Beta tests can be tough on a game.
If everything goes well, a beta can help bolster public knowledge as well as spread good word-of-mouth. However, if something goes wrong, then it can be hard for a development team to shake off a bad first impression.
It doesn't help that Halo Wars 2 is already facing something of an uphill battle. As one of the few real-time strategy games built specifically for consoles, it has the unenviable task of trying to create a fanbase for a genre that's never really been there — on top of shouldering the baggage of being the next big Halo game. So, with all of that in mind, the future probably won't bode well for Halo Wars 2 if the beta doesn't go well.
Sadly, in its current state, the Halo Wars 2 beta is a mess.
It's not that Halo Wars 2 is a bad game: it does a fine job of wrangling the typically complex controls of an RTS game onto a controller, and the overall pace of the multiplayer matches are fast and fun. Much like the original game, Halo Wars 2 seemingly succeeds in bringing real-time strategy gaming to the Xbox.
If only the beta actually worked.
Look, I love Halo — you don't write a 2,000-word summary on the Master Chief without some affection for the series — and I hope that Halo Wars 2 can succeed. The first game was, for the most part, a great entry in the franchise that benefited from a unique point of view. It wasn't perfect, nor was it revolutionary, but it deserved far more praise than it eventually received.
My experience with Halo Wars 2, however, has soured my excitement for the sequel. It's downright broken — and while beta tests usually have their fair share of troubles, I've never seen anything quite like this. The Halo Wars 2 beta, in its current form, simply doesn't work.
Hopefully, Creative Assembly can smooth out these issues over the coming months. Halo has always been known for quality titles, and it'd be a shame to see a reputation like that sacrificed for the sake of pushing out a new game.
Thankfully, there's still time to fix the game: Halo Wars 2 is due out next February.
