A lot of sites already posted their reviews of Halo Wars, Ensemble Studios last game as a development studio and the first ever Halo RTS title. Given all the vast opinions of all the gaming publications out there, we thought we would tally up a few of the notable reviews and see how the scores add up.

We didn’t just include a bunch of big sites (some of which have been known to vary scores based on publisher persuasion) but we included some of the lesser-known folks as well, just to give a more evened out perspective of the game. You can check out the site, the scores and the final verdict below.

Halo Wars Review Round-Up:

Blend Games – 3.5 (out of 5): "For what it is Halo Wars satisfies both the action hungry Halo fan and the cerebral RTS fan to some degree. It just won’t wow either camp.”


The Game Reviews – 8.5 (out of 10): "Nearly everyone should enjoy this title, even if only for a rental. It’s a little weak if judged on RTS merit alone, but the Halo universe makes it that much better.”

IGN – 8.4 (out of 10): "Halo Wars deftly dodges between the hardcore micromanagement of real-time strategy and the instant gratification expected by Halo fans. Ensemble has nailed console RTS controls, but at the expense of some depth.”

GameZone – 9 (out of 10): "A solid RTS on the Xbox 360, Halo Wars may not break the mold, but it does provide an impressive entry to the series and one that finally makes the genre feel at home on a console.”

TeamXbox – 9 (out of 10): "Halo Wars is undoubtedly fun; one just worries if it’s not enough for one group of gamers and too much for another. If you’re part of that middle ground like I believe I am, then you’ll love Halo Wars as much as I did.”

EuroGamer – 8 (out of10): "As a developer that always seemed most interested in plain craftsmanship, it's a suitable capstone. As a return to one of the 360's most popular universe, it's about as good an RTS as a Halo fan could expect. And as a game, Halo Wars is a genuine pleasure.”

Total Video Games – 7 (out of 10): "Enhanced by a slick story that unveils the first operations against the Covenant, this is a game that Halo fans should just lap up, though there isn’t perhaps enough to keep the RTS hardcore amused for long enough.”

Joystiq: "Halo Wars definitely has a lot to live up to, but if Ensemble felt any of the tremendous pressure of creating the next Halo, you'd never know it. The game plays brilliantly. It might be a streamlined RTS experience, with perhaps less depth than PC RTS titles, but Halo Wars does console real-time strategy right.”

So, the unanimous verdict appears to be that Halo Wars is a good RTS game that doesn’t quite cut the custard of a PC RTS game. I suppose that’s respectable enough. The average from the listed sites estimates to 8.1 out of a score paradigm of 10. That’s not bad, really. What do you think? Did the review round-up help you decide on whether Halo Wars was worth the buy?

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