Day 46, Game 46 - Halo Wars

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I apologize in advance for what you are about to read. Seriously, take that in to consideration before you decide to continue.

Still here? Ok, brave soldiers, let us press forward into the wild ride known as My Week Of Halo.

We played Halo Wars tonight. And when I say, I am of course talking about my partner in crime in this escapade, my seven year old, Caleb. But when I say we, it means something slightly different than it has in previous nights through the Halo games. We didn't actually play together, in any sort of co-op mode, as that is only available by playing online or system link. I kind of understand why, as a split screen would be difficult with a game like this, but still, I wish I had known that going in to it before I got his hopes up about playing "together." Instead, we just passed the controlled back and forth as we saw fit.

You see, Halo Wars isn't a true Halo game. Sure it is set in the Halo universe, and takes place before all the other Halo games (including Reach I think, but don't quote me on that one). It depicts the raging battle that is taking place well before Master Chief is called upon to kick some ass. It's not a First Person Shooter, but rather a Real Time Action Strategy game, or whatever the hell people call it these days. Think StarCraft, but with the Halo storyline. Of course, I reverted back to Command & Conquer: Red Alert, the only game ever in this genre that I ever really liked. I dug the hell out of that game as a kid, but for some reason, that genre of games didn't stick with me and still doesn't resonate with me today.

I realized this sad truth tonight while trying to play Halo Wars.

Sure, the game looks nice. The cut-scenes are well done and the campaign seems OK. Honestly, though, I was bored to death with this game. I tried to give it my best effort, I truly did. It just did nothing for me.

I knew what kind of game this was, but I hoped for a twist or some thing to make this game different than others on the market, other than just slapping the Halo name on the box. But no, it is what I thought it was. I tried explaining to my little guy that this was a different Halo game than we have played, but he didn't believe me. He was sure it was going to be just like the others. How could Halo be anything but what he is used to? Well, Halo Wars broke down those stereotypes quickly.

When it was all said and done (a lot quicker than previous nights, though), he enjoyed it for the most part, but the difficulty curve, especially for a seven year old, took a drastic climb just a few missions in. That's where it lost him. Hey, at least he lasted longer than I did with it.

I can't wait for this weekend to finish out this Halo week. I want to pretend like this game ever happened, but unfortunately, my bored memories and few achievement points will haunt me forever. Thanks, Halo Wars, for ruining the awesome momentum I had going into the home stretch.

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