Halo Wars 22017

Halo Wars 2

2017 Microsoft Studios71Good

Playtime

ModerateTypically 15 hours

Playable on

Included with

Xbox Game Pass
Ultimate

Available on

Xbox
$39.99

Game modes

Details

Launch: February 21, 2017
Developer: 343 Industries
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Themes: Science fiction
Genres: Real Time Strategy (RTS)
Strategy

Overview

After decades adrift and declared “lost with all hands,” the brave crew of the UNSC Spirit of Fire are mysteriously awoken above an ancient Forerunner haven known as the Ark. In Halo Wars 2, Captain Cutter and his crew will face one of humanity’s most formidable threats yet: The Banished – a fierce and powerful Brute faction led by a cunning and lethal warrior known as Atriox. Halo Wars 2 delivers real-time strategy at the speed of Halo combat. Get ready to lead armies of Spartans and other Halo fighting forces like Warthogs, Scorpions and exciting new units in a brutal war against a terrifying new enemy on the biggest Halo battlefield yet.

Press79

Players70

GoodGood

Metacritic79from 85 reviews
OpenCritic79from 99 reviews

Halo Wars didn't rewrite the RTS playbook, and Halo Wars 2 is unlikely to bring on many converts who weren't convinced by the first attempt. In many ways this is an iterative sequel, with new units and balance, and a handful of additions. The campaign is well-made and the multiplayer shines thanks largely to Blitz Mode. It's a streamlined take on a...

Halo Wars 2 will scratch a real-time strategy itch and give you a dose of Halo-Universe flavor with a decent story, but it won't go much deeper than that. A run-of-the-mill campaign, controls that hamper micromanagement, conspicuous bugs, and multiplayer that relies on luck limit its long-term appeal, but its fast and flashy action makes it fun for...

Halo Wars 2 proves once again that an RTS can work on a controller, but that aside there's little to get excited about here.

Halo Wars 2's cutscenes are pretty, but the controls remains too console-focused for PC and the strategy is a little thin.

At the end of the day, Halo Wars 2 is still a highly recommendable title — in fact, likely one of the best RTS games that can be found on the current generation. However, accessibility on consoles came with a price to both controls and gameplay in both campaign and multiplayer modes. But don’t let that stop fans of the series or newcoming gamers to...