First gameplay footage of Halo Wars

by Jared Rea { Jul 11th 2007 at 2:03AM }

Hot from the smoldering work stations at GameVideos, 30 seconds of gameplay from Ensemble Studio's highly anticipated RTS, Halo Wars. It's only a tiny morsel of what's in store for us down here in Santa Monica, but it sure is a tasty one. Halo's signature vehicle, the Warthog, flying majestically through the air as though it were a Pelican. Gorgeous, close-up shots of units that make us weep -- knowing that we'll be spending the game zoomed out for tactical reasons.

All in all it looks to be very Halo, all the way down to the selection reticule. We'll be sure to hunt it down this week and let you know how it's shaping up. If you don't feel like squinting, visit GameVideos and download the high resolution version.

Tags: breakingnews, e307, e3breakingnews, ensemble studios, EnsembleStudios, halo, halowars

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Truepatriot @ Jul 11th 2007 2:07AM

i love halo and all but that was really um ......boring?

mike @ Jul 11th 2007 2:10AM

Boring? Are you insane? Have you ever played a RTS game before?

Truepatriot @ Jul 11th 2007 2:15AM

ofcourse i have man.i have cnc3 now on pc =)
this just didnt excite me =/ ill just buy h3 =D

Mikeawesome @ Jul 11th 2007 2:40AM

I'm in the same boat.

It looks like standard RTS fare, which I'm not totally into anyways.

Though I suppose seeing a Grunt Rush would be interesting. :P

mike @ Jul 11th 2007 2:08AM

omg. Thats alot better then I expected. The graphics look real good. Better then starcraft 2s. That aside, This being a console RTS with controller only and the fact that starcraft is the greatest RTS of all time, theres no way this will be better then it. However, its deffenitly a must purchase in my book.

Torin @ Jul 11th 2007 4:11PM

Of course it looks better than starcraft 2! starcraft 2's video was just the very basic essentials, don't bag on sc2 graphics yet.

accidental @ Jul 11th 2007 3:28AM

Then again this RTS is being designed specifically for the 360 whereas most/all console RTS' were originally PC titles. I don't think this game will play on the weaknesses of an RTS with thumbsticks, it'll play on it's strengths so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

Fuzzyfreaker @ Jul 11th 2007 2:30AM

Now THAT'S what they needed to show at the press announcements. New stuff. Shiny stuff. Stuff beyond 2007.

I need a plan! I need to see that Microsoft has a plan for further beyond, and that short little clip there surely proves it.

More Microsoft. More.

kingofwale @ Jul 11th 2007 2:31AM

get mouse and keyboard support and we will take, Microsoft

will @ Jul 11th 2007 2:45AM

The only RTS game I like (well, love actually) is StarCraft. For some reason I just couldn't get into any other ones, including WarCraft. Maybe Halo Wars can change that... It looks promising.

Kyle K @ Jul 11th 2007 2:52AM

Starcraft 2 looks superior in most regards. Especially how they conceive the classes based on the need of those strategic roles in the game - not obligatory features of units from an already-established storyline.

mike @ Jul 11th 2007 3:55AM

I know what your trying to say, but starcraft 2 also uses "obligatory features of units from an already-established storyline". That game would be called starcraft 1

Martez @ Jul 11th 2007 3:27AM

This looks better than Halo 3.

Djuan @ Jul 11th 2007 3:33AM

This game is shaping up pretty nicely!

I'm just glad that this one won't be releasing this year. I'll be busy with any one of the trillion other games coming out this holiday season.

Wow, I never thought i'd be wishing for a game to come out later rather than sooner...

Davinche @ Jul 11th 2007 4:00AM

This looks like Age of empires: halo edition. Which is exactly what I feared.

They should have gone for the company of heroes look instead.

this_3nd_up @ Sep 1st 2007 9:16PM

The game visually brings the Halo style into an RTS, including nuances like the unit characteristics and sound design, which is exactly what it should do. I don't understand the CoH comparison... how would a Halo RTS adopt the Company of Heroes "look"? This doesn't take place in wartorn europe with 1940s military technology...

t_m @ Jul 11th 2007 6:07AM

the music doesn't do it any favours in the excitement stakes..

I don't really get the point in these studios spending millions of dollars making units that look great up close.. when people always play strategy games from such a zoomed out point of view.

All it does is push up development costs and minimum requirements.. without adding much to the gameplay.. except in animated cutscenes...

Will @ Jul 11th 2007 6:23AM

Now this needs to be a GFWL game, I can't imagine playing a RTS game on the 360. I love my 360, but I would rather have this on my PC, why dont they do this as a dual relase, I don't think this is going to be a system seller.

jondownin @ Jul 11th 2007 6:35AM

Looking forward to this one. Gonna start C&C3 tonight. It's been a while since I've played some good RTSs.

Poisoned Al @ Jul 11th 2007 6:52AM

A little ironic really, because the first Halo started life as an RTS, and then rat-danced into a FPS. Funny how things come around isn't it?

NeoteriX @ Jul 11th 2007 7:11AM

Looks cool, but in reality, how is this going to work? Aside from the SPARTANS of which there were only a few, humans were *dominated* by the Covenant. As in it wasn't even a contest, because the Covenant is so technologically superior. This would be like playing Starcraft where the Terran race only was able to produce marines...