Hands-On With Halo Wars 52
The Opposable Thumbs blog got some hands-on time with Halo Wars, the upcoming RTS from Ensemble Studios. The early look is promising; concerns about the controls and the game's adherence to Halo's style have effectively been laid to rest. Now that work on the game is complete, Ensemble is shutting down, its employees splitting amongst at least two new game studios.
"Thanks in large part to the game's control and Ensemble's clear consideration for the limitations of a controller when playing an RTS, Halo Wars manages to achieve a level of playability and accessibility that truly is fitting of the Halo dynasty. As Halo brought console FPS games to the masses in a way that Goldeneye couldn't, so too will Halo Wars introduce RTS games to a whole new league of gamers. ... Ensemble has done a great job at emulating what made Bungie's titles so great; from the orchestral themes to the massive battles and the ongoing drama of the Covenant war, Halo Wars is a Halo title through and through."
Goldeneye couldn't? (Score:1, Interesting)
Other than the people who aren't old enough, who played Halo that didn't play Goldeneye first? I don't get that statement.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Other than the people who aren't old enough, who played Halo that didn't play Goldeneye first? I don't get that statement.
Goldeneye was the first console FPS that was a lot of fun, until your friends left of course or you had to go home. It was on the N64 so there was no online play. Halo 2 brought online competitiveness to console fps though unreal did try on the dreamcast but 56k didnt cut it =P. And for the people that think they are ruining an rts by making it controller friendly i dont know about you but WOW has destroyed my wrists and I hate to sit at my pc anylonger then I need to. Yes the mouse is faster and there ar
Re:Goldeneye couldn't? (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes the mouse is faster and there are more buttons on a keyboard to bind to, but my bed and tv with the controler is where i want to be. Not having my hand and ass go numb in my chair.
This isn't a problem inherent to the mouse and keyboard, but with your desktop arrangement and posture.
I sit at a PC nearly 12 hours a day and never have my hands become sore or numb. You should definitely look into fixing up your desk or how you sit if your hands are getting numb.
Re:Goldeneye couldn't? (Score:4, Funny)
Not having my hand and ass go numb in my chair.
Not a fan of the stranger?
Re: (Score:1)
$5 USB hub (Newegg.com)
$2 20 ft. mini-USB cable (Newegg)
$2 DVI>HDMI cable (Newegg)
Price for sitting on my *couch* playing on your dreadful idea the PC, that delivers TRUE 1920x1080 output, almost all AAA titles, thousands upon thousands of "casual" free/piss-cheap games, thousands of older games, access to all ITunes content, hundreds of video streaming sites, a cheap internal Blu-Ray player, a 1TB storage device, ability to plug in a controller, surf the net, AND listen to mp3s...
Priceless.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1, Insightful)
That's because this isn't a story. It's fluff about how "great" Halo was, and how Ensemble deserves a medal for forcing a console gamepad upon RTS players.
Just because Bungie/Ensemble nerfed their game to make gamepads usable doesn't mean it's "good."
Re: (Score:1)
If it works, it could strip PC games of one of the last genres that doesn't successfully translate to consoles; after that, who knows? Of course, nobody might be able to afford gaming systems by then...
Re: (Score:2)
You obviously haven't played many FPSs on a console then, because they do in fact "work". Just because you don't want to believe that they can work, doesn't mean they don't.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
If they make a game for both platforms, but give both the care they need for their inputs, I don't care either way, but that's rarely the case.
And just for reference:
I've been gaming on consoles since the seventies and PC
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
You can not win any FPS if you're not aware of your surroundings. Why on earth would assume that it's any different on a PC? Do you really think that PC gamers aren't skilled at a genre that originated on PCs and to this day is is still played best on them?
A skilled gamer -- regardless of the platform -- doesn't need to "pray" about wea
Re: (Score:1)
We get it, that many console gamers like to play casually. Just stop insisting that a gamepad is on par with a mouse for PC derived games, like RTSs and FPSs, because it's not.
Tell this to the however many thousands play it every day. Lot's of console players consider themselves more then casual and some are actually starting to get paid pretty decent money to play professionally, so I don't think you can make the claim they are not on par they are just two different categories. Maybe another poor sports analogy will help me explain what I'm getting at. Why Put the basketball hoop at 10feet when it
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Who are these people? Because Ive got a fair bit of experience playing halo with a controller, so if you sat someone down at a comp with limited experience playing fps' Id cream them, keyboard or no.
On the other hand, put someone down who is a master at it, and they'd cream me.
So what you're really saying is put down two people who have an absolutely identical amount of experience playing with their controller of choice, and the keyboard person will cream them. Which I dont think is necessarily true, but if
Re: (Score:1)
A mouse allows way more precision. Precision is absolutely necessary for FPS games. Try to draw a complex shape with your mouse right now. Then tell me if you can mimic that shape using a console controller.
I for one am sick of this argument too. And I want it settled just as much as you do, probably. I wish they would just put out a PC vs Console competition. Console players would be disallowed to use mice and
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
>>Remove auto-aim from the equation. And what do you get? Yes, thank you for proving my point.
Ssh! The console people who think they're elite FPSers will become irate if they realize the game is actually doing the aiming for them!
actually a lot of competitive people turn this feature off to avoid getting pulled onto an undesired target. /gasp some people CAN use their thumbs with precision.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Most PC to console games are stripped of features. Too many compromises are made just to get it work on a gamepad. This is a simple truth which is obvious to those that still game on PCs and also game on consoles.
If you like games that are made accessible for casual gaming,
Patch support as well (Score:1, Interesting)
From the article:
One of the new companies being started by ES employees will be picking up support for ESO (and Halo Wars)
To alleviate the concerns raised by the summary ;-)
Bring back Myth! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Bring back Myth! (Score:4, Informative)
it becomes obvious that the developers are more interested in making money than innovative games.
Ever played the Marathon games by Bungie? A huge proportion of Halo was a rehash of the Marathon games. A pretty good rehash mind, but a rehash all the same. They just altered the story a bit and dressed it up in modern graphics.
Sometimes, things are successful because people *like* more of the same.
Re:Bring back Myth! (Score:4, Informative)
I've played Marathon. It's an FPS where your home gets invaded by a consortium of alien races; you play as a green cyborg who can dual-weild and you take guidance from a female AI. Sound familiar?
It's a pretty good game too, you should get it. [bungie.org]
Re: (Score:2)
>>It's a pretty good game too, you should get it.
Awesome, thanks for that link. I spent most of my freshman year of college playing Marathon / Marathon 2 in UCSD's Mac labs. =)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
I think that something that changed between Marathon and Halo is what made Halo successful. Maybe it became more appealing to people outside the "hardcore" FPS crowd, i.e. it's a "casual" FPS and there are always more people who are "casual" than "hardcore"?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Wouldn't it be better to wait until it's actually released and we've all had chance to play it before deciding it's not as good as Dawn of War and Starcraft? I love DoW (really looking forward to DoW2 in a few weeks in fact) and Starcraft as much as the next RTS player, but I'm not sure why you're suggesting there's a problem with it in comparison when it's not even out.
It may rock, it may suck. Personally, I'll wait until I've actually, you know, played it, before deciding either way.
Re: (Score:2)
Let me get this straight, you berate them for not being innovative (despite not having played the game and not knowing much about the gameplay), then say they should bring back a 12 year old game?
I loved the Myth series (well, mainly Myth II, never played Myth III and heard it was rubbish), but rereleasing it would hardly be innovative. The way they've adapted the RTS to a console sounds interesting though.
Re: (Score:1)
Yes, clearly the Xbox 360 exclusive Halo Wars is going to have tons of competition from the upcoming Xbox 360 versions of Starcraft II and Dawn of War II. You know, the ones that haven't been announced and probably never will be.
In all seriousness, I never thought I'd see the day when the upcoming game that intrigued me the most was a console RTS game. I've clearly moved to some sort of alternate universe.
Er (Score:3, Informative)
I'm actually quite a big XBox fan, I think the 360 is the best console out there quite honestly because it simply has so many fun games.
But even I have to wonder what they mean by Halo brought console FPS to the masses in a way Goldeneye couldn't? Halo 2 only just sold as many units as Goldeneye and they're roughly the join top selling console FPS of all time. Whilst I think the Halo series rocks, suggesting they were over and above Goldeneye in terms of their success is outright false unless you're considering the entire series of Halo vs. the single release of Goldeneye which is like comparing apples and oranges.
I'm really looking forward to Halo Wars, but I'm a little puzzled by that particular comment. I just find it odd of all the console FPS games on the market, the only one they could think to compare against was the only one that has actually sold as many units as the highest selling Halo game!
Re: (Score:2)
I'm honestly wondering if/when people are going to stop going on about this. It's this extremely common assumption that nothing Halo did was special in any way, and its huge success is simply some kind of anomaly in the game market. [I mean, how could a game that SUCKS so MUCH get so many sales???] yada yada, it's tiring to hear this so constantly.
Halo brought a level of finesse and
Re: (Score:1)
...Halo brought a level of finesse and polish to FPS games that at the time hadn't been seen... ever. A good story was combined with good gameplay combined with massive outdoor levels combined with great AI combined with vehicles combined with awesome graphics, etc. etc...
I was under the impression that the Half-Life series did most if not all of this before Halo. I really want to say that more people go back and replay Half-Life than the amount that goes back and replays Halo... I'm not saying that the Halo series sucks, but I'm just saying that is WAS done before. It's just to experience it, you had to have a computer that cost much more than a single XBOX.
Who wrote this? (Score:3, Insightful)
Thanks in large part to the game's control and Ensemble's clear consideration for the limitations of a controller when playing an RTS, Halo Wars manages to achieve a level of playability and accessibility that truly is fitting of the Halo dynasty.
So controller limitations are truly fitting of the Halo dynasty? I hope this game has a demo as I can't possibly believe the controls will be half as responsive and effective as a mouse and keyboard setup. And what level of playability and accessibility are they talking about? How is Halo as a FPS easier to pick up than a fighting game or puzzle game? How does that possibly relate to its RTA counterpart?
As Halo brought console FPS games to the masses in a way that Goldeneye couldn't, so too will Halo Wars introduce RTS games to a whole new league of gamers.
Wow such objective language here. You might as well put that in the Halo Wars advertising campaign. Where is the objectivity in video game previewing and reviewing. I want to read about a game in an objective way, not be subjected to blind praise, and worship. I'm not a 360 or PS3 or Wii fan, I'm an objectivity fan. I own all three consoles, and a (moderately adequate) gaming PC. But my god am I getting really sick of 'independent' video game writers.
In the long run, the ability for the game's campaign to differentiate itself from the pack as something other than just a ho-hum, run-of-the-mill RTS in MJOLNIR armor, as well as the game's multiplayer experience, will determine whether or not Halo Wars has the success and longevity of its FPS predecessors
What ho-hum, run-of-the-mill RTS games are they referring to? Starcraft? Warcraft III? C&C? Warhammer? Just because those games don't use 360 Pad controllers?
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
While I agree that this is pretty much a worthless fluff piece, you're failing to actually read what they wrote. Those RTS games you names are NOT "the pack", they're the influential A list (whether you like them is another story, two of the games you mentioned I don't think are particularly impressive). Empire at War, the non-movie-licensed Lord
Re: (Score:2)
I hope this game has a demo as I can't possibly believe the controls will be half as responsive and effective as a mouse and keyboard setup.
I've tried a number of demos for other RTS type games on the 360 and I've never quite liked them. The controls just seemed too clunky and it was difficult to manage units; it's a bad sign when the game is set on "easy" and you *still* can't complete the demo mission without retrying a few times. Out of the few that I did try the "Red Alert 3" demo was about the only one that I thought was *okay*; I was actually able to beat both missions on the "normal" difficulty. I wouldn't pay full price for it, but i
Ensemble is closing, so... (Score:5, Insightful)
Am I the only one who is wary of purchasing this game because Ensemble is being shut down? There are two reasons for this:
1) It feels like I'm rewarding Microsoft for shutting down one of my favorite studios.
2) It pretty much guarantees no substantial post-game support.
I'm normally not counted among the "I hate M$" crowd, but I simply don't want to reward this behavior. I suppose management would look at poor sales as an indication that they did the right thing anyhow, but at least they wouldn't have my money...
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed, that's just crazy in these times of "release the beta as retail, fix it later". Most games benefit hugely from several patches, sometimes going from unplayable to good.
Shut down Halogen, shut down Ensemble (Score:2)
Like it (Score:1)