Warhammer Classics Round up (Steam)

Recently, a load of Warhammer games have been picked up and republished on Steam. We will be covering some in more detail in coming weeks. But here is a round up of one of the bundles that is available currently. It’s worth noting that almost of all of these are complete packages that include any DLC or extra content released.

Space Hulk and Space Hulk: Ascension

We have covered both Space Hulk and Ascension before a good few years ago. The first Space Hulk game does a pretty good job of recreating the board game experience. As a result, though it can feel slow and clunky in places. Ascension adds a bit more into the mix with the ability to level up your characters and having maps created from scratch. Both games are incredibly tough, but fans of the original game or Warhammer 40,000 are well served here. Just don’t expect anything too pacey.

Warhammer: Dark Omen and Warhammer: Shadow of the Horned Rat

Our first experience of both these games was with their release on the first PlayStation. You would have hoped that using a mouse would have brought a better control scheme, but they are extremely clunky with a very small window to view the actual battlefield from, as most of the screen is filled with the user interface. Yes, instead of using the mouse you must control the game with different on screen buttons. These were clearly developed with the console ports in mind. If you can get into them, they are tough and engrossing, but we really struggled and found the games far too frustrating to stay with for long. Still, if you want to take on hordes of Skaven or the Undead it certainly has some scale to it.

Warhammer: Mark of Chaos

Finally, proper mouse controls come to Warhammer. Many see this as the sort of precursor to Total Warhammer. It’s like the Lord of the Rings strategy games in terms of it using smaller groups of characters and telling its own story. There are campaigns from the Empire and Chaos sides with the DLC adding the Orcs and Goblins. Further races such as Dark Elves and Skaven can be played in multiplayer. It’s certainly not perfect but it’s a game we fought our way through on the Xbox 360 and loved, and naturally it plays a whole lot better here. It’s a lot of fun with a solid campaign and a decent enough multiplayer mode. A good progression from Shadow of the Horned Rat and Dark Omen and though it’s lost a bit in terms of looks it plays perfectly fine still. 

Final Liberation

This is the PC attempt at getting Warhammer 40K Epic into game form. The controls are pretty good and it’s easy to identify your troops and move them around. There is also a ton of units and things you can do with them. It is crazily tough though. Taking on the first mission on the easiest setting we found our Marines always missed their shots, while simple groups of Orks managed to destroy heavily armoured vehicles. Once you get the hang of it though it’s an engaging game that certainly deserves a second life.

Warhammer 40,000 Chaos Gate

Note, this is the older version of the game. The Games Workshop attempt at UFO: Enemy Unknown. Build your squad, equip them and then send them into different missions to take down imperial cultists and demons. It works well and there are a ton of customisations and weapon options available for tackling levels in different ways. You can even use terminator marines and other specialist categories like apothecaries and tech marines. It looks dated but plays well. It’s worth playing for fans and we can see people losing a good few hours of their lives to it.

Warhammer 40,000 Fire Warrior

Looked upon as a disappointment on release, Fire Warrior is a perfectly ok FPS game. Now the hype has died down it certainly has it charm (although it was certainly never going to be a Halo killer). You play as a lone Tau warrior trying to fight off the Space Marines and forces of Chaos. It plays well, has some impressive set pieces and runs at a decent pace. It certainly is never going to be a stone cold classic, but fans of the theme and genre will find a lot to like here.

Warhammer 40,000 Rites of War

It seems there is no genre or template untouched by Warhammer. While Chaos Gate took on the Enemy Unknown template, Rites of War goes down the turn based hexagonal grid route and draws inspiration from Panzer General. The game has players taking control of the Eldar as they first fight, then unite with imperial forces to fend off a Tyranid Hive fleet.

Like a lot of these games, it’s a mix of good and bad. The classic mechanics are addictive and work well but missions are overly repetitive and pestered by small annoyances. Enemies have a habit of running away and healing before you can finish them off and characters can only carry a single object, so if you get to the end of a mission with no troops left to pick up that vital artefact you can’t complete the mission. And no, you can’t drop other objects already picked up. All that said, the core of the game is good. If you are looking for something that’s a bit more of a slow burn approach to Warhammer, then this is well worth a look.

Man O’War Corsair

Corsair is pretty much the definition of being an overlooked gem, if it was an indie game at least. It’s certainly the Games Workshop game which had the most potential if it had continued to be updated. It’s basically a rip-roaring pirate adventure set in the Warhammer world. Not only can you fire on other ships at range but also board them and let crews fight it out on deck.

There’s certainly a lot to like but the game is unpolished and messy. A lot of the ports look the same, sea monsters descend into predictable attack patterns and while naval combat is fun, when you get up close it looks tired and feels clunky. If you are forgiving though there’s a lot of ambition here to admire.

There are a host of other games falling under the Warhammer Classics banner as well such as Blood Bowl 1 and 2 and Talisman. It’s great to see them all being given a second chance on Steam and we will certainly be looking to cover more 

Warhammer 40,000: Dakka Squadron Flyboyz Edition Review (Switch)

 

Warhammer games have really struggled to establish themselves on consoles despite a rich and huge source material to draw upon. There are some excellent RTS games, such as Dawn of War on the PC, but most have struggled to really capture the feel of the universe. The Switch has had several games in the past with Shootas, Blood and Teef and Boltgun already available, but none really capturing the spirit of the board games. Dakka Squadron is taking a different approach and hoping to exploit a gap in market with dogfighting.

Daka Squadron follows the Orks as they fight each other for control of various war-torn planets. You’ll be taking to the sky in various bolted together scrap heaps that probably shouldn’t be anywhere near the air and blasting your way around arenas against turrets other planes and ground vehicles. It’s a fairly arcade based take with some minor customisation available and the tone is very much comedic and slap stick.

One thing the game does right is the controlling of the plane. The flying and combat are pretty smooth in terms of the planes themselves. It’s easy to lock on to targets and planes respond quickly and consistently. The only real problem is that there’s a weird framerate issue that seems to make the plane never really fly visually smoothly. Instead, the camera always seems to be juddering in and out slightly with can kill the impression of speed.

Visuals wise, everything is fine for the most part. You can’t always tell what you are shooting, especially in handheld mode, but the targeting circles are bright and clear, and targets give off numbered damage when attacks connect. So, you’ll always know if you are hitting something or not. The game could have benefited from a bit of Switch optimisation though as there’s a lot of data on the screen and most of it is very small. The text also suffers from this but most of the game is also voiced.

We did encounter a weird bug which happened a few times which loaded levels far too dark. Unless it’s a very poorly implemented day/night feature we don’t know about it seemed very much like the lighting just didn’t load at times which made levels impossible to see and navigate. A reload solved the issue any time we had it though.

Overall, Daka Squadron is undoubtedly rough around the edges but it’s also a weirdly good amount of knock about fun. It’s a bit juddery, there’s some bugs and the arenas are a bit enclosed, but the feeling of flying is pretty decent, and the planes are fun to control. It’s not something that’s likely to hold your attention for long periods of time but certainly worth ten minutes of zooming around from time to time.

Overall 6/10

 

 

 

Warhammer 40,000: Shootas, Blood and Teeth Review (Switch)

There have been many games based on the Games Workshops dark vision of the future over the years, but as far as we can remember this is the first time we’ve had one in the form of a side scrolling shooter. It’s also one of the few times where the Space Marines aren’t the main focus of the game. Instead, this time you get to play as an Ork and unleash a much more visceral type of brutality on the Hive city of Luteus Prime.

The game has a fun and crazy tone to it which suits the Orks and a lovely hand drawn art style that puts across the 40K world in a way not really seen before. There are a few issues with the amounts of browns, reds and greens on display which make it a little difficult to see what’s happening when in handheld mode but overall, it works. The beautiful, animated cut scenes are also absolutely outstanding.

The action is full on and unrelenting and sits somewhere between Bro Force and Huntdown in terms of pace. There’s also a choice of different characters to pick from and a ton of different weapons to find and unlock in order to customise your Ork and commit the exact type of destruction you want. The weapons pack a real punch as well with some excellent sound work and visual feedback that makes them feel impactful and solid.

Initially we found the controls very mixed up in terms of layout but there is a customisation option so everyone should be able to find a set up that works for them. You can also play through the game in Co-op but this is unfortunately one of the areas that the Switch begins to struggle with. As you progress and it becomes more and more chaotic the frame rate really begins to take a dive.

Performance becomes very juddery and characters even teleport at times which is not great for a game based around fast paced blasting. We never got to the point where is completely stalled our progress, but the game did continually feel off and unstable to the point it stopped being fun in busy sections.

If you can put up with that though there are a ton of 40K main stays to blast and batter your way through. These include other Orks, Imperial Guard (including taking on both a Lemon Russ and a Baneblade), and if you delve deep enough into the Hive you’ll find a good old Genestealer cult awaiting you. All of which are drawn beautifully and behave differently enough to provide a good amount of variety.

Overall, Shootas, Blood and Teeth is a patch way from being an excellent side scrolling blaster. Everything about it works in terms of the feel and look but it is just continually stalled by poor performance. It seems the Switch version is the only one affected by these issues currently so unless you specifically want it handheld it may be worth looking to one of the other versions. That said, it’s never a complete disaster, so Switch gamers looking for a fun (if juddery), single player experience will find a lot to like here.

Overall 7/10

We receive no commission from store links:

Vanilla version: https://www.iningames.com/games/warhammer-40000-shootas-blood-teef/

 

Collector's edition: https://gamesrocket.com/Warhammer-40-000-Shootas-Blood-and-Teef/

Warhammer Quest Review (PC)

Many of you will remember Hero Quest – one of the most loved board games around and one denied a re-release by a cross ownership issue. What many of you may not be aware of is that many years later a re-imagining of the game along the same lines was produced called Warhammer Quest which moved it closer to the Dungeons and Dragons style of play. 

Warhammer Quest added a number of random elements such as tiles only being placed when characters moved through and exit and enemies being generated rather than already placed. There was also an attempt at single player building on the system tried out in Advanced Hero Quest.

The digital version of the game started life on iOS devices but has now made its way to PC where it sits alongside other Games Workshop properties that stick close to their board game routes such as Space Hulk, Talisman and Blood Bowl. Though the game may have humble beginnings its turn based, board game style is certainly a good fit for the PC so don’t let that put you off.

Players take control of a team of four heroes and enter dungeons on set quests. The dungeons generate randomly with monsters appearing as you move from one tile to the next. Explore enough and you’ll find you’re what you went searching for and normally have to kill a bigger, meaner beastie to win the day. In between missions you can travel to towns and buy new equipment, level up and generally do things that adventurers do via a menu system. As you move locations other random events and chance meetings with characters can also occur.

Combat is carried out by selecting an action and then clicking on the enemy. The chance to hit and damage done is then generated by the hidden dice roll. Enemies need to be approached with care as they normally outnumber you and will go for weak members of the party. It’s challenging enough to keep you on your toes but not unfairly difficult. Any party member that dies will also resurrect once the mission is over but they do lose any experience from kills they may have racked up.

Action is viewed from a top down perspective which gives you a clear view of the environment but can make it a little tricky to see what monsters are armed with. The information can be found by hovering over and enemy and even more detail can be gathered through a simple right click of the mouse though. We did get caught out a few times when the  Goblin next to us turned out to be a boss but on the whole you only have yourself to blame when things go wrong.

It all works remarkably well and proves to be compelling as you venture ever onwards in your hunt for loot. It certainly does get a little repetitive if playing for long periods but it’s only a minor issue. A far bigger issue is the amount of content locked away behind micro-transactions. Aside from the four main characters there are a whole host of adventures available to buy and we can’t help but feel a little short changed in that respect. They aren’t cheap either with them setting you back over a pound each. Campaign wise there is certainly enough here to keep you occupied without feeling the need to purchase add-ons so at least you shouldn’t feel cheated by the length of your adventure. The fact the game is single player only as well is a real oversight.

Overall, Warhammer Quest is a solid transition of the board game to a digital format. The mechanics work well and the feel of the game remains true to its source material. There’s some fun adventuring to be done as well. It’s just a bit of a shame players are so restricted in their choice of characters unless they commit to the micro-transactions. This could have been a rather lovely complete package for fans but it still remains an absorbing and competent dungeon crawler to keep you occupied for bite sized amounts of time.

Overall 7/10