When I experienced the first Halo Wars title eight years ago, developed by the esteemed Ensemble Studios, I was the definition of a greenhorn when it came to the real-time strategy genre. Admittedly, I'm still coming to grips with the nuanced art of commanding legions in wartime scenarios.

After the crew of the UNSC warship Spirit of Fire wakes up from a quarter-century cryogenic nap, they discover that humanity's war against the Covenant has ended. Stranded a galaxy from home, the crew responds to an emergency beacon only to encounter a bloodthirsty faction of the Covenant known as...

If you've played the games that this current rendition stems from, you'd know that it wasn't the most compelling or cohesive RTS you've ever played. That said, is was still one of the benchmarks for the genre to come from a studio that hasn't done RTS for console before.

Frantic gameplay | Multiplayer madness | Intriguing storyline | Marvelous cut scenes

Short campaign | Slightly difficult control scheme | Some odd bugs

Halo Wars 2 is not a bad game, but it just fails to do anything that really makes it excel and a must play. The Blitz multiplayer mode is an interesting innovation, but not enough to stop the campaign leaving a slight tinge of disappointment with the package overall.

A slightly simplified real-time strategy gaming experience perfect for Xbox One but still highly playable for Windows 10 PC gamers looking for fast and frantic multiplayer skirmishes with keyboard and mouse. Also a worthy narrative addition to the Halo franchise.

good

Halo Wars 2 feels like the relic of two different histories. On the one side you'd find the real-time strategy genre, a collection of games that found a brief period of big-budget dominance on the PC and occasionally ventured onto consoles.

Halo Wars 2 takes place in the year 2559, 28 years after the events of the original Halo Wars . When you and your crew awake from cryosleep on the UNSC Spirit of Fire, you soon discover that a lot has changed and despite the UNSC forces sacrifice in the Covenant war, humanities existence is still...

Easy to pick-up and play; Feels natural on the controller; Highly detailed maps; Decent story; Sublime soundtrack

Not as tactical as most PC alternatives; Many missions lack genuine strategy

Consoles and real-time strategy games aren't exactly a match made in heaven. Even if the genre has its origins on console (Herzog Zwei on Mega Drive), it made PC its home in the early '90s and it wasn't really until Halo Wars arrived and we got a game designed from scratch for controllers that the...

Halo Wars 2 is a very accessible RTS that's easy to pick up and play, but becomes increasingly complex as you get to grips with its more advanced commands. Assuming you're willing to invest the time and effort to truly master its intricate controls, the game offers plenty to get your teeth into.