Starting within the next couple of days, those Halo fans who preordered the Ultimate Edition of Halo Wars 2 will be able to play the console style RTS four days ahead of the game’s official launch date.

The game itself weighs in at a modest 26GB initially (with another 7GB patch incoming on Windows 10 as I write this) which makes it a relative lightweight compared to many recent console titles so it will be interesting to see how much is packed away in the game. One thing I’m very curious about are the cinematics – are they part of the package or streamed over the Internet?

The Ultimate Edition also includes a remastered version of the original Halo Wars for Xbox One and Windows 10. Some who preordered the game early have been playing it since late December but I waited until the last minute before taking the plunge. I enjoyed the first game a lot and am hoping to have more of the same soon and see what is different.

Halo Wars 2 was developed by The Creative Assembly for 343 Industries and will launch on February 21st for Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs.