Halo Wars 2

Synopsis

Halo Wars 2 is set in 2559, 28 years after Halo Wars and shortly after Halo 5: Guardians. The crew of the UNSC warship Spirit of Fire, having entered cryosleep at the end of the previous game, wakes at the Ark, a Forerunner installation that manufactures Halo rings. The ship's AI Serina terminated herself before succumbing to rampancy. Captain James Cutter, Professor Anders, and the crew encounter Isabel, a UNSC logistics AI at a research facility invaded by the Banished, led by the Brute warlord Atriox.

Under Atriox are the Brute general Decimus and the Elite Shipmaster Let 'Volir. After receiving a UNSC signal, Spartan Red Team—Alice, Jerome, and Douglas—is deployed and recovers Isabel, but is attacked during exfiltration. Isabel explains how Atriox invaded the Ark, but Cutter decides to fight. A strike team defeats Decimus and discovers information about the Ark's Cartographer, a map of key systems.

Anders learns Atriox hijacked the Ark's teleportation network. The UNSC defeats Decimus and disables the portal network. The Spirit of Fire is attacked by the Banished carrier Enduring Conviction, which is destroyed when Isabel and Jerome hijack its weapons and attack the Ark, causing Sentinels to shatter it.

Development

Development of Halo Wars 2 began in 2014 when 343 Industries approached Creative Assembly, a UK-based studio owned by Sega, chosen for its reputation in real-time strategy games like Total War. Creative Assembly had long considered creating an RTS for console and PC, and saw Halo Wars 2 as a perfect opportunity. The development team included staff from Alien: Isolation (2014), the Total War series, and new hires. While Creative Assembly is PC-centric, the Alien: Isolation team provided console development experience. 343 Industries wanted the story to integrate more closely with the ongoing Halo series, setting the game 28 years after the original Halo Wars to align with the current timeline.

The game was announced at Gamescom in August 2015 and showcased at events before release. Two open betas ran during the final year of production to allow adjustments based on player feedback. The game went gold on January 18, 2017.

Reception

The Xbox One version of Halo Wars 2 received generally favorable reviews, while the PC version received mixed or average reviews on Metacritic. Critics found the game accessible for newcomers but lacking tactical depth or too conservative for veteran RTS players. Several writers recommended it to console players due to the scarcity of RTS games on Xbox One. AI behavior drew criticism: some reviewers noted subpar unit pathfinding, and others found the enemy AI too easy on normal difficulty.

IGN disliked that bases had to be placed in predetermined locations, finding it limiting. Rock, Paper, Shotgun initially shared this concern but later appreciated the design. Enhancements to the gamepad control scheme, such as control groups, were praised, though some critics still considered the gamepad suboptimal due to imprecise analog sticks. Mouse and keyboard controls were seen as superior for precise actions, but some reviewers found them unpolished, citing an unresponsive minimap, unintuitive default keybindings, and unfitting radial menus.