I’m not sure what took me so long to purchase this game; I had been pondering the idea of getting it for a while but couldn’t bring myself to part with the cash, and so the Halo Wars 2 pc review was born.
A friend explained that Halo Wars 2 is completely different to the standard first-person Halo series and compared it to Command and Conquer as the type of gameplay.
I was in GAME last week and saw that a copy had gone into the sale at £30 which forced my hand into purchasing it – I’m glad I did.
A story from the future
The Ark is a futuristic haven, where the UNSC team have been mysteriously awoken to tackle one of the most deadly of all evils – The Banished. The powerful and deadly brute faction are led by a warrior known as Atriox in an effort to take down any other force that stands in their way.
I haven’t played the original Halo Wars game to date, but I gather that you don’t need to play the predecessor in order to understand what is happening with the second – the graphically detailed cut scenes take out all of the guess work.
Halo Wars 2 pc review vs Red Alert 2
After getting the Millennium bug scare out of the way I focused my attention on Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 as one of the most addictive RTS games I’d played (bearing in mind I was a spotty 10 year old at the time).
Like many PC gamers, I spent several hours on the original title before buying the Yuri’s Revenge expansion pack.
As PCs and graphics advanced with the likes of new consoles, Red Alert 2 soon got placed on a dusty shelf. 17 years on and Halo Wars 2 rekindled that nostalgic feeling, offering stunning graphics but delivering that Command & Conquer type RTS feel which I’m currently loving.
Not your typical battle
The initial RTS concept is as you’d normally expect i.e. starting out by building a base, creating supply and power generation structures, a barracks and a garage to deploy troops and heavy machinery for your imminent battle.
Once you have mastered the above and begin battling your way through the fog of war, you typically gain leader points – you can use LT to bring up a wheel of special abilities such as healing packs of team members of firing missiles at a specified location.
I’m currently only a short way through the mission listing (as missions are getting more challenging as I progress), but I can speak for one of the early missions that at some point you’ll diminish the enemy’s (the Banished) base and a boss will appear through a portal. General Decimus makes an appearance with a massive health gauge – I don’t think at this point that it’s the last we see of him. I think this is a good feature as it mixes things up a little rather than just battling waves of militants and other tanks/aircraft.
Playing around with blitz mode
At the start of the game you have the option of completing the tutorial (which I did), this incorporates a basic and advanced walkthrough, as well as a snippet to blitz mode.
Dissimilar to the campaign and skirmish modes, blitz offers more of an arcade-style battle where you use a deck of 12 cards consisting of units, buildings and abilities to help you progress against your enemies. Read more on Blitz Mode here.
Star struck Gaming Verdict
That’s about all for the Halo Wars 2 pc review, if you’re into a decent strategy game, love the idea of blowing up someone else’s base, along with teaming up with friends online to defeat others then this is one for you.
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