Tag: Warhammer 40K »

[Not sure if you want to take on the Orks? Have a look at our Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon review.]

Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon is a super deep strategy game that can be quite a lot to take in. Here's how to make sure you're combat ready when playing.

There's no shortage of Warhammer 40K games on the App Store, but not many of them deviate from the strategy genre. Pixel Toys seems to want to address this with Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade, where you play as an Imperial Knight (i.e. a giant chainsaw-armed mech). Works for me!

HeroCraft has announced that Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf, a turn-based strategy set in the Warhammer 40k Universe, will launch on iOS later this week.

The game is set to feature a single player campaign against Word Bearers and other enemies of the Space Wolves, with different heroes available to select for different play styles. Players will be able to unlock perks for each class and companions, two of which can be taken into each battle. The game also features a collectible card game element, with victories unlocking bonuses, tactics cards, and new weapons.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf will make its way to the App Store on Tuesday, October 28, and will be free to download.

Do you like Warhammer? Are you looking forward to, or even just curious about, the upcoming Space Wolf mobile game from Herocraft? Then you should head on over to AppSpy because they're going to be giving away codes for both the game itself and free booster packs as they stream everything on Twitch in a couple of hours. Or, you know, you could hang out here and watch the stream down below. That works, too.

The fun will start at 9am PDT, 12pm EST, 5pm BST. Watch, have fun, maybe get a free prerelease game out of it. What's not to like?

Warhammer 40,000: Carnage, by Roadhouse Games, has gone on sale for 70% off. The wildly popular game was recently ranked #1 in Role-Playing in the UK with its RPG side-scrolling action.

It's only on sale for a limited time, so if you want to nabWarhammer 40,000: Carnage for $1.99 (down from the usual $6.99) you'd better hurry.

Roadhouse Interactive recently announced the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Carnage. Roadhouse is typically known for free-to-play games of the mid-core variety, meaning that they target more of a traditional PC/console gamer audience, as opposed to a casual one like many of the simulation and casino games that free-to-play has become known and often reviled for. But Roadhouse is going to release Carnage as a paid game. I spoke with Tarnie Williams and Kayla Kinnuen of the Vancouver studios recently to discuss just why they went this route.

First off, they say that they wanted to put together a cohesive game experience that players could just sit down and enjoy. "We really wanted to put together a game that didn't have an energy mechanic... or any social pay walls, because we really wanted to deliver a great experience with players... you could buy this game, and if you wanted to just punch through the game in one sitting, ten hours, twelve hours, whatever it takes you, you can do that. You don't have to wait for status bars to refresh or invite five friends to pass this gate. And we think that the gamers that want this game will really respect that, and I think that the price point supports that."

Now, the game won't be without in-app purchases, but Roadhouse claims that "it makes for something that can be used, but it's all on your ability to play." This decision to design the game this way may be in part because it won't be paid everywhere. Roadhouse claims "there are places that cannot support a premium model. Certain territories just won't buy it. But we believe that, actually, in a number of western countries, there's actually an aspect of free-to-play fatigue in some cases, and there's some interest from players to have robust experiences. And we're trying to deliver one of those. To be frank, I'm really excited at what we're delivering." As well, they claim that with the free-to-play version that some markets will get that "both aspects of the experience as well as the manner in which players are allowed to consume and unlock content will be different."

As well, this sort of "paymium" model, which games like Infinity Blade have used, have paved the way for the acceptability of games that launch with a paid price but also in-app purchases. According to Roadhouse, they claim that "there's an expectation, for especially those small percentage that are spending lots of money, they want the ability to, at times, push further ahead or circumvent some of the design that's been put in to place, and to be able to move at a different pace."

"So fine, we understand that. But I think there's also a big chunk of gamers, who when we look at the Warhammer 40,000 audience, they are gamers. And we have a lot of people in that are who are interested a full experience, without being limited to playing for six minutes. So we didn't want to limit it in that way."

And gamers that pick up the game will likely have a lot to play with over time: the plan is for the game to launch with 50 levels, and for updates down the road to possibly multiply the content of the game by four times what it launched with. And while they are working with Graham McNeill to craft the game's story and world, they say "we think the title stands alone on its gameplay. And its structure, and its campaign, and its story, even if you didn't have the Warhammer 40k brand on it, someone who's never heard of Warhammer 40k is still going to be able to engage with this title, and still have a satisfying and rich experience as they go through a very detailed and rich world and have that experience."

But ultimately, while Roadhouse is taking a different path for the company with this, they say "We're not [saying] go kill free to play. It's absolutely a viable business model, there's lots of reasons to do it in lots of cases. But in this case we've chosen a different path and one we believe is very viable."

Warhammer 40,000: Carnage is expected to release this May for iOS and Android. Thanks to Roadhouse for their time.

HeroCraft has released an announcement trailer for their upcoming turn-based card collecting game, Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf. Players will build their own decks and lead their squad into tactical combat by using the cards they collect. This free-to-play title is expected to be released sometime around Q2 of 2014.

Warhammer 40K has been around for years, but its recent spike in popularity has been great for introducing new players (and entirely new generations) to real Space Marines. And the licensing continues with Herocraft and Games Workshop's upcoming free-to-play iOS title Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf.

Space Wolf will be a combination of turn-based tactical combat and card collecting. Moves, weapons, and pretty much everything else is handled via cards while the action plays out in 3D. More powerful cards can be acquired through victory (glorious victory!), upgraded through the Iron Priest's Forge, and presumably purchased with various forms of currency.

Follow the path of the Grey Hunter, Wolf Scout, Blood Claw, or Wolf Guard as you face-off against Word Bearers and Necrons in what is being described as "An epic campaign with branching storylines, spanning hostile environments on a far distant planet." Personally, I can't freaking wait.

Space Wolf will be coming to iOS (and Android and PC) sometime in 2014.

X-Com: UFO Defense has become virtually synonymous with "strategy" ever since it was first released in 1994. X-COM: Terror From the Deep (1995) was a neat idea for a sequel that took the fight for Earth's survival into the oceans with entirely new aquatic aliens to battle, although it was hampered by a significant research bug that could make completing the game impossible. X-COM: Apocalypse (1997) expanded the formula even further by adding more complexity to the world as well as other human factions to worry about in addition to the always-present alien threat. After that came X-COM: Interceptor (1998) which deviated quite a bit from the series' roots. This time the fighting was over a specific region of space, and much of the gameplay centered around space combat using Interceptors and coordinating wingmen during an attack. Finally, there was X-COM: Enforcer, which was an even bigger departure than Interceptor. Enforcer was more of a third-person arcade shooter set in the X-COM universe, with no real strategy or management elements to speak of aside from selecting which weapon to use in a level. But while the series has done fairly well for itself over the years, none have every quite managed to eclipse the original.

I could go on and on about why it's so great and why I would go so far as to purchase the DOS version just so I could run it on my Mac in an emulator. I actually have, on occasion. However it's not just me. A lot of people think very, very highly of this strategic battle for Earth's survival against seemingly impossible odds. So many, in fact, that its influence can be found throughout almost 20 years worth of games across multiple platforms. Granted I'm only one guy and have human limitations, so I haven't tracked down every single one, but I have compiled this collection of fifteen different titles that manage to evoke some of that X-Com magic.

The Beginning of the End: 1994

It all started in 1994, when X-Com: UFO Defense was first released across several home computer platforms including the Amiga and DOS, and was later ported to the original Playstation. At the time there really wasn't anything quite like it. There was an almost masterful mix of base management (building facilities, researching new tech, hiring personnel, manufacturing better gear, etc) and tactical combat that, to this day, hasn't been able to be reproduced in quite the same way.

Every single sortie was an intense game of cat and mouse as the precariously mortal humans (i.e. mice) tried to track down and eliminate their superior alien targets (i.e. cats). Simply stepping off of the Sky Ranger for the first time could result in a rookie - or even worse; a veteran - getting vaporized as the extraterrestrial threat had usually already spread itself throughout the environment. Crafting better weapons and armor back at the base certainly improved a soldier's chances of living to fight another day but even on the easiest setting it was quite common for an entire squad to get wiped out in short order.

With enough tenacity and practice, however, players could eventually fight their way through the invasion forces and even take the battle to the aliens' base of operations. It's the kind of undertaking that could require days or even weeks worth of planning and strategies to complete, but it made X-Com all the more satisfying for it. Then, once the dust had settled and the threat had been quelled, it was time to do it all again.

The First Wave: 1997 - 1999

1997 saw the release of Incubation: Time is Running Out for the PC. There was a linear set of story missions to complete, and little emphasis on micromanagement aside from equipping squad members before each fight, but it managed to capture the turn-based intensity and gruesome alien combat quite well. 1999's Abomination: The Nemesis Project, also on PC, followed suit with more combat and less management. About all the player could do when not in a firefight was select which areas of the world to try and defend from the alien/viral threat, then take their squad into real time combat.

Finally, Jagged Alliance 2 joined the fray that same year, and on the same platform, to round out the 90s library of strategy games. The combat sections were fairly reminiscent of the earlier strategy series but in many ways it played a little more like chess thanks to the need to take control of various areas. Unlike X-Com, the game took place solely on the island of Arulco rather than the entire world and instead of in-depth base management players would hire additional mercenaries, monitor enemy troop movements, and plan the hostile takeover of a town or mine or other useful area.

Turn (Based) of the Century: 2000 - 2005

Once the year 2000 rolled around, it was time for games like Shadow Watch to take the reins. This tactical espionage thriller put players in charge of an elite team of operatives, each with their own special abilities and personal loadouts, and tasked them with retrieving documents from corporate offices (guarded by nasty enemies, of course) and other Shadowrun-style stuff. No expanded tech trees or cannon fodder rookies, though; they had to get their team through it all using only their wits and careful use of each team members’ strengths. A year later in 2001 Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel spun-off from the main series as a means to scratch a very particular itch. This isometric strategy RPG may not have had an expansive and open-ended story like its siblings, but it did have lots and lots of turn-based combat.

The PC received even more strategy love in 2002 with Laser Squad: Nemesis, which was kind of like playing X-Com as a turn-based deathmatch with several playable races. A single player campaign was available but honestly, that’s not why most people played it. Then in 2002 we saw the release of one of the most well known “spiritual successors” to X-Com when UFO: Aftermath became available. Aside from the “we already lost and are now fighting to take back our planet” theme and real-time combat that could be paused at any time to issue orders, it made for a very close approximation. Although many would argue that the UFO series was vastly inferior regardless of having an additional eight years worth of technological advancements on its side.

2003 went on to give us S2: Silent Storm, also for the PC (lots of PC love from the strategy genre, yessir). It was a very similar experience to the previously mentioned Jagged Alliance 2, although it was more about completing a linear set of missions and the occasional random encounter than trying to dominate territory. Plus it was set during World War 2, which is probably the most “normal” environment of any game on this list. Rounding out this lot in 2005 was Rebelstar: Tactical Command for the Gameboy Advance; a game developed by many of the same people who worked on Laser Squad Nemesis, actually. Again, it was pretty much all turn-based combat segments very similar to classic X-Com missions, and again it involved a team of soldiers who gained experience and new skills as they progressed. However it was also possible for players to “save” a set number of a soldier’s action points to put them into “Overwatch” in order to cover areas and otherwise react to alien activity when it isn't their turn. Sounds a bit familiar, hmm?

The Next Generation: 2007 - 2011

In 2007, the Xbox 360 received what was possibly its first X-Comlike when Operation Darkness was released. This bizarre strategy title involving World War 2, werewolves, and various other monsters wasn't exactly a critical darling. Still, it did call to mind a little of that old school turn-based charm. Plus werewolves. I mean come on, werewolves, people. Fans of handheld devices and space marines had a bit more of a reason to celebrate that same year when Warhammer 40K: Squad Command came out for both the PSP and Nintendo DS. Much like earlier X-Comlikes it focused on the squad and a linear story, with turn-based combat and lots of nasty things to kill. 2007 also happens to be when UFO: Extraterrestrials (not to be confused with anything from the aforementioned UFO series) was released. This one was also very similar to the original X-Com, exept that it didn't take place on Earth but rather a recently colonized world somewhere else in the universe. There’s still plenty of R&D and alien slaughter, though.

As we get closer to the present it’s hard not to mention games like 2008's Valkyria Chronicles for the Playstation 3. Which is exactly why I’m mentioning it now. It was an obviously anime-inspired turn-based strategy game set on a fictitious continent during a fictitious war, but the hidden enemy movements and limited soldier actions felt quite familiar in a cozy sort of way. Last we have Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars, which was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2011 both as a launch title and as one of the only worthwhile games on the platform. Shadow Wars hybridized X-Com’s turn-based tactics and finite battlefield resources with the overhead grid approach from other games like Fire Emblem.

Full Circle: 2012 - Present

And now, eighteen years later, X-Com is back in the form of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Firaxis' 2012 "remake" (of a sort) of the Microprose original. Taking one of the most universally celebrated PC strategy games and dressing it up for modern gamers, while simultaneously keeping as many of the nostalgic bits in place for long time fans, was an incredibly tall order that many people were skeptical of. In the end, though, the team at Firaxis did a stellar job with preserving the feeling and oppressive intensity of the original game while streamlining and updating the experience.

The modern release of XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a seemingly impossible achievement that manages to introduce newcomers to one of the genre's most beloved series as well as appease (most of) the old school fans. It's a game that's well worth owning and celebrating, and we're on the verge of being able to experience the panic of hunting down a pack of Chryssalids whenever and wherever we want on our iOS devices. The future, even one under threat of a hostile alien invasion, is looking mighty bright.