Thematically speaking, there was quite a difference between Microsoft and Sony’s press rooms at E3 this year. Like their consoles, Microsoft’s room was lit off-white with a hint of green hues whereas Sony’s was dark, with sharply accented lighting. In fact, between the lighting and the oxygen being pumped into the room, it was quite a challenge concentrating on the information-heavy Halo Wars gameplay instructions we were being given early in the a.m. on E3’s final day.

But we’d be withholding if we didn’t tell you it was an exciting moment to finally get our hands on the Halo RTS being developed by longtime strategy game maker Ensemble Studios. After playing Command & Conquer 3 recently on Xbox 360 and discovering that RTS games can actually be enjoyable without a keyboard, we can say that Ensemble Studios has iterated and streamlined that already venerable formula even further. The D-pad directions act as hot keys and different button combinations either select specific units or give those selected units orders.

We played a co-op match against Covenant A.I., employing new units such as “dudes w/flamethrowers”, as well as using the MAC blast from the “Spirit of Fire” (Halo 1’s Pillar of Autumn’s sister ship) floating in space over our sample playground. We also found out that spartans are a playable unit that aren’t exclusive to being named Master Chief — turns out they’re real good at jackin’ aliens for their ships (“Welcome to Erf!”)

Storywise, we’re looking at Humans versus Covenant, only 20 years before the events of Halo 1. Being that we’re larger Halo story fan that we probably should be, we’re very curious to know if (and if, then how) the developers work in the Flood, none the less Halos, without totally forcing it. Though gameplay was exciting and solid, we here at QP are hopeful though unsure about the single player campaign. Guess we’re waiting ’til “when it’s ready” just like you, to find out.

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