Halo Wars

 Xbox 360
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 600 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 394 out of 600
  2. Mixed: 129 out of 600
  3. Negative: 77 out of 600
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  1. johnnyd
    Sep 18, 2009
    4
    If you have any respect for halo don't buy it or at least wear condoms on your fingers when you play it. Boring multiplayer(30 mins+of waiting for an attack)terrible campaign which has many anachronisms to the halo universe and limited gameplay options
  2. MikeS
    Mar 26, 2009
    3
    This is quite a poor milking of a solid franchise. HALO WARS is one of the most unintuitive and uninspiring games of recent memory due to it's unbearably simplistic RTS gameplay and lack of innovation. Why play this game when there are so many great RTSs (new and old) out therer to enjoy; even on the 360?
  3. JamesR.
    Mar 5, 2009
    4
    Clunky controls, horrble "alerts" system often
    relaying messages about base and mission critical objects being attacked way after the fact.
    Unit path finding is problem matic often wandering off course.

    The only thing the game has going for it is it's graphics and lore, however many will not
    be able to tolerate with the terrible game play to
    progress the story.
  4. EricF
    Mar 18, 2009
    0
    As a huge fan of the RTS genre I was quite excited when the first rumors of Halo Wars came out around 2 years ago. When the trailer came out about a year later, I was ecstatic; I thought "This is it, this is the game that will put Ensemble back on the map. It'll be like Age of Empires II, but with Halo units." Unfortunately, as I later learned, Halo Wars was only and ONLY be released As a huge fan of the RTS genre I was quite excited when the first rumors of Halo Wars came out around 2 years ago. When the trailer came out about a year later, I was ecstatic; I thought "This is it, this is the game that will put Ensemble back on the map. It'll be like Age of Empires II, but with Halo units." Unfortunately, as I later learned, Halo Wars was only and ONLY be released for the 360. I thought "What the heck Microsoft?! This game could have slingshotted your Games for Windows Live franchise!" After I played the demo, I thought "What a waste of 2-3 years, this game isn't even that great. Sure, it's got the units, it's got the story (one that doesn't follow the game or the books), and it has HALO written on it, but where's the game?" It wasn't challenging, not even in the least. The gameplay is terribly stripped, interfaces are practically nonexistsant, and I can't do a bloody thing with any of my units without the "Help Voice" coming on, even in Skirmish mode. I played on the hardest difficulty, and beat the other team in less than 10 minutes. Resource collecting is ridiculously underdeveloped, navigating the battlefield is far too easy (Covanent Grav Lift?), it basically takes away all of the fun of an RTS. I want to wall myself up, gather resources, and spew out an army worthy of Mordor, not build "Factories" that gather automatic "resources" and travel instantaneously to any hero on the map. I feel that Ensemble and Microsoft churned out a game that was made too easy so they could sell it to Halo fans.… Expand
  5. Star
    Mar 4, 2009
    0
    I saw this game on the store shelf and quickly grabbed it to purchase it. I love the Halo games and when I saw a new one I was excited all to heck. I speed home to put this into my 360.... when the game started I was sorely disappointed. I was expect a new action packed Halo game. What I got was a slow paced building game. MS this is a wonderful way to kill your best selling franchise. II saw this game on the store shelf and quickly grabbed it to purchase it. I love the Halo games and when I saw a new one I was excited all to heck. I speed home to put this into my 360.... when the game started I was sorely disappointed. I was expect a new action packed Halo game. What I got was a slow paced building game. MS this is a wonderful way to kill your best selling franchise. I would not recommend this game to anyone. PC is better for games like this and MS is trying to bank off of name recognition.… Expand
  6. Jerik02
    Jan 1, 2013
    2
    The game itself was great and enjoyable. I gave it a low score due to the ridiculous amount of multiplayer play time required to get all of the achievements. No one enjoys playing at least 18+ hours of multiplayer, assuming they're boosting, and far more if you earn the general achievement the "honest way". It is a cheap shot to get people to play a game more than they want to.
  7. PrimalHunter70
    Apr 22, 2012
    3
    I expect better from such a well respected developer. Like I said in my review of Endwar, this game is a crappy wanna be of Starcraft, Command and Conquer and Dawn of War. It's not the fact that its on Xbox that I don't like it, it's the fact that is a bad game. Halo Wars and ODST have tarnished my love of Halo, and the game's bad AI, voice acting and story are what make a belovedI expect better from such a well respected developer. Like I said in my review of Endwar, this game is a crappy wanna be of Starcraft, Command and Conquer and Dawn of War. It's not the fact that its on Xbox that I don't like it, it's the fact that is a bad game. Halo Wars and ODST have tarnished my love of Halo, and the game's bad AI, voice acting and story are what make a beloved franchise look bad. Can we rewind time, and make this game never be made?… Expand
  8. mralexander
    May 21, 2014
    4
    it's ok the trailer really made look like something amazing and groundbreaking,yet it fails along with the unit rate and so on so on. for me the graphics look sub-par compared to the other halo games even 2 in my personal opinion is it worth buying? that's up to you and you only but you'r probably going to be dissapointed

Awards & Rankings

43
#43 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2009
10
#10 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2009
5
#5 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 92 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 81 out of 92
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 92
  3. Negative: 0 out of 92
  1. Official Xbox Magazine
    90
    Though it's not a first-person shooter, Halo Wars packs all the Halo fixings you've come to expect: an engaging campaign, co-op play, engrossing multiplayer, efficient party-friendly matchmaking, hidden skulls, Legendary difficulty, and impeccable controls. We can confidently say that it's the foremost example of a real-time strategy game done right on a console. [Mar 2009, p.72]
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  2. Edge Magazine
    70
    It’s a feeling that never quite dissipates over the game’s core 15 missions, a sense of lean and focused game design which prizes the exhilarating tussle of conflict over long, drawn-out army building. [Mar 2009, p.86]
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  3. Game Informer
    90
    Halo Wars isn't perfect, but it's a huge step in the right direction for console RTS. For the first time in the sub-genre, I felt like I was playing a game instead of wrestling with a kludged-together control scheme. [Mar 2009, p.88]
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