Halo Wars - Gen. Discussion & Info

[quote name='Spybreak8']I would think it is similar to co-op in RA3, you both have a base and you both share equal objectives. However I have no idea lol. [/QUOTE]

That'd be my guess as well.
 
Pretty impressed with the demo. I thought this would be craptastic even with ensemble behind the game, especially considering the factor MS let them go *and* It's a console RTS. It's very easy to control (although obviously not as easy as a PC rts, but this is the easiest RTS control I've been able to see on a console) and easy to get into. I'm wondering how good the full product will be in terms of a good campaign and skirmishing against people online. Also how many units there are in the full version versus the demo.

It's definitely going back on my wish list and will be a must have when the price drops a bit.
 
I liked it. To me it felt a lot like a simplified Age of Empires 3 (which I guess is obvious), mixed in with the first Battle for Middle Earth. They made a good decision to not let you build anywhere and not force you to gather, just produce, as it puts the focus more on combat, and I like the idea that the X button controls the main weapon and the Y button is like a Special move.

I play a lot of PC RTS games and I'm excited to play something that controls well from my couch.
 
Played around a bit more in Skirmish and got my butt whooped on Heroic when I changed up my strategy and decided to go for more upgrades to amass a more powerful force.

Played around with using an Elephant for infantry production vs. tying up a build slot with a barracks but the Elephant costs more and you can't upgrade with it. Destroying a barracks to use an elephant after you've grabbed some upgrades might be a decent strat on a map with limited base slots and a prolonged battle.

On Normal it is pretty easy to just hang back and check out the various upgrade chains and scout around checking out the nook and crannies of the map.

I have to say based on how the demo is holding my interest for multiple plays that I'm definitely looking forward to this one.

It'd be nice if an extra base increased your troop limit (or at least some way to get the limit over 40) but doesn't look like that's possible on the unlocked map and mode for skirmish.
 
I haven't played the demo yet. But I bet they have simplified the mechanics and tried to make it easy for RTS noobs like me. "More combat oriented" makes me tempted to play it tonight.

Can I grenade spam and shoot through walls?
 
[quote name='gordojones88']I haven't played the demo yet. But I bet they have simplified the mechanics and tried to make it easy for RTS noobs like me. "More combat oriented" makes me tempted to play it tonight.

Can I grenade spam and shoot through walls?[/quote]

Haha well every special ability has a cool down time so within time yes you can spam more grenades. One thing that I had to change was by having everyone selected and using the special abilities the warthogs would ram into infantry while my marines would throw grenades. I now use the RT method to select just the marines to throw grenades, little thing that helps a lot.

Yea the elephant is to set up flanking attacks, its a classic Age of Empires move, building a barracks right outside of someone's base and pumping out units. You could also use one next to one of the captured rebel resource towers but I wouldn't sell your barracks. I had two at one point and it worked out great, 1)marine, 2)flamethrower, 1)marine, 2)spartan!^^
 
Played the demo for over an hour last night and really liked it. It's better than LotR Battle for Middle Earth 2, which I liked also. I don't think I can buy another game right now, though. If I see it for $40 within a few weeks after it comes out, I'll probably end up picking it up.
 
This is probably first time I ever really enjoyed a Halo game without feeling like I'm forcing myself to play. Same with me actually looking forward to cut scenes in one as well.
 
Man, the more I play this demo the more excited I get about this game. I would love to be able to play this over XBL.
 
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I just realized you can play as the Covenant in skirmish mode in the demo. :lol:

Jumped in a match on Heroic (against USNC) and got stomped. I'm pretty sure my mistake was sitting tight too long and not going for the expansion base. That and I was figuring out the units/upgrade chain as I went.
 
Just finished playing through the demo, and I am impressed. It will be interesting to see what the multiplayer is like. I tried both the UNSC and the Covenant and the seem fairly balanced. I prefer the UNSC however.
 
Yeah, I don't have much of a feel for the Covenant yet but there are some definite differences which is good. Glad they didn't do a WarCraft II type thing where the two races are practically identical. Of course, this sort of game lends itself very well to a must have DLC in the form of a third race. Not sure if there is anything in the Halo 'verse that would work though. Hopefully they don't nickel and dime new units as DLC.
 
[quote name='Tha Xecutioner']Covenant >>>> UNSC

If you're lucky enough to build a Scarab tank, then it's game over for the UNSC :cool:[/quote]

Lol not from an upgraded Mac Blast!


Anyone try UNSC vs UNSC, feels just like Terrans in Starcraft.:bouncy:

Lets hope they have DLC or a sequel, you know since the studio is closed down. If they did I would hope the Flood would be the third race but I highly doubt it.
 
I pretty much dislike RTS, but I gotta say... whoever thought putting any kind of RTS on a console was a good idea is a fucking idiot.
 
[quote name='VipFREAK']I pretty much dislike RTS, but I gotta say... whoever thought putting any kind of RTS on a console was a good idea is a fucking idiot.[/quote]
Go away. You're just trolling.
 
[quote name='VipFREAK']I pretty much dislike RTS, but I gotta say... whoever thought putting any kind of RTS on a console was a good idea is a fucking idiot.[/QUOTE]

You're right. "That Guy" was the idiot. :roll:
 
[quote name='Spybreak8']Lol not from an upgraded Mac Blast!


Anyone try UNSC vs UNSC, feels just like Terrans in Starcraft.:bouncy:

Lets hope they have DLC or a sequel, you know since the studio is closed down. If they did I would hope the Flood would be the third race but I highly doubt it.[/QUOTE]

did the studio close, or just seperate from msft? Iirc on a 1up yours podcast, they commented that they most likely have a deal with msft to continue the halo wars series, and hypothesized that they may even do a gears rts.
 
The studio closed, but members from ensemble have already formed a new studio and a small team will work on any bugs, glitches post game launch.
 
[quote name='Spybreak8']Lol not from an upgraded Mac Blast!


Anyone try UNSC vs UNSC, feels just like Terrans in Starcraft.:bouncy:

Lets hope they have DLC or a sequel, you know since the studio is closed down. If they did I would hope the Flood would be the third race but I highly doubt it.[/QUOTE]

Oh yeah, the flood would be the natural choice. I'm sure they could make that work. Special ability to hijack other race flesh based troops, etc.

But if the studio is gone, who knows if anything substantial will be done. My guess is that if the game is a commercial success there will be DLC and/or a sequel. If it isn't there won't. Same as any game.
 
[quote name='wubb']Man, the more I play this demo the more excited I get about this game. [/quote]

This

I am having a blast, but would love it if this game came over to the PC. Would be a lot easier to control. First time I played skirmish, the decided to rush and got pulverized. Then the next few games, I've been winning.

Dose the UNSC have a hero class like the covenant (prophet) in skirmish?
 
[quote name='ZerotypeX']This

I am having a blast, but would love it if this game came over to the PC. Would be a lot easier to control. First time I played skirmish, the decided to rush and got pulverized. Then the next few games, I've been winning.

Dose the UNSC have a hero class like the covenant (prophet) in skirmish?[/quote]

Yes it was in one of the tips on the menu screen, unlike the Covenant the UNSC's heroes are not on the battlefield. You get their powers like in the demo Cutter gives you the elephant and the ability to upgrade to ODSTs. Let me tell you, the reason why the ODST upgrade is 1800 is because they rock/ability to deploy anywhere on the map explored!

Found a pdf of the manuel, you can check out all the different leader's details and perks, awesome:
http://www.xbox.com/NR/rdonlyres/31804095-7B32-4CE2-A17E-3CB54A3692EF/0/HaloWars_MNL_EN.PDF

add that to the OP^^
 
I think the controls are pretty easy on Halo Wars, and so far the demo is a good indication that the balance between both sides are almost equal out if you build the right platforms and get the right vehicles going. However I tried playing as Heroic and I got my ass handed to me. I could not get enough supplies to build an army to stop the constant skirmishes.
 
[quote name='s0undwav3']I think the controls are pretty easy on Halo Wars, and so far the demo is a good indication that the balance between both sides are almost equal out if you build the right platforms and get the right vehicles going. However I tried playing as Heroic and I got my ass handed to me. I could not get enough supplies to build an army to stop the constant skirmishes.[/quote]

Well you should be in the green when it comes to economy. Captain Cutter, the only UNSC leader you can play in the demo, gives you more building sites so you should pump out the supply pads and utilize this strength. Also scout out and see if the Ai has taken the expansion base or resource point. Don't forget to collect the crates that are scattered along the map, although they are in general areas.
 
Hmm, I went with a semi-rush but it appears the computer either goes full out infantry rush or starts with more resources.

I built barracks first and set my waypoint to just in front of their base, but I also built supply pads and a reactor as I was training marines. By the time I had my first marine to rush their base he was met by 3 or 4 groups of marines coming the other way. I guess the computer starts by building 2 barracks? I might play around with just watching the cpu's opening with the warthog.

I held off an early attack a bit later by 7 or 8 infantry units and turned the tide. Dropping ODST after ODST right into a major battle is a pretty overwhelming strat.

This was Heroic BTW.

... Next skirmish I sent my warthog to spy on their base first thing and they were building a supply pad and built two turrets soon after my warthog set up camp. The previous skirmish they didn't build any turrets all match. I'm thinking what you do dictates the CPU's strategy. (Even though they really shouldn't know exactly what you are up to.) Interesting... Scratch that, looks to be random.


... 3rd match they were building a barrack first and then went to a supply pad w/ no turrets being built despite my warthog sitting watching them. Next a 2nd Supply Pad while they pumped marine after marine and sent them towards my base, ignoring my wart hog just to the side. They staged in front of their base until they had a half dozen or so and then took the sniper nests through the middle land bridge and on to my base. I'd call this a marine rush strategy.

Hmm, now I think they probably have 2 (or more) gameplans for the AI and it runs one at random. I did pretty much identical things in skirmish 2 and 3, but the cpu had different plans.
 
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Also just in case some of you guys dont know yet (They dont tell you in the tutorials) you can upgrade each of your supply bases and reactors to a 2nd lvl where it produces twice the original amount.
So you can have only 2 reactors base but have 4th lvl tech.
Also you can upgrade each of your turrets to be more effective against a certain type of units (air, infantry, or vehicles)
I only figure that out on my 3rd heroic skirmish.

Me being a already good rts player from other games i found this game really easy.
Beaten all my heroic skirmishes matches no sweat.
This is definitely a fun game but i find it too simple, so i dont think i will enjoy it too much online vs others.
I'll probably buy this game to play the single player only.
IMO End War > Halo wars ... when it comes to the RTS aspect i mean.
But cool Units and SP Story wise, Halo Wars > End Wars easy.
But lastly Company of heroes > ALL
 
Hey wubb, I highly doubt they only have two or possibly 4 strategies. When I was learning how to create maps for C&C Generals Zero Hour the AI dictates what it throws at you and how that results. If 3 tanks and 2 rocket infantry die than they go on to the next set unit combination. It seems to me that when you had your warthog in close proximity to the AI's base that it went defensive. I had one heroic match where the AI at the middle of the game just kept building the special elaphant unit so it all depends. I have not had the pleasure to fight against an enemy Scarab yet but I read that others have so its not called AI for nothing.

Supraazn, I would imagine they would make the demo easy for everybody. They could still change the difficulty by launch with the gold version of the game but I too have seemed to handle the heroic AI with ease now. Now granted you're only going against 1 AI but let's see how a 3vs 3 battle plays out especially when its random all leaders, random UNSC leaders, and/or random Cov leaders on all sides. Ohhh that gave me goosebumps, can you imagine the possible firefights!? lol
 
Yea your right spy, hopefully and most likely there will be a legendary difficulty.

Another thing i notice, and this happens to many other rts as well, the AI gets retarded as the game goes on.
Like if you can defend and hold your own for a good while through the game, the AI will just shut down and do nothing at all.
Like i would turtle myself in just researching and building units and eventually the AI will do nothing but send random single units over to my base to get destroyed.
They stop sending armies or doing any tactics.
At that point you can just march into their undefended base and destroy it without a challenge.
They just get retarded.
When i want to have a nice long game i hate it when that eventually happens.

Out of ALL the matches i've played so far i have NEVER seen the AI build even one turret at their base.
And most of the time they dont even capture the NPC resource point next to them.

Another thing they need to fix, the spartan laser.
Its the last and final upgrade for the spartan and it sucks balls.
Its even weaker than the chaingun.
The chaingun does less damage than a laser shot but its constant damage.
The laser takes a good 3 seconds between shots so the end result is pure garbage.
Spartan are useless in combat later in the game.
Only good they are for is to hijack enemy crafts or commanding one of your own crafts.
Me personally i just toss each of their asses in a scorpion and forget about them.


My default strategy.
Built 4 resource base, one reactor, one barrack, and one vehicle base.
Upgrade all resource base asap.
Build 2 front Turrets and upgrade them to anti infantry/anti tank.
Build some basic infantry and warthog with guns, take NPC resource point.
Build some more basic units to defend base.
Capture the 2nd HQ Base.
Upgrade Reactor at 1st base.
Build a airport, tech center, reactor, and all else resources at the 2nd HQ.
Make an army composed of scorpions (loaded with spartans), wolverines, and cobras to defend.
Upgrade all resources and reactor at 2nd base.
Start upgrading the tech for units and other important techs.
Enemy will now get Retarded after all of their failed attacks.
Rape their base with ease.
Win.
Feel no joy because it was too easy.
 
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I enjoyed this demo, and I'm not generally a big RTS fan. Last one I played was probably StarCraft in the late 90's.

I found myself disappointed when the demo ended. I'll probably wait and pick this up when it's discounted. Too much in the queue.
 
supraazn - Now that is odd because I've had the AI build turrrets here and there. You'll get a notification "The enemy is building defenses, we'll have time to blah blah" and that indicates they've built turrets. Pretty sure that is correct because I got that prompt they time I was spying and they had built turrets. I've also had them capture their expansion base on Heroic every time, except the first skirmish where I basically rushed them after their first attack.

[quote name='Spybreak8']It seems to me that when you had your warthog in close proximity to the AI's base that it went defensive. I had one heroic match where the AI at the middle of the game just kept building the special elaphant unit so it all depends. [/QUOTE]

Well like I said I did the same thing 2 skirmishes in a row and one they built turrets after starting with a supply pad the other they started with barracks and didn't build turrets. This despite my warthog sitting on top of one of their building sites in both cases. The one where they built barracks first their infantry also ignored my warthog until I rammed one of them after a bit. The main point I was getting at is they don't have one opening they use on that map every time, so it's at least 2 (i.e. I don't know how many.)

Of course skirmishing against the AI won't be a major part of the full game (at least I doubt it) you'll mostly play the campaign or skirmish against other people on XBL. So the build order scripts for the AI probably won't be crucial, but it's interesting to look at. I might try to remove all variables and just send my warthog over to spy without building anything at all on my base and see if the AI changes things up.

I have had a skirmish where they built a few elephants as well. (I blew one up and then 2 more followed it. I was like WTF is the cpu doing?) It's too bad you can't disable 'fog of war' as it would make it easier to spot check what the AI is doing from the start without having to sacrifice my warthog as a camping scout.
 
Anybody check out the achievement list?

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/halo-wars/achievements/

Some look fun, others look like they could be a schlog. I'm not a big fan of ones like 'complete entire campaign in co-op' And they have one for 24 total hours of play time. Bleh, those type just suck. (Lazy on the part of the game maker IMO.)

But it looks like there is one for an optional objective on each campaign mission and ones for doing odd things in skirmish like having 2 scarabs or using 10 or less squads. Those should be interesting to go for.
 
Seems like the pre-order at the retail prices are the only "deals". Anyone else see anything better? The Buy.com deal + sales tax kills it for me. I can't decide if I want the regular version or the Limited Edition. I liked the C&C games and Halo series so I think I will like this one too. I've got the demo but haven't booted it up. Arg! Need more time in a day. :)
 
[quote name='RamHawk']Seems like the pre-order at the retail prices are the only "deals". Anyone else see anything better? The Buy.com deal + sales tax kills it for me. I can't decide if I want the regular version or the Limited Edition. I liked the C&C games and Halo series so I think I will like this one too. I've got the demo but haven't booted it up. Arg! Need more time in a day. :)[/quote]

Yea I'm getting mine from Amazon basically for the in-game warthog, regular edition since I can't play Halo 3 online.:cry:
 
[quote name='wubb']Anybody check out the achievement list?

http://www.xbox360achievements.org/game/halo-wars/achievements/

Some look fun, others look like they could be a schlog. I'm not a big fan of ones like 'complete entire campaign in co-op' And they have one for 24 total hours of play time. Bleh, those type just suck. (Lazy on the part of the game maker IMO.)

But it looks like there is one for an optional objective on each campaign mission and ones for doing odd things in skirmish like having 2 scarabs or using 10 or less squads. Those should be interesting to go for.[/quote]

Haven't seen it till today...looks pretty good IMO...not sure if I can do the whole game in co-op...we might have to get together Wubb on Tuesdays to get cracking on that one. Everything else seems pretty cool and reasonable...24hours of playtime shouldn't be too bad specially after doing skirmish matches with AI or online.
 
[quote name='LinkinPrime']Haven't seen it till today...looks pretty good IMO...not sure if I can do the whole game in co-op...we might have to get together Wubb on Tuesdays to get cracking on that one. Everything else seems pretty cool and reasonable...24hours of playtime shouldn't be too bad specially after doing skirmish matches with AI or online.[/QUOTE]

Well I think several of them are the type that just take forever to do. Like win a skirmish on every map and win a skirmish in every game mode. But at least they didn't do one for winning a skirmish on every mode on every game map. In the demo it just shows 2 modes, so I guess the mode one is pretty trivial.

But they have plenty of the kind that challenge you to do hard/odd/unusual things within the game. I love those kind. I might play around with trying some of them with the demo. Like having dual scarabs. Looks like that one can be done on any difficulty so it'd be a cinch on Easy. I think you'd have to fall asleep to lose on easy. I beat the AI on heroic in under 10 minutes on my first play already. One of their openings must be susceptible to a rush.

Some we'll probably have to wait for the full game to really know. Like score a cumulative 1,000,000 in campaign. If that's gonna take 3 or 4 plays of the campaign that's stinky. It is called 'Epic Grinder'... And getting General Rank I assume is going to take winning X number of matches. Probably get 24 hours of play on your way to that. :lol:

I'll definitely take you up on your offer if I pick this one up. Leaning that way at this point for sure.
 
Achievements aren't meant to be nabbed in a short time, the list looks good. Good achievements make you want to play longer or come back to it. C&C Generals & its expansion Zero Hour had awards, like achievements, where you had to win 1, 30, 50, 100 and 1000 skirmishes. Now that's unreasonable lol especially since nobody sees those rewards plus they reset if you ever uninstall.

Also I hope I can do co-op but probably not. :(

Man the cobra is a sweet unit especially when its upgraded with rail guns, lol C&C right there.
 
[quote name='Spybreak8']
Also I hope I can do co-op but probably not. :([/QUOTE]

What's stopping ya? I doubt I'll play the entire campaign in co-op just because it's way too much hassle to consistently meet up with a friend to play through a long game.

This should be a good one for MP for me (I hope) because it seems like you'll just need to hook up with one friend and then you'll be able to do some 2v2 matches.

I'll be curious to see details after the games release of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the different units. I imagine somebody will set up a local skirmish and just figure out all this stuff by sending units at each other one at a time.

I've fallen into going with Marines and a few Scorpions as the USNC. Seems like sticking to a few types of units is the way to go on a small map since then you can concentrate your upgrades just on those. But I would like to try some different combos out for size.

Also I've definitely noticed what supraazn talked about with the AI just kind of shutting down if you hold them off long enough. I fought off a few attacks while turtling until I got the ODST upgrade. (Decided to create a limited number of units during turtling and just bomb in ODST troops on the site once I attacked their base.) When I hit their base they had just a handful of units there (plus no turrets) and they hadn't expanded to the side base. 30 seconds or so after my attack they hit my base from the side (so that's where all the units were :lol: ), but I was doing way more damage than the AI and it called off it's attack to run back through the middle at me.

I'm not sure what determines if the AI expands or not, but in skirmishes where it doesn't they are very easy pickings once you've established the expansion and upgraded some units. Hold off their first rush and you pretty much have it in the bag.
 
I'm guessing this will be co-op online only? This would be fun to play with a friend locally...but otherwise...I don't think I'd bother with coop.
 
Tried out the demo and really liked it. It was easy to play with a controller, which I can't say for the other RTS games on the 360. I'll give it a rent at some point to play through the game.
 
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