Now I know I haven’t played through this yet so I can’t give it a review, but from what I have played so far, discussions from my friends, and reviews I’ve read online, this looks like a really special game. Right from the beginning you can see the attention to detail in how they have presented this game, the art style and the music. Sure, some of the character models and lip-syncing look a little off, but not enough to ruin the experience.

Apparently this game can be played to suit your style; you can be stealthy, or gun down everything that moves like a maniac. Personally, I keep trying to take stealthy approach, keeping to the shadows and silently taking out bad guys. At the moment, I’m pretty crap at it to be honest. I get fairly far through an area unseen, only to be spotted by someone and having to resort to shooting my way through difficult situations. I must be doing something wrong…?

For my first play through I think I’m just going to try and work through the game as best I can. This game is good in the way that it doesn’t really seem to punish you for playing one way or the other. Making mistakes and learning from them will surely make me a better player? I hope so anyway!

So, if you have some time free this weekend, go out and buy or rent this game. From the moment you start it feels your onto something big. Quite a few people are already giving the game the title “Game of the Year”, but for me I’m still waiting to experience Batman: Arkham City and Skyrim before I decide what my favourite game this year is.

If anyone is playing this at the moment and has some cool tips on how to master this game, please feel free to leave them in the comments area below.

Since I got back from my holiday last weekend (and just before I left) I have been pretty hooked on this game. Whilst it isn’t as deep as “Command and Conqueror” and other PC-based RTS games, Halo Wars is still very entertaining. For some reason it reminds me of when I used to play Warcraft 3 over and over and over again.

So, what makes it so good..?

Firstly, the controls are easy to pickup. Infact, the whole game is very accessible. The game has been well thought out so that everything is just a button click (or two) away.

At first I was slightly against the idea of being restricted to the placement of buildings. Instead of freely placing them you get assigned a number of “slots” around your main base (or additional bases) which they can be created on. The number of slots can be increased though through base upgrades (at a cost).

Now though, I don’t mind about the building layout design at all. Infact, having the restriction actually helps in both attacking and defending. There is also new tactics as to what to build where to prevent your most needed structures being blown up first. Whilst turret placement is now fairly simple and helps balance sides.

The units are quite cleverly designed as they all seem to work in a “rock, paper, scissors” format. Each unit has one strength and one weakness against another which again keeps things clear and simple, whilst still remaining tactical. Clever stuff..

I think this game has plenty of life in it, even though the number of available maps is beginning to feel slightly limited already. I haven’t bothered with the DLC yet as it seems a little pricey for what it is. I hope they release new maps in the future at a reasonable price.

So for now, Halo Wars is keeping me entertained and constantly coming back for more. For how long remains to be seen. I highly recommend this title for renting though even if you are “on the fence” about either halo or RTS games. You might be pleasantly surprised.

For me, The 3 vs 3 online skirmish modes are great fun. Please feel free to leave feedback as to your own experiences, tips, or even questions you may have about this game. Also, if you fancy doing some co-op, feel free to send me an invite

Not long after loading the game I could already see why people were disappointed in this game. The graphics were okay in some sections but quite poor in others (a bit like Prey I guess), the voice acting wasn’t up to much, the dialogue was pretty poor, and the combat (along with the camera) felt a bit.. broken. For some reason I stuck with it though. I died a few times (witnessing the unskippable death animation), but gradually continued my way through the first level/world.

I think it was about 1 or 2 hours into the game that I actually began to enjoy the game. There was a huge number of different items and armour types (which I loved.. I hate RPGs where all your friends characters look the same), and I was beginning to get the hang of combat.

After enjoying the delights of Fable 2 this game appears rushed and really flawed, but there is something underlying that is quite addictive. something I can’t quite put my finger on. I managed to try my hand at the co-op mode (with my girlfriend’s son) and this is where I have had the most enjoyment so far (the camera in this mode is a big improvement over the Fable 2 online co-op settings).

So far…

Pros

• Fun Co-op with a friend (better than Fable 2)
• Lots of weapons and armor (that actually looks different rather than just a new skin)
• Ability to create weapons and armors from blueprints
• Quite challenging, but not too much
• Barely any loading screens (I don’t think I’ve noticed any actually. Although I’m sure there is one or two somewhere)

Cons

• Cannot skip the death animation
• Combat with the right analogue stick feels unatural
• Story is a little.. boring or slow?
• Not enough variety in the enemies
• The game’s instruction manual isn’t very helpful with explaining some of the ingame options