Game Review - Halo Flashpoint
Want to play Halo? On a tabletop? With miniatures and 3D terrain?
As Halo video game players for pretty much a quarter century, my son and I could not resist giving Halo Flashpoint a try. (I literally have a picture of my son as a baby sitting on my lap as I played the original Halo campaign on the original xbox).
When my wife bought me the Halo Flashpoint Recon set as a present, we were excited to have some Red vs. Blue battles. So much so, my son pretty much immediately went out and bought the ODST set for himself. The game did not disappoint. For skirmish-level combat with miniatures, it will regularly see play at my game table.
Terrain & Map Impressions
Besides the excellent miniature sculpts, another part of the cool factor of this game is the included 3D terrain. Each set has thick punch-out cardstock barriers, cover, and buildings that you can arrange in various ways, giving your Spartans and Marines lots of things to hide behind and climb up on for good firing positions. The printing on the cardboard gets the Halo patterns and colors just right, so you feel like you are recreating a map from the video game.
From the very beginning, I really liked that this game is based on a "cube" map system. Many of these tactical miniature combat games either have maps with lots of tiny hexes or squares, which leads to tedious constant counting movement points and range, or they favor a no-grid system where you measure everything--and I mean everything--in inches. It all ends up being too finicky and fiddly.
Halo Flashpoint takes a mid-ground approach, something more like the tile-based movement you'd see in a game like Zombiecide or Undaunted, but adds in the Z-axis for elevation. The map is imagined as just an 8 by 8 grid of 3-inch 3D cubes. You can fit up to 4 figures in each cube, positioned as you please without detailed measuring. Movement speeds are no more than 3 or 4 cubes at max, usually 1 or 2, so it's easy to figure out quickly what your movement options are and counting range is painless as well.
Love Those Command Dice
Another really nice mechanic that enhances the gameplay in this shooter is the Command Dice you get to roll at the start of each round. The faces of the dice have various symbols that grant you extra movement, attacks, or abilities that you can assign to your forces as the battle plays out. Your figures that have the Tactician special ability let you get extra Command Dice and reroll them, so you can gain some control over what you roll.
Having an extra movement, attack, or even one more combat dice at the right moment can really shift the battle into your favor, so these Command Dice help keep the gameplay dynamic and not just locked into the printed stats on your figures--especially since generally both sides have the same types of troops.
Keyword Pitfall
The one thing I did not like about the game is a common pitfall for designers who create war games of this type, usually favored by grognards--and that is the over reliance on keywords in the description of character and weapon abilities. Experienced wargamers may not mind keywords like Lethal, Optics, Frag in place of descriptions of those abilities. However, this creates a natural barrier to new players, and honestly, turns off some because then the game comes off as too complex.
Let me give an example. Some Halo Flashpoint weapons have the keyword "Weight of Fire 2". Thematically, this represents an automatic or plasma weapon that hammers the target with lots of shots. In game terms, it just means you can reroll 2 attack dice. So the question is, on the card for these weapons, why not just say "Reroll 2" instead? The keyword is an abstraction. It adds another layer of complexity, albeit also a little to the theme, but it makes people have to run to the rulebook too often.
Designers should aim to include people that aren't just grognards in their player base like my wife and daughter and casual players in my gaming group. They are put off by the excess memorization. Combat games are already not their first choice, and if you have to get into the weeds with the rules, it doesn't help. I'd rather have the nuts and bolts I need for gameplay right there on the card, instead of in the rulebook.
Rule writers should also be warned to make a distinction between rules that are clear and accessible, and tournament-style rules that cover every possibility that can come up in a game. Take a look at the Spartan Snap Shot ability for an example of this. It's too long and wordy for what should essentially say "Shoot someone first when they try to melee attack you." We need the clear gameplay rules in front of us, and the more detailed tournament style rules in the gamebook for reference.
Dynamic Combat
The game itself is not overly complex, once you get the keywords figured out (or you could play with the reference cards posted on our Game Garage page here). It only took my son and I just a few exchanges of gunfire before we could set aside the rulebook for all the common weapons. And I especially like that the combat modifiers are just handled by adding dice to your attack or defense rolls for just a few common situations--like the enemy has no cover or the attacker is at a higher elevation.
Overall, we're having great fun with these Halo Flashpoint sets. I love getting my Spartan Deadeye up on a high position and dominating with the map sniper shots. Assaults in melee combat are likewise brutal, mimicking a key part of the Halo multiplayer experience. Pick ups (like Sticky Grenades or an Overshield) and power weapons (like the Energy Sword or Spankr) are scattered liberally across the map, so you feel like things can turn quickly to your advantage if you can grab some good gear. And, like the video game, most scenarios let you respawn so you don't worry if a figure or two gets taken out. Just play the objective and have fun!
If you are a Halo fan, you'll definitely enjoy this game. Likewise, if you are a fan of tactical skirmish games with cool minis and terrain, Halo Flashpoint is a solid and exciting combat experience.
Halo Flashpoint Game Garage
Halo Flashpoint Terrain Gallery
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