Against another player it was much like a normal RTS game, gathering resources and playing cards, but against the AI, it felt more like a horde mode. What is neat is that the game takes on two roles depending on if I was playing against someone else, or the AI. The hook here is that each commander has specific cards only they can play, so it becomes a balancing act. Blitz mode has been a feature for the sequel and it is actually a clever way to play the game for those willing to spend the time to build solid decks.Įach player has a deck of 12 cards, and can customize up to 18 decks (three for each commander) if they so choose. The new Blitz mode feels similar to Warzone from Halo 5, in that it gives Microsoft another reason to sell us card packs through microtransactions. Of course this would not be a modern Microsoft game without a mode that contained decks of cards. I loved being able to build what I wanted, and relying on strategy of attack rather than resource gathering. It is a frantic mode that actually ended up being my favorite of the pack. This mode basically gives players unlimited resources and tasks them with building the biggest army the fastest. Standard deathmatch and domination modes are once again present, as well as a mode called Strongholds. It never overstayed its welcome, and outside of one mission, rarely threw too much at me.īeing an RTS though the real bulk of the game comes in its multiplayer, and Halo Wars 2 brings both old and new ideas to the table. The campaign features 12 missions and lasted about seven hours in my playthrough, which feels a little shorter than the original game, but still plenty lengthy. This game is fun, and it is worth mentioning the entire campaign is playable in co-op. There are even boss battles that work a lot better than expected. Sometimes I was leading a squad of Spartans, while other times I was amassing an air-based squad to take various points on the map. This campaign is excellent, and it slowly introduces players to the mechanics of the game, while also remaining interesting throughout. I can safely say after plowing through the entirety of the missions that fear should be left at the door. Very little was shown of the campaign before launch, which led to plenty of speculation on its quality. It does do alright on its own though, and having at least knowledge of who the Spartans, Covenant, and Brutes are really helps, but man the presentation is simply unparalleled. The story assumes a lot of knowledge of the Halo universe, so for those coming in fresh, expect to be asking plenty of questions. The team at Blur really knows how to craft these cut scenes. The story is fantastic, and once again the cinematics are some of the best I have ever seen. The game begins with them receiving a distress signal from an Ark in their vicinity from the UNSC, as they investigate they discover a new and powerful foe named Atriox, who has indeed set a trap for them. Imagine their shock to learn of the events that have transpired since their last mission. The game begins with them waking from a 28-year cryosleep, as the team finds themselves now in the current timeline of the Halo universe. The sequel once again follows the crew of UNSC Spirit of Fire. The units are designed with the genre in mind, and transitioning it feels like a no-brainer. Halo Wars works because for those that remember, the series actually started out as a strategy game, as opposed to a first-person shooter. I love the genre, but have found very few games that match the level of fun I had with Blizzard’s original title. I cut my RTS teeth on StarCraft, still one of my most-played games of all-time. Having spent ample time with the follow-up to the most improbable sequel this year, I can say that Creative Assembly has once again nailed the feeling of the genre, while still managing to make it work on a controller. Halo Wars is still considered one of the few to really nail the mechanics while still being playable with a controller, so when Microsoft announced a sequel was coming, there was certainly an audience excited for the genre to return. Very few games in the genre have ever made a blip on the radar when it comes to console releases. Real-time strategy games on a console the idea has been preposterous for years.
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