Halo Wars hits stores today

The game many Xbox 360 owners spent February dreaming of, especially after playing the demo, is finally here – Halo Wars is on its way to a store near you, if it isn’t already there. Ensemble Studios and Microsoft Game Studios’ latest entry in the Halo universe offers a new way to look at the game and legendary battle between the humans and the Covenant. Not only that, but Halo Wars gives a first-hand look at the series events before the original Halo.

There are two versions available of Halo Wars. There’s a $59.99 standard version which just gives you the game. For real fans, there’s an even better limited edition for $79.99 which comes with the Halo 3 three map Mythic Map Pack, the Halo Wars: Genesis comic by Graeme Devine, Phil Noto and Eric Nylund, the Honor Guard Wraith vehicle, six leader trading cards and a Spirit of Fire ship patch you could attach to a jacket, shirt or bag.

The funny thing is, if you’ve played games like Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings or Advance Wars, you’ll probably have a pretty good handle on this real-time strategic RPG. There’s the typical unit triangle, where vehicles beat soldiers, soldiers beat aircraft and aircraft beat vehicles. The human side “leaders” even act a bit like the Advance Wars COs, as they have a direct impact on the abilities of their soldiers.

Halo Wars definitely seems like a day one purchase, and a good way to branch out and possibly earn more fans. I was never a fan of the standard Halo games because I’m simply horrible at FPS games. Yet, when I tried the Halo Wars demo at a friend’s house, I couldn’t help thinking it was a game I could really enjoy.

Read [1Up] Site [Halo Wars] Product Page [Amazon]