Images of Halo Wars

Snoopers
Thursday, January 3, 2008 | 6:33 PM
55 comments

Xbox 360

Microsoft releases four new images of Halo Wars. It looks great, and from what we've already seen of the game back at last E3, it seems like the game is on track to honour its prestigious license. We didn't expect any less from Ensemble Studios, to be honest.

4 images

WinterSnowblind

Commented on 2008-01-04 13:34:54 In reply to Inflatable

Posted by Inflatable

aka not up to the usual standards.

Not up to the usual standards indeed, meaning simplyfied controls with less deep gameplay etc.. That's what happens when they make a RTS aimed at consoles.. C&C3 already suffered from it, and I doubt this game will be any better (simply because they are still restricted by having to use a controller).. Supreme Commander on a console will also be a joke..
.

Sounds like nothing more than PC elitism. IMO, C&C3 worked very well on the 360. Obviously it's not going to be as accurate to select units and what naught on a controller as it is with a mouse, but does that really much such a massive difference? We've already seen how Halo Wars is refining the control system by allowing you to use the paint brush. It seems very simple to play, and is still a lot of fun.

I completely fail to see how you can equate less accurate controls to less fun. If I enjoy playing the game, that's all that matters.

Same goes for FPS games. I'll pick consoles any day, due to the dual analogue support. Moving and looking around using them feels far more fluid and natural than it does using a keyboard, and while it may not be as accurate, it's still a lot of fun to play.

I don't mind if you want to express your opinion on this matter, but ou seem to be constantly going into massive rants about how you're right about everything in this matter. It's nothing but opinion.

In reply to

[quote=Inflatable][quote]
aka not up to the usual standards.[/quote]Not up to the usual standards indeed, meaning simplyfied controls with less deep gameplay etc.. That's what happens when they make a RTS aimed at consoles.. C&C3 already suffered from it, and I doubt this game will be any better (simply because they are still restricted by having to use a controller).. Supreme Commander on a console will also be a joke..
.[/quote]

I completely fail to see how you can equate less accurate controls to less fun.  If I enjoy playing the game, that's all that matters.

Same goes for FPS games.  I'll pick consoles any day, due to the dual analogue support.  Moving and looking around using them feels far more fluid and natural than it does using a keyboard, and while it may not be as accurate, it's still a lot of fun to play.

I don't mind if you want to express your opinion on this matter, but ou seem to be constantly going into massive rants about how you're right about everything in this matter.  It's nothing but opinion.

GriftGFX

Commented on 2008-01-04 14:23:31

Well, it really does make a pretty big difference in this genre, and not simply because of the mouse, but the lack of a 100-some-odd-button control to map dozens of hot keys to.

I disagree with the comment about FPS feeling more "natural" with dual analog--pointing and shooting is more natural with a pointing device like a mouse--and again people underrate the keyboards goodness.. but really it all comes down to personal preference and if that's what you want, more power to ya. I'll take the majority of my shooters and RTS on PC, but if something unique comes along to the Xbox 360 that I must play (like Halo 3) I have no problem adjusting to the format change.

There's no reason (that I see) that multiple platforms can't have their own exclusives, even in areas where they might not be the strongest.

In reply to

[quote]Sounds like nothing more than PC elitism. IMO, C&C3 worked very well on the 360. Obviously it's not going to be as accurate to select units and what naught on a controller as it is with a mouse, but does that really much such a massive difference?[/quote]

Well, it really does make a pretty big difference in this genre, and not simply because of the mouse, but the lack of a 100-some-odd-button control to map dozens of hot keys to.

I disagree with the comment about FPS feeling more "natural" with dual analog--pointing and shooting is more natural with a [i]pointing device[/i] like a mouse--and again people underrate the keyboards goodness.. but really it all comes down to personal preference and if that's what you want, more power to ya.  I'll take the [i]majority[/i] of my shooters and RTS on PC, but if something unique comes along to the Xbox 360 that I [i]must play[/i] (like Halo 3) I have no problem adjusting to the format change.

There's no reason (that I see) that multiple platforms can't have their own exclusives, even in areas where they might not be the strongest.

Isomac

Commented on 2008-01-04 15:18:19

C&C3 surely played quite good on 360. Much better than I thought it would. Still I can't completed final Nod mission with the hardest difficulty level. I am sure it is because you have to be really fast in that level and I just can't do it with the controller :( I got so frustrationed that I just quit the game and haven't played it after that :p

Hmm but this thread is about Halo Wars so I might say something about that too! I am quite sure that this plays well enough at 360. This isn't port as what C&C was so they can make the game a bit slow paced. That helps a lot I think.

In reply to

Inflatable

Commented on 2008-01-04 15:30:51

What GriftGFX said...

In FPS games it does make a difference aswell, but not as big.. The only real difference there between consoles or PC is the speed and precision in aiming.. But RTS gameplay goes a lot 'deeper' then just speed or precision.. I guess you can only understand if you've played any serious RTS on the PC..

And if wanting the best out of a game(genre) is considered elitism, so be it..

In reply to

ramses01

Commented on 2008-01-04 16:33:48

Well the biggest problem for the so-called RTS' on consoles is that most of the RTS' really aren't strategy games. A proper RTS doesn't have resource gathering. That is the big thing that limits the transition. I would be very interested to see something like the total war or warhammer fantasy games on a console.

I am very interested in seeing how the civ game turns out. I think the strategy/wargame category could do really well on this generation of consoles.

In reply to

Acronos

Commented on 2008-01-04 17:08:41 In reply to FemaleTengu

RTS of the forever and ever and ever!

In reply to

Joergen

Commented on 2008-01-04 18:23:59

Looks great, about 2fps great. I hope they're not using bungie for the engine tech. In fact I hope they're building the engine from ground up since most if not all RTS engines have universally sucked. Oh wait, Starcraft and both Warcrafts had an excellent engine.

In reply to

blinx01

Commented on 2008-01-04 19:05:16

I think wthe whole problem here is that RTS games were created on PC and no one has tried to reinvent the formula for consoles. Instead they have either ported a PC version over, or like Halo Wars, took the blue-prints for PC RTS games and simplied the control's for consoles.
Still, I doubt this will be enough. Someone needs to have the balls to reinvent the RTS genre for consoles. Until then, I'd much rather be playing a PC version...

In reply to

GibsonTX

Commented on 2008-01-04 19:58:23

That last picture is intense

In reply to

Baleur

Commented on 2008-01-04 21:21:59

Whats up with the red and blue neon colors? ... Not impressed.

In reply to

ik319

Commented on 2008-01-04 22:21:00

Not sure about the coloured Warthogs and Scorpions... it is probably necessary in terms of information design but it doesn't exactly fit with the Halo canon...

As for the controls, I suggest we all adopt a wait-and-see approach. Just because most console versions of RTS games have been poor does not suggest that you cannot design an RTS game specifically for a console. For instance, the excellent Full Spectrum Warrior by Pandemic was pretty much an RTS game, and that worked really well on Xbox.

In reply to

Doom_Bringer

Commented on 2008-01-05 01:51:34

Looks awesome!

In reply to

FemaleTengu

Commented on 2008-01-05 11:21:18

The last pic looks like the framerate is near 10fps or so

C&C3 had similar problems with such massive battles. But it was still a cool game.

In reply to

catfish

Commented on 2008-01-05 15:24:01

looks better graphically than Halo 3...pretty nice

In reply to

mustacio

Commented on 2008-01-05 23:20:52

lol, look at pic 3. they all look like miniature plastic toys.

In reply to

spacemanjupiter

Commented on 2008-01-06 01:47:27

wow this looks fantastic. to all the pc gamers who think they are too good for this, i've got one thing to say. i have plenty of old and modern rts's, including supreme commander. guess what i still play more than any of them? HERZOG ZWEI. Yeah, maybe a bit oversimplified game, but sometimes people don't want to be hampered with a keyboard full of controls and commands, and just want to enjoy a more simplified experience. there is beauty in simplicity at times. this could end up being a fantastic experience.

In reply to

dargis49

Commented on 2008-01-06 04:03:20

I'm sorry but, how and the fuck can you tell what the framerate is from a screen shot? That's just stupid.

From the pics, the game looks good.

In reply to

GriftGFX

Commented on 2008-01-06 04:55:53 In reply to dargis49

Posted by dargis49

I'm sorry but, how and the fuck can you tell what the framerate is from a screen shot? That's just stupid.

I thought that comment was pretty awesome too :P

I don't think that's a real screenshot, anyway. Not to imply that the game won't look crazy, but looks shopped.

Nice avatar dargis. I miss my city.

In reply to

Getpwned

Commented on 2008-01-06 07:37:13

I'm fucking sold! WOW.

"The last pic looks like the framerate is near 10fps or so "

HA HA. My thoughts exactly. If they can get that many guys on screen at 30 frames, I'd be more than shocked to say the least.

In reply to

buzzhonky

Commented on 2008-01-07 00:18:46

Good motion blur in pic 4. Looks so good and I love it when they talk about controls, looks like this could be the first console RTS to get it right (or maybe that's just what I'm really hoping for)!

In reply to

fr0sty

Commented on 2008-01-07 01:41:24

NEED THIS SOOOOOO MUCH. World in Conflict will do so far to pass the time then I suppose.

In reply to

alimokrane

Commented on 2008-01-07 09:42:31

There's something that bugs me about this game. Why is it that RTS games are always looked down upon on PC. they generally tend to sell poorly but now that this is based on Halo, Everyone seems to think that RTS games are cool and great again!

Please, Understand, I am NOT bashing! it just strikes me as completely unfair to other games in the genre.

In reply to

GriftGFX

Commented on 2008-01-07 10:07:32 In reply to alimokrane

Posted by alimokrane

RTS games are pretty popular on PC, at least, with PC gamers. Perhaps it's not as popular as FPS or MMORPG's right now, but still.. World In Conflict was one of the top rated PC games in 2007 and everyone loves Company of Heroes.

Not to mention, 2008 is the year of Starcraft 2, which stands to be the best selling PC game of 2008.

In reply to

buzzhonky

Commented on 2008-01-07 22:35:46 In reply to GriftGFX

Posted by GriftGFX

So true. RTS fans are PC gamers first and foremost. I will give credit to Microsoft, at least for me, I've kind of been 1/2 and 1/2 recently in my gaming career. The 360 has some really fun titles to pull me away from WoW, WC:3, Tiberium Wars, and even the occasional UT:2k4.

Why you see a bunch of hype about this game, alimokrane, is not because it's a Halo title, but instead because this is a console RTS from the makers of Age of Empires. If anyone can make a console RTS worth my $60.00 it'll be them. I would put that task on nobody else (except maybe the original Westwood studios).

In reply to

Freniger

Commented on 2008-01-08 00:00:02

Other than pic 3, they captured the look and feel of Halo really well. I know it's a spin-off, but this game has a lot of promise. Halo has a great universe to play in and Microsoft made a good choice with Ensemble. At this point I'm not really concerned with the controls. I just want it to have enough depth.

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Images of Halo Wars

4 images

All comments (55)

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