We visit the world where wheels of war never stop turning.
by Dan Adams
November 10, 2006
The brutal Warhammer universes made famous by the table top strategy
games have been getting a lot of attention in the world of video games.
The upcoming Warhammer Online will soon send the franchise into
massively multiplayer territory and Relic's successful Warhammer 40,000
RTS titles have already been giving players an awesome vision of a dark
future for a couple of years. Jumping on that fun wagon full of blood
and guts are Namco and Black Hole Entertainment with their latest release, Warhammer: Mark of Chaos,
a real-time strategy game set in the fantasy realms of Warhammer. There
are some definite issues here in terms of bugs and presentation, but
for the most part the game is a fun romp into fantasy strategy but isn't
going to have the replayability of a real-time strategy game like
Company of Heroes.
The story follows the exploits of a champion of Empire named Stefan
von Kessel and a champion of Chaos named Thorgar the Blooded One. Each
campaign is set during the same war but seen from different sides. Each
also has the war ending differently so that the both the good and
evil-doers get their time in the spotlight. The stories for both sides
are pretty basic fare supported with text and voice overs between
missions. While there are plot points that might be described as
"twists", the story-telling spoils any thrill by blatantly spelling
these moments out before they happen. The story is also pushed along
with the occasional cutscene. Unfortunately, these cutscenes aren't
particularly exciting on the Empire side of things and those on the
Chaos side are only a little better thanks to some cool special effects.
On top of that there's lackluster camera work and bad compression.
This is a fairly common issue of presentation in a game that starts out with such a huge bang thanks to the brilliant FMV put together by Digic. There are some nice ideas, such as the overland map showing the progress of the heroes across the terrain (there are even some effects for chaos where the ground starts bubbling at their passing) but the map is pretty boring. Burning cities, army camps, and any real animation is sorely missing. The color palette and lighting are terrific for the Warhammer universe, but there's just a lack of detail in how the fiction is presented. Empire doesn't seem desperate or particularly strong, there are never any common folk running around scared or getting slaughtered by Chaos forces, Chaos is violent but doesn't seem particularly sadistic, and most importantly, animations on the battlefield are weak. Combat is slow and surprisingly lacking in brutality and blood especially considering the fiction. They would have done well to take a look at Relic's Dawn of War series and the special animations for all of the battles. Yeah, there are a lot more units here, but it's still possible as is being shown by Creative Assembly with Medieval II: Total War.
It's a wonder considering some of the effort put into other aspects of the game. For instance, they took the army creation thing to a new level by allowing players to customize individual units with not only character, but different helmets, shields, faces, armor, and so on. The idea of having armies that aren't clones isn't a new one, but that kind of army creation system is pretty awesome for those that want to get into it.
Heck, the visuals in general are very good. All of the unit models are finely crafted pieces of art. The modeling is great and the textures on top are excellent. Seeing a group of these soldiers move around on the battlefield is awesome. Lighting and special effects add to the fun. Mighty Hellcannons pack a wallop and cause some terrific area effects and bodies to fly in the air. Many of the spell effects, even the small ones, are also very good. They do some nice things with lighting and heat shimmer effects that make magic come alive. All of this comes with a price. The framerate can drop substantially in large battles. It's hasn't ever been enough to completely ruin the fun and units will always respond to orders, even in the slowdown. If it wasn't for that weak animation, Mark of Chaos would be one of the best looking games around.
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This is a fairly common issue of presentation in a game that starts out with such a huge bang thanks to the brilliant FMV put together by Digic. There are some nice ideas, such as the overland map showing the progress of the heroes across the terrain (there are even some effects for chaos where the ground starts bubbling at their passing) but the map is pretty boring. Burning cities, army camps, and any real animation is sorely missing. The color palette and lighting are terrific for the Warhammer universe, but there's just a lack of detail in how the fiction is presented. Empire doesn't seem desperate or particularly strong, there are never any common folk running around scared or getting slaughtered by Chaos forces, Chaos is violent but doesn't seem particularly sadistic, and most importantly, animations on the battlefield are weak. Combat is slow and surprisingly lacking in brutality and blood especially considering the fiction. They would have done well to take a look at Relic's Dawn of War series and the special animations for all of the battles. Yeah, there are a lot more units here, but it's still possible as is being shown by Creative Assembly with Medieval II: Total War.
It's a wonder considering some of the effort put into other aspects of the game. For instance, they took the army creation thing to a new level by allowing players to customize individual units with not only character, but different helmets, shields, faces, armor, and so on. The idea of having armies that aren't clones isn't a new one, but that kind of army creation system is pretty awesome for those that want to get into it.
Heck, the visuals in general are very good. All of the unit models are finely crafted pieces of art. The modeling is great and the textures on top are excellent. Seeing a group of these soldiers move around on the battlefield is awesome. Lighting and special effects add to the fun. Mighty Hellcannons pack a wallop and cause some terrific area effects and bodies to fly in the air. Many of the spell effects, even the small ones, are also very good. They do some nice things with lighting and heat shimmer effects that make magic come alive. All of this comes with a price. The framerate can drop substantially in large battles. It's hasn't ever been enough to completely ruin the fun and units will always respond to orders, even in the slowdown. If it wasn't for that weak animation, Mark of Chaos would be one of the best looking games around.
READ MORE
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