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Halo Wars: Definitive Edition
Halo Wars: Definitive Edition is an enhanced version of the real-time strategy classic, Halo Wars, updated to run natively on PC. Halo Wars: Definitive Edition includes improved graphics, new achievements and all of the DLC created for the landmark real-time strategy game.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-02 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
69 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“This is a very enjoyable game. First the main 2 issues besides just being dated, 1. The troop AI. The AI would rather fight to the death instead of following orders and fleeing like they are commanded. This actually can…”
“It’s hard to give this a simple Thumbs Up or Down. It isn't "bad," but it definitely feels like a 2009 console port. The strategy is surface-level; you can pretty much bum-rush every objective with a massive army and…”
“decent game, this game is better than halo wars 2 in almost every way. cons is, 1 single player mission sucks, chapter 4 in campaign drags on for way to long and should of been 10 minutes, instead of 20, where your just…”
9 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“A Halo-themed action-RTS. You build your army and attack everything that moves. It works excellently on the Steam Deck; the controls are intuitive and very well-done. The story is classic Halo: bad guys are looking for…”
“I could recommend it on sale for fans of RTS and the Halo universe. Not as fleshed out as some of the all time greats but decent variety of units and missions. I'd recommend checking out series like Command and Conquer,…”
“Fun RTS with moments of challenge but the best part is the Lore it adds to the Halo Universe.”
7 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“So happy I get to play this game again after selling my Xbox. Best RTS of all time! Campaign is great, soundtrack and everything about the gameplay. It's easy to pick up but hard to master. If you're a fan of Halo or…”
“Fun RTS with moments of challenge but the best part is the Lore it adds to the Halo Universe.”
“Its a great RTS in a very popular universe and is specifically great for beginners of the Genre.”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“A Halo-themed action-RTS. You build your army and attack everything that moves. It works excellently on the Steam Deck; the controls are intuitive and very well-done. The story is classic Halo: bad guys are looking for…”
“I could recommend it on sale for fans of RTS and the Halo universe. Not as fleshed out as some of the all time greats but decent variety of units and missions. I'd recommend checking out series like Command and Conquer,…”
“Such a fun throwback. I only played through the campaign on 'Normal' but the missions were hectic. The simplistic take on RTS gameplay made for use with a controller works really well on Keyboard and Mouse as well with…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“It’s hard to give this a simple Thumbs Up or Down. It isn't "bad," but it definitely feels like a 2009 console port. The strategy is surface-level; you can pretty much bum-rush every objective with a massive army and…”
“I could recommend it on sale for fans of RTS and the Halo universe. Not as fleshed out as some of the all time greats but decent variety of units and missions. I'd recommend checking out series like Command and Conquer,…”
“The 'fifth' Age of Empires game and the last game Ensamble Studios would make. For fans of Halo, this is the best spin-off the franchise ever produced. For fans of RTS games however, its a decent entry in the genre…”
13 of the 103 reviews raise this · 6 of them still recommend the game.
“It’s hard to give this a simple Thumbs Up or Down. It isn't "bad," but it definitely feels like a 2009 console port. The strategy is surface-level; you can pretty much bum-rush every objective with a massive army and…”
“I could recommend it on sale for fans of RTS and the Halo universe. Not as fleshed out as some of the all time greats but decent variety of units and missions. I'd recommend checking out series like Command and Conquer,…”
“The 'fifth' Age of Empires game and the last game Ensamble Studios would make. For fans of Halo, this is the best spin-off the franchise ever produced. For fans of RTS games however, its a decent entry in the genre…”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this · 8 of them still recommend the game.
“decent game, this game is better than halo wars 2 in almost every way. cons is, 1 single player mission sucks, chapter 4 in campaign drags on for way to long and should of been 10 minutes, instead of 20, where your just…”
“Halo wars is geniunely a great game on steam. Sure, it's not as expansive as it could be but mods fix that so easily. If you love RTS games then I would give Halo wars a try.”
“This game is not the peak of RTS for everyone most people would say command and conquer Red Alert or Starcraft 2 and i would agree with them but there is something in this game that just makes it so much more fun to me,…”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“This is a very enjoyable game. First the main 2 issues besides just being dated, 1. The troop AI. The AI would rather fight to the death instead of following orders and fleeing like they are commanded. This actually can…”
“Great Halo RTS game Played it on both Xbox 360 and Xbox one before getting it on pc Only one issue is the game sometimes crashes on boot and some fixes are 1. Delete all files inside of C:\Program Files…”
“mission 15 is broken cant open the last door opener is missing i just paid 19.99 for this game on 5/6/2026 not worth playing and not worth 19.99 if game is broken.”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“It’s hard to give this a simple Thumbs Up or Down. It isn't "bad," but it definitely feels like a 2009 console port. The strategy is surface-level; you can pretty much bum-rush every objective with a massive army and…”
“I could recommend it on sale for fans of RTS and the Halo universe. Not as fleshed out as some of the all time greats but decent variety of units and missions. I'd recommend checking out series like Command and Conquer,…”
“Best of the Halo Wars games. Hands down. Only issue, your abilities wheel is hard to use with mouse and keyboard.”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 91.4% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“I loved the story, art work, the characters, ship battle, air & ground units. Today 4/15/2026 I completed Halo Wars on Legendary with all gold medals. Overall, an excellent game.”
— a player, Steam review · 69 hrs played“[h1][url=https://i.imgur.com/Uryi5fh.png]Old X360 General Rank player here.[/url][/h1] It is an addictive game. I played long enough to learn the hard way that the Grizzly canister shell is actually WEAKER than a Scorpion’s. - Gameplay (multiplayer) I am a reactive player. I…”
— a player, Steam review · 158 hrs played“Halo Wars is one of those rare strategy games that stays with you long after you stop playing. It’s not just another RTS—it’s a game I grew up with. I spent hundreds of hours playing it on Xbox 360, and even today it still holds a special place for me. What makes Halo Wars stand…”
— a player, Steam review · 7 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Halo Franchise Sale & Halo: Campaign Evolved Wishlist
All your favorite Halo titles on Steam are currently on sale! Be sure to check out the full sale here: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/halofranchisesale2026 While you’re there, make sure to wishli
Halo Wars: Definitive Edition on Sale
ALL UNITS! Return to the early years of the Human-Covenant War and embark on an epic journey with the crew of the UNSC Spirit of Fire that takes your from Harvest, to Arcadia, to the mysterious and de
Patch Release - June 5th
A new patch is rolling out today for Halo Wars: Definitive Edition. This latest update includes: Added a volume slider for cinematics Added per-AI difficulty settings, selectable via the player card m
Patch Release - June 5th
A new patch is rolling out today for Halo Wars: Definitive Edition. This latest update includes: Added a volume slider for cinematics Added per-AI difficulty settings, selectable via the player card m
Patch Release May 11th
All units! A small update is rolling out today with improvements and fixes to a few issues the team has been tracking. Here's what's included with this patch: Added Single Player Campaign Leaderboards
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Strategy |
| Player tags | Strategy · RTS · Base-Building · Multiplayer · Singleplayer · Sci-fi · War · Military · Action · Co-op · Simulation · Great Soundtrack (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · PvP · Online PvP · Co-op · Online Co-op · Steam Achievements · Full controller support |
| Languages | English * , French * , Italian * , German * , Spanish - Spain, Czech, Hungarian, Japanese * , Korean, Polish, Russian * , Traditional Chinese * |
| Controller | Full support |
| Achievements | 75 |
| Official site | https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/games/halo-wars |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS *: Windows 7 SP1 64-bit or higher Processor: Intel Core i3 or Equivalent Memory: 4 GB RAM Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4200 NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M AMD Radeon R5 M240 DirectX: Version 11 Network: Broadband Internet connection Storage: 12 GB available space