This is something of a historic moment, as it's the first time I'm going to write a Halo review that doesn't begin with me telling you to stop wasting time reading my review when you could be playing the game instead! That isn't because Halo Wars isn't as great as the rest of the Halo series though (it is) - it's because it's such a big departure from the acclaimed shooter franchise that I need to be sure that you know just what a fantastic game it is, so you don't overlook it and miss out.

Our story begins twenty years before the original Halo on the colony planet of Harvest, where a long and bloody battle has been waged for over five years. The UNSC (United Nations Space Command) has recently taken the planet back from the clutches of the Covenant, but the alien harbingers of doom have assaulted a base in the snowy tundra of one of the northern continents - they're up to something and it's your job to find out what. As with every Halo game, there's a very strong focus on the storyline, which unfolds for the first time in gorgeous full motion video cut scenes. As is par for the course for a series that prides itself on movie-style storytelling, the plot twists and turns, leading to some truly spectacular action scenes and fight sequences, both aboard the Spirit of Fire (your base ship) and upon the various worlds that you visit. There are also cut scenes rendered using the game engine on each level and while these are a lot less visually impressive given the nature of RTS games, they're still well directed and provide that extra level of immersion, linking your objectives to the story very well.

You play the role of Sergeant Forge (presumably named after Halo 3's map creator), who reminds me of Cam from Stargate SG-1 - formidable in battle but quick witted when it comes to wisecracking. Under the command of Captain Cutter, it is your job to direct the troops on the ground and ensure that you succeed in each of your missions. Along for the ride are female scientist Professor Anders, who plays a large role in figuring out what the Covenant are planning, and female AI Serena, whose smug tone is pretty annoying - intentionally so, but I still prefer Cortana's sassiness to Serena's superior sounding English accent. There are also cut scenes where we see the Covenant's side of the story, with a new (or, if we're talking chronologically, old) Arbiter leading the charge under the guidance of one of the Prophets. As you traverse the various worlds, you come up against not only the Covenant but also the Flood and the Sentinels; while this would seem to contradict the Halo series (which was supposedly the first encounter with these races), the ending of the game explains this pretty well.

The single player campaign is relatively brief, consisting of fifteen missions, most of which can be completed in under half an hour on Normal difficulty. However, with a greater challenge on Heroic and a fearsome battle awaiting you in Legendary mode, there's plenty of longevity - plus there is a black box and a hidden skull to be found on each level, the latter of which only appears once you have completed a unit destruction objective (killing a certain number of a particular unit type, such as grunts, elites, wraiths, flood or sentinels). What is also to be applauded is the range of missions on offer; there is tremendous variety not only in the landscapes but also in what you need to achieve and the tools at your disposal. The first mission breaks you in gently, as you guide Forge to rescue scattered marines from their positions of cover under fire, then form up and retake your base. The second mission introduces the basics of base building very well, setting you up with a base, supply pads to generate resources, a barracks for training marines and a vehicle depot for building a few Scorpion tanks. Here you must traverse enemy territory and fight your way to a location of interest, destroying enemy facilities and a Covenant base along the way, if you wish.

The inclusion of a range of optional objectives for each mission is a very welcome addition and completing each of them greatly increases your score and ranking for each mission; at the end of a mission, you are awarded a multiplier for the time taken and the unit loss/kill ratio between you and the enemy, so the more optional objectives you complete, the greater your score, which is then multiplied up to fifteen times. There is always at least one kill objective, along with others such as rescuing captured troops, destroying enemy emplacements, establishing an extra base, saving civilians, preserving your own facilities, and so on - they might be optional, but you'll be lucky to get a Gold medal without completing most of them.

Anyway, back to the campaign and once you reach your objective, the third mission sees you letting loose with a couple of Grizzlies (suped-up Scorpions) as you head into a structure to rescue the ambushed Forge and escort Anders back to the landing zone. These three opening serve as the perfect introduction, almost rendering the brief and informative tutorials irrelevant, before the distinct rise in difficulty for the fourth mission, which sees you attempting to protect two evacuation transports from a heavy Covenant assault, as well as clearing enemies from the paths of fleeing civilians, all against a twenty minute countdown. Then, in the fifth mission, you retreat from the city of Arcadia, build a base, and go on the offensive. I don't want to go into too much more detail but future missions take place in some weird and wonderful locations, involve fortification, rescue operations, forging into enemy territory and assaulting enemy bases - a couple even take place on the hull of the Spirit of Fire. The story builds to a climax and the cut scenes at the start and end of the final mission are some of the best I've ever witnessed, particularly the segment where a group of Spartans lays waste to a troop of Elites.

Of course, the campaign, which includes online or system link two-player co-op, but sadly no split screen due to the complexity of what is happening onscreen, is only a small part of the experience; real-time strategies are all about multiplayer skirmishes when it comes to longevity - and it's here that Halo Wars truly excels.

You begin each skirmish with a base, a small amount of resources and a scout, which can be sent out to gather the resource crates dotted around the landscape. Each base has seven building nodes (once fully upgraded) and it's up to you to decide how you want to proceed. Resource gathering is mercifully simple; other than the crates, which are a big help at the start of a mission when resources are scarce, you simply build supply pads to generate the single type of resources that is used to purchase units, build structures, research upgrades and activate special attacks. Experienced RTS gamers might find this a little basic but I feel it's perfectly pitched at the console market. There are six building types available - reactors to increase your technology level (needed to research the higher lever upgrades and build the more powerful units), supply pads for resource generation, barracks for infantry units, vehicle depots, air pads, and the field assembly for special research. The Covenant side (which is fully playable in Skirmish) has its own equivalents with the slight difference that the reactor and field assembly are merged into a single building, the temple - and you can only build one of them, whereas when playing as the UNSC you can spread reactors across bases so you're not crippled if you lose one. There are also four turret pods per base for building defence turrets, each of which can be upgraded to be extra effective against infantry, land or air units.

So, at the beginning of a skirmish, you need to decide if you're going to focus on launching an early attack or building up your resources while creating a minimal defence force just in case your opponents swoop in for the kill as soon as they can. There are also various base sites located around the map, some of which are empty, others of which are held by rebel humans, flood or sentinels, which must be destroyed before you can build another base - so again, you need to decide if you want to focus on your enemies or spend resources and units in order to build back up bases, which in turn boost your resource rate (the more supply pads you have, the faster your resources accumulate).

As you explore the many unit types and upgrades on offer, and indeed as you play through the single player campaign, arguably the most impressive achievement in Halo Wars is the incredible level of authenticity. Every familiar unit has been recreated down to the smallest detail; Warthogs bounce across the terrain, shooting troops with their machine guns or gauss cannons if you've upgraded them, and you can even ram enemy troops, taking a chunk from their health bars. Troops of marines charge forward and can throw grenades, while flamethrower units have flashbangs for stunning enemy infantry. Elites lead packs of Grunts into combat, while jackals can be upgraded to use beam rifles and pairs of Hunters use fuel rod cannons and a very powerful beam weapon when fully enhanced. Hornets hover in the skies as Banshees scream past, firing upon each other and the infantry and vehicles below, with Scorpions, Ghosts, Choppers and Wraiths making up the core ground vehicles.

Each unit not only looks authentic but sounds the part too; the whine of a Warthog's engine, the whoosh of exploding plasma grenades, the rattle and boom of an attacking Scorpion and the chatter of plasma pistols, with a wide range of comments from marines and Covenant alike completing the atmosphere perfectly. The banter of marines, the gruff voices of Elites and Brutes, the cowardly cries of Grunts and the alien noises of Jackals and Hunters; everything is present and accounted for, making you feel as though you are truly looking down upon a large scale battle straight out of Halo. The bases too fit right in, the rectangle of the UNSC base seeing buildings slowly rising from its foundations, while the rounded contours of Covenant installations slowly appear in a haze of energy.

Then there are many new units that debut in Halo Wars, each feeling totally authentic and fitting into the established canon of the series. Hornets can sometimes be upgraded to Hawks, which look like futuristic jet fighters, while the UNSC Vultures are large, heavily armed and armoured Pelican dropships that hover through the air and can launch barrages of deadly missiles. Airborne Covenant Vampires can drain the energy of other aerial units and take it for their own, while Engineers hover around, repairing damage and recharging Covenant shields, which are available for some units. On the ground, the UNSC has the Cobra for heavy damage to vehicles and buildings, and the Wolverine for aerial defence, while the Covenant gets the four-legged Locusts, mini-Scarabs with a continuous energy beam that is great for destroying buildings. Throw in the Elephant (from which you can train infantry when deployed), Scarabs, Elite Honour Guards with swords, Brutes with jetpacks, ODST troops that can be dropped in from above, and you're starting to get the picture; the range of units is extensive and each has certain strengths and weaknesses when it comes to countering enemy forces. The Spartans are still one of the best units though (armed at first with SMGs, then machine guns and finally Spartan lasers), as they can board any vehicle and take command; turning the Covenant's vehicles against them, or strengthening the effectiveness of allied vehicles, is just as much fun in Halo Wars as it is in the rest of the Halo series.

The balancing between unit types is spot on, a rock-paper-scissors approach where the main infantry and grunts are your all-rounders, flamethrower troops and jackals are very effective against infantry, and Spartans and hunters can take down vehicles, which include the scout classes such as Warthogs, which are also effective against air vehicles when fully upgraded, Ghosts and Choppers, then there are Wraiths and Scorpions which can quickly decimate infantry. Aerial vehicles are invulnerable to attack from certain ground troops (like the flamethrower infantry), so you need to ensure that you have a way of fending off an aerial attack, too. You can also place infantry units into towers or cover like Warthog wreckage to significantly strengthen them and hold strategic areas.

Then there are the leader powers. In the UNSC you can play as Captain Cutter, who uses the lethal MAC (a laser blast from above that inflicts devastating damage), while Forge can call in a wide area of effect bombing run and Anders has a cryo bomb for temporarily freezing all units caught within its radius. You can also heal and repair units, and use a Pelican to transport forces across the battlefield quickly, when playing as the UNSC. Each of these special powers takes a while to recharge though, so use them wisely because once they're gone, you won't get them back for a few minutes.

The Covenant leaders are slightly different in that there is no way to heal most infantry, although you can generate Engineers to repair individual vehicles and restore shielding. However, you can pick from the Arbiter, Brute Chieftain and Prophet, very powerful hero characters with special abilities that can decimate large groups of forces in a matter of seconds. The Arbiter can go into rage mode, where you control him directly and can attack units at will, taking chunks out of their energy with every swipe of your double swords. The Brute Chieftain uses a vortex that sucks in enemy units and explodes for extra damage, then the Prophet has a continuous beam that comes down from above and quickly wrecks whatever is caught in its path. The catch however is that while these powers are very damaging, they use up resources when activated - so again, you have to use them wisely.

There's plenty more to consider too; unique units like Cutter's ODSC troops, the Arbiter's suicide grunts, the Chieftain's brute squads, the Prophet's sword-wielding Honour Guard elites, Forge's Grizzly tanks and Anders' Hawks and Gremlins, great little vehicles that can EMP blast vehicles and put them out of action for a few seconds. Also, most units have a secondary attack that takes a while to recharge once used, like the marines' and grunts' plasma grenades, the Scorpion's turret and the Vulture's barrage. Knowing when to use these - and how quickly they recharge - can make all the difference in a battle.

Then there are the research upgrades - every unit can be upgraded multiple times for a variety of enhancements. Take the lowly marine unit; first you research New Blood for an extra marine per unit, then the RPG upgrade gives them all rocket launchers instead of grenades, and Medic allows them to heal whilst standing still and not taking damage. The Warthog is next to useless in combat when you begin, but give it a machine gun, a grenadier in the passenger seat, and finally replace the machine gun with a gauss cannon and it becomes much more powerful. Do you want to focus on maximising the effectiveness of a couple of unit types or give a couple of upgrades to a wider range? The choice is yours.

Finally, there are special upgrades to research - better turrets, various boosts to the special leader powers, faster infantry, faster unit generation, and a higher population count. This last upgrade can again make all the difference; as well as varying costs (infantry are cheap, vehicles are more expensive), every unit adds to your population count, which puts a limit on the number of units that you can have at any given time. Infantry only add one or two points while vehicles take up two to three and the uber-units take up more, six for each Vulture and a massive twenty for a Scarab. So, again, you need to consider whether you want a large volume of weaker units or a small number of strong units - or somewhere in between.

Whatever you decide, you can be sure that there will be plenty of action and combat in this game, and when it all kicks off, it is truly a sight to behold. Marines clash with hunters, jackals, brutes, elites and grunts on the ground, while Wraiths and Locusts exchange fire with Scorpions and Cobras, with air units hovering overhead. Gunfire rattles as laser beams erupt across the screen in a blaze of colour, Covenant leaders charging in and assaulting their foes while Spartans rush up to commandeer enemy vehicles - and even with fifty or more units clashing onscreen at once, there is rarely even a hint of slowdown. All of this is backed up by a fully orchestrated dynamic soundtrack, which sits nicely in the background while you're building up your armies and then crescendos when you encounter enemy forces or assault a base. Surprisingly, while there are variations on the main Halo theme, Halo Wars' composer, Stephen Rippy, hasn't taken that much from the Halo trilogy, instead creating an original soundtrack that is every bit as good as Marty O'Donnell's superb score for the Halo trilogy, in turns evocative and rousing at all the right moments, but branches out to create something both fresh and familiar.

Skirmish can be played locally via system link or online for up to six players, in head to head, two vs two or three vs three matches, with an accessible and easy party system to ensure that your friends are on your team. As well as the Standard mode, there's also a Deathmatch mode where you start with a mound of resources and the focus is mainly upon clashes between large numbers of units. If you have a decent connection then there's rarely any lag; it's all incredibly robust and smooth, even when the action onscreen involves multiple factions going at each other with large groups of units. It's also worth pointing out that the enemy AI is excellent, particularly the Automatic AI, which eases up on you after giving you a pasting or comes in hard when you've scored a decisive victory. Still, there's nothing like the unpredictability of playing real people and you can aid your teammates by sending them resources if you have a surplus, as well as healing allied units or activating your special attack to aid an ally who's come under attack, even if you have no units in the area (for UNSC only, with the Covenant attacks your hero character must be present). It's all fantastically enjoyable and very addictive; it's easy for a bout to last more than an hour, that is of course unless your opponents resign when you've got them on the run - you still get the victory though so it makes no difference. There's a full breakdown of game stats at the end of each match too, as well as a ranking system.

After exploring the fourteen skirmish maps, which are varied in layout and environment (snowy tundra, desert flood worlds, lush forests, inner city areas) while playing against the AI a few times, I hopped online and my heart started pounding when I came under an early attack for the first time. Fortunately I was just about able to fend it off, then I went on the offensive and won the day. I quickly learned that turrets make all the difference at the start, even if they are quite expensive, and that you need to have a small force guarding your base in case of early attack, whether you intend to expand your resource generation or not. I also found myself adapting to enemy tactics; if they keep sending Banshees then I counter them with a group of Wolverines and three Spartans (the maximum you can have of these special units). Endless supply of Warthogs coming in? Then a large force of marines is very effective, or a few Scorpions, or indeed a fleet of Hornets. It's worth having a couple of extra scout vehicles, too; even if they'll die within seconds, you can send them in to get a glimpse of what the enemy is building and then counter their forces accordingly.

Whatever the situation though, another of Ensemble Studios' proudest achievements in Halo Wars is their superb control scheme. It has been said for years that an RTS has never been created on console with a control system to rival that of mouse and keyboard on PC - but all that has now changed. While it's probably still not quite as fluid as mouse and keyboard, it is without doubt the best ever control scheme on a console RTS and it's hard to see anyone coming up with anything much better. Unit selection is simple yet versatile, with multiple options to suit any situation. You can select an individual unit with a tap of the A button, or double tap to select all units of that type. Holding A expands a circle that selects all units it touches, which you can move around with the left thumbstick, while the right bumper selects all the units onscreen and the left bumper selects every unit you currently have. When multiple units are selected, pressing the right trigger cycles through each unit type, allowing you to command each group to attack a different target if you wish. The overhead camera is fluid and fast, if perhaps a little claustrophobic at times (the ability to zoom out a bit further would have been good), with left trigger greatly speeding up camera movement to zoom across the map in seconds, while the d-pad is used to cycle through your bases (press left), all groups of units (press down) and areas of conflict (press right). Finally, to avoid the bugbear of accidentally selecting something when you were trying to order a unit to attack or move, X and Y are used to command your currently selected units to move, attack an enemy unit, or enter an area of cover, with Y denoting the use of a special attack or ability as well. It's a brilliantly intuitive system that's incredibly simple to pick up; you'll have many battles in Halo Wars, but none will be with the controls.

As with any of the Halo games, there is so much more that I could say about Halo Wars and so much that I haven't mentioned. I anguished over my scoring of the game because I'm sure that some people will think I'm being too generous - but as much as I tried, I could see no reason not to give it a ten. Halo Wars has it all; a varied campaign with a co-op mode, an engaging storyline and terrific cut scenes, a huge range of unit types with multiple upgrades, varied special abilities, a clever but simple base and resource management system, robust online skirmishes for up to six players, a sublime control system and totally authentic presentation that is so lovingly crafted in every respect that it simply couldn't be any better - there's just nothing here to criticise! Halo Wars is an absolute triumph, every bit as well designed and beautifully implemented as the Halo trilogy; the only real downside is that it's so addictive that you'll find it hard to tear yourself away. Finished the fight? Time to start another one!

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).