Should I play Halo Wars?

The long and short of it: No
When was it made: 2009

I know I've broken my cardinal rule by reviewing something that is only a year old, but I didn't have time for anything older this week, so nya.

Developed by Ensemble Studios, Halo Wars is the odd-man-out of the Halo family as it is the only RTS (real-time strategy) in the series. It is the story of the Spirit of Fire and its crew as they covenant flood explosions... sorry, it's a Halo game. While the universe is incredibly in depth, it has the same story as EVERY Halo game. The saving grace of the Halo franchise is the game mechanics and style of play, which are absent in this game.

The game flew in a bit under the radar, but there is a bit of buzz still surrounding it simply because it is a Halo game. It also holds the distinguished honor of being a console RTS, something that sets it apart from a lot of other games. Now, especially in light of Halo: Reach, people are going back to previous games in the series, and Halo Wars comes up a bit.

This is a real time strategy game, so be prepared to sit up above the action instead of being in it. The game has its moments, but it is a RTS on a console: a game type that is notorious for only being good on PCs. Due to the lack of a mouse, unit selection is a huge pain in the ass, and the lack of a submenu makes unit control even more difficult. The number of times I have screamed at the screen because all of my units started running away because there is no "hold position" command makes my head spin: it also makes the game into a war of attrition instead of strategy. Pump out units, throw them at enemy. Every time. The only reason this game is worth playing is if you have friends playing. So if you have friends who want to play with you and don't mind an RTS on a console, then put in Halo Wars. But if you like RTS because of the strategy and control it gives to your armies, than stick to the PC.

Now I have had fun with this game, don't get me wrong, and it is fun to play with friends, but the fact of the matter is that there are games that play better on consoles and there are games that play better on PCs, and while this is mostly decided on a game by game basis, there is one type of game that is always better on PC: real-time strategy. The game does have its moments, and the game where the enemy sent 3 scarabs after me in one round will live in my group of friends for a long time, and Halo Wars did a good job addressing the major issue consoles suffer when doing RTS, but putting chocolate on a piece of white cake does not devil's food cake make. If you want to play a good RTS with friends, then get a good PC game-no amount of tweaking with mechanics will make a console RTS as good.