I never was a strategy game fan.  Nor have I been particularly good at strategy games.  So if this review is not to your liking check out other sites in which the reviewers are genuine strategy players.  Since this was a halo a game I assumed I would give it justice and give it a go.  And being a halo fan that is exactly what I did.

I don’t particularly like strategy games mainly for the amazing micromanagement that takes place.  My head simply can’t comprehend the amount of things that are going on at once.  Needless to say going into this games I was completely opened minded.

To be fair it is the easiest strategy game I have ever played.  Not because the game was easy but just the way it controlled.  Since its the first major strategy game for the console, the controls do work very well.  You basically only need to know two commands the entire game.  Hardcore strategy players will likely blow through the campaign in about 6-8 hours.

When I think about halo I think who ever has the biggest gun wins (not always the case but usually works most of the time).  That is exactly how I played this game.  Build a shit ton of units and tell them to all go attack the enemy.  Even with that strategy I found it to hard (shows you what kind of strategy gamer I am).  Even on normal on the 7Th level I was getting owned.  So I had to put the game on easy.  I’m sorry but I had to finish the game.

One thing that is cool about halo wars is that this really feels like a halo game.  All the units are modeled exactly and have the same behavior as the other games.  From the warthog to the grunts.   Ensemble did a really great job in making the game feel like a halo game.  Even the menu is identical to halo 3’s menu.

Altogether I thought it was a good experience.  It started to drag near the end because I just wanted to get through it and see what the story is about.  Mainly due to the repetitiveness of building and rebuilding bases each level.  In addition the story is good.  It brings some interesting topics but there is never that character you really cared about like Master Chief and Cortana.  Another gripe with this game is that it introduces the flood and hardcore halo fans know that the flood didn’t exist until the covenant unleashed them in halo CE.  On that note I say rent this one.  If you are a halo fan and not a strategy game fan but are interested in the story, as I was, then rent it.  If you are hardcore strategy player you may like it but you will definitely see the many flaws that separate it from being like a Company of Heroes caliber.

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