OXCGN doesn't think Halo Wars' singleplayer is anywhere near as good as it could've been writing:
"It's not perfect. In fact far from it...
The problem for Halo Wars is that Bungie set such a high bar, not just for the industry at large, but most particularly for every Halo game to follow. And that's predictably where Halo Wars falls short."
The writer then takes issue with the lack of a Covenant campaign and a lacklustre story noting:
"The FPS trilogy always existed in fear of alienating the core audience and their love for MC... Halo Wars on the other hand is an exercise in video game storytelling existing merely to service the action. I don't care about the cardboard cut out stereotypes...
Telling a separate Covenant story [instead] provides a relatively fertile green field for storytelling..."
Alvios Games discusses the titles that inspired Vellum, including Halo 3: ODST, Mass Effect 3, Hades, and Slay the Spire.
With its smooth jazz and iconic New Mombasa streets, we need Xbox's next Halo game to return to the remarkable world of Halo 3: ODST.
Not every Halo game has been a banger, but the franchise still has a raft of the greatest games of all time.
Infinite is a dumpster fire and as much as I like ODST, in no universe it ranks above Halo 2. This list is trash.
Best to worst: Halo 3, Halo 2, Halo Reach, Halo CE, Halo 4, Halo ODST, Halo Infinite, Halo 5.
I'd much prefer a Covenant story. The gung ho American hero is gettin old.
I'd have to admit, the ho-hum American Hero thing wears thing after awhile. So a new approach, along the lines of the original books would be a great deal more refreshing.
I liked the campaign gameplay but the story was pretty stale..
and the voice of the main character was highly annoying. As were the regular light hearted insults and jokes, that kind of killed the seriousness of the 3 official Halo games.
It DID need a covenant campaign too really extend the story and length of the game. And it would have been extremely bloody awesome to have a Flood campaign too... working for gravemind could be fun! But i guess then that makes it waaay to similar to Starcraft, which could be one of the reasons Ensemble avoided multiple campaigns?
anyway, my rant/oppinion is over.
On the plus side it is a good strategy game at least.
The author agrees:
"It’s made RTS exciting and accessible on a console like never before and has the distinct and authentic smell of the ever-deepening Halo universe."
The flood really needed to be in the single player campain as playable.