Set 20 years prior to Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo Wars follows the campaign of the UNSC ship of the line Spirit of Fire from a new perspective for the Halo series: real-time strategy. Typically known as a first-person shooter series, Halo Wars pulls the focus back to encompass more than a lone Spartan warrior, instead placing you in charge of entire battalions of UNSC regulars as well as a host of vehicles. During our play session, Ensemble Studios' pedigree shone brightly (these are the same developers that brought PC players the Age of Empires series) in what felt like a unique approach to balancing asymmetrical units with decidedly solid gameplay mechanics.
The Frozen Throne
Halo Wars opens with the arrival of the UNSC Spirit of Fire at Harvest, a planet originally held by humans that fell before the Covenant onslaught but which was recently recaptured by the UNSC after a harrowing siege. During the Covenant's brief reign on Harvest, the Prophet of Regret discovered a mysterious artifact buried deep within the ice of Harvest's northern polar region. This kicks off the introductory segment of Halo Wars, in which you attempt to gain a foothold on Harvest by expanding the UNSC's military influence in a series of tutorial-style missions designed to get you familiar with the controls.
Taking your orders from the Spirit of Fire's Captain Cutter and his AI assistant Serina, you must establish forward emplacements from which the UNSC can continue its push for domination of Harvest. Along the way, you'll unearth the Prophet of Regret's discovery after pursuing the Covenant to the northern pole... no spoilers here, but the term "Forerunner" is mentioned. In order to make sense of this discovery, Professor Anders is sent planet-side to assist with the excavation. She becomes embroiled in the conflict and serves as your first introduction to the engineer unit class, which is capable of repairing vehicles and hacking door and bridge controls.
As You'd Expect
Halo Wars' controls function similar to those of most other console RTS titles (with the exception of the voice-controlled EndWar), but Halo Wars seems to be succeeding where others have run into trouble. Camera position (and by extension, cursor position) is controlled with the left and right analog sticks with the d-pad subbing in for quickly moving to your home base (press left) or cycling through units (press down). Units can be selected by pressing the A button on an individual unit or holding the button down to engage a paint-select that selects any units you scroll the cursor over. Meanwhile, all units can be selected by pressing the left bumper and all local on-screen units can be selected with the right bumper. Units can be directed to move or attack by pressing the X button and most units can use researchable secondary attacks with the Y button.
It's a familiar control scheme, but it's executed in such a way as to limit confusion. For example, any infantry you garrison within a structure will not be selected if you hit the left bumper, which is a nice feature because it means that you can basically set up gunnery emplacements without worrying that hectic unit selection will ruin all of your delicately laid plans. In addition, unit AI functions very well, and any units that have been left forgotten will have no issues with defending themselves if necessary as they respond appropriately to nearby threats... an excellent feature for absent-minded commanders.
