Xbox 360 Fanboy

With the GamePro Halo Wars cover story on shelves for a while now, the magazine has seen fit to post a (less robust) preview on their website. It's a good read for anyone who can't get their hands on the magazine (or those who don't care to do so).

While a good portion of the article is spent rehashing the genesis of the game and how hard Ensemble is working to make it true to the Halo universe -- seriously, we get it now -- there are a few choice nuggets to be found. Units have both primary and secondary fire modes for one. As an example the article notes that marines typically use assault rifles but can also toss grenades -- on command -- if the situation calls for it. Also, the article notes that micromanagement of the in-game economy -- a common practice in most RTS games -- is basically non-existent thanks to the all-consuming unit of currency, which is simply dubbed 'supplies.' Finally, another nod to streamlining the genre for consoles, Ensemble notes that it took 10 minutes to create a sizable force in early builds of Halo Wars, whereas now it takes "about 10 seconds."

We're fairly sure we're not alone when we say that we really hope there's a playable build of Halo Wars at E3 next month.