-->After years of intense first person shooting, we didn't know if Halo would make it as a real-time strategy game. That is, until we played Halo Wars. Microsoft and Ensemble Studios (makers of the Age of Empire series) took Bungie's celebrated FPS and produced an original and immensely entertaining experience that'll have you kicking Covenant ass with armies of marines, Spartans and other cool units, both offline against the computer and versus up to five players via Xbox Live.

No Master Chief? No problem.Click to see more images from the game...

Halo Wars is a third person strategy game that tasks you with building bases across huge maps and pumping out infantry and equipment, whether that's ground troops or vehicles such as Warthogs. Once you have your army assembled, you direct them to an enemy's location and watch the proverbial fur fly. Units automatically engage baddies when in range, and what ensues are large scale battles where lasers and bullets collide with flamethrowers and huge explosions. Bodies (marines, Spartans, grunts, hunters and more) sail through the air, things blow up nicely and familiar sounds, such as Covenant screams, keep things frantic and thrilling.

At first, Halo Wars intimidated us because of past experiences with more complex real-time strategy (RTS) games, but it's actually very accessible. To select a unit, for example, all you do is move the on-screen cursor over it and press A, and to select more than one, you press and hold A to bring up a large circle that selects everything within it. From there, it's as simple as pointing the cursor to a place on the map, hitting X and watching your troops move to that location. Furthermore, there's no limit to the number of units you can select, so if you press and hold A and then drag the circle around the map, you can command what seems like hundreds.

Although combat makes up the bulk of the game, you'll still need to build stuff and manage resources, and even this happens quickly. Your base (you can have more than one) has various slots you can fill with at least eight different structures, such as a barracks to make units, a reactor, air pad, vehicle depot, supply pad and field factory. Accessing a build screen enables you to choose something with the left analog stick and then you sit back and watch it spring up. From there, you can make units such as Spartans, chain gunners, flash bangs, new blood and marines. In addition, your vehicle depot lets you create warthogs, elephant tanks (which also function as a mobile barracks for producing more dudes) and other handy rides. You can also upgrade your buildings to help you produce new stuff, including a warthog with a laser attachment.

On the battlefield, you'll need to do more than just watch things unfold. In theory, you should divide up your units to best utilize their strengths. Marines and new blood will handle much of the grunt work, while Spartans can hijack vehicles. You also have the option of hitting the enemy with a powerful air strike by hitting up on the d-pad. This gives you the option of slaughtering them with a carpet bomb or the MAC blast, a crazy laser strike that punctures just about anything.

On the downside, Microsoft won't talk much about the game's story and we didn't get a chance to partake in Xbox Live battles. We did, however, play co-op with one other person, and while you can work together to destroy the Covenant, you can also go off and do your own thing, at least until your partner needs help, so if you prefer to spend the first 10 minutes building stuff, go right ahead.

As for graphics, Halo Wars is no Halo 3, but it looks great, with sprawling maps, hundreds of well-animated units running across the screen and bases taking up hefty real estate. Watching things get built is one of our guilty pleasures, thanks to the impressive animations that involve cranes moving back and forth and large structures erupting from the depths of the planet. It's sweet looking.

Our time with Halo Wars was brief, but just enough to convince us that it'll be one of the year's coolest games. Its easy to learn controls and familiar license make it one of Xbox 360's must plays, and we can't wait to build a bigger army and wage war across Xbox Live.

Related Links

Halo Wars Game Guide