Pit`s Previews #2: Halo Wars

Author: Pit Rulz

————————————————————————————-

Well it looks like it’s that time of the week again… For Pit’s Previews! Yes, I know I was supposed to do my next one on Madworld, but I thought that since I’ve played this series since I was 10 (yes I know the game’s rated M…) and since I thought that it’s one of the greatest video games franchise’s of all time (GO BUNGIE! ) I might as well just do a preview on one of it’s games before it goes out on the market (which is tomorrow). Oh yeah, as you may have noticed this thread is in general discussion, which means that I may not always do previews of games for the Wii. Trust me though, I will be doing waaaaay more previews for Wii games than previews for games for the other systems. Occasionally though I will branch off to other systems, like the Xbox 360 for example, if I want to do a preview of a game I really like. Which leads me back to my 2nd preview… Enjoy!

Halo Wars

Developers:
Ensemble Studios

Publisher:
Microsoft Game Studios

Release Date:
March 3rd, 2009

Genre:
Sci-fi
Real-time strategy

Modes:
Single-player
Multiplayer
Co-op

Rating:
ESRB: T (Teen)

Price:
60 U.S. Dollars Limited Edition: 80 U.S. Dollars

Introductory Statement:

Halo Wars is a real-time action strategy game for the Xbox 360 that allows the player to control large armies and to shrewdly direct them in realistic warfare. Set early in the iconic war between the Covenant and UNSC – made famous by the Halo FPS games – Halo Wars provides a new angle on the war while bringing new heroes to the battle. Players manage resources and create and maintain buildings and armies to complete objectives. There are two playable factions, the human UNSC and alien Covenant, with their own units, strengths, and special abilities. Players establish their armies by building and expanding bases; it is at these locations that units are trained and upgrades resourced. There are only a few base locations on each scenario or map, making base fortification and defense a key priority. Destruction of a player’s last base results in defeat if a new base is not quickly reestablished.
Units are trained, buildings upgraded, and special abilities utilized by using resources known as supplies. Supplies may be found on the battlefield and claimed, but the bulk of supplies are generated by building special structures at bases. The more UNSC supply pads or Covenant warehouses a player has, the more income for use. Some buildings and upgrades may also require an additional resource, “tech”, which is managed differently by each faction. The UNSC build reactors, each bumping a player’s tech level by one up to a maximum of four. The Covenant build a single temple, where up to three tech levels can be attained by researching Ages. While the Covenant have one less tech level, each upgrade is more expensive, and if a player loses their temple they also lose all the tech until it is rebuilt. Each base has only a limited amount of building room, so players must balance their resource buildings with other facilities, like those used to create vehicles. The number of units and vehicles a player can bring to the field is constrained by a population limit; more powerful units cost more than one population unit. Upgrades can increase the maximum population.
Combat in Halo Wars is balanced by a “rock-paper-scissors” mechanic common in many real-time strategy titles. Ground vehicles are powerful against infantry, infantry is stronger against aircraft, and aircraft are exceptional at destroying vehicles. Each unit has a special ability accessed by using the Y button; for example, human Marines throw grenades while vehicles called Warthogs run over enemies. The humans also have access to their ship, the Spirit of Fire, and its special abilities; these include a powerful coilgun called the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. In contrast, the Covenant have access to cheap and powerful defensive shield generators, offering their bases a level of protection the UNSC lack.
In addition to normal units, each side can bring one leader to the field, a hero unit with special abilities. Covenant leaders appear on the battlefield in multiplayer games as fighting units with their own attacks and upgrades, while human leaders determine the army’s upgrades and specialties but do not appear as physical units. On a unit-by-unit basis Covenant troops are weaker than their UNSC counterparts.
Designed specifically for the Xbox 360, Halo Wars uses the console controller’s A-button primarily for selecting units and the X-button for moving to or attacking a target. Selecting a unit gives the player the option of commands and selecting certain buildings brings up a “circle menu”, the most important menu in the game, which is used for creating units and buildings and researching upgrades.

Setting:

Halo Wars is set in the 26th century in the year 2531; about 20 years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved.

Storyline:

Halo Wars begins on Harvest, six years after the initial invasion. The humans are still engaged in bitter conflict with the Covenant on the ground, and fires can be seen burning from orbit.
The Spirit of Fire’s commander assigns the task of retaking a base on the planet to Sergeant Forge. Soon after successfully doing so, Forge undertakes a scouting mission and discovers what appears to be a Covenant excavation mission; the aliens have discovered a mysterious Forerunner facility in the snow and have been conducting research there under a special Covenant warrior, an Arbiter. Forge defeats the Covenant forces before they can destroy the facility and Anders arrives, determining the facility is some kind of map leading to another star system.
After driving back a Covenant counter-attack on the facility, the Spirit of Fire travels to the human colony of Arcadia, where the Covenant have begun raiding local cities and slaughtering civilians. Forge makes contact with the local SPARTAN-II special forces, and assists the local evacuation process. Forge subsequently turns his attention to the Covenant again, who have now built a giant energy shield to hide their construction of a gigantic Scarab super-weapon. The successful destruction of the Scarab is a temporary victory: the Arbiter arrives and kidnaps Anders. Though Forge attempts to fight him off, the Arbiter is much larger and defeats him; Anders convinces the Arbiter that she will come quietly if he lets Forge live.
Forge returns to the Spirit of Fire and follows Anders’ transponder signal to an uncharted planet in another star system. The surface of this planet is infested by the Flood, but the humans quickly discover it actually has a hollow interior. Subsequently, the Spirit of Fire flies into the interior via a Forerunner “docking” station to find the Covenant ship they had been chasing, along with a huge fleet of dormant Forerunner ships. It is here the crew of the Spirit discover the Covenant’s plan: to activate the massive, technologically superior Forerunner fleet and use it to quickly exterminate humanity.
As the Forerunner ships are powered up, the Elites guarding Anders are distracted, and Anders makes a quick escape into a teleporter, at the other end of which Forge rescues her. The crew of the Spirit of Fire, under Anders’ advice, decide to destroy the hollow planet by driving their ship’s FTL reactor into the planet’s miniature “sun.” Forge and the team of SPARTAN-IIs are assigned the task of doing this, however, just before they reach the target they are interrupted by a team of Elites led by the Arbiter. A firefight ensues, during which the Spartans singlehandedly defeat a large group of Elites, and Forge engages the Arbiter in one-on-one combat, narrowly defeating him by killing the Elite with his own energy blade.
One of the SPARTAN-IIs points out that the core will need to be detonated manually, meaning whoever does it will surely die. Forge volunteers, telling the Spartan that “we’ll need every last Spartan we’ve got [in this war]” and detonates the core; destroying the hollow planet and the Forerunner fleet just as the Spirit of Fire escapes via another “docking” tunnel. The Spirit of Fire is left drifting in space, its crew all entering their cryo-stasis units for long-term storage.

Gameplay Details:

Content Download :  Yes
Co-op Mode :  Yes
Leaderboards :  Yes
Number of Online Players :  2-6 Players
Number of Players :  1 Player
Resolution :  720p/1080i/1080p
Hard Drive Space :  1 MB

Additional Information:

- UNSC Cougar Sometimes it’s all about getting to the front line. The UNSC Cougar is a lightweight, fast and highly flexible armored vehicle. Although heavy armor fire will blow the Cougar away quite easily, this vehicle is highly effective holding off enemy armored vehicles while the slower armored ones are on transit. The Cougar had gained infamy in several urban tactical situations prior to the deployments in the war with the Covenant.
- UNSC Supply Pad Behind every good UNSC base is a series of good Supply Pads. Providing access to the underground assembly and storage areas, these pads are crucial to the smooth operation of any base. Providing everything from medical kits to full-sized Warthog engines, the crew of a well run supply pad knows that a working pad means a working base.
- Covenant Air Artillery Recently sighted behind several front line battles, it seems that the Covenant have developed an air based artillery unit. With no on board defenses, it can be very vulnerable if dealt with promptly. However, its heavy plasma mortar cannons can lay waste to an entire UNSC base quickly and it is therefore critical that we gain more field information on this vehicle.

Halo Wars Original Soundtrack tracklist:

1. “Spirit of Fire” 2:11
2.”Bad Here Day” 3:00
3. “Perspective” 1:24
4. “Money or Meteors” 3:23
5. “Flollo” 3:01
6. “Just Ad Nauseum” 0:56
7. “Unusually Quiet” 1:29
8. “Flip and Sizzle” 3:39
9. “Put The Lady Down” 2:20
10. “Six-Armed Robbing Suit” 2:55
11. “Action Figure Hands” 2:59
12. “Status Quo Show” 1:13
13. “Part Of The Plan” 0:29
14. “Work Burns and Runaway Grunts” 3:06
15. “Freaked Out” 0:44
16. “Rescued Or Not” 1:31
17. “Best Guess At Best” 2:55
18. “One Problem At A Time” 1:14
19. “De Facto The Matter” 1:31
20. “Part Of The Problem” 2:58
21. “Fingertips Are Broken” 3:22
22. “Out Of There Alive” 1:04
23. “Through Your Hoops” 1:35
24. “Under Your Hurdles” 1:28
25. “Insignificantia (All Sloppy/No Joe)” 3:19

Limited Edition:

Three New “Halo 3” Multiplayer Maps – Be one of the first to experience the Mythic Map Pack* which includes three new maps, “Assembly,” “Orbital” and “Sandbox”

Halo Wars: Genesis – a beautiful graphic novel by Phil Noto chronicling the first military campaign against the Covenant. The novel centers around the Sprit of Fire on a mission to discover why the Covenant are so interested in the world of Harvest

Unique In-game Vehicle – “Honor Guard” Wraith

Six Leader Cards – Leaders possess elite skills which can turn the tides of battle

Spirit of Fire Patch – Start the journey as an official Spirit of Fire crew member

Screenshots:

Trailers:

Halo Wars -”Field Trip to Harvest” Trailer (HD)

Halo Wars- E3 2008 Trailer (HD)

Closing Statement:

What do you Xbox 360 owners (or non Xbox 360 owners) here at nHotspot think about this game? Here’s my 2 cents. For one, if I had a 360 I would get this game for sure. Why you ask? Well up until whenever the 360 came out me and all my friends had the original Xbox plus Halo 1 and 2. And we all thought the games were spectacular! Amazing graphics and amazing storyline, very good combo. Was way better than any of the games on the Gamecube at the time. Although, I was a little disappointed when I first bought Halo 2 because although the graphics were a lot better, it lacked a good storyline, unlike Halo 1. For me, I decided to go with an Nintendo Wii mainly because of Brawl. So that’s why I’m typing this preview right now for you guys instead of playing Halo 3 on my 360. If it wasn’t for Brawl I wouldn’t have met any of you guys on here though so I’m glad I decided to buy a Wii instead of a 360. All in all, I have played Halo 3 before and I thought the campaign mode was very entertaining. So if it were me I would go ahead and at least buy the regular Halo Wars if not the Limited Edition based on my opinions of Halo 3 and the Halo Wars Trailers that I have seen. I hope you’ve enjoyed my preview. Stay tuned in next week for my next amazing preview of… MadWorld!

Bibliography:
http://www.gamestop.com/wii
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Myself
_________________________________________________________

Next Preview: MadWorld

Previous Preview: http://www.nhotspot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2001

————————————————————————————

For comments, check our forums here:

http://www.nhotspot.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2047