Halo Wars Preview

E3 2008 Preview

Many people may wonder why Microsoft didn’t talk about Halo Wars at their E3 press conference or may be curious why it isn’t on the show floor. Well, the reason is that the game is behind closed doors at the Microsoft meeting room and has allowed us a hands-on look at the game.

Making the game as straightforward as possible, Halo Wars is easily controlled with the Xbox 360 controller. Players shouldn’t have any troubles grasping a hold of the game and figuring out the basics within twenty minutes. Having the ability to switch back and forth between the base and the units with the D-pad, the game is extremely accessible.

Not speaking much on the story or the connections to the Halo universe, Ensemble did in fact show off new vehicles and units made specifically for the game. The first was the Vulture which is an air unit that makes short work of land vehicles. For the land unit, Ensemble is introducing the marine that carries around a Flamethrower to light up the Covenant units. The other story tidbit dropped by the developer was that the game would be placed twenty years before the original Halo and would be full of Spartans.

For the Covenant, Ensemble wasn’t allowed to show them off, but they did mention that Scarabs, Hunters and many other Covenant regulars would be showing up.

The gameplay was quite smooth as I toggled between my units and commanded them with relative ease. There weren’t any pressing Covenant units against my squads, so I built up my base and units until I had enough to lead an assault on their base.

Tag-teaming up with another journalist on separate Xbox 360 console, we both cleared the map of Covenant units without receiving much restraint on their hand. There’ll be online support with up to six players to face off in 3 vs. 3 matches or a variety of other combinations.

Players also won’t be required to hunt down countless resources to be able to build buildings and units. The only resource players need to collect is supplies and they’re represented on the map by little blue crystals.

Overall, the hands-on session was an impressive one, but sadly the graphics aren’t what I had imagined. They’re on par with what was delivered in the Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth. They’re cartoony and are reminiscent of what Halo was going to look like when it was planned as an RTS.

Set for a debut in early 2009, Halo Wars should help relieve the craving that Halo fans are eager to feed next year.

For All E3 2008 GZ Previews