Attraction is something that is provided in bucket loads with Black Hole’s Mark of Chaos, and plenty of homage for Warhammer fans too. The game is almost recommended purely based off the game’s unbelievable opening cut-scene, which kicks the buttocks out of anything we’ve ever seen. But all due respect, the game provides plenty of other spectacular editions to feed the needs of Warhammer junkies, and fans of strategy titles in general. Mark of Chaos is a real-time tactics game and plays in a similar manner to the Total War series, and even the tabletop game itself. You’ll deploy your units on the battlefield, issue strategic commands to avoid instant death and consider many of Warhammer's features such as Magic, environment hazards and Hero-to-Hero duels – it’s all there for you Warhammer maniacs.
Any fan of the Warhammer-Fantasy series will quickly appreciate the detail given to units, the rules and the settings. It’s a great addition to see certain rules such as morale, terror/fear, formations of units and even the ‘controlling of large beasts’ rule rub off onto Mark of Chaos, making the game feel much closer to the tabletop game than, say, Dawn of War. In addition, there are other aspects extracted from the hobby and relayed into the game too: army painting, fleeing off boarders and even customisation of your units. Admittedly, some areas of the tabletop game are highlighted more than others, but it’s satisfying for fans to see many of the hobby’s features relayed into the game.
Orcs...Orcs...Orcs...
The battles themselves are also a nice retreat for Warhammer fans. There’s a strong reliance on formations and your skill in utilising unit’s abilities. To help understand what units are best suited for each situation, most come with their own unique abilities: most cavalry units have formation differences to help them cleanout units when they charge; spearmen can hold up their shields to avoid damage from archers; artillery can fire different ammo depending on who you’re fighting.
What is slightly more disappointing though, is that Mark of Chaos does a poor job of utilising the Warhammer-Fantasy license in terms of depth with armies and story. The game centres around four races – High Elves, Skaven, Chaos and Empire – but also gives momentary roles for the Dwarves, Vampire Counts, Orcs and Goblins. When compared to Medieval II: Total War and its few dozen armies, Warhammer’s four core armies is sort of shameful, especially since the game has many more exciting races hidden away in its story and that a game nearly 6 years old provided just as much depth in the form of Warhammer: Dark Omen. In addition, the game does a poor job of implementing a nice section of units. In each faction you’ll get your typical units such as spearmen, archers or axe throwers, but there are plenty of units left out of the mix; once again overshadowed by Medieval II: Total War’s deep selection.
Remarkably, Mark of Chaos also sports a fairly uninteresting story. With the backing of such a large and savage brand, it’s disappointing that the story lacks the brutal and captivating feel portrayed in the tabletop game. The game allows you to play through two separate campaigns as either the Empire or Chaos, providing gamers with a different perspective on the same war. The two stories are fairly similar, as both leading characters travel through the Old World in an attempt to secure forces to fight with them, as well as protecting and securing certain items that’ll aid them in their fight for victory. In the Empire campaign the High Elves’ll assist you, and in the Chaos campaign you’ll be assisted by the Skaven. This eventually allows you to play as two armies during each campaign, and branch off into two separate paths as you command both of your allegiances’ armies to the same goal. The story is generally predictable and the outcomes of a few major plot changes are equally obvious – a bit of an insult to the Warhammer-Fantasy franchise.
Pretty? Not so much - the tactical map is still a lot of fun though.
The campaign mode is broken up into various chapters, where you’ll begin each on a tactical map allowing you to direct your army to each battle. The tactical map is populated with various icons indicating to gamers what sort of battles they can expect to fight in – siege, normal or simply a duel against enemy heroes. In addition to this, the map also includes neutral camps that act as a safe house where you’ll be able to buy reinforcements, equipment such as weapons and war banners and even potions for your hero characters. You’ll often be given the opportunity to wage war in a number of optional battles too. While these can obviously be avoided, in many cases these battles will provide your army with new troops, gold and items that’ll assist you further on.
The progression and the battles themselves are done exceptionally well, providing you with a number of different scenarios to tackle. While the core gameplay is centred on defeating your enemy, the campaign throws a few curve balls by requiring you to hold castles, escort defenceless units and save units from hordes of enemies on a number of occasions; breaking up the game that little bit more. The campaign mode is extremely satisfying in terms of length. Each campaign will take the average gamer roughly 10-12hours each, meaning there’s plenty to indulge yourself in.
In addition, Mark of Chaos has skirmish and multiplayer options to explore too. Unfortunately though, there’s a severe lack of maps and options to fully enjoy this area of the game - there’s only one siege map, and a few other maps included in the game. The obvious lack of depth with customising each battle is a little disappointing too; especially in light of Medieval II: Total War’s beefy selection of maps and customisation provided.
Total War-hammer.
Another rough spot with the game is that it suffers from a number of AI problems. Units have dreadful awareness of their surroundings, meaning that they’ll stand there despite buildings or nearby units being under attack. While the game is generally quite attractive with its deliciously detailed units and environments, the game features some atrocious animation.
Despite not being a remarkable step forward in the real-time tactics genre, Warhammer: Mark of Chaos manages to provide fans of the series with an enjoyable experience, if not a little sparse in depth. The recent release of Medieval II: Total War dwarves this game in comparison, highlighting Mark of Chaos’ lack of unit and army depth and visual polish.
Loading...
