Ensemble Studios may be getting shut down at the end of this month, but they’re determined to go out with a bang. Their last project, the Xbox 360 RTS Halo Wars, has just gone gold (meaning it’s complete and ready for sale); leaving plenty of time for manufacturing ahead of its 27 February release.

While you’re waiting for the factories to pump out those shiny Halo Wars DVD’s Microsoft has released details of the game’s demo. The demo will arrive on 5th February, and it sounds like it’s going to be worth waiting for. Not only will the demo guide you through beginner and advance tutorials, but you’ll also be able to play the first to campaign missions from the full game. Is that enough for you? Well, there’s more.

You can also play on one of the skirmish maps, “Chasms”, which is one of 14 included in the full game. Unfortunately there’s no mention of online multiplayer in the demo, so you’ll be playing against AI; but that’s better than nothing, right?

To celebrate going gold Microsoft has released some new screenshots of the game along with the first Halo Wars video documentaries. You can see these over at Destructoid.