The recent Halo Wars data wipe of the Xbox Live Leaderboards has raised a concern with me regarding digital distribution. I love the ability to browse, buy, and play with the furthest distance I move is to the fridge to get a cold one and the bathroom to drop the kids off at the pool. One of the things (just one, don’t dive any deeper than one today, ok?) that scares the crap out of me about this is not having the physical media in my possession. Why is this a big deal? Because one person pushed one button or tripped over a plug and thousands of Halo Wars players all screamed out at once as their Leaderboards were silenced. All data regarding Leaderboard status was lost forever. There is no chance of recovery, hours of gameplay are gone, no one will believe that guy that he was king of the hill.
Halo Wars is one of, if not the best RTS game on consoles. Check out our review if you aren’t all caught up. Microsoft is looking to expand on the title with a few new modes for multiplayer.
Keepaway Mode is the “Halo Wars” adaptation of Capture the Flag. Teams will battle it out to capture a free-roaming Forerunner Sentinel to score points before the other team. Capture three sentinels to claim victory.
Tug of War Mode is all about having a stronger army than the opponent. Defeating enemies is essential, but success is determined by a combination of the army, buildings and resources left standing in the end.
In Reinforcement Mode, all active battle units are provided in successive waves. Players must adapt their tactics and use the ever-changing set of units to outwit and outlast the enemy.
There’s also 100 more gamerscore points for you Achievement whores out there. No pricing or release date has been set as of yet, but I would expect at least $5, if not $10. My best guess for a release date would be early May, but who knows.
Halo Wars was released just under 2 weeks ago on March 3 and it has sold one million copies making it the best selling RTS ever to grace a console. I know it pales in comparison to the Starcrafts of the world and there has not exactly been that may great RTS on consoles, but in 2 weeks? A million units shipped? For a Halo game that does not involve Master Chief? Impressive. Hit the jump for the official press release.
So yesterday morning I was playing a little Halo Wars online because it’s awesome and I love RTS games, when out of nowhere my TV blacked out. Although the green light was on signifying the television was on, and my controller was vibrating because I was being attacked, there was no picture. I proceeded to unplug the TV, plug it back in, waited about 10 seconds and finally the screen came back on to reveal my base was swarmed with Marines and Hornets, and I was boned. I didn’t think much of this because it had never happened before. But I decided to give my TV some rest and I had to go to work anyway. Well then later that night, after I got back from work, around 10:15, I went back online to play a couple games to unwind. When the game began, I wasn’t overly thrilled with the map, but I was playing as the UNSC against the Covenant, so I figured I had a good chance of winning. Little did I know, this epic battle had just began. Allow me to interject here, and I’m not trying to brag, just telling it how it is, in 31 games I’m a rank 30 in Halo Wars and I’ve only lost 6 games, my best genre of video games is RTS—I challenge anyone reading this to Halo Wars, or Starcraft (the best game ever).
Want to get all the hidden skulls in Halo Wars just like you did in Halo 3? Some astute gamers have come up with a big list (after the jump) detailing where you can find everything. If reading isn’t your thing, why not just watch the video below showing you where to find all the skulls?
You know you want this game when it drops next week. If you haven’t already, check out Max’s review of the game. He plays RTS games like they’re going out of style, so he definitely knows his shit in that respect.
Second, and third impression: Wow, this game is really, really solid.
As you know, Halo Wars is a new real time strategy game within the Halo universe. Now, to begin, if you don’t play many RTS games you probably wont have as many issues with the game that I have; this is because when I play RTS games I compare them to, what I believe is still the best RTS game out there, Starcraft. An interesting thing happened however; Halo Wars really stood up and succeeded very well with all the issues it could have had being a console RTS game.
Action-figures.com was able to get a first look at the new Halo Wars Mega Bloks at the U.K. ToyFair. We reported on these about a week ago and I showed my displeasure for Microsoft going a tad overboard on the marketing of Halo. Remember?
My first thought after looking at the photos was that I wish these were Legos instead of Mega Bloks. The warthog kind of looks like an army van, doesn’t it? I would have enjoyed something more like the Lego Star Wars series. Big figures with small technical pieces that allow a more realistic re-creation. What do you folks think?
More photos with giant watermarks are located at action-figures.com. Halo Wars branded Mega Bloks will be in stores this summer.
Microsoft now has confirmation that it has done a fine job marketing Halo Wars even before the game has been released. The demo has officially set the one day record for most downloads of a demo over Xbox Live.
The demo was first released on February 5th and has amassed over 2 million downloads in its first five days. The demo gives players a taste of the campaign as well as a single skirmish map playable against the A.I. The demo is now available for Xbox Live Silver members as well.
In celebration of this grand achievement, you may now go download the third installment of the seven-part documentary video series titled Strategy on Xbox. The video gives gamers an inside look at how Halo Wars was created and also provides game tips. It is available on the Xbox Live Marketplace or visit xbox.com/halo for everything Halo related.
It will be interesting to see if the hype surrounding the game turns into huge sales numbers. Have any of you had a change of heart after playing the demo?
It is likely that if you own an Xbox 360, you have already downloaded and played the Halo Wars demo. The much hyped RTS has been in the eyes and ears of all Halo fans for some time now. The best part is, it is only going to get better.
Not only is the official release less than a month away but there are free prizes available for all of you Halo Wars demo downloaders.
It is ridiculously easy to enter, simply download the registration gamer picture and then the demo or if you already have the demo just download the registration gamer picture, that’s it! The contest entry is open until 11:59 P.M. ET February 8, 2009 so try not to forget because the prizes are pretty fantastic. Prizes are listed after the jump.
Mega Bloks are those big plastic building blocks that you have seen in the toy store, like large Legos. Microsoft has decided it would be a good idea to make a Halo version of these blocks.
MEGA Brands, the creators of Mega Bloks, has partnered with Microsoft Game Studios to bring you globally licensed Halo Wars Mega Bloks.
Under the global agreement, MEGA Brands will develop the first-ever construction toy sets based on the key characters and vehicles of Halo Wars under the Mega Bloks umbrella.
The Halo Wars Mega Bloks will be arriving in the Summer of this year.
Microsoft seems to be throwing all kinds of money behind Halo Wars. I am not sure where this one ranks in terms of whoring out a franchise but I personally am starting to become concerned. Please Microsoft, pull back on the reins.
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