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Real Time Strategy (Games) XBox (Games) Entertainment Games

New Details On Halo Wars 45

Posted by Soulskill from the branching-out dept.
As Halo Wars gets closer to its February release, details are gradually emerging about the game. In an interview with CVG, lead designer Graeme Devine claimed that the controls are actually better than those of a PC RTS, and said the downloadable content for the game is mostly done already, but will be held back until well after the release. Giant Bomb got some hands-on time with the game, and said the controls the controls "do work well enough, even if they're geared more toward broad tactical strokes than intensive small-group micromanagement." Kotaku has further details about the game as well. A video showing some of the gameplay is also available. Ensemble Studios has explicitly denied the possibility of a PC port.
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New Details On Halo Wars More

New Details On Halo Wars

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  • controls are actually better than those of a PC RT (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Idiomatick ( 976696 ) on Tuesday November 18, 2008 @02:08AM (#25798535)

    I'll believe it when i see it. Its not often 70keys and a mouse can be replaces by a few buttons and knobs

    • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

      by ILuvRamen ( 1026668 )
      yeah, it's absolute lunacy. It's physically impossible for slower input methods to beat faster ones no matter what the setup. And in my experience no RTS console game has ever been remotely good at all (if you're used to PC ones). Unless you max your population at 12 people and can zoom down into their point of view and start Halo FPS-ing it up AND level up individuals in your army like an RPG I don't think it will go over well. Actually that'd make a sweet game if they did that.

      • > And in my experience no RTS console game has ever been remotely good at all (if you're used to PC ones).

        Because of the different input methods all console RTS's are dumbed down. It's just freaking impossible to get all the detail you can see with a computer monitor and still pander to the people who play xbox on their standard def TVs (1. Who the hell plays HD consoles on regular TVs? 2.Games are still built so menus work in standard def - WHAT?!!?!)

        • Re: (Score:1, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Who the hell plays HD consoles on regular TVs?

          Around here there is no HD broadcasting, and HD TVs are very expensive. I recently paid $1,400 for a 37" Sharp Aquos.
          So almost all console gaming is on regular TVs. There are a lot of countries like that.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by KDR_11k ( 778916 )

          2.Games are still built so menus work in standard def

          From my limited experience with my Xbox 360 so far I'm pretty sure they aren't, those things are fucking unusable (speaking mostly abouzt a select few demos, the system UI works).

      • I think that it's theoretically possible that a RTS could be implemented on a console. Apart from the D-pad and thumb sticks, there are 10 buttons that can be used for hot-keying. Ten factorial is a big number. Getting those combos right would take some real solid dedication - but possible.

        When you watch the South Korean's and their StarCraft comps, the competitors are not really using the mouse anyway. The mouse being the only real advantage PC RTSs have.

        I'm holding out. Not for Halo Wars in particula

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by KDR_11k ( 778916 )

          I think your definition of RTS is just too inflexible. If you consider a standard PC RTS, sure, porting that 1:1 is going to be hard but Halo Wars was designed for the console right from the start and they seem to have changed many basic RTS conventions so it's an RTS but not of the type you see on the PC.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by jcnnghm ( 538570 )

          EndWar is controlled via voice recognition, and for the most part it works pretty well. Plus it's fun to shout orders at your units.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Xest ( 935314 )

      To be honest I played through C&C3 on the PC and the 360, console controls for RTS' really aren't that bad.

      It's the same with FPS really, I never used to be a console gamer but a lot of the mouse and keyboard snobbery is rather unfounded when it comes to.

      Probably the only type of game I wouldn't want to play on a console is an MMO and that's because of communication, I don't know how you'd handle voice chat in busy areas with hundreds of people talking at once without a keyboard.

      Getting used to console

      • Re: (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward

        "Sure some games that are poor ports from PC to console and haven't had their control schemes thought through on the console kinda suck but for the major releases where time is spent on these things there's nothing about console control schemes that detract from the fun of the game or your ability to play it and compete."

        In my experience, if the game controls were well thought out for the console, they detracted from the PC gameplay. If they were well thought out on the PC, they are flat out wretched on a

    • Its not often 70keys and a mouse can be replaces by a few buttons and knobs

      True, but there have been some games that also destory they myth if the UI design is well thought out. Specifically I would refer to KOTOR as one of the ground breakers of making a complex game and UI feel more natural with a XBox controller than a keyboard and mouse.

      I would like to see more console games support and require the keyboard add-ons (like XBox Messenger Keyboard), and instead of re-inventing the wheel between platforms,

  • Sweet! I was looking for more reasons not to pay $60 for a game if they're just going to charge us more later to play for parts of it they already completed now. This will be a rental, and if I decide to get it it will be a used copy off Gamefly.
    • LOL.. I was thinking the same thing
    • Have you considered that they would hold back the downloadable content so it can be improved and balanced in the wake of everything the masses find once the game is release? There are quality standards Bungie adheres to; it'd be a shame to release expansions to the game that aren't well formed and quickly become obsolete.
      • Wasn't aware that Bungie was the studio making Halo Wars... last I checked, Ensemble was at the helm.
  • I'm a console gamer and have no issue at all with controls on console games, whether they be FPS or RTS (if done right). But to even try and argue that they are 'better' than the PC Mouse&Board is outright bollocks.

    Personally I think this is more to do with the mouse than number of buttons on the keyboard, a analogue stick is never going to have quite the same accuracy and speed (hell if they did computers would come with one rather than a mouse).

  • Money grabbers (Score:5, Insightful)

    by saintm ( 142527 ) on Tuesday November 18, 2008 @04:53AM (#25799369)

    > the downloadable content for the game is mostly done already

    Then include it in the retail release.

    Greedy wankers.

    • How dare they operate a business to earn profit?!

      • It's a Halo game. They could sell each unit and building individually for $10.00 and people would still buy it.

  • Good to know they cease and desisted Halogen [joystiq.com] and then didn't even work on a PC port!
  • I live and breath for RTS games...at the point where you're going to stick it on a console, you lost me. You can spout bull**** all day long about how an X-Box controller is better than a mouse + 70 keys on my keyboard, but I don't buy it, and I don't believe anyone else would either. And when you're going to boldly announce for your game "Halo Wars" that you've developed a bunch of content that you're not going to release with the game, and hold off on releasing it until later? That's some serious anti-co
    • Too funny! I am in love with RTS games - in fact, I can't stand how boring FPS games have become, so I'm primarly an RTS gamer... and I have NO interest in buying a bloody console because of the controls.

      My roommate has a 360, and no matter how much I try to play with the controller (GTA4 recently, but some FPSs as well) I just don't have the speed and accuracy I would with a mouse + keyboard.

      The fact is, I can't wait for GTA4 to come out on PC solely because it will be a completely different game on PC

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by KDR_11k ( 778916 )

        I can't stand how boring FPS games have become, so I'm primarly an RTS gamer

        Er, huh? Is there some sort of FPS-RTS dichtomy I'm unaware of? There are tons of other genres you can play if you don't like FPSes.

        So releasing what looks like a very promising RTS .. on a console only? They must realize that their entire fanbase are on PC, right? I mean, seriously- None of my XBOX friends care for RTS games...

        Considering previous console RTSes were just ports of PC games with worse controls that's no surprise, thi

        • Er, huh? Is there some sort of FPS-RTS dichtomy I'm unaware of? There are tons of other genres you can play if you don't like FPSes.

          Yeah, I also play the Myst games, and a few random others. But RTS really have me hooked these days...

          Considering previous console RTSes were just ports of PC games with worse controls that's no surprise, this game is designed for the console and its controls.

          True- but who believes that? Very few who have already been burned on console RTS games...

          There's already a massive overlap between console and PC releases. Halo is Microsoft's "killer app" franchise, they use it to push their console first and foremost. That's why you don't see much PC support, the series is meant to sell XBoxes. What good would it be as a console seller if you could just get it on the PC?

          I know what you're saying, but it doesn't make me less disgruntled.

  • Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday November 18, 2008 @08:24AM (#25800493)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Exactly. There's no way that a console controller can give you the number of actions per minute that most pros have with Warcraft III or other RTSs.

    • Have you tried EndWar? I played the demo and found it gimmicky and oddly unpolished, but the voice control scheme was surprisingly usable.

  • The console will evolve the RTS (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Emnar ( 116467 ) on Tuesday November 18, 2008 @10:36AM (#25801949)

    Or at least, I hope it will.

    I've been playing RTS's off and on since C&C and Warcraft (the original), and I've always had a love/hate relationship with them. I love the strategy and tactics of the genre, but the whole concept of "micro" and continuously abysmal unit AI just infuriates me.

    For instance, in the dominant RTS paradigm, if I have a group of units standing in a group in my base, I get two choices: leave them in "free acting" mode, where if they're attacked by some plinker my opponent sends, they'll rush headlong into whatever danger lurks outside the base, outside the range of my fortifications; or they can stand there in "hold" mode, and get picked off impassively by ranged enemy units as their mates stand around watching them bleed.

    Why can't I tell them to automatically scatter and get behind fortifications to fight back? Or maybe retreat to draw the enemy into range of my big, immobile guns/cannons/wizards/what have you?

    Since micro is so much harder on a console than a PC, my hope is that console RTS developers will address some of these issues, to reduce the frustration of unit management.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tokerat ( 150341 )
      This won't do anything for the RTS. This is Starcraft 2 repackaged with XBOX fanboy characters (Flood = Zerg, Marines = Terran, and Covenant = Protoss). Nothing to see here.
    • Well said. Maybe the console limitations can lead to a new flavor of RTSs. A better one in my opinion too. Micromanagement sucks

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by vux984 ( 928602 )

      I've been playing RTS's off and on since C&C and Warcraft (the original), and I've always had a love/hate relationship with them. I love the strategy and tactics of the genre, but the whole concept of "micro" and continuously abysmal unit AI just infuriates me.

      Your complaint is valid, but largely applies to playing campaigns against the computer.

      One of the things that makes playing against humans more fun, is that they have the same limitations you do... they can't simultaneously micro-manage every sing

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by KDR_11k ( 778916 )

      Micro, aka tactics, is what makes an RTS different from a TBS. It adds the action element that lets players infuse battles with their skills rather than watching the system decide them based on the unit numbers or types.

      As for your example, why don't you tell them to hold position behind your fortifications? Do you want them to automatically rush out when artillery fires at them? What if that makes them rush headlong into enemy firepower? Maybe it's justified anyway since the arty is too dangerous and must

  • an rts, THE game to be played on a pc, is NOT going to get a pc port. usually it's not getting a console port - simply because it sucks to control the game with a controller.

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