Xbox 360

The demo of Microsoft's and Ensemble Studios' Halo Wars is not due to hit the Marketplace until next week, but thanks to the XCN we got access to it a week early. It includes two maps, tutorial and a skirmish mode. I captured the two maps and the (previously shown) intro, while I'll let you see the other two CG movies by yourself when you play the demo!

The pace in the demo is really high, you basically build up your base and then advance through waves of enemies. I don't know if this is the case later on in the game, but I was positively surprised to see how much action is involved here. The graphics serves its purpose with a clear image while the framerate goes down a bit at certain points, mainly around your own base.

Regarding the controls, you can choose between selecting all units on screen, all units on battlefield, units within a certain radius and single units. When attacking you can do basic attack with X or the special attack on Y: scout warthogs rams over enemies, while marines throws grenades (which can be upgraded). Some buttons have an announcement tied to them, meaning you will have to get used to hearing "All units" very often on the battlefield.

Now enjoy these three videos, showing the intro, the first short level and the longer second level. I took the liberty to capture a couple of images from the cut out CG sequences.

Demo images

  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
  • Halo Wars demo videos - Demo images
daikide
daikide
Commented on 2009-01-30 14:13:21
Looks good! But what is that 20 mins??? 20 mins wtf?!

P.S.

Did anyone else find FEAR 2 demo kinda shallow?
In reply to
Manager - Shemale
Manager
Commented on 2009-01-30 14:17:53 In reply to daikide
Posted by daikide
Looks good! But what is that 20 mins??? 20 mins wtf?!

P.S.

Did anyone else find FEAR 2 demo kinda shallow?
The skirmish mode can give you endless playtime, you can play on both sides. The 20 minutes thing was how long it took for me to finish the two levels, there's no limitation. I'll just remove that comment to avoid confusion.
In reply to
daikide
daikide
Commented on 2009-01-30 15:24:13 In reply to Manager
understood, thx.
In reply to
Manager - Shemale
Manager
Commented on 2009-01-30 15:44:24
I posted this in the French section, might just aswell post it here. An explanation of the Economy in the demo:
Basically, in the demo, you build Supply buildings. These buildings sends people to find resources, which translates to money. You can also find resources on the map, which I did in the beginning of the second video.

Watch the upper right space. You have three icons:
1) "Body icon", this is how many units you have and how many units you have space for (example: 11/30)
2) "Flash icon", this is how many reactors you have built. There more reactors, the more advanced buildings you can build. For example, you have to have two reactors to build the Tank factory.
3) "Cube icon", this is how much resources you have. The more Supply buildings you have, the more "money" you get.

I bet this gets more advanced later on in the game, but this is how the demo works. When a unit dies, you just use your resources money to buy more units (like soldiers, tanks, warthogs). You can also use the money to upgrade the skills of your soldiers, like better aim and more advanced grenades.
In reply to
KORNdog
KORNdog
Commented on 2009-01-30 17:21:07
not an RTS fan (or a halo fan tbh) but i think im gonna watch all those awesome CG cutscenes when they're inevitably uploaded to youtube.
In reply to
timotim
timotim
Commented on 2009-01-30 17:38:54
Will be picking this up when it releases. Thanks.
In reply to
munkini
munkini
Commented on 2009-01-30 18:13:50
The genre does not really do it for me but it does have a nice look to it...
In reply to
Xerx3s
Xerx3s
Commented on 2009-01-30 18:26:51
Looks better than I expected. The music is, like with every halo game, absolutely brilliant again.
In reply to
Mac1988
Mac1988
Commented on 2009-01-30 19:45:35
Manager/Blim ... Could you please record a skirmish match? This would be so awesome ...
In reply to
Manager - Shemale
Manager
Commented on 2009-01-30 20:16:04 In reply to Mac1988
Posted by Mac1988
Manager/Blim ... Could you please record a skirmish match? This would be so awesome ...
I could record a skirmish match with the covenants, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.
In reply to
Mac1988
Mac1988
Commented on 2009-01-30 21:10:52 In reply to Manager
Posted by Manager
I could record a skirmish match with the covenants, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.
Alright, would be pretty cool
In reply to
Archaos
Archaos
Commented on 2009-01-31 00:03:23
Awesome vids, and cheers for the info Manager. The game is looking better than I imagined.

I was always sceptical about playing with a controller. Do you feel comfortable using it or would you prefer mouse and keyboard?

Also I'm loving how they managed to make the warthogs behave like their FPS counterparts. :D
In reply to
Krilekk
Krilekk
Commented on 2009-01-31 00:04:26
This looks surprisingly good. I didn't like the E3 gameplay but this seems to be much more on the action side. It really feels like a Halo game and not so much like an RTS.
In reply to
buzzhonky
buzzhonky
Commented on 2009-01-31 01:12:50
Amazing! I'm really excited this turned out as well as it did. Thanks for the great information! Will definitely be hard to pass this one up.
In reply to
Tinks
Tinks
Commented on 2009-01-31 01:13:35
Looks like a standard rts affair.

Story and presentation will make or break this game I assume
In reply to
Manager - Shemale
Manager
Commented on 2009-01-31 01:35:18 In reply to Archaos
Posted by Archaos
Awesome vids, and cheers for the info Manager. The game is looking better than I imagined.

I was always sceptical about playing with a controller. Do you feel comfortable using it or would you prefer mouse and keyboard?

Also I'm loving how they managed to make the warthogs behave like their FPS counterparts. :D
I've played most of the strategy games on consoles, and I must say I really like this. I can't say I've played far in them all, but so far this feels better than anything before. The unit selection is really smart, yet simple. You don't have many units in the demo though, who knows how the controls work when you have tons of units.

It's really easy to select all units, to chose between selected units (pressing triggers, it's good when you for example only want the warthogs and not foot soldiers).
In reply to
Archaos
Archaos
Commented on 2009-01-31 02:58:35
Sounds promising. I definitely look forward to playing this one.

@Krilekk: That is true. I've heard them say more than once that they've made this more action orientated for the "console crowd". At which I made a snarling noise at my monitor.

But if the game is good, I'll forgive them for thinking that all console players have the attention span of a carrot and unless we kill something every 10 seconds we have a fit and throw our controllers at our TVs.

But I digress..
In reply to
spacemanjupiter
spacemanjupiter
Commented on 2009-01-31 04:36:04
Funnest rts i've ever played is Herzog Zwei. Probably the simplest of them all
In reply to
Xerx3s
Xerx3s
Commented on 2009-01-31 09:50:10 In reply to Tinks
Posted by Tinks
Looks like a standard rts affair.

Story and presentation will make or break this game I assume
Ensemble "we define rts" studios. All their rts games look standard but once you play them you will realise the pure brilliance in their simplicity.
In reply to
Schroedinger
Schroedinger
Commented on 2009-01-31 12:27:07 In reply to daikide
Posted by daikide
Did anyone else find FEAR 2 demo kinda shallow?
I actually fell asleep half-way through it.
In reply to
Manager - Shemale
Manager
Commented on 2009-01-31 22:55:38 In reply to Manager
Posted by Manager
I could record a skirmish match with the covenants, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.
Sorry I didn't do this today, I'll try to do it tomorrow. It requires some time as I probably have to "train" some before I capture it, I haven't tried the skirmish mode yet.
In reply to
Baleur
Baleur
Commented on 2009-02-01 02:14:26
Im surprised, i love the physics of the warthogs and stuff, somehow it looks like an rts that might work on consoles
Surprised as i said.
In reply to
Tinks
Tinks
Commented on 2009-02-01 15:15:37 In reply to Xerx3s
Posted by Xerx3s
Ensemble "we define rts" studios. All their rts games look standard but once you play them you will realise the pure brilliance in their simplicity.
I think they defined them a long time ago. It's been a while since I felt that way about them.

Games like Company of Heroes define it now
In reply to
GrimThorne
GrimThorne
Commented on 2009-02-02 12:34:14
I'm still getting it, but I can't say that these demos got my blood flowing.

End War has sort of ruined most overhead RTS' for me anyway. I just don't find this standard formula as entertaining as a once did. And I really used to love the Empire campaigns. I thought Ensemble would try to bring at least a few fresh elements to Halo Wars.

I know it's the Halo universe and that is always exciting but honestly we've played this game before.

It really all depends on how the game's controls play out at this point. Alot has been made of Halo Wars' control scheme. I can at least hope that it's smooth and easy to get into.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm just as upset as everyone else that Ensemble is being shut down. But they didn't bother to change anything. They just stuck with the same ole formula.
In reply to
ngtching
ngtching
Commented on 2009-02-02 15:58:00
thankssss for sharing.........
In reply to
About the game
Platform
X360
Published by
Xbox Game Studios
Developed by
Ensemble Studios
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