Halo Wars 2 Xbox One X Enhanced Preview

Halo Wars 2 is a solid RTS entry and it's honestly really nice to see Xbox working on reviving the genre. This has been seen with their efforts to remaster Rise of Nations, Age of Empires and with Halo Wars Definitive. This sequel continues the events of the first game while adding in a more robust multiplayer experience. The Halo Wars 2 Xbox One X enhancement brings native 4k at 3840x2160 with 30fps and HDR support. While 60fps would be great, it's most likely capped in order to make it comparable with the base Xbox One model.

Along with this update was cross-play with Windows 10 and various other fixes. The increase in graphic fidelity is actually quite great in terms of making those smaller details sharp and more apparent. This is important for the more competitive side of things to help differentiate units, terrain and other aspects of the environment to make sure everything is running smoothly. The HDR was a nice touch as well, it makes a small effect upon the general world though its real presence is within the various little explosions, plasma shots and lit up areas of levels.


I do really enjoy playing RTS titles and Halo Wars 2 was a solid release. If you haven't given it a chance, it's well worth it perhaps even just to see those glorious Blur cinematics. The story and the characters within it are also interesting and it helps fill in some of the lore in the main Halo series. While playing this enhanced update I wanted to get a decent look at various aspects of the game.

I mostly played some Blitz as I felt that provided frenzy focused action though also a number of campaign levels. This included the opening level and the last level in the game. The first was to see the increase of quality in the world, the grass and so forth. The last level was to see the system get pushed since it's an all out onslaught. It all performed well without any issues and it was intense to see a set of large scale mini battles going on at once.

In Blitz players use cards to battle one another and this can create some ever changing strategic plans. It's fast paced, intense and full of conflict. I was able to get a look at multiple leaders and their special units which provided a wide range of detailed characters to see. You're able to view more of the smaller touches such as the bullets, the in-depth armor and some of the distinction within the ranks.

The vehicles all looked great, the blasts were vibrant and even with tons of explosions at once it went smooth. This truly does make it feel as though it's a regular match of Halo, but larger than ever before and over head. The Awakening the Nightmare DLC was particularly interesting to visit as the campaign litters hundreds of little Flood popcorns, its pure insanity. Halo Wars 2 is definitely a fine RTS that provides a well rounded experience, it's great on Xbox One X.

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