Halo Wars

Alot of people are very sceptical of this game and now the demo is out, many peoples questions can be answered. Having played the demo i can say that i am very impressed with the quality of this game.
One question people ask is ' Are the controls good?'. Because this game was developed for the xbox 360 with no pc game in mind, the controls are intuitive. 'A' selects units, 'X' moves and attacks, and 'Y' uses special attacks (Warthog- ram, marines - grenades). The D-Pad allows for quick movement to base and battles etc.
So, easy to pick up and play, but does it play well? This game, concentrates on action rather than strategy, this doesnt mean a strategist wont enjoy it. LB selects every unit and this is the best way to play ususally. Select every unit and send it in, Units and buildings have a health bar and the 3 difficulty levels mean anyone can get enjoyment out of this game. There are two factions- Allies and Covenant, both very balanced with strong and weak units. Base building is easy but a bit limited. You select the area to build the initial 'station' - which is predetermined like ore refinary spots in RA3. Then there are 5 slots around the edge where you can build barracks and supply pods for resources. It may be simple but this simplicity means base creation is not how you spend most of your time and you can concentrate on creating an army of death to crush your enemy- ace.
Graphics- very good, detail is amazing, animation, while not on par with Halo 3, is top notch and fun to watch.
Sound- Guns and Vehicles make the noises you would expect from the Halo Universe, and the familiar Warthog noise is present which is nice.
So overall, a great final album from Ensemble studios, who will now be sadly missed.
10/10

When I first started playing halo wars (HW) I will admit that I was a little disappointed. Every thing seemed very simple, being a PC gamer as well as an Xbox gamer I felt that HW needed to be compared to PC RTS games, but in this case they can't be compared. You see HW does come across as a proper Xbox RTS, the controls for the game are very simple and that's what makes HW such a joy to play on the Xbox.
Selecting units is very straight forward as well as issuing commands. The other thing is that though HW was always meant to be a RTS from the beginning Ensemble Studios haven't just done cash in.
HW is more of the story of how the Rings were discovered and it's told by some high quality cut scenes.
And as the game has some very simple controls using the Xbox controller, it makes the whole experience that more fun.
If you feel that other Xbox RTS games have let you down and seem over complicated with the interface then may I suggest giving HW a try, I will have to admit that Being a hardcore PC RTS fan HW has shown me that a Decent RTS is possible on the Xbox.

The first halo was a good game. Halo 2 and 3 gave you more of the same with not much improvement halo wars is no better than aliens vs predator the rts game. It's a simple rts. I wish people would get over the halo thing. It's just an over hyped game and does not deserve the praise it gets.

I have to admit I was a bit edgy about buying an RTS for the Xbox 360 but being a big fan of the Halo games I went out and got it anyway and I've never looked back. The graphics are just stunning, especially in the cut scenes, and the gameplay is very good fun. The campaign wont take you too long to complete - it took me a weekend and that was playing liberally - but when you finish it you'll want to do it again, and the skirmish mode is always fun. This game continues the classic Halo setup of cutting edge graphics, gripping storyline, compelling characters and edge-of-your-seat action, only this time without the first-person shoot-em-up stance. A great new direction for the Halo franchise and well worth the money you'll pay.

i totally agree with the positive comments already stated!. get the demo from xbox live, just cant wait to get my actual game!