Have been playing Halo Wars since release and thought I would give my opinions on the game.
Purchased the LE tin set which up until recently I had avoided these sorts of sets as they offer little extra value to the game.
This came with the Mythic Map pack, a short hard back story (lead up to Halo Wars), a badge, a limited edition Wraith (in game), A5 hero player cards and a nice looking tin.
For £40 I was impressed to start with.
Played through the campaign and enjoyed the most of the levels, especially the cut scenes. Its the first time you see more than one Spartan which made a nice change (they kick a*s
)
Like others have said the campaign is a little short but I think some of this has to do with Ensemble being closed down after the game?
Anyway onto Multiplayer which is where this game is really aimed at.
Having mainly played the AI for a while I can assure people who think that there is little startegy to play on Heroic or Legendary. The AI becomes quite ruthless and is far more rewarding.
Going online I have mainly been trounced on by either generally better players or unfortunatley people who Warthog rush (some people have obviously been watching the Xbox live strategy guides which describes exactly how to do this (as well as how to repel it...)
This has soured the MP a little for me as it becomes a bit frustrating but it is probably my thought for not anticapting their startegy etc.
When playing friends online it has been great fun and satisfiying. Also going to help a friend with co-op campaign soon.
All in all this game of course won't be played as much as Halo 3. I went on yesterday and there were 20,000 people online so people are still playing this, in 6 months who knows.
I rated this as 8 becuase it does allow new people to RTS to get a taster for them, the controls work well for the console (unlike say C&C3) and it appeals to Halo fans who want a bit more to satisfy their Halo cravings.