A Taste of a Halo Wars Battle

Halo Wars moderator Thunder updated the official Halo Wars forums with a bit of news and a taste of what battles in the Halo-themed RTS will be like when it releases. The ever-so-slight news is that the July 6 monthly update will have some more game details and that July will also see the relaunching of the Halo Wars website which will include a new look and "something cool going on the side as well." Hit the jump for Thunder's description of his Halo Wars match against programmer Rob Fermier.

Picture this. I'm sitting on one side of our open playtest area with one of our programmers who goes by the name of Rob "Xemu" Fermier" having just cleaned my clock in a game of Halo Wars sitting on the other side. To be honest, he had completely mopped the floor with me. It was sad, and a number of people who had just witnessed the game were heckling me. We ended up having a rematch...
To further set the scene, we had a new surround sound system hooked up to the TV that I was using and at this point, Producer Chris Rippy stepped in to crank the volume.

The game fired up and I had to weather some early raids by Rob's Warthogs. I managed to survive that and then eventually managed to field a large force of units, the largest force I've seen in the game yet. The screen was almost full. As I wiped out Rob's units, I just kept cranking out more guys. I was using a combination of land and air units that not only looked cool, but was very satisfying to use in Rob's base with the sound of destruction and weapons fire ringing in my ears. I think I may have heard Rob's units calling out for him to resign so they could be spared the onslaught. (This is where Rob stops reading and comes down to my office and challenges me to a game, and I tell him I have to wash my hair.)

Thanks for the game Rob, especially taking it easy on me during the rematch! In short, the game ended up not only really looking like a massive battle scene from Halo, but also sounding like a war from Halo. It won't be too much longer before we'll be comfortable to share more imagery with you all.

That was actually the first of two "Holy...cow" moments for me this month. The second came when... [CENSORED]

I know it's just a long tease, but it still makes me all itchy to play the game.

Halo Wars Update 06.29.07 [Halo Wars Forums]

4:00 PM on Fri Jun 29 2007
By Brian Crecente
6,140 views
23 comments

Comments

Dragonis at 04:10 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

I don't know. RTS games never make the jump to console very well. But, then again, this one is being designed from the ground up to work on the Xbox 360, so that probably clears that issue up. But I geuss only time will tell.
jip100 at 04:14 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

meh not looking forward to this. RTS rarely work on consoles. However the fact that this has halo in its title will keep the 360 fanboys happy and will rate this game highly.
nitz at 04:16 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

@jip100: Real time strategies rarely work yes. However, they're _never_ developed for consoles, that's what sets this apart. Hopefully this'll be if nothing else a step in the right direction for console RTS.
R3load at 04:18 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

@JIP100: Wow, do you hate everything 360 related?
jip100 at 04:29 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

@R3load: Nope, i like my 360 i just post what i think. And ive only seen one decent RTS on a console, so why would i look forward to this
char at 04:30 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

Ugh. I was hoping the game wouldn't rely on resource management, and maybe do something different. Looks like that's not to be, and instead it's about building a massive force, and rushing. Le boo. I'm not writing it off yet, but that description dropped my anticipation substantially.
Crunchman at 04:31 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

I'm pretty itchy.
Toasticus at 04:33 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*
Connectedness Index: 229

@jip100: I'm just playing devil's advocate here since I don't have much interest in the game myself, but the vast majority of RTS games on consoles are PC ports. A game built for the console from the ground up seems like it'd have a better chance of doing well, don't you think?
jip100 at 04:36 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

@Toasticus: well i never said it wouldn't, however due to previous experiences i dont see what the fuss is. Built from the console or not.
jesusjuice at 04:36 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

@char: they really need to re-work the RTS genre, it seems every RTS is the same.
build base-->collect resources-->build infrastructure-->build army-->find enemy-->attack enemy-->profit!
endejas. at 04:40 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

So is this game just going to be about who can spawn the most units the fastest and attack, or is there going to be actual strategy to taking out your opponents? The latter sounds much like the Halo way to do things, but not the Ensemble way.
Karttikeya at 05:08 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

It's definately impossible to make an RTS game for a console, just because of joystick precision and a few less buttons...

Yet the Xbox 360 versions of CnC3 and BFMEII sold more than the PC versions, and got nearly as high review scores.

I guess there is no chance for them, like FPS's on consoles ten years ago.
Karttikeya at 05:09 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

@endejas.:

It wouldn't be an RTS then, it'd become an RTT.
R3load at 05:10 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

@jip100: Okies, was just asking. Depending on how it's made it could be a really good console RTS. Im looking forward to it because its a RTS in the Halo universe more than the controls, but since I don't know the controls yet ill hold my opinion until then. Ive never played a console RTS btw.
allabouttrust at 05:15 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

console rtt ftl
allabouttrust at 05:16 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

plus. that teaser tells nothing "oh, it was loud! and there were units from the fps games! and i totally pwned him! lol!1"
endejas. at 05:24 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

@Karttikeya: Good point.

Now I want an RTT lol
crewwolfy at 06:04 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

This game certainly will keep Halo fanboys excited. And the fact that it's made by Ensemble should keep RTS fans excited, as well. Age of Empires was great, and I have high hopes for Halo Wars. I hope a PC version follows quicker than the Halo FPS versions do. For while console RTS titles have been getting better and better controls, I don't see them beating a m/kb (though End War's voice command may change my view).

And the idea of it merely being a contest of who can make more units faster and attack faster? Well that's like saying the goal of an RPG is to beat the end boss. A lot goes on between the start and end...
Simsymptoms at 06:30 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

The guys from Ensemble had a guild on the server I used to play World of Warcraft on. They were fairly heavy raiders, all things considered. I am curious to see how this game will pan out. I am not a huge fan of the Halo FPS games, but this new take on the franchise seems intriguing enough to lure me in.
char at 06:53 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

Go find yourself a copy of Myth: The fallen Lords and prove yourself wrong ;).
lilsamuraijoe at 07:10 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

Maybe we should judge this game at least after we see a screen shot or a video of actual gameplay.
Sunjammer at 07:16 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

Holy generic description batman.

"I'm using some units to shoot some guys in his base. A combination of land and air based units. Lots of them. POW! KBLAM!"

Whatever. There is absolutely zer0 information to be garnered from that post.
endejas. at 07:20 PM on 06/29/07
Reply by Email
*

@lilsamuraijoe: Are you kidding me? That'd be like judging a, oh, let's say, $600 console before it was released. What a ridiculous idea.

I think it's in our nature. We have certain expectations and wants, and sometimes, the comments on a video game blog about an upcoming RTS branded with one of the most recognizable new franchises in ten years is the place to vent.