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Halo Wars demo goes double platinum

Master Chief doesn't take bull from anybody, and that goes doubly so for brain-munching zombies. Two weeks, ago Capcom's timed-exclusive demo for Resident Evil 5 lit up the Xbox Live activity charts, logging 1.8 million downloads in just one week. Microsoft today announced that Halo Wars has done...

Master Chief doesn't take bull from anybody, and that goes doubly so for brain-munching zombies. Two weeks, ago Capcom's timed-exclusive demo for Resident Evil 5 lit up the Xbox Live activity charts, logging 1.8 million downloads in just one week. Microsoft today announced that Halo Wars has done Resident Evil 5 200,000 better, saying Xbox Live Gold subscribers downloaded the demo of Ensemble's swan song 2 million times during its first five days.

The Halo Wars sampler offers a beginner and an advanced tutorial, as well as the first two single-player campaign missions. Gamers can also get a jump on honing their competitive techniques, taking on a computer-controlled opponent on the Chasms multiplayer map in skirmish mode. The demo is now available to all Xbox Live members, having initially been released for just paying Gold subscribers.

Halo Wars is slated for release exclusively for the Xbox 360 on March 3. For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

90 Comments

  • GuN_Fire20

    Posted Oct 26, 2010 11:00 pm GMT

    how can is download this?

  • soledadconsuelo

    Posted Sep 6, 2009 7:17 am GMT

    hay there ilove you

  • souperman24

    Posted Mar 1, 2009 6:41 pm GMT

    pc?

  • __MuLder__

    Posted Feb 20, 2009 2:54 pm GMT

    The game is fun, but It's missing alot of features and strategy gameplay depth. There is no cover system, which should be standard these days. You can garrison certain structures, but that hardly fits the bill. Units do gain experiance over time (fighting), noted by 1-3 stars over their heads, I was relieved to see they added that aspect. Overall, the game just feels so simplistic and that leads true RTS lovers feeling left out, like the game was a sell out to aquire "new" players and Halo fans. I love Halo, I been playing since the beginning. I've played all the game's, and watched this game develop for the past... what 3 years?. I've seen all the live-action videos that have been put together for the movies. I was very excited for this game, I was finally going to be able to play massive battles in the universe and game genre I loved so much. I thought that this game was going to be for the hardcore RTS/Halo fan at heart. I really got excited for this game around the time of the Halo 3 release, when that huge battle model was made for the game. You see marines and covenant fighting desperately to annihilate each opposing force with no remorse. The marines are fighting to save humanity, and the covenant to destroy it....no one giving an inch of ground. There are snipers covering troops in high positions, rocket troops blowing up enemy vehicles, marines dug in and using cover.

    I don't mean to wine, and I know this games story is 20 years before halo....but at this point in time, the UNSC is still in a huge war with the covenant and if I'm not mistaken, they are losing. Where is the heart and epicness in fighting in this game?....I don't feel like this is "Halo Wars". I feel like it's....a Halo scuffle, and everybody forgot to bring all their buddies,weapons and a gameplan.

    I loved the AOE series, but I think Ensamble could have done better, especially since I think they had enough time to make a game with more depth. They have been in the buisness long enough and have enough talent to have made a better game. Maybe it's not their falt, and M$ had an outline for the game. I hope this is so, and I am saddened to think Halo Wars 2 (which is inevitable) now has to dig itself out of the critisizm the first will have put it in. Gamespot gave a review score of 6.5/10 , that's bad for an RTS game, really bad for a game from Enamble Studios, and pethetic for a Halo game.

    That said, It is a solid RTS game for the xbox console, and is quite fun. If you don't buy it, which you should, I suggest you certainly rent it or at least borrow it from someone.

    Happy Slaying, and I'll you fella's on the battlefield!

    R.I.P. Ensamble, and I can't wait to see what Robot and Bonfire has in store for the gaming world.

  • DistortedGecko

    Posted Feb 18, 2009 11:05 pm GMT

    I can't wait to play this game. Its too bad I can't download the demo because my xbox is at Microsoft getting the RROD treatment.

  • Carpe_Noctum

    Posted Feb 18, 2009 5:35 pm GMT

    I think that the big difference is that while the Halo Wars demo most likely helped it's sales the R.E. 5 demo hurt it's sales.

  • lennon1909

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 5:30 pm GMT

    the demo was great. Cant wait to play inline though.

  • NeoNavarro

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 1:15 pm GMT

    I really liked the demo. I am looking forward to actually playing the full version!

  • funnysplay

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 8:06 am GMT

    Im betting RE5 is gonna win out over Halo wars in the end
    But i dont care cause im getting both, each of them look awsome in their own way.

  • Odins_Fury

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 7:37 am GMT

    It's probably already been said, but just because millions of people downloaded the demo doesn't mean it was awesome. I'm sure the game will sell tons of copies because it has the name Halo in it's title. I tried the demo and while I thought it was a solidly built RTS I just can't get into playing that style of game without my mouse.

  • carp93

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 3:26 am GMT

    The demo was awesome, just wish that they had made the base building a bit more intuitive...

    Oh and InfectX, RE5 didn't beat Halo Wars because RE5 is not as well known among the Xbox community, because this is the first xbox installment of the franchise.

  • Bahaa3000

    Posted Feb 16, 2009 6:08 pm GMT

    InfectX your comment is what's hopeless !

    The demo was great , it's nice to see an RTS working good on a console

  • kirill1

    Posted Feb 16, 2009 11:20 am GMT

    i played the demo. bat i need more and cant wait to play online the scaremish is not good

  • clarkspark

    Posted Feb 16, 2009 10:37 am GMT

    Man, I played the heck out of this demo over the weekend. I also preordered it as soon as I was done. Can't wait to play people online.

  • sluffmochildeater

    Posted Feb 16, 2009 8:24 am GMT

    For console strategy I like Civ Rev better but the demo was pretty decent. I'll probably wait for it to go down to 40$ or so and pick it up.

  • GANGSTASAN

    Posted Feb 16, 2009 2:51 am GMT

    Huh? I had a silver account and I was able to download it on first day....

  • _ButterS_

    Posted Feb 15, 2009 11:49 pm GMT

    who cares if it went platinum, it was a demo.

    with that said, i agree with jrabbit99. i downloaded it and wasn't impressed at all. don't get me wrong, it is fun, but it doesn't seem like it will be as strategic as a Starcraft based game will ever be...

    I feel a Starcraft rip off coming along...

  • Penalty_of_Hero

    Posted Feb 15, 2009 4:45 pm GMT

    -"Its a prequel to the Halo saga taking place about 20 years earlier. Its an rts just set in the halo universe. So you have a base, build up an army of marines, warthogs, scorpians, spartans, etc... and attack the other base. think of c&c but with halo stuff"
    Just the way it I hope it will be *mmm

  • InfectX posted Feb 15, 2009 3:44 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    InfectX

    Posted Feb 15, 2009 3:44 pm GMT (hide)

    How could this beat RE5?! M$ fanboys are totally hopeless.

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Feb 15, 2009 12:49 pm GMT

    Aha! Ok now I know. Sounds quite fun actually.

  • Calmed_Fury

    Posted Feb 15, 2009 12:19 pm GMT

    Its a prequel to the Halo saga taking place about 20 years earlier. Its an rts just set in the halo universe. So you have a base, build up an army of marines, warthogs, scorpians, spartans, etc... and attack the other base. think of c&c but with halo stuff

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Feb 15, 2009 11:10 am GMT

    Not that I will ever own a 360 but what exactly is Halo Wars? Is it a sequel to Halo 3 or something?

  • necronaux

    Posted Feb 15, 2009 10:59 am GMT

    Double Plat in 5 days? Kinda slow isn't it?

  • jrabbit99

    Posted Feb 15, 2009 9:36 am GMT

    I downloaded the demo and wasn't that impressed

  • razgriz_101

    Posted Feb 15, 2009 2:59 am GMT

    @ Moose Knuckler

    I dont see how you think im hating on MS im just stating a fact that its literally bragging over something small thing such as a demo....Which to my taste is rather pety.I dont really see Nintendo bragging that it shipped 777,000 units of wii fit in a month.Just shows how much hype MS put on something that has a halo badge on it.

  • Great_Ragnarok

    Posted Feb 15, 2009 1:25 am GMT

    go ensmeble! this game looks mean!
    hopefully it'll let you use halo just for laughs.
    it will be like death star of sw but a thousand times better!

  • MetaKnight39

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 11:00 pm GMT

    The demo's okay but i hope the game is good because im going to get it

  • phase4illini

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 6:39 pm GMT

    Well, I think that posting demo numbers is all in all a dumb practice. As demos are free, and probably the typical way many gamers first personally experience a game (outside of the those committed to pre-orders), they probably see far more action than the games themselves.

    I think that MS released these numbers to show the "demand" for the game, which is an out and out misleading way to approach prospective sales numbers. Because of the Halo brand, and the fact that Ensemble has done a seemingly fair job at transitioning their RTS to the console format, this game will probably sell pretty well. I just hope that MS doesn't start using this demo numbers tactic as a standard way of gauging true sales interest.

    I suppose I should add that MS was really only noting the number of downloads, and that it was Gamespot's "wonderful" reporting responsible for adding the "double-platinum" moniker, which is out and out just weird considering their are no actual "sales" in this news story. That being said, I hope the game is good and a success so that we see the RTS flourish a little bit on the console scene.

  • moose_knuckler

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 4:14 pm GMT

    @PumpkinBoogie
    Your first post mentioned you annoyed by MS posting demo numbers....you happen to remember that? Srry, I didn't mean to make it seem like I was attacking you. Anyway, why would it matter in the first place about them posting demo numbers? Besides, I was "over" this subject after my last post I suggest you do the same.

  • vivendidoom

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 3:15 pm GMT

    Sadly im let down. The true RTS will always be starcraft. I played the demo and frankly, I believe bungie is overdue for a new IP. I know ensemble made the game, but at least innovate, not renovate. For the hardcore, and the casual. Yes, bungie may utilize over 100 people to a game's pipeline, but im more interested in the companies that evolve the standard formula of video gaming. Epic games did the same thing. started with unreal, then Gears. But the good thing about gears is at least its honest and you can expect a really good hands down story. but its multiplayer just like halo is still overly exploitable, and that makes a game well not worth my money. Still, they put their time and effort into their last game. Ensemble, as everyone else in the video game making industry and publishing all deserve our hands for making ideas a reality, and to make a shiny penny even on one's own thought of what might be fun. Jsut as a personal belief, it could have been done better.

  • PumpkinBoogie

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 2:45 pm GMT

    @ moose knuckler,

    For one thing let's get something straight, I never said anything about hating on MS--so don't put words in my mouth. Geez, you're right you're a fanboy, because only a fanboy would take a simple opinion of an article and somehow turn into : "All this report is saying is that the new leader in demos the first 5 days is now Halo Wars, get over it. I am a 360-fanboy but I'm not gonna shove this down the other PS3-fanboy's and Wii-fanboy's throats, nor should anyone it's just a demo getting platinum hits."


    .....what? I mean really c'mon now, were's the freakin' PS3 & Wii fanboy comments coming from?? At no point did I make any sort of allusion to many one particular group of fanboys being offended/hurt/mad about anything related to the Halo demo, so your comments right there are just pointless. The new leader in demo downloads is Halo....ok, great and....?? To anybody that's not a part of XBL, what would it matter, it's a demo not the actual game--THAT was my point to the whole article, Sorry, for thinking that the practice for giving 'Platinum' (or 'Gold', whichever) status to demos sounds stupid and that I'm not in XBL clique to get it.

    Maybe the one that needs to 'get over it' (as you put it) is you. If you can't take someone giving a simple opinion about some MS-related with getting all fanboy-offended then you need to step away from the keyboard and take a you a little break.

  • chinat

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 1:50 pm GMT

    Cinematics is what will sell this iteration of Halo; game play is typical with nothing innovative. If this was stand alone with no previous successes, it would not fly.

  • moose_knuckler

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 12:38 pm GMT

    @Ghetto ninja
    Who cares about another squad-based shooter (KZ2) when you can get something that doesn't come out every month that looks good (Halo Wars). How in the world can button-mashing on GoW 3 be more entertaining than taking control of armies of spartans. Well I guess it could be more entertaining for your simple mind .

  • Ghetto_ninja posted Feb 14, 2009 11:31 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Ghetto_ninja

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 11:31 am GMT (hide)

    Who cares? Killzone 2 comes out this month, and the God of War 3 trailer is probably more entertaining than this game.

  • Chico_Azteca

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 10:42 am GMT

    my onky problem about the demo is probably that is either too easy

    or sometimes too hard, specially in the Spartan´s side they abuse a lot of vehicles

    still a great game

  • nteger

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 10:21 am GMT

    Wait, they made the community cancel the Halogen mod for THIS?! Sure, they got so many downloads because of the name, but it's a total piece of crap! The story, cutscenes, and units are amazing, but the gameplay sucks. Their attempt to "design the controls from the ground up for consoles" is a joke. Just because they use a circle instead of a rectangle to select units it doesn't mean it's innovative. Stormrise is going to be better by far but it's not going to sell nearly as many copies as this game because all the friggin sheep care about is the name.

  • moose_knuckler

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 8:22 am GMT

    @Razgriz and PumpkinBoogie, Why are you saying MS is trying to boast about these types of figures, is beyond me. Boogie even said they did this with RE5 when it beat Force Unleashed demo and so on. All this report is saying is that the new leader in demos the first 5 days is now Halo Wars, get over it. I am a 360-fanboy but I'm not gonna shove this down the other PS3-fanboy's and Wii-fanboy's throats, nor should anyone it's just a demo getting platinum hits. Geez....I mean all MS is doing is posting the new record for this demo download, what do you expect them to do? Trying to hate against MS for posting numbers on a demo count....now that's really lame

  • PumpkinBoogie

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 7:58 am GMT

    Thank you, razgriz! I swear I thought I was the only one that thought that sounded completely retarded.

    I'm sorry but why does MS continue to boast about these types of figures?? They did this same type of mess when RE5's demo came out. It's a freakin' DEMO....people aren't paying to download it, y'know. Now if they said that pre-sale numbers of the ACTUAL game were shown to have went Platinum, then that would be valid reason to boast.

    But bragging about a demo going Platinum? That's just lame....

  • phase4illini

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 6:38 am GMT

    xdeiri, I'm allowed to be critical of MS when they start closing down successful development studios, a move not unlike past EA business practices. And up until my 360 RROD'd last week I was rather engrossed in it, so you can calm down a little bit.

    In a related news story, I'm sure that now the Ensemble cast has founded Robot Ent. we can see them bring the rts to all the consoles. It would be nice to see if they can help the genre thrive outside the pc environment.

    "the game is super fun and compelling but time consuming, the graphics on the cut scenes are among the best, way to go bungie"

    You are aware that Bungie didn't have anything to do with the development of this game, correct?

  • JonCha91

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 4:35 am GMT

    I've never played a demo that has so much replay value! Congrats to Ensemble for creating an RTS that, thankfully, works on a console effortlessly.

  • razgriz_101

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 3:28 am GMT

    i never knew they dished out platinum status to a demo :O what next you can get gold,platinum etc for watching a trailer.

    Its just more a boast from MS in my honest opinion.

  • player_leo

    Posted Feb 14, 2009 3:21 am GMT

    Even though this demo is one stage, it is VERY ADDICTIVE. But as for RTSs, Herzog Zwei still holds the #1 spot.

  • firehawk998

    Posted Feb 13, 2009 11:57 pm GMT

    Ensemble did something few thought would be possible. Congrats to you. Its like in Halo3 this is Ensembles last game so before it goes out it wants to end with a bang.

  • xdeiri

    Posted Feb 13, 2009 11:39 pm GMT

    the game is super fun and compelling but time consuming, the graphics on the cut scenes are among the best, way to go bungie

  • FallenOneX

    Posted Feb 13, 2009 11:18 pm GMT

    There was a contest? I just wanted to try the game, I'll get around to it soon.......

  • LinkArt

    Posted Feb 13, 2009 10:45 pm GMT

    they failed to mention that there was a contest associated with the download of halo wars. that was the only reason i would download a console rts

  • simon1978

    Posted Feb 13, 2009 8:55 pm GMT

    As a grizzled old RTS player, I have to say that this is definably the best console RTS to date. I am getting it ASAP

  • moose_knuckler

    Posted Feb 13, 2009 8:14 pm GMT

    @phase4illini
    Welll as for you hour-to-hour basis of playing all 4 systems, I'd have to say you should try to get a girlfriend or you know....a life in general. As for the my earlier comment I basically as saying a KZ RTS wouldn't seem to deliver a enjoyable project compared to halo wars. True, it does have to do with the "halo brand name" because I know that the story will make it seem like a shooter could work as a strategy. Srry didn't mean to "troll" whatever that's supposed to mean.....I mean I am human last I checked.....

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