Halo Wars 2 Wish list

As a big fan of the original Halo series and the RTS genre, I cannot wait to get my hands on Halo Wars 2. Furthermore, now that the game will be releasing on PC as well as the Xbox One, players can finally take advantage of the superior mouse and keyboard. Although, the fist Halo wars was only available on the 360, the developers still managed to do a very decent job of implementing controls on the controller, so If you are an Xbox One owner, there’s no need to worry. Anyway, enough rambling, here is my personal wish list for features I want to see in Halo Wars 2:

1. Fully Destructible Environments

As with other RTS games such as Company Of Heroes, fully destructible environments would create intense battle-scarred locations, making the player feel more immersed as they are reminded of where a brutal battle once took place. Imagine having the ability to annihilate buildings with scorpion tanks and scarabs.

2. Huge Variety of maps with dynamic weathering

Map locations are a key element of any game and help increase its overall replayability. I would love to see 343 take advantage of the halo universe and include maps from multiple planets with various different features that could help/hurt certain units. This would force players to change strategies depending on what maps they are faced with. Similarly to games like battlefield, it would also be great to see random dynamic weather effects which could potentially change the face of battle.

3. More Interesting Generals/Leaders

In Halo wars 1, players were introduced to a very limited amount of generals to pick from on both factions. Therefore, more generals with interesting, unique abilities/units would make the game feel more dynamic, adding multiple different play-styles and strategies. This is another area where 343 can take advantage of the Halo universe by adding more characters from previous games, or perhaps allowing us to create our own.

4. More customization

To improve upon the first Halo wars, I would love to have the ability to make your own personal army colours and potentially armour. This feature would work great in online matchmaking with other people from around the world. Furthermore, it may allow players to form clans with specific emblems and unit colour/paint. In addition, I think it would be a great idea to add a xp carrier for each unit: the more enemies it kills, the more xp it gains. This xp could then grant the units new weapons or armour. Therefore, making players feel attached to specific units and thus play more protective over those with high experience.

5. MOD SUPPORT

Releasing a game on PC opens much more doors, including the most significant door of them all… mods! Allowing modders to create custom maps via steam workshop is a brilliant way of extending the life and play-time of a game. However, as we’ve seen with fallout 4 and Skyrim, mods have been made for console games as well, so maybe Xbox One players can also experience the possibility of mods on Halo Wars 2.

Overall, I feel confident that Halo wars 2 will be a success when it releases on February 21^st 2017. If there are any more features you think I’ve missed out, please leave a comment down below.

After the release of the new gameplay trailer, the excitement levels move up a gear for many fans of the series. Personally, this is my most anticipated online first person shooter of the year, surpassing battlefield 5 and leaving it for dead. As a big fan of red orchestra/rising storm, my expectations and ambitions may be very optimistic, so without further ado, let’s begin.

1. Maintain the Realistic Tactical Element of its Predecessors

This is by far the most significant feature which sets the franchise apart from all the other games in its genre. When a game can be played for over 300 hours and still not get boring, you know that your money has been well spent (this was the case with rising storm 1 and red orchestra).

Furthermore, with the original rising storm, squad leaders would have the ability to throw smoke grenades, place artillery marks and act as a spawn beacon for the rest of his/her squad (these players would be communicating orders to the rest of its members). This feature forced players to work as a team as each class had an actual purpose, similar to that of the battlefield franchise. As well as squad leaders, engineers were vital for destroying tank traps thus enabling the tank to advance. All classes had a player limit to them, adding more realism as it prevented teams from completely overpowering the opposition. Weapons didn’t have perks to give them a huge advantage over those at lower levels (in realism mode). Moreover, players didn’t hop around the map with gold weapon skins and special abilities: it was simply you and your rifle. As a result of the simplicity, tactics advised from your commander had to be listened to. Finally, the game felt like it had a front line in every battle, which would slowly advance as time moved by. Therefore I really hope that tripwire implement these features again with rising storm 2, as they are to me, the soul of the franchise.

2. Aircraft

Understandably, this is quite an ambitious point as it could either make or break the tactical element of the game. However, if this is implemented well, it would add a fantastic new dimension of strategic ideas. In order for this to work, the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) would need anti-aircraft guns positioned in several areas across the map. As a big fan of the battlefield Vietnam DLC, it would be a dream come true to see the return of the Huey.

3. Real-Time dynamic Weather effects

This feature would introduce more immersion than ever before, for example the impact of heavy rain on the surface, leading to slower tank and player movement due to the thick mud. Although I would love to see this feature, I have doubts that Tripwire would have the budget for this.

4. Big maps with more traps

I would love to see maps based upon Vietnamese fishing villages, jungles and urban city centres. All maps should encourage a range of different tactics such as the need for flamethrowers for clearing out Vietnamese bunkers and tunnels. Furthermore, some new traps would help bring something new and unpredictable to the battle. However, if Tripwire continues to create maps to the high standard of their other games, than fans will have nothing to worry about.

5. Badass Soundtrack

It cannot be a game based on the Vietnam War, if you can’t hear distant radios playing classic songs from The Rolling Stones. On the other hand, I don’t want to see a constant soundtrack throughout the game; instead I would like to hear music playing on distant radios and vehicles similar to that of the battlefield Vietnam DLC.