Microsoft seems absolutely terrified to show any of the real-time strategy gameplay of Halo Wars 2. The game’s official launch trailer has arrived ahead of the game’s release on February 21st.

This has been a consistent marketing tactic from Microsoft, as they work hard to avoid revealing that Halo Wars 2 is a full fledged strategy game. This doesn’t diminish one iota of quality from the amazing and quality made cinematic trailers that Blur Studios have put together for the game, but it does show a lack of trust from Microsoft in terms of showing audiences what they’re really getting with the game.

You can check out the trailer below.

Even though the story looks fantastic and I’m really loving what they’ve done with Atriox and the Banished, I’m a bit disappointed that even though I’ve been following Halo Wars 2 for a while… even I don’t know what the campaign missions look like. It’s not a good look when gamers have no idea what the gameplay is really like.

Heck, even in the comment section you had people confused about what genre the game falls under.

I can’t help but think that Microsoft did this purposefully because if they make it look like a movie or a shooter or a war sim, they’re likely going to attract a lot more people than if they showcase it as a real-time strategy game.

Story wise, Halo Wars 2 looks phenomenal, but gameplay wise we just haven’t seen much of it at all. The MOBA elements and the lack of resource management has a lot of RTS veterans scared that the game may be a casualized mess. Creatively Assembly hopefully managed to strike a proper balance with the game when it arrives on February 21st.

Halo Wars 2 will be available on both Xbox One and Windows 10.