meant to. To try and compare it to its counterparts on the PC would be a mistake.
Compare it to other RTS's on the 360 and it blows the competition to bits, its got a good story, It never lags (thus far anyway) and most importantly the controls work. Gone are the over complecated fiddily nonsence thats made C&C on the console utter crap. Its simplistic and effective.
Missions are fairly varied and can be completed in a few different ways and trying toget the mission specific achievements for completing them in a certain way adds some replayability and spice to the preciedings.
IF you are a hardcore PC RTS fan i wouldn't reccommend it, but if you are a newcomer to the genre or rememeber how fun C&C could be on the PS1 then i'd say this is for you. take two parts Warcraft 3 and one part age of empires and a sprinkiling of the halo universe and you have Halo Wars. Its not the most groundbreaking game in the world but it if FUN!
Monkey hits nail on head- totally agree. I loved it- I'm playing through it on heroic and maaaan, I'm getting mullered! On level 7 now with the half constructed Scarab.
And to think I finished Halo 3 on legendary, going solo- only to be battered by this game on heroic.
Just cements my love for all things Halo that teeny bit more.
On the brighter side, at least you have a choice on gaming platforms. What a great time to be a gamer if you ask me.
Pc suits me, as i enjoy modding the games i play. Can't beat that One thing the orange box will always lack is Gmod, and the millions of add ons that people have made . (Who can say they've made a flying bath tub with Master Chief at the wheel !
Consoles are in my view for people who just like pick up and play, wheres pcs have a great all round aspect to them. and perhaps require the more dedicated user. But on that note they do cost the earth to keep up to date.
But as for Halo Wars, it prob deserves an 8, as you can't base a score on what equipment the 360 lacks e.g. a keyboard and mouse. But i did find the game quite entertaining, going online with your mates is always a good laugh.
But Halo Wars runs very short on games like Empire Total War, Dawn Of War, Civ Series, Command and Conquer, KKnd, Dungeon Keeper, Supreme Commander, Evil Genius, Warcraft 3, Starcraft and Space Empires Every commander need his mouse
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
Great console RTS controls
This deserves a 8.7 at least 
only 7.9. CVG you're all Sony fanboys. 
.
I useed to be a PC gamer but had enough smarts to realise how bloody futile it all is. You end up spending more time and money upgrading your rig than doing any actual gaming. 
One thing the orange box will always lack is Gmod, and the millions of add ons that people have made 
