I am not trying to gloat about how much ive played, there just arent a lot of other ways to express my knowledge of the game. I’ve also played large amounts of starcraft 2 and command & conquer.
TL;DR it feels like Halo wars 2 is going to be great
Some complaints:
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I dislike the cartoony artwork, it reminds me of a mobile app. I do not consider the previous halo wars so cartoony. For example, why is there a giant dust cloud behind infantry? Why do scorpion tanks look like they could be a kids toy? By looking so simple, the art design actually makes the game look less like halo and more like command & conquer. Remember the music is important too! Halo wars needs to differentiate itself from other RTS games, not feel generic.
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There NEEDS to be a third faction, it could be forerunner, it could be flood, it could be covenant. After rebalancing the game, the banished actually feel very similar to their UNSC counterparts. Without more variety, the gameplay will become very stale. Remember how unique covenant was to UNSC in HW1? Most of that is gone in HW2.
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Give us back a single click option for selecting “all units”. Taking away the ability to make fast clicks per second was a huge mistake and needs to be changed back immediately. I even tried to use my elite controller to do this but there is no option for holding down RB. Whoever made the decision to force players to hold down RB to select all units made a large mistake, it needs to be instantaneous - one click = higher cps. Bring it back, very few expert players will tell you they prefer to hold a button down to make a critical decision in the middle of a very fast moving fight. Like pulling your units away from eradication.
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The game slows down when there are too many units on screen, and my cursor will drift. Frame rate performance was an issue in HW1 in large fights as well, I know this is a beta, but it better not be an issue in the final product, because that is a really big drawback in a game that requires so much precision.
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Give us the option for a larger birds eye view. Being forced to be so close to our units is especially annoying because it makes the local units button less effective, and that stacks with the fact that the all units button has become a cumbersome hold down rb.
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It is good that there are more units now, but there is also this new problem where it is hard to very quickly select which unit you want to produce, thanks to the pinwheel menus. I often want to build a wraith, but get a locust instead. Hopefully something can be done about this.
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It would be nice to include at least one programmable shortcut key.
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There needs to be clear evidence of how upgraded my opponents units are. This helps me know what they have invested into. I’d prefer that the unit visibly looks stronger, rather than some arbitrary signal.
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We need to know how defense works for UNSC bases. Do they still receive defense based on the surrounding structures?
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Players need to be able to look at the command trees while selecting leaders.
Balancing units ----
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Vultures need a health buff, and the return of mega barrage (Or no one will ever use them, they were already rarely used)
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Snipers need a range nerf (No point in trying to counter them if they cannot be approached, also they create an OP early infantry game)
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Reavers need a buff vs ground units (Players will opt to go banshee, rather than reaver)
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Marines need a slight damage nerf, and cost reduction (They are too hard to access very early in the game, but risk being too OP with just a cost red.)
Balancing units end ----
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I recommend returning the option to teleport units to covenant leaders, perhaps this could just be true for infantry. I recommend returning the pelican drop off for UNSC. Do not make these leader powers, make these basic gameplay.
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Remove the terrible looking boundaries around the edge of the map, make boundaries look natural like in hw1
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THIS IS A BIG ONE: Make sure the game has a great progressive feeling, by adding in unlockables, such as new soundtracks, skins for individual units (like a jackal skin for elite rangers). New colors for your structures, make sure the ability to become a general returns, and maybe even cool new looks for your heros, who currently look extremely bland. The problem is that this game will not hold players attention very long if it is strictly a story & pvp game. Only some players will stick around like myself. Even I might have trouble enjoying this game without a new faction to master.
Other comments
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A lot of players are calling for the ability to build your structures freely. I disagree with this and think set structures was a large part of what made halo wars what it is.
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The list of things done correctly is probably larger than the complaints, but I do not have time to point them all out. Here is one though: friendly units do not get stuck with each other badly as before.