Okay, I have played through the two campaign missions and played as each side in the skirmish mode so I figured I would go ahead and post my impressions.
First I should start off by saying that I am in no way an RTS fanatic or expert, although I have played to some varying degree every C&C game, Star Craft, War Craft 2 and 3, Conquest Frontier Wars, the various AoE's, etc, etc. With that caveat out of the way, I think I will stay away from making any comments or criticism on the level of depth or complexity, or lack their of contained within Halo Wars. I will venture as far as saying that anyone who is looking for a game that is easy to get into, and offers an immediate focus on action should take a look into Halo Wars by trying out the demo. I did and I have come away thoroughly impressed both from a gameplay and presentation standpoint.
Obviously the most important question facing an RTS when playing it on a gamepad is how well does it control. Thankfully Ensemble had the foresight to avoid the numerous pitfalls other developers face when porting PC developed RTS over to the Xbox 360. Units can be easily and quickly selected with a press of the A button, or conversely you can select all of the units on screen, or your entire army by using the bumpers. When you have a large group selected their portraits are displayed along the bottom left half of the screen. These large groups can be micromanaged with the left and right triggers, allowing you to scroll through their portraits and select an individual unit type more apt for the job at hand. The best aspect of the game are the unit super powers, which like the name implies gives the unit a temporary boost in power or an additional ability. The super power is great because it is mapped to the Y button making it easy to use which is important considering many of the abilities are necessary to win the game. Base building mechanics and resource gathering are also streamlined. The player starts off with a single hub, and a set number of build spots. What they choose to build and when will determine the eventual focus of their army, as you can either choose to tech-up or rush with a large number of weaker units. The number of build spots can be upgraded through the main hub, but base expansion is still necessary to expand resource gathering when wishing to tech-up. Overall, I found the easy and intuitive controls worked hand in hand with the streamlined gameplay to deliver an enjoyable experience.
The presentation in Halo Wars is superb, every aspect of the game feels distinctly Halo, and you can tell that Ensemble took the time to make sure everything fit within the established Halo-verse. Developer Ensemble was smart to copy the general layout of Halo 2/Halo 3's menus as they go a long way to lending an immediate sense of familiarity to the game. Beyond their general layout, the games menu's are accompanied by a nice main theme that also carries a distinct Halo-ish vibe. The level of fan service and excellent production values also transfers over to games CG sequences, which brief as they are in the demo, could arguably be the best visual interpretation of the Halo-verse yet. As with all the other aspects of the presentation, the in-game visuals are also superb, - though it is worth noting that the lighting has taken a hit since the initial trailer in which dynamic lighting was shown off - every aspect from Bungie's Halo games has been captured and transferred into RTS format. One great example would be the Warthog's, which not only sway, spin and jump through the air like their FPS counterparts, but also have a special ability that allows you to ram enemies, sending your foes flailing through the air rag doll and all. The HUD that accompanies the in-game action is very unobtrusive, and while I feel it is accurate to the source material and minimalistic in nature it also seems slightly simplistic from an eye-candy standpoint. In the short time I have spent with Halo Wars it has become apparent that its strongest aspect is the presentation in which it becomes immediately apparent that Ensemble went through great pains to stay true to the established Halo universe.
Overall, I enjoyed the Halo Wars demo and I recommend anyone skeptical of the game to give it a try.
(anyone know a way around that btw?)