Halo Wars

[Calciphoce]

Did anyone download the demo for it? I did, and I must say it's quite...lackluster.

Do not buy this game if your computer can run any decent RTS. This game is shit compared to ANY PC RTS with decent merit.

The controls are shit, and you can't customize them.
It's a pain in the ass to select units. You can either select all units, select all units on screen, select one unit, or select one type of units. So if you want a decent amount of units to attack and a decent amount to defend, you have to pick them all individually.
The emphasis on combat means that your buildings are boring and unintuitive. You can't build bases wherever you want. There are no mines. There are no trees to cut. etc. Sounds good in theory, but what it results in is you building 5 supply pads to get enough of the one resource you need: supplies. Boring. I didn't particularly like all of the resource managing in past Warcraft games, but this feels dumbed down so that anyone can get how to play it.

Though there are positive points. I must say the upgrades in Halo Wars are some of the coolest I've ever gotten. No longer do your soldiers get iron armor -> steel armor etc, now it's chainguns and energy shields. The feel to the whole of the units is great.

Overall, play Warcraft or Starcraft if you want a good RTS experience. If you're enthralled by the Halo universe and get giddy when controlling Spartans, get Halo Wars.

 

[bUk L4o]

I got the Demo and I think its awesome, it controls great, it has good graphics(REALLY good cut-scenes), and it is addictive. I have never owned a Demo that has kept me up until 4 A.M. on the same level. AND if you get the limited edition you get 3 new halo 3 maps which I think are a pretty good extra. Now that's not to say that I have played lots of RTSs, in fact I have only played one(AvP Extinction which I enjoyed). Still I think this is a pretty good experience for a console RTS, then again I would have to play the finished game before I start praising it even more but for a Demo, I got pretty blown away.

 

[GoldenRifle]

The only thing I found lackluster for the demo was the fact that the computer would never put up a real challenge. I've never experienced an epic battle with 20 marines units, a couple of tanks and aircrafts.

The computer has this habit of sending very weak units every 3 minutes into your base.

Anyway, I usually play RTSes when I'm with friends in a fairly large lounge filled with computers. So I have some experience with RTS games. I was surprised that the game wasn't all that hard to control, you just had to get used to it.

I have to agree with you on one thing, compared to other games, the building were very boring. They never had anything too interesting and I kinda missed the feel of making some giant impenetrable barrier / wall.

But I think it's worth the money if you're a fan of Halo and liked the demo. Although unless you don't have a good PC, I don't see any reason on buying this.