It’s been 8 years since the last real-time tactics game based on the famous fantasy tabletop game Warhammer was released. But this November, Warhammer: Mark of Chaos will leave its scorch on the gaming market. While it’s billed as a RTT game, it won’t focus on the core concepts that make up a traditional strategy game, namely resource accumulation and base building. Instead, it’ll focus on battle tactics and battlefield warfare, like the Total War franchise from Creative Assembly. MoC will feature the Old World in the Warhammer universe; playable races include The Empire, Chaos, Skaven and the High Elves, along with Orcs, Dwarfs and Vampires as Dogs of War.
A demo was released on Friday which features one level and three tutorials. The level opens up with a cinematic where a mighty warrior named Thorgar the Blooded is called by the gods to retake the empire his predecessor, Warlord Asavar Kul, once had before his death. You’re given orders to roam the lands and recruit an army. All hero units have special abilities that you can choose from three skill trees. You have to spend skill points, which you accumulate from killing foes, in order to get said skills. For example, Thorgar’s Axe of Doom skill allows you to hit units in a line that are in front of you, which results in a massive smash that causes foes to fly through the air. Around the middle of the level, you acquire another hero unit, an Undivided Sorcerer. Some of his skills include Wind of Death, an area attack which reduces everyone’s HP by 2, or Steal Soul, which drains health from up to 5 nearby targets — the amount of damage inflicted will heal or even resurrect any dead units in your regiment, even a hero.
This level is from the beginning campaign for the Chaos side, which will have 4 total chapters; the game will also ship with a campaign for the Empire. The level was pretty linear, but each campaign will feature sidequests available to spice things up. Along with these campaigns, the game will also ship with a Free Play mode where you’ll play through custom battles against the computer. A number of maps will be included, and players can create their own maps as well. The game also sports some very minor RPG elements, namely in the form of salvageable and equipable items you find along the way. For example, you can find shields that increase armor and magic resistance. You’ll also find gold, which can purchase additional units and potions that you can quaff to get some extra boosts.
Visually, the game really sets up the gritty, war-torn universe. After battles, blood and bodies of the dead will splatter the ground. Since the terrain is deformable, large warfare weapons will leave and re-shape the ground. After each successful battle, your units will cheer your victory (assuming you win) which is a nice touch. Idle units will twiddle with their weapons, and after a fight smoke will rise out of fired guns.
November 15 is when the warfare begins: which side will you choose? Warhammer: Mark of Chaos will provide the destruction and chaos you’ll need either way, so don’t worry too much about which side will offer more bang for the buck.
