Microsoft rather stealthily published a Halo Wars 2 demo on its Windows Store. Weighing about 17GB, here's what you can expect to find in it.

　　The Halo Wars 2 demo features the opening mission from the thrilling campaign and an exciting new game mode, Blitz Firefight. In the campaign, players will strategically command overwhelming firepower in large-scale battles against a terrifying threat facing the UNSC and all of humanity. Blitz Firefight is a fast-paced mode where players use decks of cards to summon vehicles and troops to fight against waves of AI-controlled enemies.

　　We reviewed the game last month. Chris rated Halo Wars 2 7.5/10:

　　Honestly, I find Halo Wars 2 strange. The gameplay is solid and without any real faults which shows a real dedication to the craft. At the same time, the UI, clunky menus and unresponsiveness indicates a little more care and attention could have gone into the PC version. There’s little doubting that Halo Wars 2 is a good game. It’s a step-up from the original, but not a huge step up.

　　Halo Wars 2 is an ideal strategy game for beginners. There's little doubting that the action is solid and it looks fantastic, but other strange choices mar what would be a great title. From downright bad writing, to the inclusion of pay to win microtransactions in a premium game, there are some absolutely perplexing decisions.

　　It's worth noting that the game recently received a very large update focused on performance as well as bug fixes and game tweaks, though it is uncertain whether the Halo Wars 2 demo build includes this update.

　　Have you been playing Halo Wars 2 lately? Tell us below.