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Gameplay
A Covenant leader, known as the Prophet of Regret, calls down a special "Cleansing" ability from an orbiting ship to decimate enemy humans.
Halo Wars is a real-time strategy (RTS) game built specifically for the Xbox 360 console. Players manage resources and create and maintain buildings and armies to complete objectives. There are two playable sides, the human UNSC and alien Covenant, with their own units, strengths, and special abilities. Players establish their armies by building and expanding bases; it is at these locations that units are trained and upgrades resourced. There are only a few base locations on each scenario or map, making base fortification and defense a key priority. Destruction of a player's last base results in defeat if a new base is not quickly reestablished.
Units are trained, buildings upgraded, and special abilities utilized by using resources known as supplies. Supplies can be found on the battlefield and claimed, but the bulk of supplies are generated by building special structures at bases. The more UNSC supply pads or Covenant warehouses a player has, the more income is available for use. Some buildings and upgrades may also require "tech", which is managed differently by each faction. The UNSC builds reactors, each providing a new level of tech up to a maximum of four. The Covenant builds a single temple which houses all three tech upgrades, attained by researching Ages. While the Covenant has one less tech level, each upgrade is more expensive, and if a player loses their temple they also lose all the tech until it is rebuilt. Each base has only a limited amount of building room, so players must balance their resource buildings with other facilities, like those used to create vehicles. The number of units and vehicles a player can bring to the field is constrained by a population limit; more powerful units cost more than one population unit. Upgrades can increase the maximum population.
Combat in Halo Wars is balanced by a "rock-paper-scissors" system common in real-time strategy games. Ground vehicles are powerful against infantry, infantry is stronger against aircraft, and aircraft are exceptional at destroying vehicles. Each unit has a special ability; for example, human Marines throw grenades while vehicles called Warthogs run over enemies. The humans also have access to their ship, the Spirit of Fire, and its special abilities, such as the "Magnetic Accelerator Cannon", a powerful coilgun. On a unit-by-unit basis Covenant troops are weaker than their UNSC counterparts, but have access to cheap and powerful defensive shield generators, offering their bases a level of protection the UNSC lack.
In addition to normal units, each side can bring one leader to the field, a hero unit with special abilities. Leaders determine what special skills and units players can use, and each faction's leaders operate in different ways. Covenant leaders appear on the battlefield in multiplayer games as fighting units with their own attacks and upgrades. In comparison, human leaders determine the army's upgrades and specialties but do not appear as physical units.
Designed specifically for the Xbox 360, Halo Wars uses the console controller's A-button for unit selections. A single tap of the A button selects one unit, a double-tap all units of a like type, and holding down the button creates a paintbrush-style selection cursor. The X-button for moving to or attacking a target, and the Y button activates special abilities. The Left D-pad is used for navigating to battles or cycling through bases. The right D-pad is reserved for adjusting the camera angle . Buildings and upgrades are arranged and managed in a circle-shaped menu.
Synopsis
Setting
Halo Wars takes place in the 26th century in the Halo universe. In 2525, humanity was attacked by a collective of alien races known as the Covenant. The Covenant declared humanity an affront to its gods, the Forerunners, and has aggressively waged war against the humans since. The game takes place in the year 2531, roughly 20 years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo Wars opens on the human colony world of Harvest, six years after the planet was invaded by the Covenant; United Nations Space Command forces are still engaged in bitter conflict with the Covenant on the ground, and the UNSC ship Spirit of Fire is sent to investigate why the Covenant is still interested in the planet.
Characters
The commander of the Spirit of Fire is Captain James Cutter, a strong leader who has earned the admiration of his subordinates. Cutter's lack of political ambition has prevented him from climbing the ranks. Serving under Cutter is Sergeant John Forge, a gruff Marine whose devotion to his men has led him to be jailed twice for disobeying orders and disorderly conduct. Joining the Spirit of Fire's military expedition is Professor Ellen Anders, a scientist who is highly interested in ancient Forerunner ruins. The Spirit of Fire is run with help from Serina, a super-intelligent and highly sarcastic artificial intelligence with a dry and sardonic sense of humor; she demonstrates a level of contempt for the humans she assists.
Leading the Covenant search for Forerunner technology is a holy warrior known as the Arbiter, who has been personally tasked with overseeing humanity's destruction. The Arbiter takes orders from the High Prophet of Regret. Regret is one of three Prophet Hierarchs who control the entire Covenant.
Plot
The Spirit of Fire is sent to Harvest to investigate Covenant activity on the ruined world. Cutter learns from Forge that the Covenant is excavating something at Harvest's northern pole. Upon returning to Alpha Base, the UNSC's main outpost on Harvest, Forge finds the base under attack by a contingent of Covenant ground forces. Cutter assigns him to retake the base. Soon after, Forge undertakes a scouting mission and discovers that the aliens, under the direction of the Arbiter, have discovered a mysterious Forerunner facility. Forge defeats the Covenant forces before they can destroy the facility and the scientist Professor Anders arrives. Anders determines the facility is some kind of map leading to another star system, which is home to the human colony of Arcadia.
After driving back a Covenant counter-attack on the facility, the Spirit of Fire travels to Arcadia, where the Covenant has begun raiding local cities and slaughtering civilians. Forge makes contact with the local SPARTAN-II special forces, and assists in the evacuation process. The Covenant builds a giant energy shield to hide the construction of a gigantic Scarab super-weapon; the UNSC use experimental equipment to break through. The destruction of the Scarab is a temporary victory; the Arbiter, under orders from the Prophet of Regret, kidnaps Anders. Forge attempts to fight the Arbiter but is defeated; Anders convinces the Arbiter that she will come quietly if Forge is allowed to live.
Forge returns to the Spirit of Fire and the crew follows Anders' transponder signal to an uncharted planet in another star system. The surface of this planet is infested by the parasitic Flood, who attack and consume any sentient life they encounter. While fighting off the Flood the Spirit of Fire inadvertently activates a Forerunner docking station and enters the planet. The crew emerges on the other side and discovers the planet is actually hollow. Here the crew discover the Covenant plan to activate the massive, technologically superior Forerunner fleet inside the planet and use it to obliterate humanity.
As the Forerunner ships are powered up, Anders makes a quick escape into a teleporter and is rescued. Cutter decides to destroy the Forerunner ships rather than let them fall into Covenant hands; Anders formulates a plan to destroy the planet by detonating the ship's faster-than-light reactor. The explosion would cause the planet's miniature sun to supernova. Forge and his Spartans are ambushed by the Arbiter and his Elites before they can prepare the reactor; the Spartans finish off the Elites while Forge stabs the Arbiter with the alien's own blade, killing him instantly. The reactor is damaged during the fight, necessitating a manual detonation of the core.
Forge volunteers for the suicidal task, telling the Spartans they will be needed in the fight. The Spirit of Fire slingshots around the sun and escapes just as the Forerunner fleet and Forge are obliterated by the planet's blast. Without its reactor, the The Spirit of Fire is left drifting in space. The crew goes into cryonic sleep for long-term storage as Cutter takes a last look at Forge's empty cryo tube. If the game is completed on the "Legendary" difficulty mode, after the credits Serina wakes Cutter and tells him that "something has happened".
Downloadable Content
After Ensemble's closing, Robot Entertainment announced that it was working on downloadable content (DLC) for Halo Wars. Pottinger compared Robot's support for the game as an ongoing effort rather than a one-shot deal, akin to Bungie's post-launch support for Halo 3. In addition to DLC, Robot will work on balancing, bug fixes, and other patches.
The first downloadable content package, dubbed "Strategic Options", adds three new multiplayer modes. In Keepaway mode, players try to capture and hold Forerunner units, similar to capture the flag. Tug-of-war mode, players earn points by fielding large armies and destroying enemy units. In Reinforcement mode, players acquire forces through unit drops instead of building them in armories. The amount of resources and reactors available determines the types of units deployed as well as the upgrades they can earn.