: Yeah, I can't picture any specific instances where the Spartans came off as
: dumb. I admit Alice did sound kinda "Michelle Rodriguez", but I
: actually liked it and appreciated the personality being heightened a bit
: over their complete stoicness in the previous game.

: My own opinion of Halo Wars 2 is that it was decent enough, and appreciated
: as a new Halo RTS, but didn't take many risks or surprising turns in its
: story.

: My mixed feelings about Halo 4's story aside, I can't call it unmemorable.
: Halo 5 too also had many memorable scenes and new plot developments even
: if it was mostly just filler and setup. Halo Wars 2 feels like its plot
: boils down to "Cutter and co. arrive at the Ark. They fight the big
: bad Brute for a while, and then it ends." It's like ending Halo CE
: before the Flood gets to show up.

: The first Halo Wars was REALLY cliche, but it made up for its corny writing
: with genuinely memorable visuals and scenes. The Spirit of Fire being
: pulled into a Shield World. Ramming a destroyer. Five Long Years.
: Monsters. Halo Wars 2 has a few scenes that seem like they're supposed to
: be memorable, but they're shot in ways that make them seem kind of awkward
: instead.

: Cutter giving a dramatic speech about "family" should be uplifting,
: but it looks instead like overconfident bad timing boasting since it comes
: RIGHT AFTER being told that even the FULL MIGHT of the Covenant couldn't
: beat Atriox. Isabel ripping a Covenant carrier apart should be awesome,
: but then she starts hearing voices and it becomes really confusing as to
: whether they're flashback voices, Banished she's killing, or people on the
: Ark?? Anders launching a horde of Banished into space should seem amazing,
: but the wailing music and lingering shots of her face make it seem instead
: like she feels really guilty about it then doesn't? And the Spartans don't
: get as cool a showing as Monsters because their fights are shot in dark
: rooms with constant intercuts to black that make seeing anything a strain
: on the eyes.

: As for Atriox, he has kind of the same problem as Bane from The Dark Knight
: Rises. He has a decent premise and a few unorthodox traits, and is said to
: be SO SMART but then after kicking the hero(es)'s butt(s), just walks away
: for some reason. We only really see him for a few cutscenes, and he and
: Cutter only interact once or so over radio. That whole "personal
: vendetta" the trailers were building up never happens. It's a shame
: we get more of an idea of Atriox's supposed cunning from a joke car sale
: ad.

: The other characters don't fill up the gap of Atriox either. Cutter, Anders,
: Serina, and Forge in HW1 were cliche, but they had distinct personalities
: and bounced off each other. Here, most the characters' lines are the same
: exposition. Nobody really has an arc. Maybe Isabel, but it boils down to:
: "She fears the Banished. Then she kills them. The end."

: Meh. Nothing so outright incompetent as Halo 5 or bombastic as Halo 4, but
: nothing really excited me either. It boils down to another "oh by the
: way Halo 6 exists."

It'll be a bit before I get to a real write up, but I give it a solid 6-7 out of 10.

I absolutely LOVED the first Halo Wars, everything about it. It was true to Bungie's art style and everything that Ensemble added in felt like it fit. They did a great job. Halo Wars (1) only failing is that it never got the support it deserved and died too quick.

Halo Wars 2 is visually pleasing. It is probably the best merge of Bungie era Halo and 343 era Halo. I mean, the SoF even has the OLD UNSC logo's.

I enjoyed the campaign until the end where it ran out of steam. The missions were fun for sure, but the ending was not as good as HW1. It wasn't bad.... it just..... IDK ends.

I've learned to get over little inconsistencies when they present themselves. I don't care that there is a BR in a scene or two. However, I did find myself asking "How does Atriox keep getting infinite troops and resources like this? " Gameplay is gameplay and all, but it didn't really wrap up.

If I recall, there IS some DLC along the way...

MP I cannot comment on. I keep freezing out of games and have yet to finish.

There are things that feel easier and harder in HW2 than HW1, to the point they kinda cancel each other out for me. I am still learning the economy and food chain as it pertains to units.

HW1 felt simple and refined. HW2 feel even simpler, yet more complicated at the same time. IDK how to explain it yet.

I'll be looking for people to play with, so feel free to add me.