Having spent at least a small part of its early gestation as a Macintosh RTS, it’s perhaps fitting that Halo should return to the genre that initially inspired it. Given what the series has ultimately become, though, you’d be forgiven for wondering how large a portion of the established FPS audience will migrate to a slower, more tactical title just because it promises a shared universe and characters. It’s no surprise, then, that accessibility and authenticity are the two key tenets to which Halo Wars consistently adheres.

The first-person-controlled camera with its central reticule is designed to evoke instant, comfortable familiarity and your intentions are never more than a button-press or two away from becoming orders. Based on our hands-on session, there’s remarkably little to juggle in a skirmish, even during larger base offensives. The interface appears to suggest that there are only three unit types in each class, such as flying or ground vehicles, with an optional upgrade for each, and bases are modular constructions with rigid layouts. Units themselves are recognisably Halo, though the drop in detail is such that the multitudinous Spartans – this is a prequel, after all – require an interface marker to differentiate them from regular infantry.

The potential danger Halo Wars faces is that Microsoft and Ensemble Studios could well have placed the credit for Halo’s success squarely at the feet of its fiction and ignored the finesse and mechanical excellence of Bungie’s FPS. There is an overwhelming feeling that, in the mere 20 minutes or so of playtime we are offered, Halo Wars has displayed most of its wares, and that Ensemble is cripplingly wary of alienating what it considers the average Halo fan.

Over-reliance on a skin, no matter how popular, that can be peeled back to reveal a generic console strategy game seems risky, particularly when a genre-traversing spin-off might, by its very nature, already suffer from diminishing returns.