Halo Wars 2 is the sequel to a strategy title that never really captured imaginations and showed its weaknesses of being a typical RTS, but on a console platform that wasn't a great fit for it. Halo Wars 2 however, will debut on Xbox One and PC, and so far the previews are reasonably positive.
It feels like a classic RTS we're told. It has hot keys, unit groups, quick-mini map functions, but a nice, contemporary, minimalist HUD to go along with it. Gone are the days of old, where an RTS game only gave you about a third of the screen to look at the action.
Buildings are placed in a grid design, so you won't be building bases just outside of your opponents, but you can take over resource points, a little like the Dawn of War games.
Micromanagement is going to be a major component of the game, which means that Halo Wars 2 is going to be much easier to play on PC than it is on console, but we're told that the game still plays well enough when you're using a controller.
There will be a bit of a rock/paper/scissors dynamic to the game, as is rather common place in RTS titles, though we're told that there's enough unit variety that that won't be too overt, keeping the thematic battles feeling fun and frantic.
As you can see from the above multiplayer footage, you can see that there are various generals you can choose from when picking your various races or factions, which give you different abilities and powers within the game.
Graphically Halo Wars 2 looks great too, especially the way certain buildings are dropped in by ship. It also supports resolutions up to 4K, and has a number of fancy lighting and shadow effects which add to the atmosphere.
How do you guys think Halo Wars 2 is shaping up?
Thanks to PCGamer for the above footage.
