#Welcome to the ark halo wars 2 how to#
#Welcome to the ark halo wars 2 series#

It helps tremendously that most matches last only around five minutes. The fun that comes with collecting cards through play, sorting them into decks, and devising strategies with friends should make Blitz Halo Wars 2 вЂs most popular mode among more casual players. The movie-like action scenes with the shipвЂ™s three seemingly undefeatable Spartans вЂ“ Douglas, Alice, and Jerome вЂ“ are as memorable as anything weвЂ™ve been shown featuring the iconic Master Chief. They rise to find themselves floating above a vast Forerunner Ark inhabited by a rebellious faction of the Covenant called the Banished, with whom they immediately enter battle.ДЄlong the way you can expect plenty of lengthy вЂ“ and just ridiculously pretty вЂ“ cinematic sequences that help us see the main players as more than just voices barking orders. It begins with Captain Cutter, Professor Anders, and the rest of the Spirit of FireвЂ™s crew waking up from the cryosleep they entered at the end of the first game, nearly three decades into the future. The writers have brought back the ship and crew from the original Halo Wars (or, at least, all who survived вЂ“ sorry, fans of Nolan NorthвЂ™s capable but quite dead sergeant John Forge). Aside from a wonderfully designed pop-up radial that lets you use a thumbstick to instantly select what you want to build while hovering over your base, virtually all of your time is spent on the map and, as Max Fischer might say, вЂњin the shit.вЂќД¬reative Assembly has also done a fine job telling a compelling companion story to the main Halo games. There arenвЂ™t any panels cluttering the bottom of the screen or complex menus that need to be waded through. Then scroll to where you want them to attack and tap a button to commence raining space marine hell down on some ugly aliens.

Tap it twice to select all units, everywhere on the map. Just tap a shoulder button to select local units. More than that, theyвЂ™ve made it perfectly playable вЂ“ simple and intuitive, even вЂ“ with the limited inputs of a gamepad. I generally just had to make sure that my armies had a good variety of unit types. Normal difficulty makes a more fitting a challenge for casual RTS players like me, but even then my units proved delightfully intelligent, cleverly selecting enemy targets from within groups that they were best suited to take on (land vehicles tended to blast infantry, air units usually opted to shower enemy tanks). Indeed, if you play on the easiest of four difficulty settings itвЂ™s almost impossible to lose. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.

#Welcome to the ark halo wars 2 series#

The folks at Creative Assembly вЂ“ known as one of the best RTS makers around thanks to their work on the critically lauded Total War series вЂ“ have made sure that Halo Wars 2 isnвЂ™t going to overwhelm anyone if they donвЂ™t want it to.

Which is to say, guys and girls who prefer playing games slouching in a couch with a controller in hand to sitting in a desk chair, upright, twitching fingers hovering over a keyboard and mouse.

#Welcome to the ark halo wars 2 how to#

As regular readers know, IвЂ™m more of a turn-based strategy fellow вЂ“ I like to take my time figuring out what to do and how to do it.Д«ut Halo Wars 2 вЂ“ much like its surprisingly successful predecessor released eight years ago for Xbox 360 вЂ“ is in many ways geared for people just like me. My brain doesnвЂ™t work quickly or efficiently enough for me to do well in a species of game in which a playerвЂ™s performance is literally measured in actions per minute (the worldвЂ™s best RTS players are often clocked upwards of 400 APM, or around one action every 0.15 seconds).