Microsoft launches Halo Wars 2 worldwide on Xbox One and Windows 10

Almost a month after Halo Wars 2 entered public beta , the Real Time Strategy (RTS) game has been released worldwide for the Xbox One and Windows 10. Halo Wars 2 is the seventh game in the Halo franchise, and is a sequel to Halo Wars which released in 2009. The game takes place in 2559, 28 years after the events of Halo Wars, and directly after the events of Halo 5: Guardians. In Halo Wars 2, Captain Cutter and his crew face off with a new faction instead of the Covenant. Known as the Banished, the faction is lead by fearsome warrior known as Atriox.  There is a single player campaign mode, which includes the biggest Halo battleground ever, on a mythical superstructure known as the Ark. The Ark is where the eponymous Halo rings of the series were constructed. Players have to fight to control the powers of the Ark themselves. The gameplay is a hybrid of classical RTS and action oriented modes. The game has been developed by RTS veterans Creative Assembly, who have previously worked on Total War titles.  There are six multiplayer modes for the title, along with a public stats API. Skirmish is a co-op mode that can be played against AI with a range of difficulty levels. Strongholds is a fast based, timed, base control mode. Dominion is the classic RTS mode where players have to build up their bases, their armies, and fight it out to control the map. Deathmatch is a mode where you have to be the last man standing, instead of taking control of the map. Blitz is a brand new mode, which involves building up decks of cards.  Clay Jensen, Multiplayer Design Director for Halo Wars 2 says “My greatest hope is that the Halo Wars fans who have hung in there with us, and been so passionate for all of these years, and who never thought that this day would come, will launch the game for the first time and realise that they made this possible – it’s their game as much as it is ours. And to the players who have never played before, or who may be jumping into an RTS game for the first time, I wish that I could be you right now. You’re in for an amazing ride.”

There are two variants of the game available, Halo Wars 2 and Halo Wars 2: Ultimate Edition. The Ultimate Edition includes the Halo Wars 2 Season Pass, as well as Halo Wars: The Definitive Edition. Halo Wars 2 is priced at $59.99 (roughly Rs 4,017), while Halo Wars 2: Ultimate Edition is priced at $79.99 (roughly Rs 5,357). The Halo Wars 2 Season Pass is available as a $29.99 (roughly Rs 2,009) standalone purchase, and includes six months of free updates and extra goodies. The game supports Xbox Play anywhere, which means that once the title is purchased, it can be played on the Xbox One as well as a Windows 10 PC.