Halo Wars was pitched as one of the most eagerly awaited games ever with The IGN Xbox Team ranking it as their 7th most anticipated game of E3 2008 and Next Generation Magazine ranking it 5th and PC World have also rated it as one of the most anticipated titles of E3.

Halo Wars is set in the 26th century in the year 2531, about 20 years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. It is a real-time strategy video game set in the Halo universe developed by Ensemble Studios for the Xbox 360 game console.

A real-time action strategy game developed for the Xbox 360 it allows the player to control large armies and to shrewdly direct them in realistic warfare.

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Watch these excellent demo video of Halo Wars to get a taste of this outstanding new strategy war game for the Xbox. This must be without doubt one of the best and coolect games I have seen in a long time, especially as I'm a big fan of strategy games.

I only have two problems with this game:

• It is only for the Xbox
• I don't have an Xbox (Yet!)

Halo Wars is set early in the iconic war between the Covenant and UNSC - made famous by the Halo FPS games - It provides a new angle on the war while bringing new heroes to the battle.

Fans will be able to control armies of units that are familiar to them from the FPS games, such as UNSC Marines, Scorpion Tanks, and the iconic Warthog.

The combat mechanism is balanced by a "rock-paper-scissors" mechanic common in many real-time strategy titles.

Each unit has a special ability accessed by using the Y button; for example, human Marines throw grenades while vehicles called Warthogs run over enemies. Each faction can also bring in special hero units, which impact what abilities and units players can access.

The humans also have access to their ship, the Spirit of Fire, and its special abilites; these include a powerful coilgun, the Magnetic Accelerator Cannon or simply the MAC. The Covenant have more powerful units led by Leaders who command units on the battlefield and have special abilities of their own they can use to turn the tide of battle.

In order to upgrade buildings or to build new units you have to collect resources or "supplies" which can be found on the battlefield.

However the quickest and easiest way to get a regular supply of resources is to build special structures in your bases. The more of these structures (supply pads for the UNSC and warehouses for the Covenent) that more "supplies" you will receive.

A few buildings require special "tech" that is acquired by building Reactors. Each reactor you have gives you one tech level but these can also be upgraded. The Convenent on the other hand gain tech by building Temples.

As well as the regular addition there will be a special Limited Collector's Edition released through participating retailers which will include 3 maps for Halo 3 called the "Mythic Map Pack".

These maps will also become available through the Xbox Live Marketplace at a later date. Other bonus features of the Collectors Edition will be a graphic novel by Phil Noto, Graeme Devine, and Eric Nylund called Halo Wars: Genesis AND A unique in-game vehicle, some Halo Warstrading cards, and a Spirit of Fire patch.

Fans who pre-order the game will also be entitled to a a pre-order card to download a special in-game Warthog vehicle with flame decals from select participating retailers.

With a March 3rd release slated , be prepared to do battle!

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