Halo Wars 2
An accessible strategy title with surprising depth
The original Halo Wars was, regrettably, both an Xbox 360 exclusive and the swan song of real-time-strategy (RTS) powerhouse Ensemble Studios. Fast-forward to today and an unexpected Windows 10 PC sequel is inching closer to release, built in collaboration between Total War developers Creative Assembly and Halo custodians 343 Industries.
It’s not just the first Halo Wars 2 game on PC; it’s the first Halo release since Vista-exclusive Halo 2. “As we’ve moved our strategy with Xbox to Play Anywhere, we really wanted to lead with a game that was very PC specific,” explained head of 343 Industries Bonnie Ross. “[When] we shipped the first Halo Wars, the first thing people asked was, ‘Where is it on PC?’ So when we [343 Industries] made a decision to bring the first full Halo [to PC], we wanted it to be the RTS.”
After a few hours of hands-on time with Halo Wars 2, it’s clear why Creative Assembly was a smart hire. Creative Assembly is renowned for its grand strategy in the Total War series, but the RTS components of those games forgo the macro of base building and economic considerations in favour of micro troop management. This skewing towards micro is similar in Halo Wars 2. Like classic RTS The Battle for Middle-earth, base building in Halo Wars 2 is restricted to fixed points. Managing the economy is as straightforward as building resource-collecting structures that automatically generate an income from limitless natural sources. This means there’s more of an emphasis on getting troops into battle across solo, cooperative, and competitive modes. There’s also a noticeable thread for attracting and training RTS newbies in a clever tiered approach across modes. “Ultimately, what we came down to were the modes,” said studio head of strategy games development Dan Ayoub. “We’ve got those more classical: Deathmatch, Domination and Strongholds. As you move along that spectrum, we start
Halo Wars 2 plays like the kind of real-time strategy game that’s rewarding for time-poor fans of the genre
to remove some of those elements from you. You’ve got a little less to manage when you get to Domination. You’ve got even less to manage when you get to Strongholds. The ultimate extension of that is Blitz, where you’ve got none of that to manage once you’ve built your deck.”
The campaign is the most logical place to start, with an intriguing story which, according to Ross, is designed to be accessible for Halo and Halo Wars first-timers, as well as hardcore fans.
But newcomers and hardcore strategy fans can skip the campaign. For the strategy greenhorns, Blitz mode splices a collectable card game (CCG) with an RTS, ditching macro in favour of fastpaced micro. Playable alone or in up to 3v3 variants, players can use a preset or purpose-built deck of 12 cards from specific commanders, each of whom have a range of vehicles and abilities that spawn instantly once a card is played.
Spawning units costs energy, which trickles in over time, or can be collected at a number of fixed map points that randomly drop. The real goal, though, is to capture and hold three points that instantaneously cap as long as they’re uncontested, with the online goal being to hit 200 points first.
Halo Wars 2 plays like the kind of real time strategy game that’s rewarding for time-poor fans of the genre. It’s also gunning for players eager to plumb the depths of a strategy title which, at first glance, looks quite simplistic, but thanks to some clever modes, promises some surprising complexity. NATHAN LAWRENCE