Introduction
We are going to continue reviewing the Halo series, we are going all the way back to the start of the human-Covenant war! We will be following the Spirit of Fire in Halo Wars 1. This is however not a first-person shooter where you follow the Master Chief, this time you will be playing in a Real Time Strategy setting! There is however the red team of Spartans that you can control! It is your goal to build a base and figure out what the Covenant is up to!
What did I think before playing Halo Wars 1
I did not know what to expect when starting Halo Wars, as I usually do not play Real Time Strategy games. I was excited to see the red team of Spartans in action. Not only that, but I was hoping that I could drive with some covenant vehicles into battle! I did not have any clue on what kind of buildings that you could build, I do have a good strategic mind and I hoped to prove it to be true in this game! For more information, we went to the Steam Page!
The Steam Page
https://store.steampowered.com/app/459220/Halo_Wars_Definitive_Edition/
The Steam page is quite short, however the trailers and screenshots look neat! This is the definitive edition and that means that all DLC is included along with some graphical enhancements. I also saw Scarabs in the screenshots, could you ride one in this game? Who knows!?
Rating
I rate Halo Wars 1 with an 8.3 before playing.
Time to get strategizing!
Story
The story starts with the ruined planet Harvest that needs to be investigated, and the Spirit of Fire needs to fight the Covenant. However, a different plot is also unfolding, and it seems that Spirit of Fire is the only hope to save humanity!
Rating
I rate the story of Halo Wars 1 with a 9.0
The story is very good and adds some additional lore as to how the human-Covenant war started. There is also a plot twist with some of my favorite enemies from the Halo series!
Gameplay
The gameplay starts with a tutorial on how to start building your base. It is important to have a reactor, this allows you to upgrade the headquarters and other buildings. Furthermore, you will need supply pads to support your war efforts. There are different vehicles that act like a rock paper scissor method. You have infantry, vehicles and air units. For example, if you encounter a Covenant wraith, you should attack it with an air unit like a Hornet! If the base spot is already in use, blow the enemy base up!
You will need different buildings to produce your war machines along with marines. As you progress in the story, more units will be unlocked. You will also be able to upgrade your units with more weapons. If you make Vultures, you can destroy everyone on the map! However, building a lot of tanks, also called scorpions in Halo, will annihilate everything in this game!
There will also be missions where you need to build multiple bases, this will also make sure that you can build more units. There are also reactors which are usually guarded by the Covenant, this can save you a space in your base! You will need to protect it after taking it over with some marines! If there are no wild reactors, you will need to build your own!
Rating
I rate the gameplay of Halo Wars with a 9.2.
The gameplay is quite unique for a Halo game, it works a lot better than you would expect!
Sound and Graphics
Graphics
The graphics are pretty good for an old Halo game that released in 2009, the cutscenes are also fun, but the special creatures that you encounter are not seen enough in the cutscenes. You will also see some characters from the main Halo Franchise, as well as the High Charity ship from the Covenant.
Sound
The soundtracks are good, like any other Halo game. The sound effects are also great. I do like that the characters talk if you are waiting around for new supplies!
Rating
I rate the sound and graphics of Halo Wars with an 8.2.
The soundtracks in Halo Wars are amazing!
What did I think after playing Halo Wars 1
My wife thought Halo Wars 1 looked quite fun, and we wanted to play Halo Wars 2 together! This is a review that will be aired later! I had a lot of fun with building a lot of units and slaughtering the whole map! Once you play on Legendary, you might need some real tactics instead of brute force!
After every mission, you will get a medal that is rated depending on how well you have performed! If you do the missions fast, you will get a lot of bonus points, however to do it fast you might need to wait in the beginning a bit to make sure that you have enough resources to swarm the Covenant
Rating
I rate Halo Wars with an 8.0 after playing.
The strategy comes alive in Legendary mode!
What are my personal thoughts about Halo Wars 1
If you enjoy real time strategy games, this game is amazingly Halo themed! Use your Spartans wisely to win the war and defeat the Covenant!
Rating
My personal Rating of Halo Wars 1 is an 8.8
I usually do not play many real time strategy games, but this one is a very fun game!
Last Words
Pros
- Experience the story of what happened before Halo Reach
- Amazing graphics and soundtracks for an old game!
- Build your base and make an army to defeat the Covenant
- Defeat the Covenant in real time strategy.
- Upgrade your base to empower your units!
- Fight alongside the red team of Spartans to beat the Covenant.
- Fight a enemy that you might have met in Halo 1!
Cons
- The special enemies are not in many cutscenes
- The army population is quite low
If you want to enjoy a Halo game that gives you more information on the backstory of the human-Covenant war, this is a game that you must play! You do need to love strategy games, though!
Final Rating
8.5
Let me know what you think of Halo Wars in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
If you liked reading this review, maybe you would like to share this review with your friends!
7.5/10 maybe.
“The army population is quite low”
512 mb consoles can’t handle it
hahahahahha!
an interesting change in the series!
It is a fun spin-off game!
Not bad for what it is.
It is a fun game!
i didnt even know that halo has strategy game
Are you interested to try it out?
I love Halo series, but I wasn’t drawn into the Wars series—it felt slow-paced and playing an RTS with a controller felt weird. XD
I liked the review )
Glad that you liked it!
Sounds superior, at least, to Halo Wars 2.
The idea was much more original at the time of Halo Wars 1, as well as the established lore was used in Halo Wars 1, whereas in Halo Wars 2 they tried to integrate it into the main series!
Review 2022, I never played any Halo games only watched anime
I liked Halo 1 + 2 but the RTS of this series newer got on my radar till now. The visuals look good and of what I read here the gameplay seems to be nice too. I’ll take a deeper look into this.
You should play it!