Sometimes, in this line of work, you have to play games from series you’re not too familiar with. Sometimes you have to play them from genres that aren’t your favourite. And, occasionally, you play games that tick both boxes. Often though, these games are the ones that resonate with you. Earlier this month, I went to Frontier Developments to check outWarhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate — Daeomonhunters’console edition, and it was one of those games that fell into all three categories. Mostly.
I should preface this all by saying, that up until this point, I’d never played a game from Warhammer’s increasingly deep library. The worlds have always looked fun, but it just seemed too intimidating to choose a point to jump into. For anybody in my scenario, Chaos Gate — Daeomonhunters, might,might,be that point. Provided you’re a fan of turn-based strategy games, that is.
The missions that I got to play during my two-or-so hours with the game did a solid job of laying out a pretty standalone story. Daemonhunters sees a nefarious plague spreading across the Warhammer Universe, and it’s your job as the Grey Knights, an elite subsect of those Space Marines you hear about, to head out across a variety of planets, seek out the source of the plague, and stop it. Between missions, I was taken back to my ship to interact with the crew, accept further missions and enhance my squad.
Combat is, as you’d expect from a turn-based strategy game. My Grey Knights were positioned on one side of the map, with various hostile forces scattered around, often hidden by darkness. It was my job to find and eliminate them all. At multiple points during my various missions, wrenches were thrown into the works with new enemies appearing, forcing me to rethink my strategy.
One of the things I most thoroughly enjoyed during my stint with the game is the fact that, provided the enemy isn’t completely hidden behind cover, your ranged attacks can’t miss (I’m looking at you,XCOM). While that may seem slightly overpowered, Daemonhunters manages to balance it in an interesting way. While ranged attacks are a guaranteed hit, melee attacks deal far greater damage. This adds a nice element of risk/reward to the game and adds an extra strategic element to combat.
Daemonhunters' console edition is likely to be as well received as its PC counterpart.
During the latter stages of my preview, I was set free on Chaos Gate’s customization options, and there are lots. With my party of four, I was able to choose from a huge array of weapons, perks and skills that complimented each of them on the battlefield. Fully equipped, I was then able to take on one of the game’s major bosses.
Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate — Daemonhunters doesn’t pull any punches. I faced off against Cruciatus The Generous, and he was anything but. After trying my best to brute force him for a while using both the ranged and melee tools at my squad’s disposal, it became clear that a more strategic approach was required. But, after finally figuring things out, using the environment to lower its shields, I was still unable to beat him. Partly because my time with the demo had run out, mostly because of a major skill issue.
Although my time with Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate — Daemonhunters was brief, and despite some lore comprehension problems (alongside my aforementioned skill issues), I had fun. Its console controls worked well, its core mechanics are interesting, and its customization deep.
Daemonhunters is shaping up to be a solid port of an already well-received PC game, and it seemingly has all the foundations required to appease any turn-based strategy fans who choose not to play on PC.
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