If you were one of the many people who thought real-time strategy games couldn’t work on consoles, the original Halo Wars put that notion to rest in 2009. It’s taken the better part of a decade, but the sequel is almost here. That makes it a great time to look back at all the coverage we’ve done on Halo Wars 2 ever since Microsoft first announced the game.
Here’s everything you need to know about Halo Wars 2 ahead of its February 21 launch on Xbox One and Windows 10.
You’d be forgiven if you had lost all hope that a Halo Wars sequel would come out, especially considering developer Ensemble Studios shut down after the game’s launch. That’s why it was a surprise when Microsoft announced at Gamescom 2015 that Halo Wars 2 was, in fact, in the works. With Ensemble gone, Microsoft handed development duties over to Creative Assembly, the company behind the Total War franchise.
Shortly after the announcement, we went hands-on with the game for the first time. Check out editor Ryan McCaffrey’s reactions in the video below.
A few days prior to Microsoft’s E3 2016 presentation, rumors began circulating about a surprise Halo Wars 2 beta that would run June 13 - 20. Those rumors turned out to be well-founded, because that’s exactly what Microsoft announced during its E3 presentation (though the beta wound up being extended to June 22).
Microsoft also noted that the game would slip past its original 2016 release window and launch on February 21, 2017.
A listing on the Microsoft Store broke the news that anyone who buys Halo Wars 2: Ultimate Edition will also get Halo Wars: Definitive Edition, an enhanced version of the original game that comes packaged with all of its DLC.
The Ultimate Edition also comes with a Halo Wars 2 season pass and access to the game four days before its wider February 21 launch.
Microsoft isn’t a company to let a successful beta go by without touting it to high heavens in a press release. To that end, it detailed some pertinent statistics from the Halo Wars 2 beta. The beta, the release said, “exceeded expectations,” with players waging over a million matches and logging total play times of over 1.2 million hours.
Anyone who missed the Halo Wars 2 beta might have felt left out, but in August Microsoft announced another beta coming in early 2017. Among the promises for the new beta were a number of tweaks and improvements Creative Assembly said would make the game look and play better.
In October, Microsoft unveiled a new Halo Wars 2 multiplayer mode called Blitz. Blitz hinges heavily on cards you collect in the campaign, and by completing daily challenges. The idea is that you’ll go into battle with a 12-card deck that determines the kinds of units you can send in. More powerful units cost more energy to deploy, so you’ll have to think on your feet to craft a winning strategy.
While the new mode might sound complicated, Creative Assembly's Blitz project lead Oli Smith said they worked hard to make sure it wasn’t intimidating to newcomers. “It was important that if a player wanted just one deck to pick their favorite units, that should be a viable strategy,” he said. We didn’t want to overwhelm people by having too many other variables."
Speaking of Blitz mode, in October we got to go hands-on with Halo Wars 2, specifically with Blitz mode and the campaign. One thing we learned was that the game takes place six months after the events of Halo 5 — significantly later than the original Halo Wars, which took place 20 years before Halo: Combat Evolved.
The campaign level we played was an early one that didn’t showcase much that was new to the series. It consisted mostly of using Spartans and Warthog units to wreck enemy bases and build up friendly units. The graphics were noticeably better than the original, both from a high tactical-level view of the field and when zoomed-in on the units.
But Blitz mode was the clear stand-out during our time with the game. We learned that Blitz mode was created specifically for people who don’t normally play strategy games. With that in mind, it gives players fewer things to juggle and a faster, more streamlined gameplay experience. The goal of Blitz mode is to hold capture points longer than your opponent as you try to rack up the points required to claim victory. You can learn more about the specifics here.
The next bit of news came as a pleasant surprise. On December 20, anyone who had preordered the digital version of Halo Wars 2: Ultimate Edition got access to the souped-up remaster of the original game.
In January 2017 we got word that Halo Wars 2 would be coming to PC in physical form. If you like to enjoy your games on disc, rest assured you’ll be able to buy a physical copy of either the standard or ultimate edition.
One beta wasn’t enough for Halo Wars 2, so Microsoft gave fans a glimpse of Blitz mode between January 20 - 30. The beta let players fight in 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3 Blitz mode matches, which last on average between seven and 10 minutes — a far cry from sizable time investments required by many RTS games.
It’s unfortunate that there hasn’t been much buzz for Halo Wars 2 in the lead-up to launch. The game looks to be shaping up nicely, so we decided to look at some of the reasons it has something for everyone, regardless of whether you’re a die-hard RTS fan. Among the reasons are the intriguing new Blitz mode and the game’s underrated story.
Now you’re all caught up on Halo Wars 2, a game that promises to offer a full, deep RTS experience on console, along with a new mode that lets you get in and out quickly. If the final game delivers, it could keep players busy until their next anticipated game drops, whenever that may be.
Chris Reed is a freelance writer who enjoys the new trend toward shorter games. You can follow him on Twitter at @_chrislreed.
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