Along with brand new screenshots and the idea that it cannot be brought to the PC, Joystiq got to sit down and try out the first three levels as well as a skirmish mode in Halo Wars. They say everything needed to be said and more after the jump.

We've reached a mid-way point between when we first played Halo Wars at E3 '08 and the game's scheduled release in early '09. We're not sure if Microsoft simply wanted to prove that, yes, the game does still exist despite the looming closure of developer Ensemble Studios or if it just wanted to be nice, but whatever the case we recently had a chance to sit down and play the first three campaign missions ... and partake in a bit of Skirmish mode.

As we experienced at Tokyo Game Show, this is every bit a Halo title – but not your typical console RTS. It's not a PC port, and that's freed Ensemble up to design what we've found to be some very controller-friendly gameplay.

Amethyst via joystiq.com »