When does Halo Wars: Definitive Edition get good?

Give it 3 hours. In the first 2 hours almost 1 in 3 reviews are negative (30%); after 10h it's 1 in 25 (4%). Fully opens up by hour 10.

How many players finish Halo Wars: Definitive Edition?

33% of players who start reach the ending.

All games

Strategy

Halo Wars: Definitive Edition

Apr 20, 2017 Steam: Very Positive

Give it 3 hours

Gets good by 3h almost every game dips in hours 2–3

Fully opens up by 10h rated like by long-time players

Reach the ending 33% of players who started

Started playing 71% of owners

Steam reviews 91% positive of 9,621

What the data shows

In the first 2 hours almost 1 in 3 reviews are negative (30%); after 10h it's 1 in 25 (4%).
Fully opens up by hour 10.
33% of players who start reach the ending.
The biggest drop-off is between “Smash and Grab” (Completed Mission 3 on any difficulty) and “High Class Escort” (Completed Mission 4 on any difficulty): from 77% to 60% of starters.
71% of owners got the first achievement.

When it gets good

Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.

before it gets good opening up fully opened up

Based on all 9,682 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 299 reviews: 13.7h for positive, 4.4h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.

Where players quit

Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (70.6% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.

Started playing 100%
Meet Sergeant Forge Completed Mission 1 on any difficulty. 100%
Build for Success Completed Mission 2 on any difficulty. 87% −13
Smash and Grab Completed Mission 3 on any difficulty. 77% −10
High Class Escort Completed Mission 4 on any difficulty. Most players quit here 60% −17
Patience IS a Virtue Completed Mission 5 on any difficulty. 55% −5
Great Form! Completed Mission 6 on any difficulty. 51% −4
Dancing with the Beam Queen Completed Mission 7 on any difficulty. 46% −4
Saving the Parade Completed Mission 8 on any difficulty. 44% −2
Staving Off the Infection Completed Mission 9 on any difficulty. 43% −1
Evacuation of the Fittest Completed Mission 10 on any difficulty. 40% −3
Most Valuable Deck Hand Completed Mission 11 on any difficulty. 39% −1
She’s my Fixer Upper Completed Mission 12 on any difficulty. 38% −1
A Means to an End Completed Mission 13 on any difficulty. 38% −1
Signed, Sealed, Delivered Completed Mission 14 on any difficulty. 36% −1
Forging a Way to History Completed Mission 15 on any difficulty. 33% −3

story milestone ending biggest drop-off

Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.

All achievements (75)

story milestone ending side

Meet Sergeant Forge Completed Mission 1 on any difficulty. 100%
Halo Undergraduate Unlock a Timeline Event. 96%
Build for Success Completed Mission 2 on any difficulty. 87%
Momma's Boy Get a Gold Medal on any mission. 82%
Smash and Grab Completed Mission 3 on any difficulty. 77%
High Class Escort Completed Mission 4 on any difficulty. 60%
Patience IS a Virtue Completed Mission 5 on any difficulty. 55%
Great Form! Completed Mission 6 on any difficulty. 51%
Dancing with the Beam Queen Completed Mission 7 on any difficulty. 46%
Saving the Parade Completed Mission 8 on any difficulty. 44%
Alas, Poor Andrew Thomas Collect your first Skull. 44%
Staving Off the Infection Completed Mission 9 on any difficulty. 43%
Evacuation of the Fittest Completed Mission 10 on any difficulty. 40%
Most Valuable Deck Hand Completed Mission 11 on any difficulty. 39%
She’s my Fixer Upper Completed Mission 12 on any difficulty. 38%
A Means to an End Completed Mission 13 on any difficulty. 38%
Signed, Sealed, Delivered Completed Mission 14 on any difficulty. 36%
Forging a Way to History Completed Mission 15 on any difficulty. 33%
N00b n0 M0r3 Win a Public game. 31%
My Virtual Friends Love Me Win a 3v3 Skirmish game with 2 AI Allies. 29%
So Lonely At the Top Win and have the highest score in a Public Game. 24%
Walk-off Winner Use one of the 6 Major Leader Powers to destroy an enemy's last unit. 24%
Beaming with Pride Mission 13: Destroy 25 units with the Scarab. 24%
Sweet Naptime Mission 9: Put every Colony in Hibernation Mode at the same time. 22%
Racing the Clock Finish one mission under Par Time on Heroic difficulty. 21%
Basically Naïve Win 10 Skirmish or Multiplayer Matches 21%
Crushed Colors Improve your Score in any Campaign Mission. 20%
Battened Down the Hatches Mission 11: Save all the Airlocks. 19%
Backscratcher Complete any Campaign Mission in Co-op Mode. 18%
The Real Winner Mission 4: Save Adam. 17%
2 Bugs are Better Than 1 Win a Skirmish Game with Dual Scarabs. 17%
Thinkin' about My Doorbell Mission 15: Open the Doors in order. 15%
Covenant "Hot Drop" Mission 3: Kill at least 5 Covenant Units with the Bridge. 15%
Halo Academic Unlock 20 Timeline Events. 14%
Rhino Hugger Mission 6: Successfully protect every Rhino. 13%
Officer on Deck Win 20 Skirmish or Multiplayer Matches 13%
The Procrastinator Mission 10: Distrupt all Tractor Beams. 12%
24 Hours of Quality Play Halo Wars for at least 24 Total hours. 12%
Hardly Tardy Finish five missions under Par Time on Heroic difficulty. 11%
Playin' the Field Win a Skirmish Game with every Leader. 10%
Running the Show Win 30 Skirmish or Multiplayer Matches 9.2%
Lovely Bunch of Coconuts Collect 8 Skulls. 8.4%
Epic Grinder Obtain a lifetime campaign Score over 1,000,000. 7.5%
Big Al's Scooter Win a Heroic Skirmish Game against the AI in under 10 minutes. 7.4%
Don’t Stop Me Now Win 40 Skirmish or Multiplayer Matches. 7.2%
Endless Fun Mission 2: Destroy every Methane Tank. 6.8%
Penny Pincher Get a winning High Score with 10 or less Squads against the Heroic AI. 6.7%
Adjudicate the Arbiter Complete the Campaign on Heroic Difficulty. 6.5%
Maximum Effort Win 50 Skirmish or Multiplayer Matches. 6.1%
Titan Get 20,000 points in any Skirmish Game. 5.9%
He's Got the Jack Mission 5: Jack 6 Covenant Vehicles. 5.7%
Freak on a Streak Gain at Least 15 population from a single wave in a Reinforcement game. 5.2%
Pull Hard, Pull Deep Win and never trail in a Tug of War game. 4.7%
Soldier of Ares Win 75 Skirmish or Multiplayer Matches. 4.2%
Detour the Great Journey Complete the Campaign on Legendary Difficulty. 4.1%
Wall of Recognition Get a Gold Medal on every Campaign Mission. 3.8%
Didn't Get to Second Base Mission 14: Don't claim an extra base. 3.7%
Never Leave a Man Behind Finish with 5000 net resources tributed to your teammates on Memorial Basin except in Deathmatch. 3.7%
Graverobber Collect all Skulls. 3.5%
Empire Builder Win a game in every Skirmish Game Mode. 3.4%
Weapon of Zeus Win 100 Skirmish or Multiplayer Matches. 3.4%
Ramblin' Man Mission 8: Use Elephants to train 100 infantry. 3.3%
Gallivant around the Galaxy Win a game on every Skirmish Map. 3.3%
Handy with Tools Mission 12: Repair the Power Core in less than 4 minutes. 3.1%
KillJoy Disrupt 5 active Leader Powers in a single game on Blood River. 3.1%
Micro Manager Mission 7: Do not destroy any Power Node. 2.4%
Mr. Punctual Finish all missions under Par Time on Heroic difficulty. 2.3%
Living Loving Bug Get a Scarab during a Reinforcement game. 2.3%
Tour Coming Through Hot drop 50 squads to your Covenant Leader in a single game on Barrens. 2.1%
One and Done Score the winning point in a game of Keepaway against Legendary AI's. 2.0%
Everything's Better with Bacon Mission 1: Ram and kill 50 Grunts with Warthogs. 2.0%
Halo Historian Unlock All Timeline Events. 1.8%
Own Worst Enemy Get a Gold Medal with all Debuff Skulls Active. 1.8%
Drain Cleaner Kill 20 enemy squads with a continuous Covenant Leader Power on Memorial Basin. 1.8%
Ready for the Sequel 100% Completion. 1.3%

Steam page Updated: 2026-10-19.