Just what does it take to become a videogame icon? Arguably, you could say it’s all down to sales. If millions of people are buying your game it’s fair to assume that these consumers are also warming to the characters and becoming personally intertwined with the experience. That, or the lead role is simply really, really cool! With Halo it’s a bit of both. The Master Chief portrayed the role of the everyman so well that a substantial majority decided they were actually the last Spartan; if the helmet was ever removed, it would be their face smiling back at them.

Of course, with Halo 3 putting that particular story to bed (for the time-being at least) the universe had to expand… and that is has. When Halo Wars was first announced it garnered an interesting mixed reception. The world which Bungie had created was so expansive it would instantly fit into an RTS, but we’ve all seen how 99 per cent of console real-time strategy games turn out. Not only did Ensemble have to live up to the name, it would also have to destroy one of gaming’s most deserved stereotypes. To its credit, you’d be hard pushed to find a developer more suited to carry out the task; Ensemble Studios is without doubt one of the leaders in its field. The Age Of Empires games and their spin-offs have received universal praise and even the very first entry is still held in the highest regard. On top of this Ensemble has tasked itself with creating the ultimate console strategy game that will serve as a template for other developers going forward. As lead writer Graeme Devine tells us, "It’s been really refreshing [working on a console RTS] because we didn’t just think ‘hey, let’s port our PC RTS title’ we thought, ‘hey, let’s make this from the ground up for the 360’ and that approach has let us reinvent the RTS genre on a new platform. No amount of me saying we’ve done that is going to accomplish that as much as finally having everyone else play Halo Wars but I think you’ll be quite surprised at how much of the emotion we bring from the RTS genre on the PC across to the console without actually bringing any of the baggage. I think by ONLY looking at the console we’ve freed ourselves up from the preconceptions of what’s required to make an RTS game. That was very refreshing and made a huge difference."

The first nugget of info every fan worth their salt is going to want to know is how intricate the Halo story is in Halo Wars. Well, Ensemble is going pretty deep. Past stories are being expanded – not just from the games – and there will even be new developments as you progress through the game’s story. Set 20 years before the events of the original Halo, you will follow the UNSC crew and their ship, the Spirit of Fire, to boldly go where no man had gone at that time: to stomp on some Covenant. Devine put it slightly more eloquently: “[Halo has always been a character-driven experience] and this has been very close to my own heart. I think key to this was making the ship Spirit of Fire and its crew the central characters in our game rather than focusing on one single character. That let us play to our own strengths a lot more and I think the story and fiction of the story is tied into every aspect of the game. Right from how Spirit of Fire deploys on a planet to the characters that aid you and guide you.” It’s clear, even now, that the focal point is very much on the UNSC, especially as Ensemble refuses to answer whether or not the Covenant will be playable at this stage. Our guess is yes!

To give you an idea of how involved every member of the development team is, they’ve taken all aspects into account, even delving into how to deal with significant battles we’ve never actually seen, such as the assault on Reach where the Spartan-II army suffered huge casualties. "We’re set at the beginning of the war before Reach fell, so Harvest is a much more important battleground for us than Reach. Harvest fell to the Covenant in 2526 and we’re set in 2531 some five years later when the UNSC have taken control of Harvest back, or so it seems..." As you may expect, the bad boys of Halo are completely obsessed with destroying humanity in their search for the ringed worlds. "At the beginning of the game we worked a lot with Bungie on the story aspects of the game and where and when in the Halo universe was a good time for us to set our own story," Devine explained. "Bungie was super busy on Halo 3 but was super accommodating towards making sure we had a cool space of our own to tell our own story in and was involved in making sure the story remained true to Halo." Unfortunately, Graeme also promised a new villain who was similar to those who appear in James Bond. Right...

As you may know, the original idea for Halo was to make it a real-time strategy affair. Along the way those plans were scrapped and one of the greatest first-person shooters of our generation was born. Call it right place, right time if you want! Being a concept that was put on hold nearly ten years ago, it wasn’t an area Ensemble was particularly interested in examining. "I would say that we weren’t influenced at all by [the original RTS]. Mostly because we were ground up for the 360 and wanted to make sure the game was a great RTS game on the 360 and played to the console’s strengths, just as Halo played to the original Xbox strengths.” It’s videogame lore now that Bungie managed to make first-person shooters work on a console and now Ensemble wants to follow suit. Graeme was keen to tell us the goal was to create a fun, accessible Halo RTS in every sense of the word. As you may assume, this is far from easy and plenty of other developers have come up short. To try and escape from this category Ensemble actually ported some of its own titles to work with a controller. When it says it’s being built from the ground up, it really means it!

Naturally, many of Ensemble’s trademarks will be apparent. Rather than getting players to collect wood and gold, Halo Wars relies on a large-scale method known as ‘supplies’. The point? So you don’t have to worry about it too much and can concentrate on fighting. It’s a slight shame there won’t be much resource management, a personal favourite on the X360 team, but shifting gears so the experience is more action-packed will suit a console far better. This decision also opens up Halo Wars to a non-RTS audience, which many fans of the series are. It looks like a real-time strategy game and has many staples that go along with that, but when you sit down with it, the ‘Haloness’ comes out. Battles are quick and intense and you can start building up an army from the word go. More than this, however, is the amount of Halo equipment and vehicles Ensemble has to play with. The Warthog plays a huge role (and you’ll have plenty to play around with) and much like what we’re used to, it’s not going to stand up during a well-armed brawl. Playing to the Warthog’s strengths, namely the speed, will see a few more UNSC marines make the trip back home.

A big question on many lips is why a Halo lackey, who couldn’t care less about RTS titles, would be interested? Well, we can’t stress enough that this really is an extension of Halo’s world. During your campaign adventures you’ll still need to rely on what you’ve learnt during the trilogy to see you through. You’ll also be introduced to new worlds, such as the aforementioned Harvest, which has been destroyed by the Covenant’s presence, and Arcadia. Regrettably, the Halo worlds themselves aren’t in, but Devine hinted they may be available when it comes to multiplayer. In a similar fashion, it’s highly likely some of your favourite races will be involved somehow. The Sentinels will have a specific building known as a ‘Sentinel Shop’. Overrun this structure and the Sentinels will back up your assault but, as usual, it’ll need constant defending to ensure it doesn’t fall out of your control. As for The Flood, well, Graeme was deliberately cautious: "Well... spoilers! The Halo universe is interesting, deep and full of mystery. Wait and see." We think that speaks for itself!

Ensemble has even ensured the musical score is not only Halo-esque but directly tuned to the war itself. "Stephen Rippy scored the music for Halo Wars and recently finished recording the score in Prague and mixing it in Seattle," Graeme divulged. "I think we had quite a challenge representing the war from the angle of ‘this is the whole UNSC versus the whole Covenant when they were the MOST evil’ and getting that over emotional is something that the musical score has to accomplish in not only the single-player campaign but when you play the game in multiplayer. I’m really pleased with the results and I hope the fans will be thrilled."

Even with the amount of time and effort Ensemble has spent on the controls, there are numerous similarities to other games of the same ilk. The left stick moves the camera, tapping a button selects your infantry and holding A while going crazy with the stick will allow you to select multiple units, à la Command & Conquer 3. This continues with the menu system that’s purpose built to quickly strengthen your army while easily constructing structures. Get the balance right (and keep an eye on your supplies) and you’ll see a constant flow of new troops and a well-armed base. It’s also possible to select all of your followers and jump to hotspots across the map. As long as the controls don’t freak out when battles become extremely intense, the set-up works. Whether or not it’s enough to convert the haters is arguable at this point, but if anyone can, it’s the Chief’s forefathers.

As such, Halo Wars really is shaping up like promised. It’s positively drowning in recognisable articles and those who still play the trilogy will find it remarkable how quickly they identify with their units. Wolverines and Scorpions have the same pros and cons so there’s very little to learn if you know your stuff. At the moment, the focus is still very much on the USNC brigade, a fact Devine was clear to emphasise. However, Halo Wars will have a robust multiplayer mode and we’re near certain the Covenant will be playable. As for the single-player, through, that’s strictly Spartan based (with a healthy dose of co-op).

If nothing else Halo Wars will certainly be interesting when it’s released. As long as it finds the path of righteousness where Halo fans embrace it then we’ll all be happy bunnies. There’s a chance it may appeal to RTS enthusiasts more, but even then, if Ensemble achieves its goal of creating the best console RTS to date, it could change the genre for good!

Simon Miller