So after putting 8 matches into the beta, there was a lot that I was pleased with what the beta brought to the table, but there was also many things I hope that are implemented into the final product. First is the base building. In Halo Wars 1, the player would get an option to place a base in a specific spot and each building that goes along with the base can only be placed in specific spots around the base which is what the Halo Wars 2 Beta brought to the table. I was hoping with the new game they would get rid of that and make it more like Age of Empires or StarCraft-like where a base and its buildings can be put wherever the player desires as long as its inside the map. This opens up more strategy for attacking and even defending areas by creating blockades and fortresses. They should also add in housing so that further limits the size of the army and the army can increase in size depending on the amount of houses that are built to support the population with there being a total population size limit as well. To go along with this can also be an inclusion of possible workers used to grab resources that may or may not be unlimited in quantity which can allow for more decisions for players to make if they want to play a game of harassment where they stalk the enemy’s resources or not. Another thing I hope to see is that land vehicles can be used to pick up supplies found throughout the map along with both land and air vehicles being allowed to capture points found on the map.
One possible issue that I’m having with the game is the balancing of factions. After 8 games I played as Cutter’s Faction 5 times and Atriox’s 3 times. I believe Atriox’s Faction is vastly weaker than Cutter’s simply due to Cutter’s units (including the marines) being more dynamic and effective for different scenarios than Atriox’s units which seem to only be good at being utilized for very specific tasks whether they are only good against anti-infantry, anti-building, and etc. It just seems for Atriox’s Faction the player has to just make units to counter and be on the defensive side at all times than Cutter’s faction which seems to be more relaxed in comparison. Maybe Atriox’s Faction is effective and harder to use than Cutter’s, but even then it wasn’t a good promotion of the Faction by making players play as him in PVP in the beta. I would say that when I used Cutter I would blow through Atriox’s units, but when I played as Atriox, I would struggle taking on Cutter’s units even if my army was twice as big as the enemy’s, and would most of the time lose as well when the enemy was using just marines and maybe 1 or 2 snipers. This also begs the question whether all Covenant Factions will be harder to use and maybe even weaker than UNSC Factions. I really hope that when we get the final product that each faction has completely different play styles and a lot of different units as opposed to the first Halo Wars where they would only have 1 different super unit or leader, and maybe 1 different unit or vehicle.
I love the first Halo Wars despite all its flaws, but I still recognize it as being an “ok” RTS game and I want the new one to reach new heights that the first one failed to deliver and to possibly help Rejuvenate the RTS genre that has been slowly dying. I realize that this game might be catering towards a more casual crowd, but I want this game to be memorable and so much more than a Halo Wars sequel, and to last for a much longer time than what happened to the first Halo Wars. The fact that Creative Assembly, who developed the Total War games, is developing this should put this game at a high standard and appeal more towards the hardcore RTS audience than the casual, which will give the game a much longer longevity. I want this game to be heavily influenced by both Age of Empires and StarCraft, but with some Total War strategy thrown into it as opposed to being too heavily based around “rock, paper, scissors”. Speaking of Total War it would be cool if they add in a game mode like Conquest against AI’s and other players where politics are also involved and it spans in space involving multiple solar systems.
What do all of you guys think about the beta so far?