Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters review of an XCOM-like strategy

When the battle against the demons seems lost, the Agravain of the Gray Knights, a special division of the Space Marines, decides to take direct action and put an end to the threat once and for all, coming face to face with evil. Agravain’s final battle is also the tutorial for Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters and the narrative hub that will lay the groundwork for the main campaign that will begin right after.

The spaceship Baleful Edict, led by Agravain, is heavily damaged during the encounter and is ready to return to Titan for proper repairs. According to him, the evil god Nurgle creates an army that is infected, spreading a disease called Bloom, which then threatens the entire universe. Therefore, the player will not only comply with the wishes of the inquisitor, but will also be able to repair the ship during the mission, if he does not want to succumb to the new threat.

As you will discover by reading them all with great pleasure, Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters reviewA really interesting epigon of XCOM.

management part

Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters is divided into two separate parts: the administration part where you are on the spaceship, the Baleful Edict, and the tactics that take place on the battlefield where the Gray Knights are directly led. Let’s deal with the first one. L’primary target To follow is to discover the origin of the epidemic by persuading the upper floors to support us on the mission. Basically, we have to show that the inquisition’s intuition is correct, by traversing the planets of the Tyrtaeus system and performing the tasks in which Bloom manifests himself most strongly.

Three missions are activated at a time, which usually depletes after a certain time, becomes unusable, and signals the progress of the epidemic that we did not intervene. Therefore, it is necessary to choose which one to perform by optimizing travel times and upgrading the spaceship to make it faster. There are some minor changes during the campaign, but from this point of view, the game structure is rather rigid and does not offer specific ideas.

From time to time we have to report to the Grand Master. Gray Knightsgroping to report discoveries made to him and seek support. In these cases, it is also possible to make narrative-level choices, each of which determines whether relations with the characters that fill the ship will improve or worsen, for example by following orders to the letter or somehow circumventing them. placed in a particular section.

in terms of operations, the player must do several before fighting. First, he must repair the ship’s hull, relying on techno-priest Lunete Ozmarantis to restore all defense and support systems for the Gray Knights. For example, you can rebuild some towers that will be useful later in the campaign to face certain events, or build new lodgings to have more deployable units on the battlefield when there are many casualties (units heal). resting for a few days) and many losses.

Another very important part is ResearchEntrusted to Vakir, the inquisitor, who let you unlock new abilities and powers called Stratagems that can be used during quests, giving the Gray Knights an advantage and making them more effective against Cultists and other enemies. Some research is also functional in the progression of history, as it allows us to better understand Nurgle’s movements.

The core part is the hostels where the Gray Knights are run. Hereequipment, the assignment of weapons claimed on the battlefield; skill points are distributed in case of leveling up; the conditions of each for the next mission are evaluated and the accessories are decided.

Here it is possible to examine the differences between them. four classes Each has its own skill tree: Purifier, Interceptor, Apothecary and Justicar. Do not forget about the editor, which allows you to change the appearance of each knight, which we will talk about later. After doing all the necessary actions, you must choose a quest (or run it quickly if it is not available), then you can review the team again, decide if you want to try an epic quest to get more loot. ending the mission (for example, using three units instead of four or avoiding taking a certain amount of damage throughout the mission) and finally entering the battle.

on duty

Once on the battlefield, Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters shows even more of its debt to the XCOM series, where it thankfully covers the best of it, especially the best of it. tactics. The chosen Gric Knights find themselves on procedurally generated maps divided into square boxes, generated by the biome of the planet visited. The targets they need to reach may be different, but they usually require the destruction of something, whether it’s enemies or structures. By taking a look at the area, you can begin to move individual units in the direction you see most convenient. Usually the maps are not very large so it is difficult to get lost, but it’s worth examining them for a moment to decide how to approach targets and hazards, for example taking advantage of areas with greater coverage or higher elevations for a significant tactical advantage.

The game system is based on the use of: action pointsit allows you to perform a certain number of moves depending on the individual rider’s will.

In other words, you can pass more or less squares or bring more attacks with a single move. It all depends on the context you’re in. Units are managed through a classic turn-based system that sees the player first making all their moves, then multiplying the CPU’s pieces by moving them. Each turn increases Bloom’s bloom in level, which causes random negative effects against the team, such as incoming buffs or permanently diminished willpower for the remainder of the mission.

Gray Knights can attack from afar using a variety of firearms or deliver blows with powerful melee weapons. In any case, it is possible to apply bonuses (read: how points are distributed when leveling up) that vary according to the type and growth of the unit, to make attacks more effective. In some cases, it is also possible to hit individual limbs of enemies, have different advantages such as stun them, or disable certain attacks.

As the game progresses, units are customized and become more powerful with certain weapons, as well as unlocking special abilities that can be used on the battlefield, such as the “Emperor’s Light” that blinds enemies and inflicts other punishments, or the ability to distort hits.

This enemies they can be of different types. These are usually Bloom-infected creatures, but there are also various armed cultists and Chaos Space Marines empowered by the disease. At times, we also have to face big bosses in fights that see us enter specially designed scenarios. These are huge enemies with special plague-related abilities and are often very difficult to defeat. They’re positioned to highlight some twists in the narrative, and they could kill an entire group of Gray Knights on their own if you’re not careful.

Generally gameplay It is very similar to XCOM in that it relies on the search for adequate cover and the examination of the battlefield and the positioning of enemies to decide on the next move. The game system is indeed very flexible and allows for different approaches to individual missions, such that the player can develop his tactics depending on the units on the field and their strengths and weaknesses. The interesting thing is that there are many interactive points in the levels, which allows you to take advantage of the maps in an offensive key as well. For example, it is possible to detonate certain objects to include all neighboring units, or it is possible to capture others and throw them at the opponent. If you want, you can crush all parts of the map, like pillars, crashing them on the unfortunate without thinking too much.

technical part

graphically Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters is a great job by the genre. Nothing actually makes you cry for a miracle, but the units are well made, both the Gray Knights and the enemies (especially the larger ones) and the surrounding elements are definitely effective. In particular, it is impossible not to notice the emphasis on some combat animations that sometimes give real adrenaline rushes. Maybe there is a lot of repetition in the scenarios, but it is acceptable given the work done in general and the fact that we are always talking about a turn-based strategy.

The management part is also well done, with various areas of the spaceship being well looked after and highlighted by the movements in space. great animations. The character editor deserves a separate note. If desired, the player can completely change the aesthetics of the units by replacing individual parts, including lettering and accessories.

The cosmetic changes have no effect on gameplay, but fans of miniatures and customization will be happy to create the Gray Knights of their dreams. Everyone else will be able to pretend this feature doesn’t exist at all and still live well.

to be a little less sharp, movie soundtrack. At the level of effects, the game, which emphasizes the bottom of each action with certain sounds and gives appropriate voices to the characters, fulfills its task, while at the music level, there is nothing to notice in the sense that we are dealing with classical pieces. Placed to accompany the action without disturbing it too much, it highlights the highlights of the moments that go unnoticed after a few hours of gameplay. Sorry it wasn’t done badly, but there is nothing to remember, so to speak.