@ NinjaKido

You can't blame jagged for his assumptions, you have trolled in the past.



As for this game... I remain at a crossroads. On one hand, It's made by ensemble. And on the other hand, it's a console RTS.

Well, I know it looks good, anyway.

The game intro said 25 years before the events of Halo. Unless I have it wrong ...

@ The Anarchyz: The controls are easy to pick up. You use X to send your air, tank and Marines - and they'll attack on their own. You use Y for heavy attacks.

You use the left bumper to regroup the entire unit (air, ground forces) or select a group and hit A and direct them to an area. On the multiplayer map CHASM, I found a Covenant supply plant and we attacked it. Afterward, I seized it and highlighted two sniper platforms and the main supply facility and put Marines on each structure.

The ODST Marines are awesome. They held off a horde of tanks and grunts long enough until I brought reinforcements in.

I had no probs with the controls at all. It's easy to pick up.

The cool things are - if you are familiar with Halo, you'll hear the recharging sound from the Spartans, the whizzing laser sounds from Covenant dropships and Ghosts and the whine of the Warthog. From a distance, the graphics are sweet - but up close, they are meh x 2.

Concerns? That on easier levels, you can build enough supply pads to generate more than enough income to buy pretty much anything and wipe out Covenant forces in a swoop. I am going to try to most difficult level this evening.

I tried to play LOTR RTS and wasn't pleased. End War is cool, but easy for an non-RTS gamer to get confused. And I didn't cut it any slack because it's a Halo title. I am not faded by Halo in the name - I downloaded this with a critical eye. I was like 'Oh my, another RTS' but still went in with an open mind. I think it's going to be a great game and could win over some PC-only RTS fans if it holds up.

Thank you for the preview, madskillz. As silly as it is, I think you just sold me on the game.

LOL. I am not an RTS fan, and I had a blast playing the demo.

The demo drops in less than a week. Hold your $$$ until you all play it. For me, I am sold, though I'll end up getting a review copy anywho.

The only RTS I've ever been a quarter of the way decent at is Warcraft III. Starcraft is beyond me.

Is the pace a bit more relaxed or is it still a super frantic "who can build their forces faster oh shit the enemy's already here" sort of affair?

nice preview, i will buy this game for sure

Well I fully paid for it when I pre-ordered it. I just hope it can be as good as C&C 3 and the like. EA has made the best console RTS games thus far so Halo Wars has to top theirs to impress me. I guess I'll see when I get to play the demo.

UPDATE: In bold. Only does 3 vs 3 in Skirmish.

I have finished with the demo and I give it a 4.5 out of 5. It rocks.

I found several features I didn't realize was in the game. The more supply pads you build, the higher your wealth. And when you have a couple Scarabs coming at you, you need to have a backup plan. I got creamed when two attacked both of my bases and I couldn't get enough troops deployed fast enough.

The features are: Mass shot from Spirit - airstrikes - and deployment of shock troops. The Mass shot nailed the Scarabs on the first shot. The airstrikes work ok - it's hard to get the right angle to use them. Another cool feature - healing. You can clump your soldiers together and order a wave of health beamed down.

Lastly, you can select a certain group of soldiers - en-masse - by hitting the A or B button. It works if you need to move Marines into cover fast.

I hope this game really becomes a hit.

Oh, and you can use your own music in-game too.

Mad Skillz, out.

Thanks for the updates dude.

when do we gold account people get to try the demo?