The Halo universe is a wonderful place to explore with a rich story offering an engaging experience. The timing was certainly right to expand outside of the FPS arena and into the RTS domain. The team at Ensemble Studios had all the right ingredients at their disposal to deliver an epic experience so let’s jump in and see what legacy they left in the wake of their untimely closure.

The challenge with RTS games on console platforms comes in when one has to micro-manage units. A task easily handled on the PC with a mouse can be the Achilles heel when poorly implemented with a console controller. Interestingly Microsoft was approached to use the Halo IP after research had been done on a workable RTS control system for the Xbox 360. Fortunately Microsoft said yes and took the chance to experiment with a new control scheme. So, with a certain amount of optimism, I ventured into the single player campaign, eager to discover if Ensemble had managed to pull it off.

The game oozes quality from the get go with a gooseflesh raising intro to the single player campaign. The cutscenes are epic with a solid narrative and eye popping visuals. You’ll find yourself burning the midnight oil just to finish a level and make it to the next cutscene so keep that coffee nearby. In the single player campaign you can only play from a UNSC perspective so all you Covenant loving gamers will just have to be content with the skirmish and online modes to get your kicks. Playing primarily with Sergeant John Forge, you have the full resources of the Spirit of Fire at your disposal, including the ship’s AI Serina who offers you “strategic” advice. Once on the ground you are allocated build locations where you can call down a fortress from the Spirit of Fire. Voila…instant base at your disposal, along with cookie cutter spots to plonk turrets and your choice of structures down.

Now for me this is flipping excellent and circumvents the mess that comes from the ‘place your structures anywhere’ approach. Each base has the same layout allowing the turrets the range to protect all buildings. You never get those annoying situations where you have units blocked in the back of your base because you were too dumb to leave enough space between the buildings. You’ll quickly get into a pattern and know where each of your barracks or vehicle assembly yards are…truly vital knowledge in the chaos of battle. If you are a fan of bunkering in with tons of turrets you are going to be disappointed with the four turrets per fortress limit. The great thing about the turrets is you build a generic one and then can upgrade its firepower for infantry, ground vehicles or anti-air focus. For a bit of cash you can change its function multiple times to suit the battle as it unfolds without having to destroy and rebuild it. So during the early game mode you have it infantry focused, then switch it to anti-air later on. Schweet.

The unit selection available to you is somewhat limited, however, they all need to be used effectively if you want to be an efficient player. In this case less is definitely more, and for the sacrifice you get a selection of quality units. The right combination and unit selection is vital in order to avoid a protracted war of attrition. Beyond the units you control you will come to love the support you can call in. There is nothing better than targeting a location for a bombing run, freezing an ultra unit so your units can pummel it without taking damage or healing all your units within a radius. These abilities can turn the outcome of minor skirmishes and lead to quicker victories if used appropriately. However, they are expensive to invoke and have a high cool down period so use them wisely. The abilities available are linked to your leader so experiment with the different leaders in skirmish mode to find the right fit for your playing style.

The control mechanism is so good that it should be nominated for an award. You will be able to tell after playing the game for only a short period that you are experiencing something special that others are likely to replicate in future RTS titles. Finally they got it right and delivered a practical and highly effective control mechanism to the console platform. Rejoice console gamers of the world! To select all units is a simple tap on the left shoulder button but should you tap the right shoulder button it limits to those currently visible on the screen. Navigation is remarkably simple to use with an “Ipod-ish” rotating system. Clicking on a building, like a barracks for instance, shows all the infantry units you can build on the right of the navigation circle and on the left the upgrade options for each unit. Upgrades rely on resources from your supply buildings and the number of silos you have. The higher the number of silos, the more advanced the upgrades you will be able to research.

During the campaign you just need to decide which units are more important for the current terrain / objectives and focus on improving those. It is easy to get caught up in the ‘upgrade everything’ approach, but this just wastes time. You will also get caught out with the unit cap foiling your plan for amassing an invasion fleet. The unit cap is very low and restricts you to a small army. So you need to trust your turrets to defend your fortresses whilst you take every available unit into battle during your attack phases. Fortunately you can expand your footprint and build additional bases by calling in fortresses to improve your supply and build speed.

The camera is unobtrusive and just lets you get on with the gameplay. Throughout the campaign I very rarely became annoyed with it and only on a few occasions did I have to adjust the angle or zoom slightly. The default zoom level and orientation is spot on for 95% of the missions, but if you want to tweak the zoom or angle, the controls are very straightforward. You can even set your preferences in the options menu so that it remembers your settings.

Whilst I didn’t get the opportunity to try it yet, you can play co-op through Xbox Live or via system link. Multiplayer and online connectivity is a vital component and will certainly extend the longevity of this title. It adds another dimension to the campaign and I look forward to reliving the experience with a buddy through the co-op mode. Reaching the end at level fifteen left me yearning for more and I am sure many of you will crank up the difficulty level and replay it to kick Covenant butt all over again.

A straightforward RTS which is simple yet with just enough depth to allow for differing strategies to be applied. The low unit capacity will be a concern to some but forces you to get on with it and attack. You will be drawn in by the story which is up there with the best and the overall quality is outstanding. Congratulations to the team at Ensemble for going out with a bang and giving the Halo fans everything they were looking for yet still delivering a solid title for the rest of us to enjoy.

Purchase: