Developer: 343 Industries, Creative Assembly
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Release date: February 21, 2017 (Ultimate Edition purchasers get early access on February 17)
Available on: PC, Xbox One (reviewed)
It’s been eight years since 343 Industries and Ensemble Studios gave us a RTS set in the Halo universe. 2009’s Halo Wars proved that real time strategy games could work well on a console, and the game delivered a pretty good story as well, detailing the adventures of the crew of the UNSC Spirit of Fire against the Covenant. Victory was won in that game, but it came at a cost. Now 343 Industries teams up with Creative Assembly (the Total War series, Alien: Isolation) to bring us the long awaited sequel in Halo Wars 2. The game brings with it a brand new campaign against a new enemy, along with an all new multiplayer mode called Blitz.
The campaign begins 28 years after the first game and shortly after the events in Halo 5. The Spirit of Fire is brought out of slipspace above an Ark that has been attacked by a powerful force. Captain Cutter sends a crew down to investigate, where they find the AI Isabel. Isabel tells them the Ark was attacked by Atriox, the leader of a force known as the Banished. Atriox has been gathering forces in the wake of the Covenant’s defeat, causing havoc across several worlds. Cutter, along with Anders and the rest of his crew need to team up with Isabel and find a way to stop Atriox from spreading throughout the galaxy. The campaign delivers a more focused story than the first game, though at 12 missions it is slightly shorter. But the eight hours or so it takes to complete the campaign are varied, taking you from basic base building to making a stand against impossible odds. Later levels will have you scrambling and employing a fair amount of strategy in managing your resources to ensure your success.
Gameplay is very similar to that in Halo Wars, with a couple of tweaks. You build your bases, and gather both material and energy to allow you to train troops, erect new structures, and deploy vehicles, which include the old stand-by Warthogs, the anti-air Wolverines, and the fighter craft Hornets. This time around you use your main building at the base to recruit your basic Marines (handy for creating troops at mini bases, where you don’t have the space to build a Barracks). The Barracks is used to create specialized troops like the flame-throwing Hellbringers or the anti-tank mechs, the Cyclops. Skulls can still be triggered for perks on the battlefield, and a new type of collectible, called Phoenix Logs, can be found to provide background to the story as well as the game world. Even the multiplayer maps (the game at launch has eight) have their own backstory of sorts. There’s a fair amount of lore to take in here, and it’s worth reading through. Voice acting for the main characters is well done, with Isabel being a standout. Actress Erika Soto (Joulle from ReCore) imbues the AI with plenty of emotion and humor, and makes her instantly likeable. The musical score by Gordy Haab (Star Wars: Battlefront) provides a suitable backdrop to the proceedings.
Visually, the game is nicely designed, though some alien structures look all too familiar, with nothing really new being brought to the table. Cut scenes are stunning and at times thrilling to watch. Unfortunately they can’t be skipped upon replaying a mission. And you may wish to replay those missions to find all the Phoenix logs and get that top score. There are four difficulty settings (Easy, Normal, Heroic, and Legendary), so players of all skill levels are able to jump in without any problem. Even on Easy levels can provide a nice challenge, and that ramps up on harder difficulties. The controls are tight for the most part, though at times they can be slow to respond. Those familiar with the first game will have no trouble diving in, and the tutorials quickly bring newcomers up to speed. The left trigger brings up Captain’s powers in a wheel for you to use to give your troops an edge during combat. There is a cooldown time for each, and you will need the proper amount of supplies and energy to utilize these perks, which ties in as to how you build your bases and manage your resources.
For the most part, the game runs smoothly, but I did encounter some technical problems in my playthrough of the campaign. I did hit occasional frame rate slow down, and one mission in particular proved to be quite buggy, failing me on multiple objectives before I even had a chance to begin. The controls even locked up on me, preventing me from taking action against the enemy forces. Curiously, the game would not let me fail in the end. Despite me being unable to respond and the object I was protecting down to zero health, the mission would not fail. I replayed the mission three times, having similar results each time (though, to be fair, things improved each time I replayed the mission). It may be that a day one patch may solve this issue. It’s fortunate that the glitch didn’t cause you to fail the mission, otherwise this could have been a game killing bug. But I was able to continue on to the subsequent missions without further incident and reach the end of the campaign. Unlike the first game, the ending here serves more as a set up for a sequel than actually providing a satisfying conclusion. A cut scene following the credits hints to something much bigger, as if 343 Industries and Creative Assembly had a much bigger tale to tell than would fit in a single game. It’s a satisfying campaign overall, but the ending does leave you feeling unfulfilled. Hopefully a sequel won’t take another eight years to cone along.
In addition to the campaign, players can also participate in a variety of multiplayer modes. All can be played against AI, as co-op (the campaign can also be played as co-op), or against other players. There are three basic types of game play- Deathmatch, Domination, and Strongholds- and all are familiar to anyone who has played any shooter multiplayer. These game types are spread across five game modes- Versus AI (Deathmatch, Domination, or Strongholds for up to three players), Rumble (Strongholds, for up to 6 players), Team Objective (Domination, 4-6 players), Solo War (Deathmatch, 2 players), and Team War (Deathmatch, 4-6 players). Skirmish also makes a return, which can be played solo or co-op against AI forces. All have daily challenges to be met. But the newest mode on display, and the one that may generate the most interest, is Blitz.
Blitz is a mode that adds collectible cards into the RTS formula. Instead of building bases from which to acquire your forces, you’ll need to build card decks. Card packs, each containing five cards, are acquired by completing campaign missions, advancing in rank, meeting challenges, or can be purchased separately. Cards can be a type of combat unit, a vehicle, or a perk like Archer missiles to rain down on your enemy or turrets to hamper their advance. Cards are randomized as they come up, meaning you may not have the card you want at a specific time even if you’ve put it in your deck. This forces you to think on the fly, trying to counter what your foe throws at you. There are six leaders to choose from, each with their own special perks, and you can build multiple decks for each. Aside from playing against human opponents, you can also jump into Blitz Firefight, which can be played solo or co-op. Blitz Firefight pits you against waves of increasingly difficult enemies. It’s Horde mode but with cards used to decide what forces you’ll have at your disposal. Once you play a card, you move units as you would in the campaign mode. Even against the AI, Blitz seems to have a steeper learning curve than most multiplayer modes. It’s a different take, but as it does rely on a certain amount of luck it remains to be seen how well players will take to it.
Matchmaking for multiplayer matches for the most part works well, though on occasion it creates lopsided teams. For the most part, I got into matches quickly, though there were times the search radius went to maximum (even at this I had a 5 minute wait at most). The game has 8 maps to play in at launch, and they’re nicely varied. I did notice, at least at the time of writing this review, some modes were more populated than others, and some you couldn’t get a match with other players as they were just empty. I expect that may change once the game gets into wider release after February 21 and more people are playing the game. There are daily challenges to be met (such as playing three matches) as well as weekly challenges, so there is some incentive to return to the multiplayer outside of the gameplay. Each challenge completed nets you a new Blitz pack, and more cards makes it easier to build a solid, and balanced, deck.
Overall, Halo Wars 2 improves over the formula set by the first game. The campaign, while a bit shorter, has a more focused story and a great new character in Isabel. It’s held back from being better with it’s open ending and obvious set up for a sequel. The campaign is also marred by technical issues, especially one mission that had major glitches. A patch will hopefully correct this, but until that happens, you may need to restart certain missions a couple of times. Multiplayer is fun and varied, if not overly familiar to anyone who has played multiplayer in a shooter. Blitz offers a fresh take by adding cards into the mix. It has a bit of a learning curve and luck plays a big factor, but it is fun to play. Time will tell whether players adopt the new mode, or decide it’s too luck based to bother with. Fans of the franchise should enjoy the game, and for those who aren’t fans of first person shooters, this may be a nice way to get into the Halo universe. The Halo RTS has a shiny new coat of paint, but it’s more than just beefed up visuals and stunning cut scenes. The gameplay has been upgraded as well, making this worth your time.
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